11-8-17

10/28 continued...my walk down the mountain.

Leonard, Alex and Rogers walked me down the mountain.

Did you notice that Leonard is sporting the stars headband I gave him the other day?! Love his smile!

I was feverish the whole hike down and my throat was painful. But the lower we got in elevation the better my head pressure felt.

Near the bottom we stopped to sign ourselves out of Kilimanjaro National Park. I was exhausted & needed a break.

A bit more hiking and we reached a dirt road where an ambulance was waiting for me. Well, it was a truck painted like an ambulance. :-) Thankfully I didn't need any emergency services but the ambulance was still a welcomed sight. Riding in it cut out a couple more miles of hiking.

Thanks Leonard & Rogers. You are 2 of my favorite guides and people. Your care & humor was comforting to me. I am grateful for our friendship that will go beyond this hike on Kilimanjaro.

To celebrate our successful descent I bought Leonard a Kilimanjaro beer. Don't worry...I didn't have one. lol. Here's a quote that made us laugh...

"If you can't climb it...DRINK it"

Kilimanjaro. :-)

From here it was still a 2 hour drive back to the hotel. Once at Summit Lodge I dropped my bag in the room, showered, took Advil and crawled into bed.

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Meanwhile... while I was hiking down the mountain;

Max, Jagadish, Bob, Raymond & the rest of the guys were hiking up the mountain.

Pole Pole...they had a 3 hour trek to the next camp.

The fog rolled in (typical each afternoon).

And Bob found the tiniest little heart rock for me. :-) Thanks, honey.

Mid-afternoon they made it to Barafu Camp! Which means "cold" by the way.

The guys warmed up with tea & lunch and then retreated to their tents to sleep.

Sleep was necessary now because at 10:30pm they would be woken up to eat and start hiking UP the mountain at 11:30pm. This late night start would allow them to reach the summit of Kilimanjaro around sunrise (6:30pm). A SEVEN hour hike in the dark and cold ahead!! 

I will post those amazing summit photos tomorrow!