Day 16

10 hours after we retire, we awake, feeling much refreshed. Hashim has asked us to be ready to walk from 7am – with bags packed and tent cleared. Apparently there is a queue at the gate to check out if you arrive late. As we are slow walkers, he wants to give us plenty of time as well as avoiding this. We are having breakfast by 6.30 and although I’m quite peckish, I still don’t fancy the sausages! Hashim lets us start out on our own at 6.50 – early, and only a couple of porters had started out before us. For the first hour, only a dozen porters have passed us, but then a couple of climbers come by and we are no longer first in the queue! By an hour and a half there is a steady stream of porters, some running down the hill at breakneck speed with towering loads. Another couple walk by and another, but they are stopping to take photos like us and we pass them a little further on.
The trees and plants are wonderful and we pass out of the moorland into the montane forest where the tall trees are draped with bearded lichen. We see the gladioli again as well as the special Kilimanjaro impatiens (impatiens Kilimanjari) the tiny red and yellow flower as well as a lilac version, impatiens pseudoviola. We even spot blue monkeys in the canopy, but only hear the elusive colobus monkeys in the distance. There are lots of ferns under the tall trees, some even resemble tree ferns we have seen in the southern hemisphere, but we didn’t think there were any this far north. There is also a dearth of birds – probably scared away by the dashing porters.


We are down at the gate by just after nine thirty, so half an hour ahead of Hashim’s estimation. We can sign out immediately and we have to fill in names, age, passport nos, etc. etc. as well as whether we reached Uhuru or stopped at Stella point and what time we got there. Hashim said it was 6am when we got to Uhuru – I hadn’t remembered. The parks official was impressed that we ‘oldies’ had done it – but Hashim said that of the four groups over sixties he had guided up, we were the youngest. (All had made it, too.) Now we had to wait for the van and Honest who would take us to Moivara Lodge.
It isn’t until 11am that we spot the van arriving. Many people getting down way after us are already leaving, but Honest had business to take care of before collecting us. Our porters are not amused as they also wanted to get off home. A small presentation ceremony takes place as Hashim hands us our certificates and Honest drapes us with tinsel garlands! So we pile into the van, make our farewells to our No 1 Kilimanjaro team, and with a full van, driver, Honest, Hashim, Lucas and Joseph, we make our way down through the villages to Moshi, a bustling town at 845m. Honest insists we are to have lunch here, which is not in our plan, but no matter. Lucas and Joseph go off with the driver to take the camping kit back to the store. Honest and Hashim come into the restaurant with us, Alberto’s Bar, which is a night club later in the day! We can order beef burgers and chips and cokes. Honest disappears as soon as he orders – as usual he is continually on the phone and can’t ever finish a sentence before it rings and he has to answer. We eat our meal, chatting with Hashim, who is looking forward to getting home to his wife and baby.
When Honest gets back from wherever, he talks across us to Hashim in Swahili. Then, he tells us that Hashim will come with us to Moivara when the driver gets back from the store. This is what happens, and when we get there we discover that Alan’s sticks have been taken out of the van with the camping gear. Hashim and the driver are very concerned and promise to look into it when they get back. We are all welcomed to the lodge with refreshing fruit juice, and we say goodbye to Hashim who has been a wonderful guide. We wouldn’t have made it without him.
Some of the hotel staff take us to our bungalow in the grounds. They must be used to people arriving in a very dishevelled state, as no-one bats an eyelid at these two dusty, smelly travellers arrive at their lovely lodge! We then set about using a thoughtfully provided brush to get rid of some of the dust from ourselves and equipment. Alan empties a mountain of grit from his trainers – I only have tevas as I have given away my other shoes – indescribably smelly! When the dust is gone, we then head for the shower and it is tempting to spend a long time washing away the dirt and the aches of the previous week. We find clean clothes to wear and bundle up our dirties for the hotel laundry. We stroll across to the main building and take in the lovely veranda where the tables are set for dinner and there is a lounge area. Here we decide to have a cup of tea – but there are no biscuits; and we wait to use their internet. Got to let the world know what we have done. We hear American and Dutch accents going by and it’s lovely to relax in the comfy seats.
Back in the bungalow its time to write up the journal, listen to the birds singing all around us and the cicadas heralding the approaching dusk. Bats are circling round the trees, so we watch them for a while. Dinner is at 19.30.