The hike down the last day was pretty uneventful. We woke up, had our ritual hot drink in the tent, breakfast, and then delivered the tips to everyone. It was a really fun ceremony. 26 staff in all helped us up the mountain: 3 guides, one cook, assistant cook, and then 21 various porters in charge of carrying our stuff, setting up the toilet tent, setting up our living tents, etc. We called their names individually and then gave them their individual tips. After, they sang and danced for us, we packed up, and hiked down the rest of the mountain.
The four hours or so we hiked down the mountain was really pleasant. We quickly moved into the rainforest eco system, which is gorgeous. I got to talk to Lenore a lot, which was nice. The strenuous days were fun, but it was hard to really talk to people that much.
We finished up, took some pictures, had a beer and lunch, and headed back to the hotel.
That night, we had dinner at the hotel after we all took very long and much needed showers. 6 days without showering may be a record for me. The shower felt awesome. I think we all felt very pretty after getting clean. We also had our 'Certificates' delivered. Apparently, a certificate saying that you summited Kilimanjaro is very important to prove that you actually did it. Whenever we told people that we summited, the locals would ask 'did you get your certificate?' Thank god, we did.
The next day, Kim and I slept in, Bea went to fly to Spain, and the rest of the group went off on their Safari. Kim and I just relaxed in Arusha, caught up with email, and got ready for our long journey the next day.
6/22
Kim and I woke up at around 6:30am for our bus ride from Arusha to Nairobi. I will keep details minimal for this long day of travel. It went something like this:
8am-3PM LONG bus ride from Arusha to Nairobi. Dirty, bumpy, uncomfortable, hot.
3PM-10PM: layover in Nairobi for flight to London
10PM-5AM: Flight from Nairobi to Paris
5AM-10AM: Layover in Paris
10AM-10:15AM (time change): Flight to London
When I got to London I said farewell to Kim (and happy birthday!) since she still had to go from London to Chicago, then from Chicago to Texas. I took the train in to London, met Karen at her work for lunch, then went to her house in Greenwich.
My time in London was lovely. I hung out, got some sleep, ran, tried to make some calls, and went out with Zlatin. It was good to relax before heading to Mykonos....
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