More than a few of us got up this morning saying we’d slept better than on any other night on the mountain. 

Mweka Camp was calm and quiet… except for the now familiar sounds of our kitchen crew going to work to get breakfast on.  We enjoyed one last meal on the mountain and then threw packs on for the final walk down.  We needed to get rid of four thousand feet of elevation.  Almost immediately, we were into the rain forest and the trail was slick and a little treacherous as a result.  We picked our way carefully down muddy stairs as porters from various expeditions ran at full speed a few inches to one side of our team. We reached the Mweka Gate at 11:15 a.m. and signed out with the Kilimanjaro National Park.  A short bus ride took us to our celebration lunch hosted by our fabulous mountain staff. They sang a few traditional songs and got our gang dancing.  We took the opportunity to distribute tips and thank the entire team of hard working men. 

A two hour bus ride got us back to Rivertrees Inn and showers and fresh clothing.  We relaxed and started the process of shifting gears from climbing to safari-going. 

We’ll head out first thing tomorrow to see what we can see at Lake Manyara. 

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn and team