Having a blast! We arrived back to Arusha from the Trek yesterday. Everybody reached the summit, 4560m above sea level after 3 days & 1 night of solid walking (over 30 hours of walking).
On the Wednesday morning we got picked up by Maasai Wanderings (the group organising the trek) and all squished in to a 12-seater bus. The drive there was amazing and we got our first glimpse of African wildlife seeing Zebras, Giraffes, Buffalo and 'Pumbas' (warthogs). We started the trek after a deliciously fried lunch and began our initial 6 hour climb to Miriakamba hut at 2500m above sea level. To keep ourselves entertained while we walked we sang, learnt African songs from our guides Ozzy & Buster and told stories whilst enjoying the scenery. After climbing 1000m we reached the hut being greeted with a platter of warm popcorn and hot chocolate whilst playing a competitive game of UNO. We had a delicious dinner of soup, potatoes and vegetable stew with the Tanzanian staple of stale, sugary bread. We slept in a comfortable wooden hut with bunk beds. Everybody slept like a baby after a hard day of walking.
We woke up early on Thursday to warm peanut butter, sloppy porridge and some more stale bread. The hike began with lots of steep stairs that seemed to go on forever. This tested our endurance. During the walk we noticed we were higher than the clouds and saw the beautiful view of the tip of Kilimanjaro. We arrived at Saddle Hut after another 7 hours of walking, reaching 3500m. After a short break of popcorn & UNO we tackled Little Meru peak at 3800m, to help us acclimatize for the next day. At the peak we saw a breathtaking view of the Meru summit which we would reach the next day. We were also treated to an African rhyme & dance from our guide Buster. We descended to Saddle Hut taking our total walking time up to 15 hours. We had an early dinner and rushed to bed to get as much sleep as we could.
After 3 hours sleep we woke up at 11pm, 2 hours more than Jen (Redknap) who left early to allow for her her ankle & knee injuries. We followed our head torch lights up the mountain for hours. Unfortunately, not everyone was feeling 100% so we had constant breaks throughout to ensure everyone made it to the top. The walk consisted of rock-climbing, sheer cliff faces, and steep, slippery volcanic ash mounds. Many people questioned why we were doing this at 2am in the morning. We got our hopes up everytime we saw one of the billion false summits, that we were all hoping would be the top. At 6:30am as the sun slowly began to rise we got our first glimpse of the real Mt Meru summit. This was accompanied by a spectacular view of Mt Kilimanjaro with the sunset which made for a good pic.
Eventually we gathered below the summit where everyone was feeling tired & sore. We all touched the flag together and took a well deserved rest at the top. The summit was freezing but nobody cared and everyone was scrambling for a good picture. We also enjoyed probably the highest game of UNO being played in Africa. The descent from the summit began at 8:15 am when most people would still be in their beds. The descent tested our knees & quads & calf muscles & ankles & backs & will power. Even after arriving at Saddle Hut we had to continue our walk down to Miriakamba to stay the night.
We began our final descent at 8: 20am and walked for about 4 hours to reach the base of the mountain, where we were greeted by buffalo with certificates and flags and had a group photo and a nice coke. We then had a little ceremony where we thanked all the porters (24), cooks, guides, leaders etc. and gave them all tips to show our immense gratitude for their hard work & support in getting us up the mountain. They performed an African song and we sung the song Buster had taught us in reply. We then crammed back into a bus and returned to Arusha, for a well-deserved and highly demanded rest where the smell quickly dispersed into the shower. After a really good group debrief we went out for an early Indian dinner at Big Bite - a group favourite. On the way we saw two lots of wedding cars being accompanied by a loud African band on the back of a ute. The Indian well & truly cleared our system and everyone enjoyed a really good sleep.
Jess & Max cutely versed each other in an alphabet memory game to entertain themselves. In true style, they tied. Elise became besties with Buster discussing the widest range of topics including politics, tax systems, schooling subjects etc. Will & Rach led the group in a range of African and Barker and Australian chants & songs to lift the spirits and spread a bit of Red Fever in Africa. Alec took spectacular sunrise photos of Kili. Zoe showed her true determination and fighting spirit to summit the mountain. Tracey showed her huge mental strength to reach the summit (which made up for her physical strength). Mel acted like as a caring mother as we strode to the summit, ensuring we were constantly drinking and happy. Sara took out the award for falling over the most, much to the amusement of the rest of the group.
Steph had extreme blisters but pushed through without complaint. Bri maintained her bubbly self and was dubbed female Bear Grylls due to her spider-man like climbing abilities. Courtney proved her athletic ability in racing down the mountain. Sally wasn't so keen to make friends with the giant ravens at Saddle Hut. Stu won UNO at the summit and was crowned UNO alititude king. Sally Collins is an excellent leader and pushed us up the mountain. Papa (Rob Schulz) inspired us and provided light-hearted humour depsite suffering knee issues on the way down. Jen was a true inspiration to everyone with her determination.
Today we are having a relaxing day in Arusha, planning on returning to the markets and having a nice lunch. Tomorrow morning we are saying goodbye to Arusha and being picked up by our Safari leader Godwin for 4 days of exploring African wildlife which everyone is really really really excited for.
Next update will come in Moshi, following the Safari. Hope all is well in Sydney.
Until next time,
Love from everybody.
Jess B, Zoe D, Alec N, Sara R & Stu C.
No comments:
Post a Comment