Kilimanjaro Day 6, Safari, and Zanzibar

Day 6-

Final day on Kili- a little bittersweet for me. Glad to be headed back down to a hot shower and a nice bed to sleep on, but I was thoroughly enjoying my time on Kili. I don’t know if it is because it was my first mountain to hike outside of CO, or if I really did fall in love with the mountain- either way, I really enjoyed this mountain with its varying terrain, weather and elevation each day. I loved being in a new campsite, new scenery, new setting every evening. I would climb Kilimanjaro again any day.

Breakfast was pancakes with peanut butter and a cup of hot chocolate. I had given up on the Africafe coffee and figured I’d just stick with the sugary stuff to get some form of hydration in!

We took our group photos with Kili in the background, and then were treated to a Kilimanjaro song sung by our porters and guides. I’m sure they have sang that exact song hundreds of times, yet they all were still thrilled and happy while singing it. You could tell even though this was their job, they all still love being up on the mountain just as much as we did! Or..… Perhaps they were all just happy that we were headed down…. I’ll stick to my optimistic viewpoint J

The rest of the group headed down at about 8am, while I waited for Shafii to finish up around camp. He had asked if I wanted to continue running down- of course I agreed! We left at about 8:15am.

I will forever remember that run back down! The trail was technical in places, but nothing much different from the trails here in Colorado. It actually felt like I was back on my home trails (well… besides the jungle scenery… we don’t have that in CO!)

Headed back down!

The lower part of the trail was very packed and slick. I had a few good slips, but those were just reminders to focus harder and pick out better foot placements. Sometimes, a few of the porters would join behind me and run with us for a little bit. There is nothing more motivating than 2-3 African porters with huge packs running behind you!

We made it down at 9:45am- an hour n half back down what took about 2 days to hike up. I washed up in the ‘very nice’ (actually had a toilet and sink!) bathroom there at the gate, grabbed a ginger ale and headed over to the stream to dip my feet in. Flowing water had never felt better!

The rest of the group made it down quickly as well. I really enjoyed going with such a strong group of hikers!

Quick lunch of spaghetti, pumpkin soup and avocado, and then we were on our way to Arousha- about an hour n half drive from Moshi.

The next day was a rest day, then we headed out to our hotel for the safari’s. On the list was Lake Manyara National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, and Tarangire National Park.

After the safari’s, Jon, Tara and I headed to Zanzibar since we left a few days later than the rest of the group. 

It was my first real beach, and lets just say I did love it! A nice change of scenery. The sunrises and sunsets were incredible, but I’ll still take a sunrise in the mountains over the beach anyday.

We left the hotel in Zanzibar by taxi Saturday morning, followed by a flight, taxi then two more flights.  Our final travel time back to my house in Denver, CO was 40 hrs. 

This past week I’ve been resting up and recovering from congestion, sunburn, dehydration from the travel, blisters on my toes from the sand, and from stepping on a sea urchin! Returning to my regular diet with lots of veggies and fresh fruit definitely helped!

I’ve recovered the best I can, but still don’t feel exactly back to 100% for the Leadville 50 tomorrow. No worries though- I signed up for this! I am going to try my best and trust my training. I say bring it!