Kilimanjaro: Day 6 - Retreat

Karranga camp

I tried to get a good night-shot.  It's out of focus because it was pitch black outside.  I used an 8" shutter-speed and I didn't have my glasses on.  At least the thumbnail looks good.

Waking up at Karranga camp now gave us the chance to safely get down the mountain.  A rescue and supply road to Millenium and Mweka camps offered us a good route down.  Unlike on the other routes, there were no other hikers and the only porters which passed us were our own.  We saw a few very sweaty people on their way up this trail as they carried 30kg of supplies on the back and head towards Karranga camp but otherwise this trail was deserted.  Eventually we came accross a shoulder-stretcher which would be used to get someone with limited mobility down the mountain.  A little later we came accross a stretcher with a wheel and massive shock absorbers on it.  I suppose this would be easier for the people carrying you down, but Katie did not want to ride that at all as this was not flat terrain.

Uhuru peak as seen from Karranga.  We would have summited in 2 days from the right in this photo.

After about 5km and 2 hours of walking downhill, we arrived at Millenium camp.  Our guide used to work for the parks and maintain the trails so he knows everyone at these stops.  As soon as the rangers saw him, they casually teased him for not getting us up the mountain.  At this point we were also at the edge of the rain-forest.  After another 3 km and 1 hour of walking, we arrived at Mweka camp where our porters had our table and chairs set up for lunch. which consisted of soup, roast potatoes, chicken, and sauce.

Katie in the rain-forest during our descent.

From here, we continued downhill where we came accross a chameleon.  Katie loves lizards so this was probably her favorite part.  Our guid picked him up off of a rock where he was yellow and stuck him on a green brach where he turned green.  He was then put on a branch with red leaves where he turned red.  This was fun, but we had to continue so we helped the chameleon cross the path and then continued.

Once we were closer to the bottom, we came accross a road where a jeep/ambulance (I'd like to dub it the Jampulance) was waiting for us.  It took us the rest of the way to the park gate where we signed out, paid the tips to our crew and departed back to the hotel two days and 1265 m short of our target.  Katie took a few days to relax and is still recovering, but is much better.  A healthy Katie is something that I wouldn't have traded for anything.

Good-bye Kilimanjaro, I'll conquer you yet!

This climb is dedicated to our uncle Paul.  We knew you would have loved to join us.  When you beat lymphoma, we'll hit Mont Blanc or do another run at Kili.

Paul on Kilimanjaro