Mt. Kilimanjaro: the last hike

For the first time, I was warm enough during the night to loosen the zipper on my sleeping bag. It is a new down bag rated to 0•F and I've been very happy that it kept me warm and comfortable despite the sub freezing to near zero temperatures each night. Our last day in Mt. Kilimanjaro National park began with a pancake, porridge, omelet breakfast at Mweke Camp. Although I had two chewable Bepto Bismol tablets last night, and my nausea had receded a bit, I still had no appetite. So I struggled to eat a few bites of the omelet and drank some cocoa.
After we broke camp the whole support team: 3 guides, a cook, and 16 porters all got together and sang a traditional Swahili song of thanks and good fortune to celebrate our success. But considering all the work they did, we should have been singing them the song! We did provide a long round of applause. Its also traditional on the last day to leave any gear no longer needed for the chief guide to give to the porters. Unfortunately, I didn't have anything to leave behind, but I gave the chief guide $20 as an extra tip for the porters (more on tipping below).
With the morning festivities done we set off down our last trail for the exit at Mweke Gate. Although only 6 miles the trail was fairly steep as it descended about 4400 feet. This last section was once again through rain forest, initially the canopy was about 50 feet, but by the end over 100 feet. Typical of rain forest, the trees were covered in vines and the trunks in moss. The trail was muddy and slippery, and because of the steepness, a series of mud steps held in place by logs. This was tough on my left knee, and I quickly got into a rhythm of using the two poles to support my weight when ever I stepped forward onto my left leg.
After about a half hour we were passed by a medical evacuation team taking a young woman down in the stretcher. She didn't seem to be conscious, which may have been fortunate. The stretcher had a single tire and was rolling down the log steps fast causing very strong jarring. I hope she is alright. Despite the success of our group, this was a vivid reminder of the dangers on the mountain. Indeed our guide told us an American climber was killed just last month when he was hit by a falling rock.
We reached the gate at about noon and had to go through sign out formalities. It was also a chance for local artist/vendors to sell carvings, bracelets, knives(?), flags, T-shirts, cokes, and beers. Typical of such tourist locals, if you bought anything you were mobbed.
After our guide had certified our reaching the summit, we headed down into Moshe.
The transition from park to local farms was dramatic. Most of the rain forest trees had been cut and small mixed banana, corn, and cow farms started right at the boundry. The condition of the land was better here than in the Serengeti, Lake Baringo, or other dry scrub or grasslands. Almost everywhere in drier parts of East Africa the land has been over grazed, leading to severe erosion and loss of viable grass. I hope there are efforts ongoing to improve land conservation or things could get desperate for the small herders.
Soon we reached Bristol Cottages, and although it was passed 1:00 PM, we all voted to shower before lunch, long, hot, heavy scrubbing showers.
Before our chief guide left we all felt the support team deserved a significant tip, each of us put in $200 and gave the total to Freddy. As chief guide it was his responsibility to divide the $1200 among his 20 person team according to their experience and work effort. Our tour operator had told us it was "traditional" to give a tip in the range of $130 to $220. But we learned from Freddy that only the cook and 3 guides are paid by the tour group! The rest of the team gets paid only from tips, hence we felt the team deserved the higher end of the range. The did a lot of work for so little!
At dinner Freddy returned to give each of us our personal Certificate for climbing to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro.
As we chatted during dinner it was apparent Freddy had leadership skills that would make him a star on the motivational circuit in the US. Maybe I'll become his agent! Freddy seeks out men as porters who will be responsible with their tips, if they blow it on alcohol, they are off his team. He asks each one "what is your ambition in life? Do you want to be more than a porter?". If yes, he helps them develop the skills to advance with on the job training: porter to assistant cook or tent specialist, to waiter (who must learn english), to assistant guide (who must also study the mountain, its geology, biology, and history), then prepare assistant guides for the Tanzanian National Park Guide test and certification. This kind of a career path can take 5 to 10 yrs. Freddy hopes to move up to business manager, the person who arranges local transportation, accommodations, and provides introductions to all new climbers. I hope he succeeds.