The Way Down #2

We awoke in a buzzing camp, feeling much warmer than the previous mornings. Following some great grub it was time for the tipping ceremony. It's customary at the end of each climb to tip the guides and porters for all their hard work. A member of the group is nominated to thank each party and give out the tips. Both before and after this all the guides and porters sing to all the climbers.

For the next hours of trekking downwards all that could be heard were the hums of joyous adventurers, humming the tune of their song.

We travelled back down through the forest, even spying a few cheeky monkeys along the way.

After many, many hours we reached a point in the path that was only metres away from the final gate. Some of our group were still a way behind us so the guide with us, Declan, took us on a little detour to a beautiful, dazzling waterfall. The rocks around it and the water itself seemed to shimmer with gold.

Once we'd taken in the awe of the waterfall we made our way back up to reunite with the others. Walking just a few metres around the corner was Marangu gate, the official end to our climb.

We waited at the shop for a while for the others and bought t-shirts and passion fruit fanta. It was incredible how much of a treat a fizzy drink was.

I gave Joseph, the guide who helped us on the final day up the mountain, my hat and buff as I noticed he didn't have either. I hope he still carries them with him. He's a true friend and we still exchange emails together.

A bus greeted us and off we went to a lodge to rest up in preparation for our flights to Zanzibar. Arusha airport is the smallest airport you'd ever see in your life. After being waved through 'security' we boarded our tiny 15 seater plane.

The pilot was a lovely chap and the tininess of the plane made us feel all the more adventurous, Indiana Jones style. After a really short flight we touched down in gorgeous Zanzibar.

To be continued...