Day 9: Mountain Day 7

Mweka Camp, 3100m ASL
Last night's rain had thankfully given up, though being perched in a rainforest we weren't expecting to stay dry the entire day. Hasani warned us that the weather usually rolled in around 11am, so we hit the trail early at 7am.

The track was thankfully very smooth and mostly mud free. Our hike to the gate was a mercifully brief 3 hour journey, enlivened only by thoughts of cold beer, hot showers and soft mattresses. And some white corborus monkeys in the trees above us, which were extremely hard to photograph.

Before we knew it, we were at the gate and our week-long trek was finally over. We signed the registration book, filled out a few forms and hopped on the bus back to Springlands Hotel. My phone decided to work again, so I called both Mum and Dad to tell them of our success. My joy was muted though with the sad news that Grandma had passed away on Saturday. I'm still pretty upset about it, but it just seems like it isn't real. I'll go home and everything will be fine. Mum also informed me that there'd been an enormous earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and that a nuclear power plant was melting down. Crazy what happens when you go off the grid for a few days.

On arrival back at Moshi we took care of some housekeeping - certificates, tips for Hasani and the porters, laundry, internet and so on. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and drinking with Tom and Sarka.

We had our safari briefing in the evening, where the big news was that we'd been given a free upgrade to lodge accommodation instead of basic camping due to the rainy season. Being thoroughly sick of camping, this was pure music to our ears and we went to bed very excited about the next few days.Read more