Waking up at Horombo hut we were sore and although feeling much better than the day before, still physically exhausted. After summiting at 6:30 a.m. We hiked for another 7 hours back down to Kibo hut and finally to Horombo to spend the night. We ate breakfast and headed out ready to get off the mountain and down to lower altitude. 
Jubilant that we had all made it to the top, we headed down with whatever spring was left in our step covering the distance to Mandara huts in less than 3 hours. Leaving our friends to their lunch at the huts, we continued down the path for another hour to a little lunch spot along the trail. Emerging from the woods to what we thought was a secluded picnic site, we were surprised to see several groups of porters waiting in the shade. Tucking into our lunch, we ate quickly, ready for the journey to be over. Rejoining our friends for the final hour and a half, we finally walked through the park gates, overjoyed that the walking was over. Our feet were tired, our legs worn out, but we were happy and looking up at the summit I could hardly believe that just a day ago we had been up there!
Drinking a delicious ice cold soda, we relaxed a bit while our guide signed us off the trail and obtained our official summit certificates. Piling into our pick up truck, we headed down to the companies office to unload, unpack and wash up a bit. Again, it was hectic at the office, and by the time we sat down with our crew in the bar nearly an hour had passed since our arrival. Thanking them for their assistance and hard work, we shared a few drinks as our guides presented us with our certificates and we presented them with some tokens of appreciation. To congratulate us, our guide sang a song about Kilimanjaro in his local language, complete with dancing and clapping, which needless to say took us by surprise. The man who had been mostly silent the last week was suddenly full of life, jumping around and singing.
Heading to Moshi in a combi that night, we were the talk of the bus with one man moving to the back of the bus just to sit next to me and practice his English. An hour later we were in town ready for a hot shower and a big comfortable bed. We had summited Kilimanjaro!
Grandpa and Jill,
I just stumbled on your blog. Looks like you guys are having a great time.
I climbed Kilimanjaro in 2007, and will never forget how difficult it was coming down the mountain having spent the whole night/morning climbing to the top. My guide sang for several hours…I think so that I wouldn’t pass out along the trail.
Where are you headed next? Will you make it to Lamu, Kenya? I definitely recommend visiting the war crimes tribunal in Arusha if you have a chance.
Looking forward to future posts,
Nick Ford
@Nick Ford – Glad you’re enjoying the blog. I wish our guide had sang, he just kept saying lets go mama, you’ll make it mama. 馃檪 Looking back it was funny, but at the time it was annoying. We’ve been to Lamu (the blog is a little behind), it was fabulous. What an interesting place- I could have spent several more days there. What was the tribunal like? I’ve never heard of it. Unfortunately we’ve passed through Arusha already, but I’m interested in finding out more. Keep in touch!
Congrats on the summit! I went up the Machame route in 2008 and it was fantastic. Tanzania is amazing.
Also climbed Mt Meru when I was there, was it on your radar at all?
@Dustin- Would have loved to do more than one, but the budget was a big issue. Seems like Meru is a popular pre-Kili hike for acclimatization. How did it compare to Kili?
@Jillian Meru was great, far fewer people (the only allow a certain amount).
Where Kili = no wildlife besides birds, Meru is full of wildlife. Had a close encounter on the trail with a cape buffalo, walked with giraffes, monkeys, dik-dik etc. I had mild AMS on summit morning that made it especially tough, but the trail and the weather (brutal!!!) already made it more difficult than Kili by a long shot.
Steep cliffs on either side make it a freaky summit morning. When I asked my guide why we start so early he told me that if you could see, you wouldn’t want to go… As it turns out the storm reduced any visibility (in light) to pretty much nothing anyways (worst storm both the guide and the park ranger had ever been in on Meru). Super tough day, really took a lot out of me, but it was very rewarding to have done it.
The climb made Kili easy. While others were struggling with illness and fatigue, it was just like a hike for me. Even summit day, which was super long, didn’t take a ton out of me.
Now you have an excuse to go back to Tanzania sometime, it was great being there!
@Dustin- sounds like we missed out on Meru. It would have been great to see animals on the hike. There’s always next time though! Hopefully someone else will be inspired by your comment and take pictures for us 馃檪
There are a few Mt. Meru / Arusha National Park pics @ my old (and unfinished) Tanzania blog http://kili08.blogspot.com/
@Dustin- Thanks for sharing! Any desire to do everest?
@Jillian I’ll do Everest Base Camp when I get to Nepal in a couple of months. I’ve got a few high altitude treks and trek-able summits on my todo this year in Borneo, Nepal x2, Morocco, Bolivia, hopefully more!
I passed on an opportunity to get some mountaineering training last May on Mt Rainer, and my Dad (who did go) has since been to Ecuador for a couple of peaks there. Mountaineering isn’t on my radar at the moment, but you never know. When I was growing up I dreamed of being on the Everest summit…
What are your future plans for mountains?