Thurs 20 Sep
Up early for what was to be a sustained descent through moorland and our first stopping point was at Mandara (2700m), the first stopping place on the Marangu route. There was a noticeable difference in the vegetation the further we descended as it became much lusher and more tropical plus we also spotted some monkeys lurking in the trees. After another couple of hrs trekking we finally reached the National Park gate at Marangu (1830m) where we officially finished our Kili climb and signed the logbook for the final time.
Jeeps were waiting for us and we quickly drove back to the hotel for a well deserved and much needed shower. It took a couple of showers and as long as there was hot water but we all, more or less, eventually managed to return to former shades of ourselves and started the celebrations with the obligatory bottle of Kilimanjaro by the hotel pool, which was like nectar and would have turned into an all night session if hadn’t been for yet another early start the next morning with our flight to Zanzibar.

Fri 21 Sep
We set off in two jeeps to get to Kilimanjaro International Airport. The jeep I was in was the first to arrive and after 5mins or so when we didn’t see the other jeep, panic stations started to set in as the screen was flashing the departure sign for our Zanzibar flight. After 15mins they rolled in, and it turns out they were late because of bank trouble and trying to find an ATM machine that would accept their cards. We offloaded our luggage and legged it to check in. There were a couple of people in front of me and they were told to run to get the flight and then it was my turn and I was met with the same message. After running to the departure gate with the people who were just ahead of me, it transpired passengers for our flight still hadn’t boarded yet. Plus, when the other trekker behind had caught up with the rest of us, she told me that as I had left, the check-in girl who was about to put the luggage label on my case had casually tossed it to the ground, put her bag on top of mine and proceeded to charge her because her bags were overweight. Fortunately the girl told them to put my bag on the carousel and to weigh her bag again which “magically” resolved everything. Moral of the story, make sure you see your bags being checked in.
The plane eventually took off and we were finally on our way to Zanzibar. The flight over was quite short and the plane flew quite low. Once we arrived and disembarked, the difference was immediate with the high temperatures and the clear azure sky, after Kili adventure it finally felt like we were on holiday.
African Walking Tours had arranged a bus for us to take us to our hotel, the Sau Inn which was on the south east coast of the island at Jambiani and it was a little slice of heaven. The hotel was on the oceanfront and the beaches really do merit all those superlatives describing their finer qualities. After checking in we spent the first day drowning copious quantities of Kilimanjaro and enjoying the seafood while taking in the great sea view and beach. The hotel also had a diving school attached to it and we got some great photos watching people go off for their practice dives. One of the girls managed to book a dolphin spotting cruise the next day to keep the momentum going.

Sat 22 Sep
Yet another early start and we left around 8.30 for Kizimkazi where a dhow was waiting to take us out to the Indian ocean. A couple of other dhows, much faster than ours, were also going out in the same direction so we weren’t sure about our chances of spotting any dolphins. Once we were far enough out, and started to drift, our guide saw them but they had eluded our eyes and we quickly followed them. Once he caught sight of the small school of dolphins riding the waves, it was quickly into the water and everyone was charging back and forth trying to keep up with them
We got back to shore just after midday and had lunch and it back to the hotel for some more time on the sun loungers by the ocean. After dinner that evening, we took a moonlit walk along the beach to a hotel further on up the beach where a party was going on and sampled some of the deceptively strong cocktails which finished off a great day.

Sun 23 Sep
We left Jambiani and travelled to Stonetown which was to be our final stop on our brief Zanzibar tour. Stonetown has to be seen to be believed and after the relative peace and quiet of the last few days on beach at Jambiani it was an assault to the senses. Our hotel, the Hotel International, was on the outskirts of the old part of town, but as the streets were so narrow, we had to go the last half kilometre on foot to get there. The town is a tapestry of sights and sounds. The Hotel International could have been a sight in itself, it was supposedly styled like a Swiss cuckoo clock, this was what the guidebook said and the bizarre thing it did in a way resemble that. There were four floors but there could have been twenty four floors given the steepness of the flights of stairs that we had to climb and as luck would have most of us were on the fourth floor. Our thigh and calf muscles were still recovering from Kili and most of us were clutching the banister when we were going up to our rooms.
After refreshing, we got some lunch and started our tour of Stonetown. This was also our opportunity to get some needed souvenirs and some people in our group were more successful than others in haggling with the locals. It was fun but it did get to be a bit wearisome especially when some of them tried to follow you and wanted to introduce to their friend who could offer us a very good price and some of them were admirably resistant to our attempts to shake them off.
We discovered some fixed price stores which had air-conditioning and finished getting last bits and pieces there. After that as one of our group had been to Zanzibar before, she took us to the Serena Inn, a chain of hotels owned by the Aga Khan and we had small bite to eat there. Mental note for the next time, as that place was excellent.

Mon 24 Sep
Our last day on Zanzibar and the adventure promised to continue right up to the departure. I said goodbye to my room mate as he was the first to leave. We had set the alarm clock but needn’t have bothered as right on cue at 4am, we were woken up by the call to prayer at the mosque and the chanting and praying continued for an uninterrupted 45 mins. It was listening to a gospel choir and it seemed that our hotel was and my bedroom window was overlooking the mosque. After that sleep was intermittent, until breakfast time.
We had just over half the day left before we had to go to the airport. We spent the time wondering along the shorefront and going back to the Serena Inn for a slap up lunch and the sea food was scrumptious and flavoured with the best of the island’s spices. A great way to end the holiday and celebrate my birthday, with a view overlooking the Indian Ocean.
After legging it back to the hotel, we caught the bus to the airport. Though the airport is small, it was still difficult to figure out where to check out and we had to stand out in the heat of the afternoon sun while staff seemed to turn up intermittently to check people in. Umbrellas were passed out as some people were beginning to wilt under the glare of the afternoon sun. Eventually word filtered through our small queue that the plane was already full because of passengers bumped off an earlier flight where the aeroplane was too small and so they were taking spaces on ours and subsequently we were to be the next lot bumped off. After waiting needlessly in the fierce heat, mutiny was threatening to break out and after a lot of fierce debate, some helpful staff managed to get us on different flights. I was supposed to be flying back to Nairobi and catching a flight there to Amsterdam and then to Dublin, instead myself and most people who were bumped off the Nairobi one were now going to Dar Es Salam and taking a KLM flight there to Amsterdam. The layover in Dar was long but we were all grateful to have got a flight and seat. And so began the long journey back to reality…

I came across this quote on another blog about Kili and it does begin to summarise my own experience of climbing Kilimanjaro; George Mallory, when asked why he wanted to climb Everest, simply replied, “Because it is there.”
I still can’t describe why I have wanted to climb this mountain and why it has held my imagination captive but the memory of getting to the summit will always stay with me. It was as many previous climbers remarked when describing their own personal experiences, the most single most difficult mental and physical challenge I’ve ever faced and overcome successfully. I don’t have much to show for it apart from a fading tan but what I will take away with me from this experience is the knowledge that I was capable of such a feat and seeing it all the way through, from its highs and lows, to the end, and being stronger for it. That will always stay with me, and it helped to put many things into much needed perspective.