November 3 2001 - Marangu Village (6,000')

The original plan for today was to head back down to the Mweka gate and take a van back to the village, but Mweka Camp is having some sort of problem with its water supply so we hiked down the Marangu (a.k.a. "Coca Cola") Route instead. About halfway there we got back down into the rain forest zone, which is much better scenery than the sparse, rocky terrain that we started that day in. We saw Blue Monkeys, Colobus Monkeys, white slugs, and beautiful trees and waterfalls. Simon knew a couple of shortcuts and pretty soon we were back at 6,000 feet, walking right into Simon's village on foot! It was fun to have walked all the way from the peak to Simon's house without getting in a vehicle. We took turns showering & shaving which of course felt great.

November 4 2001 - Marangu Village (6,000')

Today it pretty much rained nonstop, which was fine because I mostly just wanted to rest. Mark's flight was today so he had some errands (souvenir shopping and so on) that he had to take care of, but Terry & I just kicked back and took it easy. Then for dinner everyone got together (the whole crew and us four tourists) in Simon's back yard for a little post-hike celebration.