The stats:

• The Descent:
  • 5km Uhuru Peak to Kibo Camp
  • 4 hours and 45 minutes from 8:00am until 12:45pm.
  • 8km from Kibo Camp to Horombo Camp
  • 3 hours and 30 minutes from 2:30pm until 6:00pm
• 18 hours of total hiking today in 16 hours and 35 minutes. Phew.

The time has come. Jason has been looking forward to this day since halfway through day one. No more climbing. It is all downhill from here. If we are breathless, it will be because we are going quickly, not because there isn’t any oxygen in the air. The only thing left to do is start. Let’s go.

We are so lucky that the weather is still cooperating with us. The sun is out in full force, there isn’t a cloud in the sky and the temperature is perfect for hiking. We are genuinely enjoying this stretch going back down. To be able to take a full stride and not be breathless was such a treat.

Just before Stella Peak,   we encounter another group on their way to the summit. We throw a bunch of words of encouragement their way because our memories of that ascent is still so fresh. They’ll need all the good thoughts they can get.

In just over an hour, we have reached Gillman’s Peak. For reference, it took us just over two hours to do the reverse. It is here that we take minute to steel ourselves for the rocky section coming our way. We know that it will be technical and we are even more tired now. Ola and Charles are great as they encourage us and remind us to go ‘pole pole’. I did have a scare halfway down as I missed a rock and actually fell down. Luckily, Ola and Ally, with their catlike reflexes, were able to catch me before I slid any further. Phew!

We eventually made it through that treacherous, rocky terrain and were now in that soft, thick, black, sandy terrain. Instead of doing switch backs down the mountain, like we did on the way up, we took the fast way down. Wow. This was fun and exhausting! You take a step, sink a couple of inches and slide about a foot or so and repeat. We did this for about 1.5 km.

It was during this descent that my altitude nausea decided to flex. I think I only had half of an applesauce packet in my stomach, but it came out with a vengeance. The thought that we were only going to feel better as we kept descending helped fuel me to keep going.

Unfortunately, this step-slide, step-slide killed Jason’s quads. I felt so badly for him. He was so looking forward to the descent that we both failed to appreciate the amount of impact it puts on your joints and muscles.

As we were making our way down, we noticed another large group of about 30 people making their way up. Ugh. We could only feel a bit sorry for them. It was about 10:30am and they’ve just begun their climb. It is going to be a very long day and the sunshine is starting to disappear. We could only wish them luck. This climb is slow going at the best of times, but travelling with a group so large can only slow you down as everybody needs to take off their jackets at different times, etc. They are going to be out there forever!!

About ¾ of the way down, we saw Juma and Michael (another one of our porters) making their way up to us carrying cold guava juice, smiles and encouragement. We all sit down in a patch of sunshine and take a load off. This is quite a workout so it is really nice to see the support from our team. It truly does take us a village to get our butts up (and down) that mountain.

But that’s enough of that, the weather is changing and our day is nowhere near finished so we must keep going. Jason’s legs, however, were in no condition. They just gave up. Every step was like shards of glass cutting into his quads. Both Charles and Ola stuck with him, ready to lend a hand, an arm or a shoulder. Never once did they hurry things along or act like we were going too slow. It was nothing but patience, compassion and kindness. These two men are angels.

There was a welcoming committee when we got back to camp – high fives, hugs and a whole lotta ‘way to go’s’. It was perfection. Juma, having taken possession of our camera, managed to get a lot of the celebratory shots for us.

I was so proud of Jason, pushing through the pain of each step. With the amount of stress we had put on our bodies in the past five days, we had no way of predicting exactly how our bodies would resist, fight and break down. We just had to keep going.

We are finally back at our room, but if you think we can now crash and go to bed, you’d only be a little bit right. We can crash, but only for 45 minutes because we still have to pack up, eat lunch and leave within the next 1.5 hours. We have enough time to give Jason a fistful of painkillers and douse him in muscle cream. Lunch came in the form of a delicious hot soup, of which we ate a third of a bowl. I guess the appetite still isn’t around.

Before we knew it, it was time to leave Kibo Camp and make our way down 8km to Horombo Camp. The sign says it should take us 2 hours. LOL. Right. First of all, the weather had changed drastically; it was now blizzarding. We counted our lucky stars that at least we weren’t the poor souls stuck in their tents during this. Brrr. Secondly, we are exhausted. Remember, we’ve already climbed for 8.5 hours, descended for 4.5 hours, haven’t slept in a long time and haven’t really eaten in a couple of days. I will be happy if we make to camp at all, let alone in a decent amount of time.

We didn’t enjoy this section of the trail any more than when we climbed it. I don’t think we took a single picture in 8km. Jason’s painkillers wore off about 6km in and we just wanted to get to camp. No distractions. One foot in front of the other. At least we were able to make normal sized strides. So, there’s that.

We got back to camp just as the sun was setting. We turned down supper – even the thought of it was too overwhelming and opted instead to go straight to bed. Except, we did have to take one picture of our Day 6 accomplishments. That walk to the sign darn near killed us. Honestly, the most difficult picture we’ve taken yet.

We were in our beds, drugged up, tucked in nicely and asleep by 7:30pm. Peace and bliss returned.

Interesting note: we were woken up at midnight by yelling, door banging and general unrest. Apparently, that group we saw climbing up at 10:30 am had just arrived at camp. Ugh. That was a long day. I’d be upset too. Yell away fellow Kili climbers, yell away.