The remainder of Friday 24 August 2001
BARAFU HUT to MWEKA (MAIN) HUT
Nik climbed into the tent sometime between 7 and 9AM. I had already woken up a few times in the night to take off insulation as the sun rose, so this was just another brief stir before passing out again.
"My brother almost died! He had a cold and didn’t tell me about it util we were far up the mountain. I'll tell you more later." Philip then showed up at the tent with cups of orange drink. Then a quick return to oblivion.
I crawled out of the tent sometime around noon to pack, wash up and take photos. The views from Barafu were perfect for the panoramic camera which I brought along with my point-and-shoot. Over in the Hofburg Palace, I spotted Ianko lolling about in underwear, looking haggard and oblivious to potential onlookers. I left him to his misery. Godi and I sat down with few of the porters to joke around while the Europeans awoke and got their gear packed.
We hiked down the Mweka trail through the alpine desert area headed for Mweka high camp at the edge of the moorland zone. It’s the last view of Mawenzi Peak you get while descending this trail. The Ivanovs lagged behind us, not saying much. They were most likely still deep in recovery from altitude sickness. Andrea and I walked well ahead, checking out the helichrysum flowers while getting a running monologue from Godi about the many intersecting trails we came across on the descent.
Mweka high camp was occupied by two park attendants manning the de rigeur hut. 2 German hikers we ran into a few times that day joined us for a rest. We stopped only briefly before heading down another 2 hours or so to the upper forest level.
In the last hour of the hike down to Mweka main Camp, the Ivanovs sprang to life. The rapidfire nonsensical arguments in Bulgarian msut have tipped me off. Then Ianko sprinted ahead in the last half hour or so, beating us to Mweka main Camp (10,168 ft/ 3100m).
Another warning came from Godi about theft here which I relayed to the group. Those luggage locks were worth every cent! Before dinner, the 4 of us gathered to portion out the tip money for distribution at Mweka gate tomorrow. While walking around the camp not too long after this Godi took an opportunity to slyly throw in his opinion on how much we should tip. While I appreciated his concern for his team, I countered the most egregious of his bullshit with a few hard facts, then assured him everyone would be taken care of.
At dinner I donated to Ianko the shaker of powdered exotic chile peppers I brought from the U.S.. It had become a fixture at our meals on the mountain and a clear favorite of Ianko’s. He was delighted enough to speak in whole sentences for a few minutes.
Soon we turned in. In our tent, Nik and I did some last minute tip discussion. I threw on some more of my own money here and there for the truly deserving. We slept well.