June 25 report from Arusha

10,500 feet

We awake at Milleneum camp around 6:30 am and leave the camp near 9 am. Everyone is feeling much better but very tired and in desperate need of a shower. The plan is to hike down for 1-1/2 to 2 hours to another camp, then 3 more hours to our pickup point.

The hike to the first camp is basically down a washout ravine – steep and over many loose rocks. As we near the camp Michelle, up to now the only one of us not to have gotten injured or sick, does something to her knee. She cannot bend her right knee. We hobble into the first camp.

The stretchers that are normally at this camp are already being used up the mountain for rescues and emergencies. Our guides have a soft stretcher with them in addition to the portable oxygen chamber that they have kept near us the entire trip. Michelle is loaded onto the soft stretcher and six porters and a guide start her down the mountain. Brian, Allison and I follow with the other guide. We can barely keep up – and these guys are not only carrying Michelle but also some of their regular gear. We are now in the damp, slippery rain forest, below 9,000 feet. Our pickup point is at 5,200 feet.

We finally meet up with a park ranger and a driver in a Toyota Land Cruiser. I think there were seat belts for five or six people in the Land Cruiser. We had AT LEAST 16 people piled in and on the vehicle, in addition to lots of luggage on the roof. The ride down was hairy to say the least. Michelle might have had thoughts about a rollover at this point.

We then go to our original hotel, pick up the luggage we had left there for the remainder of our trip and head to Arusha. We decided to stay in a nicer hotel that we had initially planned for the back-end of our trip.

The Arusha hotel is very nice. We check in, each take very long showers then have a nice dinner at the hotel. Our stomachs have all shrunk considerably. We ordered a typical amount of food for dinner, however not of us came close to finishing. We never got close to desert. All the food was great except for the steak – no where does steak like the US. Brian and Allison talk about finding a McDonald’s soon.

Tomorrow we go on a two day safari in Arusha National Forest. We have hired a private driver for two days, so if it’s not than great or we’re not quite up to it we can head back to the Arusha Hotel.

By the time we finally get to bed, around 11 pm, Michelle’s knee is much better but still pretty stiff.

Kevin, Michelle, Brian & Allison