06 - Mweka Camp - Mweka Gate
Trail Information
Distance: 10km
Difficulty: Easy (though you may find it challenging due to the previous days exertion)
Transport: Bus from Mweke Gate
Terrain: Kilimanjaro spans five ecological zones. Each day progresses through one or more of them.
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Where people live, work and farm. this is the main altitude of Tanzania.
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Mountain forests and evergreen. Heavy rainfall and high humidity.
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The start of lower oxygen and stranger flora. There is little tree cover and the change from rainforest to moorland is both dramatic and obvious.
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You will see some real changes in your body at this altitude, very few animals and plants live at this level.
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Hail, snow, freezing winds are all possible. Nothing lives at this altitude. Rocks and stones are your only friends.
The final stretch offically starts in moorlands, but in truth you’ll spend the whole time in the Rainforest Zone until you cross the gate and leave the National Park.
Accommodation & Shopping
Mweka Camp
Altitude: 3,068 meters
A large camp spread out amongs the forest, the different groups have reasonably seperate areas in which to camp up, and there are a lots of small toilet blocks for each clearing. There is also a larger tiled block. The trail goes through the centre of Mweka Camp.
We were warned that locals from nearby villages sometimes come up in the middle of the night and cut the tent fabric to make off with anything valuable thats easily accesible, trusting in the hikers exhaustion after the summit. We had no issues, but it is worth arranging your tent with that in mind.
Mweka Gate
Altitude:1,640 meters
Mweke Gate is very similar to Machame Gate, even down to the same tent style entrance gate for cars. Its a little more ‘touristy’ than Machame, which seems focused on tours. Mweke has a bigger shop with some souveniers & drinks. If you’re buying a drink in a glass bottle, you’ll need to finish it there and return it. They will chase your bus if they think you’re leaving with the bottle.
There also a resturant or two offering BBQ which smelled amazing.
Sights
Final view of Kilimanjaro
Near the end of the trail, a break in the trees gives a final view back at Kilimanjaro.
Last view of Kilimanjaro from Machame Route
The Experience
Day 6
It was another 6am start, but given how early we’d all turned in, that was still a long sleep. We were all so practiced by this point we’d had our morning coffee delivery and were packed up by 6:20. We headed into the main tent for some breakfast, our final meal on the mountain before gathering outside to thank the G Fighters for everything. I ended up as spokesperson for the group. We ended with a group photo, with us and the incredible people from G Adventures that made the whole thing possible and kept us motivated.
We were prompt, setting off on the final stretch of the trail at 7:30.
Other than a short rocky section similar to the final stretch to Mweke Camp, the trail is good condition, but almost everything was aching for the final decent. You’re ‘officially’ starting at the very upper edge of the moorland zone, but really you’re already in the rain-forest from Mweke Camp, as it is nestled in the forest. All the way down to the gate is fairly thick rain-forest, but you get two brief but beautiful views back up at Kilimanjaro as you head down. It is difficult to process how far you’ve come, when you see Kili, it seems so distant, but only 24 hours before you were at the summit.
I had to give in to the aching muscles and hand my bag over to one of the guides for the final ten minutes, my calves were shaking, and between the camera and the rucksack I wasn’t sure I’d make it. Looking back, I should have handed it off much earlier. There was nothing but pride making me carry it.
Ending the hike as a team
The Gate’s gate appears suddenly as you round a corner. We paused at the gatehouse to let everyone catch-up before we passed the exit and walked into Mweke Gate and finished our climb of Mt Kilimanjaro. There was a real sense of joy that it was done, of accomplishment and of pride.
Marking the occasion
I picked up a cold cola, and having stopped with my altitude sickness medication once I hit the summit, was able to enjoy it. I also bought a patch showing Kilimanjaro for my increasingly cluttered mid-layer. Aside from the ‘official’ souvenirs sold at the small store/cafe, a number of independent traders are walking around with various things to sell you. They tried selling a t-shirt to one member of our group, who cheerfully tried it on before saying, no, it didn’t fit. Given we’d spent a week sweating and dirty with only the most basic washing facilities, I shudder thinking about the person who ends up buying that shirt.
With that, and with us all loaded up in the van, we pulled out of Mweke Gate and officially, and successfully ended our Kilimanjaro climb.
Total Distance: 10km
Altitude Dropped: 1,428 meters