To the end and back again

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Day 7
Ok, so one would think that with the pervious day we deserved, even earned, a leisurely walk out to the gate and a VERY much needed shower. Not so apparently. We learned late the previous evening that the hike out today was "around" 18k?! What?! Bleep, bleep!! Every time we had a briefing, Joseph would say our walk before lunch, to our destination or anywhere for that matter would take 3-5 hours. Today was no different and started out at 7 with the goal of reaching the gate at 12:30-1pm. We were still high enough when we started to be above the clouds, our last sunrise on the mountain and it was a beauty. As we descended, the vegetation became more lush and green, it made a nice change from the rocks and inescapable sun. As we passed people hiking up we found ourselves wanting to warn them to turn around and run... instead we set them up the same way we were, it's hard but worth it. The same line others fed us on our way up. We also measured their ability in our minds: that one in the blue will make it the chick in the flip flops is toast etc... After about 4hours most of us had had enough. The people who had unattended blisters were really suffering and those with bad knees hobbled along. After 20k!!! We arrived at the main gate. We were some hurting units when we rolled into the jeeps for the ride back to Arusha. We didn't mind being jostling around in the jeep for 3 hours. Arusha is an interesting city a little sketchie, no more so than by our hotel. As we were driving into it I was starting to get the nervous giggles wondering how everyone was feeling about what kind of accommodations I booked. When the gates opened we were met with a little oasis in the middle of all the chaos and it was a very welcomed site indeed! We were greeted with fruit juice and wet facecloths. This was to be a theme at all the places we stayed. We were told about the water shortage and power outages in Arusha. We were all concerned about getting a hot shower, but after waiting for 1/2 hour the water was hot and we all got our initial rinse (we decided it would take at least 2 showers to get all the stink off!) We all went to the Baytree Hotel (fancy) for a celebration dinner, so nice to order a meal and have some laughs (get Cutis to tell you his story:). Back to the room Ahhh... a bed and a flush toilet. We were in heaven. Safari in the morning, can't wait!

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