Mt. Meru Day 4 (Bahati, Rogers & Me)

What goes up, must come down. And so after a short rest and snack at the summit, it was time to pursue the long way dback to camp. Typically, when descending Meru, hikers return to Saddle Hut, eat lunch, and then continue downwards to Mirakamba hut for the night (unless they opt to take a vehicle the rest of the way down).

I, however, was on my own different track. While, I gained some energy from the food and daylight, it was still painfully slow for me to move down the mountain. The downward trek caused a constant pounding of my big toe into the tip of my boot, resulting in me opting to walk the last 4 miles in my socks. By the time I finally reached Saddle Hut, with my hiking shoes in hand, no one expected me to walk any further.

And so on Day 4 of my trek, I only had two travel companions: Bahati and Rogers.

Bahati's name means "luck" in Swahili, which is a great moniker for a Park Ranger. Rangers are required for every hike up and down Meru as they are armed with a rifle and ready to take down bisons or other animals that may attack.

Bahati was a pretty loquacious,16-year-old guy. He told me about certain plants and their nicknames (like nature's toilet paper, pictured below). He told me how that he was 5 years into his 6 year park service commitment, which meant that they would soon send him and pay for him to attend university to study forestry. He even told me about his last gig as a ranger at the Serengeti national park, which made him feel like like a ranger and more like an enlisted solider, as he frequently had to protect the animals from Somali poachers.

Rogers, of course, was my guide. And over the last 24 hours, I had gained a sort of affection for him. He was like my Haymitch, a little bit of a mess up, who came through when it really mattered. And despite the fact that I was complete pain, I think he had grown fond of me too.

Rogers gave me my first Swahili lesson, and I mastered counting to 10. He joked around about my terrible state the day before. And he entertained me with stories of rescues he had led down Kili. During one of these, he mentioned having to carry one of his 300 pound clients down the mountain. Which caused me to pause. I had to ask why he hadn't offered to carry me when I was tired, vomiting and shoeless.

His reply: "you were still walking."