Episode 113: Special Guest, David Vaughn, Talks About Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro

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Ian: Hey everyone, you are listening to “Coffee with Gringos.” I'm Ian Kennedy.

Paige: And I'm Paige Sutherland.

Ian: And today we're very excited because with us today we have a very special guest, one of my very good friends from Missouri, back in the United States, from my old group of friends. We have David Vaughan with us today and he is going to be telling us about a really special trip that he took last year to climb the tallest mountain in Africa called Mount Kilimanjaro. So, listeners, remember if you get lost, make sure to go online and check out that audio guide and transcript. So, Dave, how are you doing man?

David: I'm doing well. How are you, Ian?

Ian: Great, thanks. It's been a long time so happy to have you on here and share your stories with all our listeners.

David: Well, it's great to be here and I’m glad to speak to your listeners.

Ian: So, since this is your first time on “Coffee with Gringos”, how about you tell us just a little bit about yourself.

David: Sure. My name is David Vaughan. I am located in St. Louis, Missouri. I work as an attorney. I grew up in Missouri, good friends with Ian. Yeah, I like to take trips and, I guess, that's why I'm on this podcast.

Ian: Exactly. We're really excited to hear what you have to say and so are our listeners because I think not a lot of people know a lot about traveling to Africa, in general.  So, it's going to be eye-opening for not only them but for us as well. So, like we mentioned, you took a really special trip last year that not very many people get to take—you went to Mount Kilimanjaro, which is the tallest mountain in Africa. It sits at, I think, about 5,895 meters, and if we convert that to feet that would be about 19,341 feet. How about you tell us a little bit about this experience.

David: Yeah, I'm glad you did the math because every time I'm in the airplane and they say you're above 10,000 (feet), I think, oh, you know, one point I was just at 19,000 feet which, if I do the quick math, I guess that's somewhere around 3000 meters, because of the 10,000-meter conversion. Anyway, the reason we decided to climb Mount Kilimanjaro is I have a group of friends from college—I went to the University of Missouri—and there's a group of guys that like to go out and explore the world. The first trip they took, I didn't go to, was in Brazil during the 2016 Olympics. I was preparing to go to law school so I was studying. They've also been to Thailand together, I was studying for the BAR, but went to Thailand by myself. And so, 2019 rolls around, and the next continent on our checklist is Africa. And then you got to choose which country to go to and so, we were looking at South Africa which has sharks and safari animals. But Tanzania also has great safari in the Serengeti, and they have beautiful beaches in Zanzibar. The real draw to Tanzania was climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, which is kind of a feat that most people can do if you put in the training and effort and time because it takes quite a while to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.

Paige: Several questions for you—how long did it take you to hike 19,000 feet and also tell me a little bit of what training you did?

David: Okay so, it is five and a half days up and one and a half days down, and base camp lies at 1,790 meters or 5,870 feet. So that's kind of where the climb starts, and you do a little bit, day by day. I ran a lot. Where I live in Missouri, there are not many mountains. I hiked the few trails I could, which the trails I hike have about 1,000-foot elevation, which meters is going to be really hard for me to convert.

Paige: It’s nothing.

Ian: Really measly.

David: You know, maybe 2,000 (feet) if I travel a little bit farther, but I did not. But it was just a lot of cardiovascular running work to get my lungs and body in shape and then just hope I could grit it out with the mentality of climbing up the mountain and facing the altitude.

Ian: I also imagine you guys didn't do this alone. I'm sure you went with some tour guides.

David: Right, there are rules about climbing up the mountain as a foreigner, so we had to work with people there to guide us up the mountain. It would be probably dangerous that they just let anybody up on the mountain and also, it's good to have business there in Tanzania to show the mountain and kind of share that part of their country with a lot of people all over the world. In my group, specifically, we had two to three assistant guides and one main guide, and then we had about seventeen to eighteen people with us at all times called porters that would just carry the tents up the mountain with us. We stopped at a butcher shop to bring up meat for us and then they also carried other food that would be cooked and go get water during the evenings or even during the day. We drank a lot of water on the mountain.

Ian: Speaking of the food and drinks that you were talking about like the meat and the water, is that all you ate, or did you guys have other things to eat and drink, I guess, I hope?

David: We had one night they made pizza, which was kind of an interesting pizza dish that probably isn't like your typical American style pizza or New York-style pizza. But it was a good take on that and still pretty good to eat when you're so far away from any restaurant or places to go get food. And then there was, obviously, a lot of tea and coffee.

Paige: Did you have any booze?

David: The original plan was to bring Tanzania whisky, I believe, or some kind of Tanzania spirit of some sort and to have that at the top. Whoever had that idea forgot it in the scramble to get things at midnight. But we all thought about it later and going down the mountain drunk after losing the amount of oxygen we probably didn't have at the top, it worked out well. And we did have the whiskey at the bottom of the mountain to where it wasn't quite at the peak but after that climb down and we all camped, we all drank a little bit.

Ian: Thank God, you can't climb a mountain without celebrating with some drinks, getting a little drunk afterward, at least. So, I'm glad you at least got to enjoy that Tanzanian whiskey at least at the bottom.

David: Yeah, it wasn't too bad.

Ian: You mentioned that the porters brought up everything for you. They brought up the supplies, maybe not everything, but they brought up supplies, the tents. Did they also bring up supplies for going to the bathroom? What was that situation like?

David: There was the toilet porter that his job was to carry the toilet up.

Paige: That's on his LinkedIn profile?

David: He received a higher tip than the other standard porters.

Ian: I hope so.

David: And it was well deserved.

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Ian: So, Dave, what was the most challenging aspect of this trip?

David: It was definitely that last day. Whenever your body is so high up, it's almost impossible not to have some sort of a headache. And the one thing I didn't expect is you really have stomach pains, and so I also took medication to stop any stomach pain because I wanted to reach the top of the mountain so badly.

Paige: I'm wondering because it is so high and dangerous with altitude, do you have to take a fitness test or is there any requirement? Or do you just have to pay the money?

David: The only real barrier is money. But if you're not in shape and don't take the climb serious, I mean, then it would just be a waste of money to go there and have a good time. Because one of the things we were able to do is, we were playing and listening to music, playing games each night.

Paige: Yeah, I can just picture people are stupid, and they're like, “Oh, that's a tourist attraction, I'll try it.” And they're just really out of shape.

David: I think the tourist attraction part loses its ability to get too many stupid people whenever you have to commit seven days.

Paige: Fair. Next question. I mean, like you said, you kind of trained a little bit, you knew what you're getting into, but obviously, it’s nothing is like the real thing. So, anything that surprised you or you didn't expect about the trip and the hike?  

David: I guess the surprising part was just from a viewing perspective, seeing how the trees changed so rapidly. It is somewhat comparable to places like Arizona or places in the western part of the United States to where you quickly go up the mountain and see everything. But I had never made that change on foot because in Arizona and Colorado and Montana, I would drive a car. And just seeing a rainforest at the bottom of the mountain and then at the top is frozen tundra type environment was something I knew coming, but definitely still surprising to see because a picture can't describe it. Your own eyes are going to give you a whole lot more information than a photo.

Ian: Were you guys able to see a lot of flora and fauna? So, like a lot of plants and animals up on the mountain or not so much?

David: Not too many animals at the bottom, a lot of flora, a lot of trees, a lot of flowers, and then slowly as you approach roughly 6,000 meters, the plant life starts to become smaller and smaller. And then at the top, it's dirt or sand and snow, and very few things live up that high on the mountain. And then as you go down, you start to see more life.

Ian: What would you say was the highlight of this entire trip?

David: Well, the highlight of Kilimanjaro would definitely be climbing it and making it to the top. If we want to talk about Tanzania, in general, I think the highlight of the Serengeti was blasting “Lion King, as we were in our safari then with approximately 120 Amstel lights. To where we bought out the grocery store there in Arusha, Tanzania. And then Zanzibar, we had a few interesting stories there. So, it was definitely an all-around fun trip.

Paige: And so, kind of wrapping up, I have to ask from your trip for people who are maybe tuning in and think that they might want to also climb Mount Kilimanjaro, any advice for those people?

David: I would train. I think I'll drop the company which was probably the best price point, and they're owned by people in Tanzania and Kenya is “Tanzania Safari Supremacy.” So, I liked using that company as opposed to there's a few others that are large but owned either by English or American companies and so it was nice to go to a local company that contracted out these workers that took us up the mountain.

Paige: You mean train like months in advance? Weeks? How long?

David: It probably depends on your shape, your fitness. But if you don't think you're in too good of shape, I would run for a good period of time—maybe six months out. And even if you don't need to train that hard, at least it's still a good motivator to get out and do something that is good for your fitness. To run or ride a bike, hike in the mountains if you can. Even if you don't need to do all that, it's still good for you.

Ian: Shake off that COVID weight.

Paige: I was going to just say, Ian. Everyone's sitting on their couch binging on Netflix.

Ian: Yeah, exactly, that's great advice, Dave. Then, I have to ask you, so you've already conquered Mount Kilimanjaro, you are a world-traveling man—what is next on your list?

David: Well, I have told you I've always wanted to go to Patagonia. That would be near the top. And there's also Japan for the 2021 Olympics that has been rescheduled. So, those are the two places on my “to do” list.

Ian: Perfect, man. I tell you what, come join me down here in Chile and we'll go down to Torres del Paine and to Patagonia and we'll check it all out. We'll make sure we have our mountain toilets and we'll conquer another one just like you did in Kilimanjaro. I think it sounds like a great plan.

David: You can carry the toilet this time, right?

Ian: You better give me a big tip. I deserve a big tip if I'm going to be carrying all that.

David: Sounds good. And thanks to all your listeners for sitting in and thanks to Paige and Ian. It was great to be here.

Paige: Yeah, thanks for joining us.

Ian: Thanks a lot for joining us, Dave. We really enjoyed listening to it and I think we're all excited and motivated to get out and train to go climb a mountain once all this COVID blows over, and we can do it. So again listeners, if you get lost, go online and check out that audio guide and transcript. Thanks for listening.

Paige: We'll see you next time.

Paige: “Coffee with Gringos” was brought to you by Dynamic English, where you can learn English simply by using it. If you’re interested in taking classes or just want to learn more, go to our website at dynamicenglish.cl. Thanks for listening.

Key Vocabulary, Phrases & Slang:

 1.     attorney (noun): lawyer.

a.     Her father is a well-known attorney from Chicago.

2.     eye-opening (adjective): unexpectedly enlightening; making one realize or discover something.

a.     The trip was such an eye-opening experience.

3.     Bar exam (noun): legal exam that a lawyer must pass to practice law in a certain place.

a.     My cousin studied for the bar exam months before he took it.

4.     Serengeti (noun): large and wild plain in Tanzania which includes wildlife.

a.     Buffaloes, zebras, and gazelles are some animals found in the Serengeti.

5.     draw (noun): something attractive or interesting.

a.     Mount Kilimanjaro is the main draw of visiting Tanzania.

6.     feat (noun): an achievement that requires courage, skill, or strength.

a.     Climbing the mountain is a great feat for anyone.

7.     measly (adjective): small; insignificant.

a.     The hills here are so measly that it’s hard to practice a big hike.

8.     to grit out (phrasal verb): to be strong and motivated to finish something difficult.

a.     It’s important to grit out the difficult moments if you want to reach the top.

9.     booze (noun): alcohol.

a.     They forgot to bring booze on the hiking trip.

10.  spirit (noun): strong distilled alcohol such as whisky, rum, or gin.

a.     We decided to drink some spirit when we reached the bottom.  

11.  scramble (noun): the disordered planning or organizing of something.

a.     We forgot our towels in the scramble to get to the beach early.

12.  peak (noun): the top or summit of a mountain.

a.     It took us several days to reach the peak.

13.  barrier (noun): obstacle that keeps something from happening.

a.     The main barrier for the climbers was the bad weather.

14.  out of shape (adjective): to be physically unfit.

a.     After months of quarantine, I am feeling very out of shape.

15.  tundra (noun): permanently frozen and flat type of climate.

a.     The cold tundra is home to few animals due to the extreme weather.

16.  to blast (verb): to play music loudly.

a.     We had a lot of fun blasting the “Lion King” during our trip.

17.  Amstel Light (noun): Dutch beer brand.

a.     We bought every Amstel Light that was in the store.

18.  to wrap up (phrasal verb): to summarize; to conclude.

a.     To wrap up, we will summarize the thoughts we have discussed today.

19.  to binge (verb): to do something in excess.

a.     My sister has been binging Netflix all weekend and won’t leave her room.

20.  to blow over (phrasal verb): to finish; to fade away.

a.     When COVID blows over, we will take our next trip together.