National Park After Dark - An Adventure Worth Dying For: Murchison Falls National Park

Episode Date: May 2, 2022

Grab your lifejacket, a paddle, and your best dry-bag because this week we're heading to different countries throughout Africa to explore some of the best whitewater rapids in the world. We follow the extraordinary life of Hendrik Coetzee, an avid outdoorsman who finds his true love and passion on the white waters. Not only are these some of the best rapids in the world, they're also some of the most dangerous, and are filled with aggressive hippos and man-eating crocodiles. During his journey he experiences extreme challenges, faces cannibalistic tribes, has huge adrenaline rushes, parties hard, and falls in love. Someone who lives life on the edge like this though - can't sustain it forever. For the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials at:Instagram: @‌nationalparkafterdarkTikTok: @‌nationalparkafterdarkSupport the show by becoming an Outsider and receive ad free listening, bonus content and more on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. Want to see our faces? Catch full episodes on our YouTube Page!Thank you to this week’s partners!Favor: Get your birth control subscriptions delivered to your door for free and make a donation to bedside.org to help low-income individuals get access to birth controlAnaLuisa: Use our link to shop Ana Luisa's Buy One, Get One 40% OFF saleBetterHelp: Get 10% off your first month of online therapy by using our linkFor a full list of our sources, visit http://npadpodcast.com/episodes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Death is guaranteed to every single one of us. Whether that time will be today, tomorrow, next week, 60 years from now, we just don't know. We don't have a lot of control over death. But one thing we do know for sure is that it's coming. That's why right now in this moment is what matters. What means the most is to enjoy life and to chase the things that bring you happiness. Happiness comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes, whether it means climbing to the most beautiful mountaintops, creating beautiful music, spending time with loved ones, or living life with

adrenaline, adventure-filled days. There's something in all of us that ignites a passion to be alive. For Hendrik Coetze, he found his happiness in the most dangerous white, water rapids on the entire planet. And he would happily risk his life all the time to experience these moments of bliss. Welcome to National Park After Dark. Hello, everyone. Hello, everyone.

Welcome back. We are back. It is my voice again because we mentioned a couple weeks ago, I'll be doing two episodes in a row because I dipped out for a week while my voice was recovering. It was rough for a lot. long time. I was battling a cold for quite a long time in my voice. I mean, I still don't think my voice is like, it's not. It's a million times better, but it's still not 100%. But it the thing is, you weren't even sick for that long. You just felt the after effects for like three weeks. Yeah.

That's exactly what it was. It's like my voice is constantly recovering. Like I literally couldn't talk for five minutes without my voice totally breaking and dying. and like just coughing and not even getting noises out. I'm like, am I going to need to find a new partner here. Like, what the hell is going on? We're in the podcasting biz now. You need your voice. Like your entire job is your voice.

So not used to that. Kind of necessary. Well, we're so glad to have you back because I know a little bit about this story, just what you told me about like the highlights of it. And now I'm really anxious for you to fill in the pieces because it seems. It seems so wild. And it's on your top bucket list destination. It is. Kind of. I guess not this national park in general, but it is on the continent of Africa. And Africa is so high on my list really. Well, actually, actually, actually, this story is jumping around to quite a few different national parks.

And yeah, we're not sticking to one today because this person that we're talking about ventured. everywhere and all over. And he really spent a lot of time in particular in two different national parks. So we're going to talk about both of those today. And one of them is actually very high on my bucket list of places to go. All right. Let's go. We don't have anything to say other than, hi, everyone. Hi. Welcome. Welcome. We're going to talk about, we're going to Africa. We're going, we're actually going to Merchison Falls National Park, which is in the western side of Uganda. Oh, never heard of it. Well, I've heard of Uganda, but I haven't heard of this park. Yeah, Africa, like, as an entire whole continent is really cool because they just have so many national parks. If you look there, it's just so much protected land has happened over the past. I mean, it's all relatively recent, too, because of poaching and things like that. People have really put in a lot of efforts to protect land there. So there's just national parks everywhere. And this national park, is really cool. It is the most visited national park in Uganda, and it's also the largest in Uganda.

It covers 1,503 square miles, which is 3,893 square kilometers. This park also neighbors two different wildlife reserves that creates a protected wilderness that spans over 272 square miles, which is 5,366 square kilometers. So this actually makes it the largest conservation area in all of Uganda. And this park has been very successful in their conservation efforts. There's a lot of species here that were previously very significantly poached. I mean, species were at the verge of extinction in some cases. And a lot of those species now that were struggling so hard in like the 1980s are thriving here today. That's great. That's great. Another really cool thing about this national park is that it got its name from housing the most powerful waterfall in the entire world.

which is Murchison Falls. Most powerful. So not the largest. Not the tallest or the largest, but the most powerful. And the reason why it's the most powerful is that the falls that are formed here actually flow from the Nile River, which is the longest river in the entire world. And where it comes to meet this falls, it's actually squeezing through an area that is only 22 feet or seven meters wide in a gap.

Oh, so it's got a lot of force. There's a lot of force. and it falls 147 feet, which is 45 meters down. So the pressure that's coming from this gorge in this small space actually is so strong that the ground around it is constantly trembling. That's frightening. And I imagine it's super loud there. Loud and, yeah, just a powerful place to be.

And you mentioned whitewater rafting in your intro. So don't even tell me that someone is around this area in a raft. Oh, yeah. This is some of the best whitewater rafting in the world is in this area. I just don't do well with the water situation. It's just so frightening to me. Yeah, I feel that. I'm also not a huge water person, but I know people who are and I know people who are whitewater kayakers and I get it. I get how exciting it can be. I just personally, you have to learn a lot of stuff. You have to be really athletic and you have to learn how to like flip your kayaks and roll in your kayaks for when you undoubtedly when you're going

through rapids get flipped over you need to know how to flip yourself back up and like there's just a lot into it that I don't know if I would trust my abilities to save me in that situation yeah I know but more power to the people who do do it mean it's an intense really cool sport and the people that do it it attracts a lot of really cool people and a lot of fun like outdoorsy people into that world. But anyway, going a little bit more into the park, there is a ton of wildlife here. They're one of the most endangered species of giraffe and the entire world is here and that's called the Roth's child giraffe. There are only about 1,600 of them in the wild and 60% of them live within this national park. Interesting. I don't know if I've ever heard of that subspecies. It's an interesting

subspecies. It has a little bit of a different pattern to them. Oh, okay. Which is part of what makes them distinguish from other. Yeah, exactly. There are also four of the big five that call this park home. There's elephants, buffaloes, lions, and although very rarely spotted, there's leopards. Rhinos once lived in the area, but the last one was killed in 1983. However, there is a rhino sanctuary that is just outside of the park where you can visit to see them. This park also is fantastic for birdwatching with over 451 species that live here. They have things like, the Shoe Bill Stork, Goliath Harins, gray crown cranes, and blackheaded lapwings. So they have tons of species here. And a big way when you visit the park to see a lot of these species is actually

to take a boat ride down the Nile River where you can see elephants, buffalo giraffes, waterbucks, fish eagles, all from a safe distance. And also in this park is the densest concentration of hippos in all of Africa and the densest concentration of crocodiles. I just... I loved all of that description, and I love that this area has the densest population. I just don't love it for me. Like, I don't want to be... I would love to visit, but just, like, I would be so, so anxious.

Because, and I'm sure you know this, or I'm sure you know you can fact check me on this since you've researched it. but aren't hippos the cause for the most deaths in Africa? Honestly, I didn't look up hippos too much because we're going to be focusing on crocodiles more this episode. But I know that they are known to be some of the more vicious and aggressive. Aren't they just super territorial? Yeah, they are. They're very territorial.

And they're very aggressive. Goosebumps. It's just, you know what it is? It's nothing against the animal. It's the water situation. It's the you can't see them and they're lurking around and they see you, you can't see them, you're already out of your element in the water and they're within their element to a T. And, you know, it's just like a lot stacked against you, you know.

Yeah, no, I totally get it. And I mean, you're here, you're, you can be in rough waters too. They do have a pretty large rapids and they have the largest concentration of crocodiles in all of Africa. And they're not just any crocodiles. they're Nile crocodiles, which are characterized by being extremely large. They can be up to 20 feet long, which is 6 meters, and they can weigh up to 1,500 pounds, which is 700 kilograms. These crocodiles also live between 80 to 100 years old, and what makes them kind of particularly

scary is they can hold their breath underwater for up to two hours while they're searching for prey to feed off of, so they can stalk and search around and be under these murky water. for two hours and you'll never see them. Yeah, just like incredible. I mean, they are just like fascinating animals and they're dinosaurs, you know, essentially. And just all of their adaptations and everything that they have evolved to be is so cool. And I love learning about them. I just like, it makes me, you know how some people are like have arachnophobia?

Like they hate spiders. Yeah. It makes them uncomfortable even thinking about. about spiders. Like, I just feel uncomfortable thinking about crocodiles. Well, this is how I felt when I was actually kayaking with crocodiles in Florida. And I'm like, isn't this scary? And everyone's like, no, which I kind of get now that I've been reading about Nile crocodiles, because Nile crocodiles are scary. And they are some of the most aggressive species of crocodiles as well. And it's kind of interesting to learn about them because you think of them as dinosaurs, they've survived for so long.

Like, why is that? Why have these species been able to survive for this long? And I think a big part of that is that, one, they can eat half of their body weight and food, but they can also go months without eating. So they have the ability to use fat that is stored inside of their tails as a feeding mechanism for themselves. So it allows them to go months without it. And what they do is their body slows down their metabolism and they just feed off of the fat that's inside their tails.

That's just so insane. That's the coolest thing. And I know I keep saying that's cool because I can't find the descriptors that I need right now. But they are fascinating animals and you got to give them props. And I think they do receive some bad rep. I mean, I think a lot of reptiles in general do just because they're not as like fluffy and cute and personality. You know, like reptiles aren't as loved, I don't think, generally. but they are some of the coolest animals around.

Yeah, and I mean, there's a reason that they've survived through a lot of things, and crocodiles are so interesting in learning more and more about them, but the Nile crocodiles are also interesting because they have the strongest biting force of any animal on the planet. While Nile crocodiles are natural predators who mainly feed on things like fish, birds, other reptiles, small mammals, they have also been known to be man-eaters. They are the most dangerous species of crocodile and kill up to 200 people every single year, and they're also known to be very sneaky.

They can hide in murky waters for hours and are known to attack when it's too late for humans to even notice them or take any type of safety precautions against it. Well, they're ambush hunters. Like, what are you supposed to do? You have no defense mechanism. It's over. Exactly.

And when Nile crocodiles kill, they use those extremely strong jaws to get a good grip on their prey and then they hold them underwater until they drown. Efficient. So with all of these in the water and all of this crazy stuff, we are going to go into the extraordinary life of a whitewater kayaker who kayaked these waters and ran all these dangerous waters of the Nile River and rivers all over the world. Okay. Hendrik Coatsy, mostly known by friends and family as Hendry, was born in 1975 in the small town of Odistal in South Africa's northwest province. Henry's father was a major and intelligent officer in the South African Special Forces, and growing up him and his sister and his mother moved around to wherever he was stationed. During the South African border war, his family lived in the town of Oshikadi, which lay right in the crosshairs of the war. During the time, their home came under artillery fire from the Soviet-backed in Golan forces on more than one occasion. For Hendry, as a child, this was almost a game in an adrenaline rush that he enjoyed and took a thrill in. And because he didn't understand maybe the gravity of what was going on, whenever the explosions would start and his father would start yelling for him to duck underneath

his bed, he actually felt like he was being included, like he was fighting right alongside his dad. in the war. A spirited child. Yeah. And I mean, right from the start, he's like into the adrenaline. He's like, this is great. There's war. Bombs are dropping. Like, this is fun. Can't relate to that sentiment. I'm not an adrenaline junkie. And I think it sounds like from all of his, all of the things that I read is he really looked up to his father. So it was just a way where he's like, I'm with my dad, we're fighting the war together kind of thing as a kid. And I'm sure his dad presented it in a way to make it as least scary as possible, you know, to not frighten him. Whatever you can do to protect your kids.

Yeah, exactly. By 1986, his father did leave the military and their family moved in time for Hendry to start high school in a real high school and outside of a war zone. He didn't particularly enjoy school and he actually found it very boring and very unfulfilling. Sitting in a classroom was, like, torturous for him. He did like the theater classes and acting and like the drama of things that he did kind of like. But for the most part, he was not into school. Shortly after he graduated, his parents did end up divorcing due to issues that they were having.

And a lot of it stemmed from his father's time in the military. He had seen a lot of war and a lot of action. And he was dealing with a lot of psychological issues after that they just tried to work through for years but ended up parting. Okay. His mother married again a year later and she added two stepbrothers and a step sister to the family into her new marriage. Hendry, shortly after the marriage, decided to take off and he would spend a year traveling and exploring in Israel. After that year, he decided to come home and to adventure on South Africa some more and he would do it on motorcycle adventures. So he would ride to a remote place carrying camping gear and adventuring around.

You know, he wasn't on a motorcycle just on a paved road driving around. He was like dual sport riding into jungles and trails and all this really cool thing. All these like really cool spots. I think it sounds cool. I saw some pictures. I'm like, this is amazing. That sounds awesome. That's Cassie's type of adventure right there.

It really is. I'm like, I want to take my bike out there. That'd be really cool. So he did this for a little bit until his father helped get him a job with a tourist outfitter. and this was in 1995, and it was in the deep Nabian desert. His job was to take tourists into villages of tribes that were in the area to explore their culture. So he did that for, it was more of like a seasonal job, and then after he finished that, he ended up returning home again.

One evening, while he was home with his mother and his stepfather, he got into a little bit of an argument with a stepfather, and Hendry ended up punching him in the face and giving him a black eye. Oh boy. And his mother was obviously mortified by this situation and she demanded that Hendry leave the house. It's like, get out. You just did this. This is awful. So Hendry calls his father to come pick him up. And when he did, his father arrived and he was extremely disappointed in him. And he basically told him, you know, this behavior is unacceptable. You don't act like this. You're not welcome in my home if you're acting like this. And I'm driving you to the Army Recruit Center right now and we're signing you up. Whoa. Tough is parenting right there. It's like we're not and we're not doing this. They weren't messing around, huh? Nope. And he does. He drives him straight to the army recruit, walks up to the desk and says, give me the toughest course you have available and get him signed up as soon as possible. Hendry, of course, is like, I don't have any army skills here. I've been partying, smoking weed

the past year or so. I'm not like in any type of endurance. shape for this. This is going to be something super difficult. I'm terrified. But he realized the situation that he was in and the anger he was showing. And he also respected his dad's authority. So, despite his feelings of what was going on, he signed the papers. And he signed up for a unit that trained medics for the South African Special Forces. Wow. Imagine just being thrust into that. Like, okay, this is like what I do now. Yeah. And I imagine. like reading it, that had to have been like a final straw. Like I'm imagining he had been doing some teenage kind of stuff where they were just, his dad was like, all right, enough's enough.

You're smoking weed. You're being it like, you're acting up. You're going into the military. And he's like, yeah, like this I can't imagine was the first incident. Yeah. You know, it had to have had some lead up for sure. Yeah. And his dad was someone that he looked up to too, too. So for him to be like, okay, I'm super disappointed. Like you're going to the military. You're going to make something of yourself. He's like, all right, we're doing this. Let's go.

It's like, all right, well, here I am. Here we go. So for the next few months, he did go through training and he went through vigorous exercises. He went through tear gassing, weapons training. He went through months of the military, essentially telling him that he was worthless unless he succeeded in the challenges that they brought to him. He had to prove there that he was strong. He had to prove that he was brave.

He had to prove that he was worth something. And he learned a lot during this experience. He learned that he could survive things that seemed impossible. And he actually fell in love with the success and discipline that the military brought him. And he learned how to achieve goals in a way that he hadn't known how to do before. These trainings for him broke down a barrier of thinking things were impossible. And he actually wrote in a memoir that ends up being published later on that will get into a little bit more, but it's called Living the Best Day Ever, he wrote, I have learned that there is a

place where the pain stops, where tiredness ceases, and where limits disappear. Unfortunately, this place is guarded by plenty of pain, or at least what I used to think of as pain. The solace is knowing that you can do just about anything if you are willing to pay the price. So he learned a lot of discipline in that time period, and he completed his time in the military. He served the time that he had signed up for. And at the end of it, what he referred to as his self-imposed captivity when it was over, he decided that he was at a point in his life where he was over the structure and discipline of being told what to do. And he wanted to find joy in his life. And he wanted to find what he was passionate about because that was something that he hadn't found yet. So he found himself

traveling again. And by this time, it was 1997. And he found himself in Masio Tuna National Park in Zambia. This park sure is a border with Zimbabwe's border and Victoria Falls National Park. And this is where I'm talking about. Victoria Falls National Park is on my list so high to go to. It is in Zimbabwe. And if you're next to your phone or whatever, just Google Victoria Falls. Is this the falls that you can go up to and like there's like a pool like right where it cascades over? Yes. A natural pool. Yeah. And you can like swim kind of like right up to the edge. Yeah. Oh my God. I'm sweating. I am sweating even thinking about that. I've seen so many like reels and TikToks and like whatever videos on it just because it's so beautiful. And obviously going onto that

into that pool is just like an adrenaline junkie thing. And I don't know how safe it. I don't know if anyone's died doing it. It's obviously you don't just do it on your own. Like you have to be, I think, led by a guide. But holy shit, man. Like no. No, no. No. Absolutely not. Like, who is doing that? If any of you have done that, you need to send us pictures or send us an email saying you did it and you've lived to tell the tale because that's insane. We need to know. And I mean, that is part of why this is so high at my bucket list is because it's so beautiful, but it's also the largest waterfall in the entire world. Would you be interested in like doing that or do you just want to see it? I think I just want to see it, but I would decide when I got there. Okay. I'm not ruling it out. That's fair. We'll see how I feel. Yeah, right. When we're there, we'll see how you feel. Yeah. The Victoria Falls, it does feed into the Zambezi River. And because it is the largest waterfall in the world, it has also been listed as one of the seven wonders of the world. The bottom of the falls along the Zambezi River is considered to be the best whitewater rafting in the entire world.

So Hendry found himself here. Just out of a place to visit, I'm guessing. I'm guessing. out of, this is beautiful. I want to go. I'm on a mission to find myself and find what I'm passionate about. And he ends up in this beautiful location. And one afternoon, he is at a bar and he's sitting there and he notices a man just kind of staring at him really oddly. So he just kind of stares back at him like, hey, what's going on? And he introduces himself. He's a pretty social person. And the man introduces himself. His name is Peter. And he asks him, if he would like to play a game of chess with him. So they get to playing a game of chess.

After a few beers and a long conversation about the river and the falls and the area that they're in, he discovers that Peter is a river rafting guide and knew the area really well. So during the conversation, Hendry asked, is it possible to raft the river at night? And Peter says, yeah, you can with a full moon and you can see. So Hendry asks, well, can I come?

Can I go? And he just kind of looks at him and goes, only guides can do that. And for a few moments, Henry felt like kind of stupid for asking that. And like he had overstepped his boundaries. Like, of course, I can't run the best river rafting in the world at night. Like, of course, that's a guide thing. Like, why would I ask that? So then it's kind of silent for a few minutes.

And they just keep playing chess and focusing on their next moves. And Peter moves one of his pieces and looks up and says, checkmate. And then he says, want to be a guide? What? And Hendry's just like, yeah, I have no direction of like what I'm doing. Essentially, he was working as a manager at a helicopter touring company just there. And he's like, sure, okay. He's just like rolling with whatever life hands him.

Like, sure, yeah, this is the direction it's going now. Why not? Yeah, he's like, I have nothing better to do. Why not? So at this point, does he have any experience whitewater rafting? No. He's never been on a river before in his life. And little did he know that this random conversation with a stranger was about to change the entire trajectory of his life.

You know what this reminds me of just even slightly? Just the sentiment of it is Ian when he decided to work on yachts in Florida. It's because he had a conversation with a random person that he was serving at the bar. Oh, really? Yeah. Just sparked it? Yeah, because he worked at a bar that, like, had a lot of regulars. and this person was new.

Like he didn't recognize this couple. So he sparked up a conversation with them. And they're like, yeah, we're visiting like where we live in Florida. We've been working on yachts for the last like 15 years. And he's like, oh, what's that? And then he said after that conversation, he decided that that's what he was going to do. And he did. He quit and he moved from Colorado and went to Florida and got a job as a deckhand on a yacht.

That's so funny. You know what? That kind of actually reminds me of something that I did once. and I hated the job that I was working at. I really disliked it and this sounds really stupid, but I was watching a Netflix movie and it was some kind of cheesy ranch movie that took place in Wyoming.

And I don't even remember what the basis of the movie was or even if it was a good movie, but I remember watching the footage in it. And I was like, you know what, I want to work on a farm or on a ranch in Wyoming. I don't want to be here anymore. I want to go move to Wyoming and work on a ranch. And literally in that instant, I texted my friends.

And I was like, I'm going to move to Wyoming and go work on a ranch. And they're like, okay. Like what's going on? And that night, I applied for some ranch jobs. I actually applied to a ranch that wasn't hiring. And I said, hey, I know you're not hiring. It's the middle of the season. But if you change your mind, here I am.

And they got back to me the very next day and was like, we just had someone quit. we need someone. Can you be here next week? And I was like, yeah. Yeah, I can. The stars aligned. And I gave my notice like the next day. And I was like, okay, I'm out. Goodbye. I was like, here's my four day notice. And I booked a flight to Jacksonville, Wyoming. And I went out there. That's fucking awesome. That's so cool. Like, I mean, I feel like you just get a feeling, you know, like when something is meant to be like deep down, even if it seems random and comes about in a very odd way. Mm-hmm. Like sometimes you just like, you just know.

I just have a feeling about this or I feel like I need to do this. And the best outcomes happen in like the oddest circumstances, I think. Yeah. It really does show like some things are just meant to happen and they happen in ways that you've never dreamed of or thought of. And when you have an opportunity, come to your mind or something happened where you're like, I should do this. If it's something in your ability and something that's doable for you, like, just do it. Just do it.

You know? Or something that's like never going to come again. Yeah. You're like, when am I going to have this opportunity again? Right. Like when that person emailed you the very next day, like, what are the chances of that? It's like, you weren't hiring. I had this random thought literally 24 hours ago.

You know, like it's just like it's a sign. Just do it. The stars aligning. Just go. This episode is brought to you by Prime. Obsession is in session. And this summer, Prime originals have everything you want. Steamy romances, irresistible love stories, and the book-to-screen favorites you've already read twice.

Off-campus, every year after, the love hypothesis, Sterling Point, and more. Slow burns, second chances, chemistry you can feel through the screen. Your next obsession is waiting. Watch only on Prime. Anyway, so he literally, he has this conversation and Peter, sure enough, the next day he goes to his boss and it's like, hey, I met this really awesome person. Why don't you meet up with him? We could do a river run. Well, together, you can meet him, see how he is like, just have a fun trip on the river, talk to him after, get to know him. It's like a working interview. Yeah. A very relaxed working interview when you don't work. You're just there. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And Henry's like, yeah, that would be awesome. And Hendry was a very impressive and charming person to me anyway. He's 5'11, he's muscular, he's got dark hair, bright blue eyes. He was handsome and he also had this like intensity about him. He was very, very confident and

intelligent and he had a good sense of humor. So he was just someone that like you were kind of drawn to immediately and you just felt, I want to say like comfortable, you just like trusted him. He was someone that you're like, you're confident, you're smart, you're funny. And when his boss was interviewing him, he found out that they were really similar in a lot of ways. They had both served in the military. They both played chess. They both had a passion for motorcycles.

They had similar tastes in books. And after about just a half an hour of talking, he was offered the job as a rafting guide. Oh, okay. And this was almost unheard of in the rafting world because Hendry had never been on a river in his life before this. And to guide a river like this, you needed at least five years of experience. This river was a class five river, which means it's rated for experts and it's characterized by long and violent rapids with large drops, unavoidable waves, congested shoots, and demanding roots. So to be offered this job, it was like walking on to an Everest base camp, with no hiking experience and then guiding an expedition to the top. It just seemed outrageous.

I want to ask, like, did anybody raise any questions like, is this the most responsible thing to do? Because it's one thing to put yourself out there and risk your own life or safety, but to be guiding people. No, so actually, they're like, yeah, let's hire him and let's throw him into training. So they started training him. They didn't just throw him out to guide people. They were like, let's put him into training. We're going to teach him how to raft and we're going to do this. So for a month, they were training him.

And after a month, he started leading clients down some of the world's most difficult rated runs. And he did it like he had been doing it his entire life. He caught on to this so fast. And during all this, he was also learning to Whitewater Kayak. So other guides that he had met were teaching him how to roll and how to maneuver the kayak in a swimming pool. And then they moved him and took him onto the rivers. And Hendry was extremely athletic and he was fearless in the water. And he was stated as being maybe a little bit too fearless at the very beginning because he didn't acknowledge

risks all the time. And he just kind of saw things and went for them in the river. But he was extremely talented. He saw something that he loved and he fell in love with this and he just went after it. I mean, you got to applaud the guy. Yeah. He's like walking into new territory. He's never done any of this before in his life. And he goes in and people are like, wow, you're, you're really good. And for natural ability. Yes. And he had, this was what he had been looking for all along when he left the military. He wanted to find joy and happiness and something that gave him passion. And he fell in love with the waters. He loved the intimidating challenges that it brought. And he was in some of the most beautiful places in the world in some of the greatest whitewater rapids on the entire planet, he finally found what he thought

he was meant to do. And with this, it ignited this need and this passion where he said, I'm going to become one of the best kayakers in the world. So on one of his first kayak adventures alone, he decides that he is going to make the trip from Zambia to Zimbabwe by river. So they are bordering each other in the parks that I talked about before at the beginning. They border each country and you can actually cross the borders if you go through the river. So he decided to do it this way, which is also an illegal way to cross the border. And he was doing all of this because he wanted to go out to a bar to get drunk with his friends that were on the other side. So he tightened up his life jacket. He lowered himself into the water. And without a beat, he's launched into a rapid and then

launched into the next one, launched into the next one, and he is alone at night, guiding himself through these waves. Just to go to a bar. Just to go to a bar and get drunk with his friends. All right. It's one way to do it. And this is the best day ever for him. Everything was going according to plan.

He's out. He's alone. He's running the river. His plan was he'd run the river. He'd climb out of the gorge. Get to the bar. Go get drunk. When he gets to where he needs to be, he knows that there's a small crock.

that's in the Yeti, which he is nervous about because he can't see it. There's thick mud, the water's murky, and he has this fear that he could be attacked at any moment, which is totally valid because that does happen. He does get out of the water and he reaches the riverbank. And just as he reaches the riverbank, a tropical storm comes barreling down. And the clouds brought complete darkness. Because before he was going by moonlight, and he was, And now there's nothing. Oh, my God. First night out.

So he slowly starts walking over the smooth rocks. He's carrying his kayak. And he finally reaches this metal ladder that is bolted into the cliff that he has to climb up. But now it's extremely slippery. And with the force of the rain from the cliff, there's also rocks that are starting to fall from the cliff coming down. And he's looking up. He's holding onto the ladder.

And he's thinking about this other kayaker who had been in this exact. same scenario just a week before that his head was crushed by a situation exactly like this. Oh, God. So he has pebbles hitting his shoulder, and he's like, I got to move. So he's moving as fast as he can up this ladder, and eventually he gets off of it, and he's into the trees, and he's more protected from the storm. He feels better. He's like, okay, I'm getting there.

We're getting there. The rain stops, but the moon was still hidden, so it was still pretty hard to see. and as he's walking and he's walking heading to the bar, he's kind of thinking and dreaming up the conversation he'll have at the bar, like, hey guys, you know how I got here? Like, I just crossed the border illegally at night, went through a bunch of Class 5 rapids to get here, went through a storm, ditched a crocodile,

you know, just dreaming about what he's going to say to his friends when he gets there. And then suddenly he hears the sound of grass being ripped up from the ground. Okay, can I just say, I was just going to, to say this isn't like I'm having a really difficult time like imagining this situation because you say like going to the bar so I'm envisioning like a downtown with a bar but that's not the situation and then I'm like is it just a random building in the middle of this wilderness because he was just on the rapids and on a cliff side and going up a ladder and now he's going through a forested tree area in Africa and you just said the big five are there so he's just like

Oh, okay, I just got away from this crocodile situation. It's not easy, breezy. There's still other shit lurking around. Yeah. So what's ripping up the grass? Is it a lion? He thinks of two things. He's like, I think that this is either two things.

It's either a buffalo or it's a hippo. Okay. Two things that are terrible. And he's like, this is going to be fatal if I encounter whatever this is. He stands completely still and he sees it's a herd of buffalo. that are grazing in front of him. He stands there, not breathing, not moving, for 15 minutes, barely making a sound, and he just waits and he watches them slowly pass him and come out of the way.

So he finally makes it to the bar and it's packed. He walks in and he sees lots of people he knows. He sees Pete along with a bunch of other rafting legends of the world and they're sitting in the corner of the bar. He walks in and he sees that they're all doing tequila suicides. Do you know what those are? No. So tequila suicides are when you snort the salt and you squeeze the lime into your eye and then you take a shot.

What is the what? Yeah. I did not do that at Keene State College, okay? I've done a lot of things, but I did not have to do that. I've never heard of that. Really? I had heard about it in college and I've actually seen someone snort salt before, but I don't know if I've ever seen anyone scort lime juice in the their eye. Yeah, that's taking it too far. Yeah. So Hendry decides not to head to that table first,

and he walks up to the bar and he orders himself a rum and coke. And then he ventures over to a group of hunters and skydivers that are in the bar. So I feel like these are all just intense people. You know, you got like the major river rafters, you got the hunters, you got the skydivers. It's just like a collection of all the most intense people. And he heads over to this part of the bar. And he heads over to this part of the bar and he makes them a bet. He says, okay, let's all drop our pants and whoever's the first one to pull them back up has to buy the next round of drinks. Wait, the first one? To pull their pants back up. Yeah. So it's like kind of like chicken, like the first one to stop. Oh, I gotcha. I gotcha. Yeah, yeah. So they all do it and they're all standing there with their pants down and after five minutes,

a bouncer politely comes over and it's like, hey guys, can you like, please pull your pants back up? The rest of the night kind of goes on from there. You know, he has a friendly wrestle with his boss that he runs into. They like tackle each other to the ground in a friendly way. It's not a fight. And then he ends up playing some drinking games at the bar. And then they all get so hammered that he actually ends up getting kicked out of the bar. But he left with a pretty girl under his arm.

And she was laughing at his jokes and they were having a good time. And they went back to his tent together that night. Was he carrying his tent? Like, what? I'm just like, he just was on the fucking river. Like, how, what do you mean? He was in another country. It sounds like there was a campground that was pretty close by that he, like, had

established a setup there. Gotcha. Because he, like, traveled the borders right there. So he was always on either side. Gotcha. So essentially, he just starts living this kayaker life where he's kayaking, partying, having a good time with these intense. people and nights like these are just part of the lifestyle moving forward. And through 1997 and

1998, Hendry really established himself on the Zambezi River. He became an extremely talented and experienced kayaker during that time. And he became a really good raft guide as well. The rafting position there was a seasonal position because it was dependent on the water. So generally, it started in June and ended in February. And the off time, Hendry would find good kayaking elsewhere. He would explore all over the world. He would find the best kayaking, which was in places like Norway, and he even ventured to the U.S. and went to West Virginia as well. Oh, interesting. He had gotten two sponsors for kayaking because he had been so good. And they had actually offered him lots of free boats and free gear and whatever he needed to go on these trips

and to represent their company, essentially. But he was very minimalistic. He didn't need much. So he only accepted boats as he needed them. And he owned very, very little. All he owned was camping and kayaking gear. He had a laptop because he loved to write. And he owned books. And that was pretty much his life. That was all he owned. In late 1999, after hearing some stories of epic whitewater adventures along the Nile River, he headed up to Uganda to the outlets of Lake Victoria in Marcheson Falls National Park, which was the one that we talked about at the very beginning of the episode. Because here were some of the largest warm water rapids in the entire world, as the water here is like 80 degrees Fahrenheit, which is 26.7 degrees Celsius.

Personally, if I was a whitewater kayaker, that's where you'd find me is in the warm water. In the bath water. Yeah. I like, that sounds nice. But of course, it's not that nice because it's also the largest concentration of hippos and crocodiles that are living there. So yeah, it's like a, you know, double-edged sword. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. That's a lightweight of calling it.

But Henry was in search of bigger and better waves. He wanted more challenges. He wanted more adventures. And he was really pushing limits everywhere in his life. In his memoir, he described himself as learning a lot of lessons along the way. But he wrote, mostly I just kayak, party, and pose a danger to pretty missionary girls. girls. What a guy.

He wrote, life is so outrageous. I could not have imagined it. Made all the sweeter because it cannot last. It's all about today. Today is the best day ever because tomorrow might not happen. So he's just like living life. He's like, I know that life's not forever. I'm going to, I'm partying.

I'm hanging out with my friends. I'm surrounded by beautiful women. Life is as good as it can be. I'm doing what I love. He's just. He's soaking it in. He is. He's loving life.

And for Hendry, part of the reason why he realized that it doesn't last forever is he recognized that in his circle there was a lack of old happy people that were in the kayaking world. And for him, this was a solid indicator that this life he was living was not sustainable. It would have to end someday in one way or another. It either meant dying on the river or he would have to find something better to do. So he recognized that. And he's like, you know, whatever is happening right now, this is temporary and I'm going to live the best life I can while I'm here. He had these really big goals and he needed something to live for.

So he spent a lot of time accomplishing these goals, heading out to bigger rapids, becoming a better kayaker. And he spent the next two years working for a paddle company that worked with well-known kayakers along the Nile. This season here went from May to August. And in the off-season, he continued to chase rapids wherever else. And during one of his stints that he had off in 2001, he headed to Kenya and then decided to kayak and walk all the way to South Africa, which was a total of 1,500 miles. Just because. Just because it was his time.

His time off, he's like, I'm just going to do this. I'm just going to start walking. Yeah. It's like a forest gump thing, you know? Yeah. He's literally just living. It's like, what else am I going to do? do. And that's what he says a lot in his memoir. He's like, what else would I do? What else am I going to do? Why not?

That's a good point. You know, that is a good point. It was in 2002 that Hendry met a woman by the name of Juliana Burring while he was taking ecstasy out in a club in Uganda's capital of Kampala. At first, it seemed to be a fun little hookup, but the two were actually very drawn together, and they described themselves as like magnets to each other. Is that, was that the ecstasy? I mean, maybe they're like at a more spiritual level. I just have a feeling. I just have a feeling maybe the ecstasy helped with that. It helped spark that connection.

They have nudged it along a little bit. Yeah, they're having a good time out there. And they end up after having some fun, they end up exchanging numbers and they keep in contact. And they actually did connect on a lot of levels because they were both very nomadic and traveling a lot and not sticking to like a certain schedule and they kind of had the same views of life. Hendry at one point even took her down a commercial rafting trip on the Nile and they kind of just met up sporadically over time. You know, they weren't, I wouldn't say they were dating, but whenever they got together, it was like they were together. One thing that Juliana had not

really mentioned to Hendry is the reason why she was traveling so much. And the reason had been that she was actually born into the notorious cult named children of God and was traveling through 35 countries with the group. And this group was actually very notorious for being extremely abusive, especially to children and forcing children into sex acts and like begging and all of this crazy stuff. When she had met Henry, she was actually in the process of trying to leave the group and she didn't know how. So eventually, she ended up losing touch with him because she did escape the cult in 2004. And she left. And she left. And she left, left Africa entirely. Oh, I've never heard of that cult.

Yeah, it has like, if you look it up, it has like some really sketchy things that it does. And she actually goes on, her and her sister wrote a book about everything that they did. I don't remember the name of the book, but they went on to write a book about their whole experience with the cult. Oh, wow. So they kind of part their separate ways,

which isn't unusual based on their lifestyles. And they would go a little bit without talking to each other and things like that. In 2004, Henry decided that he wanted to paddle the White Nile. This is a river that in 1999 had sections that hadn't been attempted in over 40 years by another kayaker. And the person who had attempted it before was not able to finish the sections. So he decides that he wants to do this new adventure and he knew exactly who to call. He calls up his friend Pete, who had gotten him into kayaking from the very beginning. And they did it.

They headed up. This river goes through Sudan, which at the time of this rafting was at a ceasefire during a war. And they did it. They headed up to Sudan during a ceasefire during a war. But somehow they were granted visas and they were able to head in and do their trip. So not only are they, do they have to concern about the waves and the rapids and being skilled enough in these harsh waters, but they also have to be concerned that the ceasefire is going to end and they could potentially be killed in a war. but everything went fine. And Hendry actually claimed some of the first ever descents on some of the more difficult rapids on the river.

In the end, they completed 4,130 miles, which is 6,646 kilometers. The Conquest ended up being featured in a 2005 National Geographic documentary called The Longest River, and it made him a celebrity in the kayaking world. So his whole, I'm going to become the best kayaker in the world was actually, he was one of the best kayakers. It came to fruition. Yep. And he was working hard for it. But he actually didn't enjoy the celebrity status of it. And he shied away from it. You know, he kind of liked the idea that he was popular and people enjoyed what he was doing. But he didn't so much like the fame of it, if that makes sense. Yeah, I can understand that. He wanted to be recognized for his

hard work and his skill and his accomplishments. But he didn't care for the attention on him as a person. Yeah. Like the celebrity. I get that. Yeah. So he decided to kind of scale things back and shy away from the crowds and the fame of it all that he was getting.

And he decided to go do remote schooling. And he got a degree in psychology in 2007. He spent several years on self-reflection and believing that the euphoric states that he experiences while on the river were actually gateways to a higher power. He didn't so much believe in God, but he felt like what he was experiencing psychologically had some type of meaning behind it. So he kind of was looking into the study of that. And I guess really just doing some self-reflection on who he was and why he thought the way he did. Because for him, kayaking seemed to be like this escape. He almost didn't know how to live outside of it for kayaking for him was like, if he wasn't

doing it, if he in any of his downtime, that's when his anxiety would kick in. Depression would kick in any type of self-doubt that he had with himself kind of all swarmed him in these times where he was just sitting, waiting, not on the river, not doing things. So he was really self-reflecting on how he was and how that impacted him and why it was, essentially. And he was. And he He did this for a few months. During this time of reflection, he also began running more dangerous rapids. In Murchison Falls National Park, he often did it at dusk. And the dangers of the rapids, along with the crocodiles and the hippos, people started

to recognize, like, you're being a little bit reckless here. And his mother actually asked him to settle down. He's like, please stop doing all this. Like, you got to start making safer decisions. But this was Henry's life. You know, this was what made him happy. This what made him feel fulfilled. and when he wasn't doing it, his only solace in that was that he liked to write.

So if he wasn't on the river, he was writing about his experiences on the river. So he was always there in some way or another. So he didn't really listen to his mother. Instead, he funded himself a $4,000 trip to the Congo on the world's second largest river. He went on this trip and he spent his time running the rivers, camping under the stars, hanging out on sandy beaches. he was told along his travels that a long stretch of the river was inhabited by the Nombay tribe. And they were alleged cannibals who was reported that in 1989 they had killed and eaten two canoeers that had entered the territory on the river. This obviously was a little alarming to him hearing a tribe of cannibals.

So he did heed the warning and he decided to take a commercial barge that would be safe, away from them down the river instead. And this was kind of an established barge where they're armed, they're on the river. The tribe kind of leaves them alone and you go down that way. So he booked it. It was a three-week journey that he would be on this barge for down the river. Each night they would tie the boat up along the banks. And even though Hendry was told he shouldn't be kayaking at night, when they would tie up the boat, he would go out into his kayak on the river and start paddling. And he did this for a couple of reasons. I think one of it was because he really wanted to kayak. And the other was he wanted to maintain his fitness during this

three week period. If he stopped for three weeks entirely and then jumped on to these crazy rapids, he didn't want to lose that mobility and that fitness level that he had been working really hard for. So he did this for a couple days and he had no issues and there were no sign of the tribes and everything was going just fine. But one night, as he was floating about 400 yards upstream from the barge, a piercing scream cut through the night air. This was a war cry. Under the moonlight, he could see six dugout canoes around 20 feet, 6.1 meters long, and each one of them had four standing Nombay tribesmen.

Each of them were holding long wooden blades, and they were paddling fast towards him. Oh, my God. Imagine. What? He realized right away that he could not outpocket. paddle these people. And instead, he made the decision that he was going to charge them. Oh, okay. I don't know how he thought of doing this, but he charged them. And actually in his charge, he broke up the line that they had made, and he barreled past them. And he kept paddling and

paddling, and he was trying to outrun them long enough to try and get back to the barge. And he starts screaming for the men on the barge. He's like, help, help, help, like screaming for them. hoping they're going to recognize him, maybe start coming towards him. Like, he's moving as fast as he can, but the canoes close in on him pretty fast. And they start swinging their blades at him. And they're coming within inches of his head. There was blow after blow was hitting his canoe. And in the blink of an eye, one of them had lassoed him.

What? So now he's surrounded by canoes and he's bound by a lasso. How the hell does he get out of this? What, his charm? His charm. I know, right? You're great, but so he starts yelling the word calm in Swahili at them, hoping he doesn't know Swahili, but he knows a couple words.

He starts yelling calm at them. Is that their language, too? Yes. Okay. Okay. And this actually seems to get the men to stop swinging their huge wooden spears at him, essentially, and they put their weapons down. but another one of the tribesmen ties a rope around the rear grab loop of his kayak and they start

dragging him away. So he's being abducted right now. Yes. He's definitely being abducted by cannibalistic tribe on the river. That you don't know the language other than calm, which obviously didn't work. Yes. So he's screaming and he's pleading with the tribe and he's actually talking in English now. And he's like, sir, I have friends in the boat. I want to get back to them. Like just trying. But they didn't really seemed to understand or they were pretending not to understand what he was saying. So then he rubbed his thumb and his two four fingers together to show the universal sign of money. Like, I can get you money. Like I'll offer you money.

Yeah. So this finally grabs their attention and they slow down a little bit and they're like, okay, what are you saying? But then a tribesman stands over Hendry and he starts screaming words at him that he doesn't understand. So he's saying like, money, I can give you money. He's got this guy in his face. he's bound screaming at him. He has no idea what he's saying. And Henry's screaming too. He's just trying to get help because the barge isn't that far away. And then they look up and this delay in time

where they stopped and were screaming together, the barge actually was coming closer. And they were moving towards them and the people on the barge started screaming at the tribesmen too. And when they arrived, they got to the area. One of the guys on the barge attempted to reach over to untie, But a warrior immediately jumps in and slaps the guy out of the way. Then they start conversing and they start having this long conversation. And Hendry couldn't understand any of it. He's just sitting there bound. He's like, I don't know what's happening.

They're talking for what seems like a really long time. Like, I don't know what's going on. And then eventually the two sides seem to reach an agreement and the tribesmen untie him. And they allow the passengers on the barge to pull him up and to pull up his kayak as well. So they're just like, okay, you can go, you're free. And then the tribesmen leave. And Henry is like, what just happened? You know, like I'm, he's just really shaken up, rattled, like what in the world just happened to me.

So after he kind of calms down a little bit and shakes it off and gets over what just happened because he just saw like his life flashing before his eyes, he looks at one of the barge, the guys on the barge. He says, what were they saying? I couldn't understand what was being said. And he said that the tribesman was saying, this is my white guy and that they were planning to eat him. What? Mm-hmm. Oh, God. So why did they give him back?

What exchange happened? It was kind of a little bit unclear in the writings, but it sounded like they did exchange money. Oh, gotcha, gotcha. Mm-hmm. So this whole experience was enough to convince him that he would stay. on the barge for their remaining two-week journey and he would no longer venture out at night on his kayak. Well, I mean, if that doesn't do it, what will? So that is the scariest experience. Can you imagine? No. It's so scary. When I was even researching this and reading it, my jaw was on the floor. I'm like,

what did you go through? I'm sorry, that is. You're just being dragged away in your boat. And you were just lassoed. Lassowed from far away. And you've got these men around. you and oh my god yeah that would and just in a place where no one's speaking the same languages like you don't speak their language and you don't know it would just the entire thing and it's night so it's dark so you can't even see that well just all of it yeah no he did end up completing his trip through the conga though and it was after a long journey and he did do it but at the end of this one he didn't feel totally accomplished like he usually did usually he left these trips kind of on a And at the end of this one, for whatever reason, he was feeling a little bit more lonely and a little bit empty.

And this was in September-ish time of 2009. And it was almost like she had known he needed a friend. But Juliana, who he had met at the club before that we talked about, actually at this exact same time, sent him a friend request on Facebook. She was just thinking about him. And she's like, you know what, I should really reach out. It's been five years since they had talked at this point. They began emailing, texting, talking on video chats, soon they met up again, even though it had been five years since they connected. And it was like they were never apart.

You know, they immediately just were drawn to each other. They started having all these deep conversations. And they really at this point fell in love with each other. You're like, you are my person. You're the person I've been looking for this whole time. Or not even the person I've been looking for this whole time, but I've been so focused on other things that I, didn't realize how much I needed you. Yeah.

And for the first time, Hendry had found a reason that he could stop kayaking in the way that he had because he had been being really reckless. And for the first time, he had been really seriously considering the situations that he could get himself into by doing the things that he was doing. And he was considering retiring from exploring because part of his dream was always to open his own tour company. But he didn't want to do that in this feeling of. of how we talked about before where he just didn't know how to survive. Like, what did he do if he

wasn't kayaking? And now he met this person who was the love of his life. And it was like, I can do life with you. Like, this is something that could occupy my time and make life worth it, essentially. So that following July, a few months later, an American kayaker by the name of Ben Sooksbury sent him an email with a subject line, Congo to. Ben Stuxbury and Chris Corbulick were two of the world's most elite expedition paddlers, and they were planning a trip to run the Upper Congo River. The same area that Hendry had skipped a year before when he was over there, and they had sent him an email requesting that he be their guide. As he knew the river best of anyone that they could think of, they knew how talented of a kayaker he was. He's like,

you've been in the Congo, you know these rivers. Please come with us. And at first, Henry wasn't interested. He wrote back that his focus had shifted. He didn't want to do expeditions like that anymore, but he wrote if he needed advice or if you need contacts in the area, like, I will happily help you, but I'm not going to be a guide. He then took up the time, though, to write a full itinerary for them. So he was recommending where they should start, what they should do. He recommended they start in the Murchison Falls National Park as a warm up, then do the Rizizi River, head to Rwanda for a string of classified rapids and after that take a ride across Lake Tanca yika which was the home of Gustav and Gustav is a famous crocodile who is the largest known Nile crocodile that was 20 feet

long 6.1 meters and he was a man-eating crocodile that had been known to eat over 300 people in that area so they would not be kayaking over that region but they would get into a boat to take them across and then they would put in on the Lukuga river after that. Yeah, let's skip over the Gustav area. Yeah, he has a really interesting story and I kind of researched him a little bit. He's a crocodile on that river and he's so large that they decided that he probably hunts people because he can't move fast enough to gather prey and people, I mean, there's lots of people who live in these regions who are constantly down in the water that he can just go after.

Oh, God. I mean, I know you know this, but animal attack stories are my favorite of all we do. But just the crocodile one is just like, oh, I'm having a visceral reaction to it. I don't know what's happening. It's like, it's hard for me. But anyway, Henry writes up this whole itinerary. And as he's writing this up, he's like, wow, this is the trip of a lifetime. I'm planning right now.

This river run that they're going to do is insane. I can't not go on this. So he retracts his original statement of I'm not helping you. I can't miss this. And if you pay me as your guide, I'll take you. And of course they agree. That's what they wanted to do the entire time. A few weeks later, he writes to Juliana and he tells her of the plans.

And he promises he makes it a big point to be like, this is my last expedition that I'm going to go on. but I just got to do this before I go full-fledged into the touring company. So in October, he did buy a piece of land on the Nile River in preparation for his touring company. And soon after that, Juliana bought a one-way ticket to Uganda to arrive on New Year's Eve. Hendry's last expedition with the two world-renowned kayakers was sponsored by Eddie Bauer and was being covered regularly with video and articles from the magazine's website. So even from today, this whole expedition, you can, if you Google his name, there's videos of their trip.

There's lots of information on it. Like this was being very heavily watched in the kayaking community. When they began this expedition, they were aware of dangers between the rapids, aggressive crocodiles, the potential of angry hippos along their journey. They knew that it was going to be tough. But one factor that they hadn't thought about too much was the effect that the wars in the area over the past years really had an effect on the rivers and the predators inside of them. During the past 15 years of the fighting and the wars that were going on in this area, there was an estimated 5.4 million people who were killed.

And a majority of these people, their bodies ended up being dumped into rivers, where they were then being eaten by crocodiles. Oh my God, this is giving me the Savo Lion vibes about the workers on the railroad. and when they would just die from exposure or illness or whatever. And then the lions were getting accustomed, and other predators, hyenas, leopards. We get accustomed to having humans to eat. It became a part of their essential behavior. Yeah.

Right. Yeah. And that's exactly what's going on here because it really gave crocodiles a taste for humans. And it became a huge food source for them. And it actually changed the sizes of the crocodiles too because they were getting such a big, food source where they're normally feeding off fish and things like that. Now they're feeding on full human bodies. And these crocodiles are growing to enormous sizes. Even in really small waterways where crocodiles who would live in those sections usually were even smaller than other ones.

In these waterways, they were becoming huge because they were getting such a huge source of food. And this was something that they didn't really think of. So before departing for this journey, Juliana had sent Henry a text and said, please come back in one piece. I need all of you. And he responded and said, and you shall have it. Their trip began in late October and they began their trip as planned. They spent two weeks on the White Nile exploring. Then they headed to Rwanda. They rented motorbikes and carried the kayaks on top of the bikes actually. They actually strapped their kayaks to their motorcycles. If you can picture that. And they were. driving around, they're scouting out lower gorges and places to run the rivers and things like that. They completed the river runs that they were trying to do without any incident. And then they spent the night at a guest house on December 5th before putting in on the Lucuga River. And the Lucuga River is actually situated within Yupemba National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It protects over 3,900 square miles, which is 10,000 square kilometers of lush lakes, marshes, and rivers.

And it's also known to be home of hippos and crocodiles. If you say hippos and crocodiles one more time. Just like the anxiety I give you every time. It's like a trigger word. I'm like, okay, so when is this coming into play? Because you'll like say it, you'll drop it and then we'll go off onto something else. And I'm like, okay, so it's not about hippos and crocodiles. and we always end up back here.

Well, they're always around. They're never not an issue. Every single time they're out on the water, those are two things that they have to be highly aware of. Actually, that brings me to a point of something that he wrote in his memoir. And it wasn't on this trip that we're talking about right now that he wrote, but just as an example of his experience with crocodiles on River, he wrote, I felt it before I saw it. A crock had managed to sneak within 50 feet of me. It was already time for plan B.

Throw a decoy. I kept my helmet on my deck just for such an emergency. Hoping that I wouldn't have to test this flimsy theory, but mid-stroke, I lobbed my helmet. A few seconds later, I look back, the crock is still coming hard, but at least it's a race. From my experience, it seems that crocs have a short sprint speed. It gave up the chase shortly thereafter and swam towards my helmet. So this is not, the crocodiles are certainly, like, he's facing them more often than we've talked about, and he talks about it more in his memoir, but they're here, and he's, he's dealing with them. So on their first day on the Le Cougar River, later in the afternoon, they actually spotted a 12-foot crocodile on the bank of the river. And this was the biggest crocodile that they had seen their entire trip. So they quickly gathered together to come up with a protocol to try and remain safe.

And they decided that they needed to paddle as a group and pay close attention to the bank. So they wanted to paddle very close together to try and appear a lot larger than they were instead of single kayaks and just kind of make it so they didn't look enticing for a crocodile to come near. That night they stayed downriver in one of the villages and they asked the locals for advice on the crocodiles. They're like, you know, we saw this huge crocodile. It really freaked us out. What do you guys do? Like, how do you avoid this? And they basically replied and were like, we don't deal with it.

They're a major problem here over the past 20 years. 125 people have been eaten here. Oh, not the answer I'm sure they were hoping for, but grounding at the same time. Yeah, definitely not the answer they wanted. But they had a mission that they were out here to do. So they continued on the waters and they took two more days to complete the rapids that they were trying to do here on December. 7th. They were out on the river again. And this was a clear, beautiful afternoon. And they had reached

this area that was a 90 degree left turn that they had seen before on Google Earth. So they recognized the area they're in. They were like, oh, we prepared for this. We know what this is. But while they're there, one of the team members notices that there were three or four small crocodiles that slipped under the water. And it's murky and they can't see them after. So the three of them gather They're super closely together and start paddling together. And they're so close that they actually have to watch where they're paddling because they're about to hit each other. That's how close they are.

Suddenly, they saw a flash of motion from their peripherals. Ben and Chris turned to see a huge gaping pair of jaws coming straight out of the water and towards Hendry. Oh, my God. Hendry yelled out. But this wasn't so much of a scream as it was a statement of like, oh, my God. God, this is happening right now. The biggest crocodile they had ever seen on the river had somehow managed to avoid all detection and was underneath the murky waters and then leaped out. It leaped out,

opened its jaws, and locked onto Henry's left shoulder. The crocodile pulled him down under the water, flipping his kayak in just one swoop. Chris and Ben were within an arm's reach of what was happening, but it happened so quickly that there wasn't even time to react. Henry's kayak was almost completely submerged in the water. And after a moment, it came back up just enough to reveal that it was empty. This entire ordeal lasted all of 10 seconds. Chris and Ben mortified at what they just had witnessed began paddling away as fast as they could for their lives. They were expecting this crocodile to reemerge at any moment. The fact that this crocodile didn't sit atop the water like most of the ones that they had previously observed, and it specifically leaped out of the water to

attack a person was what had them most concerned. They're like, we have to get out now. They estimated this crocodile to have been around 2,000 pounds, which is 907 kilograms. It was likely that when he did grab Hendry, he dragged him to the floor of the river, crushed him, and drowned him. Ben and Chris paddled as fast as they could downstream to the nearest village. The locals initially ran away from them because the two men were so frantic and screaming in a language that they didn't totally understand. But after they extended their arms out in like a universal sign of like crocodile jaws, they seemed to understand what had happened and they rushed back to try and communicate. And they were able to partially communicate in a broken French. And Chris and Ben asked

if they could grab a motorboat to take it upstream to go try and find Henry. Like, we need to get back there. We need to go find him. Just we couldn't do it in kayaks. That was way too dangerous. And during this conversation, the people there were like, we don't have any boats. We stopped using boat travel after crocodiles killed seven of our people in 2006. 20 minutes later, Henry's kayak floated into view. All of his gear was still attached, where he had had it before, and there was not a single scratch in the boat. It looked like nothing had happened at all.

Ben and Chris were able to call and report what had happened to Henry, and news broke out about it quickly. Juliana, unfortunately, didn't hear the news until she logged onto Facebook and she saw tributes posted about his death. Henry's remains were never recovered, but on January 7th, Juliana, Pete, and a lot more friends gathered together for a memorial in his name. They wrote messages to him on a wooden raft before setting it ablaze to float over a waterfall. Before Henry's last trip, he had emailed a 300-page manuscript of his memoir, to Juliana, Pete, and a few other people. He left behind thousands of private journals, blog entries, essays, and emails. And in 2013, this was published as a book titled Living the Best Day Ever, which is now

something that you can buy if you look it up. His family and friends did decide to publish it. I read a lot of it and it's really, really interesting. I would highly recommend it just because I personally got really invested in him as a person. His point of view of life is very beautiful. You literally just for an hour and 30 minutes so beautifully detailed his life and all of these crazy things. And then like, snap, it's over. I mean, which is true.

It is what happened. But it was just so shocking that like I thought there was going to be more lead up or like something was. I don't know. It was just it took me really back. Yeah. And that's kind of how just his life was though. And a big message of his throughout his memoir. And a lot of what he says is like tomorrow might not happen.

Like life just ends. Yeah. And that's how his story ends too. Is it just he was there and he was alive and he was doing things and then he wasn't. Right. And the behavior of that crocodile like you mentioned is very frightening. And I wonder just from a purely curious standpoint if there are other cases or documentation of that happening as far as just like that specific behavior pattern.

Because, like you said, like, they didn't notice it. It was very calculated. It was obviously watching them. It wasn't like it grabbed its kayak and flipped him over. Like he, I'm picturing this monster 20 foot plus foot crocodile launching out of the air, picking him out of his kayak and taking him away. Because when you think of an alligator or a crocodile attack, you think of it grabs a limb or it grabs part of you and there's a lot of thrashing. There's a lot of commotion. There's a lot of, and this just seemed like he literally just plucked him out and dragged him under.

When I was researching this, they said, it happened so fast we didn't have time to react. We just saw it. It happened. It was over. And then they like sat there for a minute processing. Like, what did we just see? And then it's like, oh, my God, we have to get out of here. We're next.

Right. Yeah. Holy shit. That is, that is something that. I mean, every animal attack one is crazy. and I hate to say that like, well, they're predators and they're just doing what predators do because they are, they are, but I don't want to take away from, that's obviously a tragic way for someone to go. And especially to see as a friend or someone with that person to see that happen. But it's also really interesting, what year was this, did you say? 2010. And that specific village just stopped going on the river like years before that. Yeah, about four years before that, they're like crocodiles are taking our people, we're not using it anymore. Whoa.

It seemed to be kind of a theme in the village before that. They're like, no, like we've lost 125 people. And then there was the man-eater one that killed over 300. But that one was a really insane circumstance because in these other places they were finding their people were being eaten, but it was by like multiple crocodiles. That particular one, the man-eater crocodile, had killed 300 people itself. That's like the Chimpawat tiger. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Oh, my God. I just... I don't know why animal attack ones are my favorites. And I hate to say the word favorite because they're horrific. It's just because this one is also interesting because you said, well, the behavior has kind of changed a little bit in some of the crocodiles. But those people are already deceased. This is a hunting behavior. Yes.

Definitely. It's definitely an interesting circumstance that happened. and I really just fell across this story because I was trying to figure out a story to tell for this one. And I have a lot lined up, but I just was feeling, you know, when you have all the clothes that you need, but you can't find something to wear. I literally have like a list of stories that I can tell and I have them all lined up. But for some reason, I was just feeling something different. And for this story, I just happened to come across Hendry. and I just felt really drawn to his character, I guess.

When I was reading about him, he just seemed like such a free spirit that was living life the best way he could think of. And he was living it so simply and just the way he lived. You know, he's doing these crazy, adventurous things. He's in shape. He's hanging out with his friends. He's camping. He's making these beautiful friendships. He's fun.

He's drinking. He's partying. and he falls in love. He's just like, he just feels so relatable to someone that I would be friends with or love to know. And I think that's probably what drew me to him the most. And then his story, I went into this and I knew the ending of it when I first researched it. But then when I read his life story, I was like, his life is so much more than what happened to him and how he died. His life was so full of adventure and so crazy.

So I thought I was going into this story. going in to tell his death. And then I very quickly found that his story is not his death. His story is about the really wonderful life that he lived while he was living. And I just felt it was a very special story and I felt very connected to it. Well, he's the epitome of someone that you would surround yourself with. And I'm speaking to you personally. Like not you as a collective you all. I mean Cassie specifically, especially, maybe you guys too. But I think you speak for everyone with saying that you felt drawn to him and he just seemed like such a wonderful person and the way that he lived his life everyone can say like you only live once don't take today for granted and all that

which is true like i know we all think that and we all realize that but there are very very few people who actually do something about that and live their life according to that just because i mean it's so easy to just fall into like it's like yeah life is short but i'm going to go work my nine to five yeah life is short, but I'm not going to do that thing that I really want to do. Not because you're intentionally not doing it, but just because that's sometimes the way that life is. But he seemed to actively play a role in making sure that he lived the most fulfilled life he could. Your story is so much more than, you know, how it ends. And even though the way it ended was, it is tragic and it's, you are taken aback by it because of how crazy it is, like how many people

have their lives end that way. But it's just like his life was more astounding than how he died. I mean, who gets lassoed by a cannibalistic tribe and lives to tell the tale? And lives to tell the tale or goes on all these expeditions or meet someone at a bar playing chess and says, you know what? I'm going to change my life. I'm going to go do that. You know, just like he just seems like you said such a wonderful person and his life was inspiring, you know, to go out and do what you want to do. Yeah. He might. makes me feel like I need to get out now. You know, like, I feel like he like ignited and inspired me in kind of some ways to just reading his story to be like, yeah, life is short. Life doesn't go on forever. What do I need to be doing right now to make it not matter the day that I die? Your life

is over, but what did you do before that that makes it not matter? You have had a fulfilled life. You've done so much. Like, of course it matters. And I'm not saying it doesn't. And he had more things that he wanted to accomplish and I'm sure that he would have continued to lead an amazing life. But that being said, the life that he was given, he certainly utilized it. Yeah, very well said. Oh, my God. That was a wild ride. I was so invested. I teared up a little bit. I don't know if you saw me. I teared up a little bit. It was shock and sadness and I was like, whoa, because I did I had a good feeling it had something to do with crocodiles or hippos, and she kept bringing it up. Whatever, it's called breadcrumming or what is it called?

Foreshadowing. Well, yes, but like leaving breadcrumbs. You were like trailing me to that, you know, like leading me to that. And I was like, okay, something's up here. Yeah. So I had a feeling, but yeah, wow. What a, what a story. What a life. Well, that's everything I have. I do highly recommend you go read his memoir. I really liked it. And I'm not even finished with the memoir because his memoir is obviously a lot of his life. And I mean, we would be here for an entire series, I think, if I went on for his entire life. But there's so much more to it and there's so many more details. And I'm going to finish it. I'm just, like I said, I'm really drawn to who he was as a person. And I'd like to read more of it. But I highly recommend it. We'll add it to our book recommendations.

but that's everything that we have for now. So we'll see you all next week. Yeah, we'll take a break on the animal. We were on the animal train for a little while, which is my favorite train to be on, by the way. Yeah, we did some conservation stuff. We did some animal attack stuff. We did stuff that stories that were more centered around animals.

And my story for next week does not have to do with animals. So we're going, we're taking a left turn. Cool. I'm glad we did this one because I can never get enough. I'm looking forward to yours and we'll see you all then. In the meantime, enjoy the view. But watch you back. Bye.

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