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A life of extremes: whitewater 'legend' taken by maneater
Adventurer and kayaker Hendrik Coetzee just had one rule - never panic.
And when it came to the rivers Mr Coetzee liked to paddle, they were wise words.
The South African - known as Hendri to his friends - lived a life exploring the world's most dangerous rivers, often in war-torn African countries, to experience places very few had seen before.
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He put his life on the line every day and if the huge rapids or wild weather did not to kill him, the local wildlife and armed militias often did their best to do so.
For Mr Coetzee, 35, the risks were worth the rewards.
But after countless death-defying expeditions over much of Africa, his latest adventure proved fatal.
Mr Coetzee was killed on Tuesday after a huge crocodile snapped him from his kayak on the Lukuga River while he led an American expedition from the source of the White Nile into the heart of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
His body has not been found.
The two Americans who saw the incident - Ben Stookesberry and Chris Korbulic - were not injured. They are in the Congo and will return home to the US shortly.
While the exact details of his tragic death are still unknown, the dangers faced by Mr Coetzee's expedition have been detailed extensively.
The trip was said to be a first-of-its-kind kayaking expedition and the group survived a number of weeks in treacherous conditions.
After two other kayakers pulled out of the trip at the last minute (apparently too scared of the crocodiles), the three men set off early last month fully aware of the challenges they faced.
Mr Stookesberry recounted in a message now featured on countless blogs how Mr Coetzee warned them about "three-tonne hippos that will bite you in half".
"Stay off the banks because the crocs are having a bake and might fancy you for lunch. Basically, stay close behind me and follow my lead. Any questions?" Mr Coetzee was quoted as saying.
And Mr Stookesberry quickly realised his guide's "no panic rule" was golden.
"[T]here is a crocodile at the river's mouth named Gustav that is an ancient, well-fed maneater. If you are as worried about this next week of the expedition as we are, please take Hendri's advice [No matter what, don't panic.]"
Even the locals laughed at what they were about to attempt, Mr Stookesberry wrote.
"You're not really going in that river?" a man in fatigues asked and then said: "They are relocating the big maneating crocs from Lake Victoria here so, you must be crazy!"
Mr Stookesberry also recounted the number of times they fled deadly animals and how Mr Coetzee did not seem fazed.
"There are more rapids, and many more hippos than I thought possible. Hendri comments casually that there are relatively few today and he expected hundreds more. I can only nod. The three of us spin in tight order towards the right bank. Two strokes in and Hendri is coming right back at me saying, 'Time to go. Big croc coming.' The river is like this for a while: continuous rapids confused by many channels and even more hippos."
As for Mr Coetzee, fear was something that had to be conquered.
He led the first source-to-sea expedition down the length of the Nile in 2004 and was widely regarded as breaking the limits on African kayak adventures.
Under a recent blog titled "Fear, do they make you soft?", he wrote about the trip: "As I licked my dry lips and carefully checked that my spray deck was on properly, I had the feeling I might be doing something I should not. I pushed through the doubt and when I finally shot out the bottom of the rapid I was happy I did. It was just paranoia after all."
Celliers Kruger, who owns a South African kayaking company, called Mr Coetzee, his friend, "a legend".
"He was the bravest guy I've ever known," Mr Kruger said.
"But he wasn't crazy. He was very calculated and set the bar high for future exploration in Africa."
Dangers aside, friends of Mr Coetzee pointed out he died living his dream.
He blogged only recently: "As hard, warm drops trashed at our little selves and a pair of goats, we stood precariously on an unknown slope deep in the heart of Africa, for once my mind and heart agreed, I would never live a better day."
- with AP |
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楼主: Viola
发表于 8-12-2010 23:48:20
