Kayaking Tragedy in the Congo

Hendri Coetzee picture from Washington Post

Terrible news today from Born Out There – The First Ascent Blog: Hendri Coetzee, the guide who had been leading Ben Stookesberry and Chris Korbulic through the Democratic Republic of Congo, is presumed dead.

The team was kayaking down the Lukuga River when a crocodile pulled Coetzee from his kayak. Stookesberry and Korbulic were able to paddle to safety where they contacted the International Rescue Committee to evacuate the team.

The team’s mission was to run unexplored whitewater and document their findings, while focusing on the clean water crisis in Central Africa and the people it affects.

"Coetzee's body has not been recovered. The stretch of river where the trio was traveling is notoriously dangerous because of its whitewater, and the high density of crocodiles and hippos," reports Jenny Gross for The Washington Post. 

 “It is hard to know the difference between irrational fear and instinct, but fortunate is he who can . Often there is no clear right or wrong option, only the safest one. And if safe was all I wanted, I would have stayed home in Jinja. Too often when trying something no one has ever done, there are only 3 likely outcome: Success, quitting, or serious injury and beyond,” Coetzee wrote in the last post on his blog The Great White Explorer. “The difference in the three, are often forces outside of your control. But this is the nature of the beast: Risk.”