As he battled through the impenetrable Amazon jungle with potential death everywhere, Ash Dykes wondered if he had finally bitten off more than he could chew.
The 33-year-old had made the 4,500-mile journey from the UK to the former Dutch colony of Suriname in high spirits with his best friends, determined to become the first people to travel from the source of an unknown river to the Atlantic Ocean. .
But just days into his “brutal” expedition, things had started to go wrong: skin and toenails were falling off the explorer’s feet, hunger was taking hold, and his small group was being stalked. by one of the most fearsome predators in the jungle.
For 37 “agonizing” days and 370 miles, Ash and his friends Jacob Hudson, Dick Lock and Matt Wallace traversed the harsh jungle terrain.
They followed the Coppename River in sweltering 40-degree heat and faced danger around every corner.
The odds were against the team as they were plagued by hallucinations, hampered by 40-degree temperatures and stung by insects, including Suriname’s most dangerous scorpion.
Ash Dykes and three others became the first people to travel from the river’s source to the Atlantic Ocean.
After 37 “brutal” days, Ash and the group reached the finish line in the Atlantic Ocean. Pictured: Ash on the last day of his trip.
Ash with his girlfriend Shab Tava, who manages his social media, whom he left behind in civilization while undertaking the dangerous journey.
The LR Team: Dick Lock, Jacob Hudson, Ash Dykes and Matt Wallace
A few days into the trip, Ash’s feet began to flaunt and his skin began to fall off.
Ash said the pain was so intense it felt like he was “stepping on fiery needles.” Here the explorer’s feet are blistered and swollen.
Ash also had a nasty infection on his shin that was filling with pus and he had to squeeze it out.
Pictured: A jaguar that “came to the edge of the river and stood there staring for at least two minutes, which was unreal,” Ash said.
Ash told MailOnline how from the moment he landed in the dense jungle he realized he had made a “rookie” mistake which left him in a world of hurt.
‘I took shoes that were one or two sizes too small and I didn’t break them in either. So when I was there, I got a lot of blisters.
‘I lost three toenails. I snub my toe and there was flesh hanging out and I thought maybe I needed stitches.’
Ash also experienced chafing caused by water and sand on his shoes.
“They removed several layers of skin and every step felt like I was stepping on fiery needles,” Ash recalls.
Nature also took its toll on the team and the mission was almost aborted when jungle expert Matt was stung by a venomous scorpion hiding in his glove.
He writhed in agony from the “electric shock” sensation before declaring he was fit to continue saying, “At least I fulfilled that one on my bucket list.”
“Thousands” of blood-sucking insects and ticks added fuel to the fire, savagely attacking the men and having to be torn from their skin every night.
But the creatures were the least of their worries, as the group also came face to face with two of the jungle’s most dangerous predators, a ferocious jaguar and a terrifying Goliath tarantula, the world’s largest spider.
“A jaguar came to the edge of the river and stood there looking for at least two minutes, which was unreal,” Ash said.
The team covered more than 600 kilometers on foot and in kayaks.
They followed the Coppename River in sweltering 40-degree heat and faced danger around every corner.
Trees cover 93 percent of Suriname and the group’s starting point could only be reached by helicopter.
After six days of grueling work, the team was relieved to come across the source of the Coppename River. Here they can be seen navigating the difficult terrain with their kayaks.
The team had to constantly be on high alert, especially at night, when the jungle turned into a death trap.
Describing the eerie scene, the explorer said: “You’ve got a headlamp on and you’re looking around and you’ve got a bunch of pairs of eyes shining at you reflecting off the torch.”
‘You start to figure out what’s what. If there’s a pair of orange eyes, that’s an alligator, if there’s like these diamond eyes, and there were hundreds of diamond eyes, they’re a fucking ton of spiders.’
Hunger pangs also began to weaken morale and before long Ash was “practically starving” and dreaming of food.
With limited rations of just 800 calories a day when they were burning 8,000, the team relied on piranhas and other fish for additional sustenance.
After six days of grueling work, the team was relieved to come upon the headwaters of the Coppename River, but they were not out of the woods yet.
For Ash, a world record wasn’t enough and he also set out to reach the top of the country’s highest mountain on his way to the Atlantic.
But although the team accomplished the feat, they had to pay a price for their place in the history books.
The mission was almost aborted when jungle expert Matt was stung by a poisonous scorpion. The skin left him writhing in agony.
The scorpion had hidden in Matt’s glove.
In the photo: the scorpion after the sting.
The men had pushed their physical and mental abilities so far that they began to lose their minds and experience disconcerting hallucinations.
During the 100km kayak to the finish line, Matt began to see “dark gray figures in the distance” and the others experienced strange sensations of water rising and falling, even though the river was calm.
“When we were kayaking at night, everything was so calm and quiet, and all the stars above you in the night sky were reflected in the river, it was almost like we were just paddling through space,” Ash said. .
“And then you go into a trance where you feel like you’re riding 30-meter waves, where you feel the emotion go up and down, even though there were no waves at all.
“I think it was probably due to lack of sleep. I think at that point your mind starts playing because it’s tired and it starts making you believe that things are happening when they’re not,” he explained.
When it arrived in the Atlantic on Friday, October 4, Ash said it was “very emotional for all of us.”
He added: “Those last three days were some of the most difficult.
‘In three nights we slept less than five hours. So we were very sleep deprived and started hallucinating.
Ash developed Staphylococcus aurus, a nasty bacteria that penetrates meat and eats it away.
Here Ash is shown squeezing out pus from the infection.
Fortunately the wound healed and he was able to continue the mission.
‘It was very hard, very difficult, very hot. We were suffering from heat exhaustion. We were dehydrated.
‘I don’t think words can express how difficult it was.
“Getting over that finish line was just monumental, just unreal.”
After their incredible journey, the team returned to civilization, where they were greeted with a feast consisting of all the food they had been dreaming of.
‘There was literally a bucket of KFC chicken, Indian butter chicken, pizzas, ice cream, chocolate cake, you name it. We suffered afterwards, but it was worth it,” Ash said.
The explorer has nearly died on numerous occasions, such as when he was followed by a pack of wolves in Mongolia, came within hours of death after contracting a deadly strain of malaria, and had a gun pointed at him in Madagascar.
Recalling the third terrifying encounter, he said: ‘The officer was drunk. I remember him just growling at me. And the strap of his AK-47 was slipping off his shoulder and he was still holding the gun by the trigger, with the barrel pointed directly at us.
Although Ash has already taken on some of the most inhospitable terrain in the world, there is one mission he describes as “50 percent suicidal” that is so dangerous that even he is reluctant to undertake.
Pictured: Ashes holding the jungle bugs. He said that at night there were hundreds of diamond eyes belonging to a damn ton of spiders.
“Thousands” of blood-sucking insects and ticks attacked the men and had to be torn from their skin every night.
Towards the end of their 37-day journey, the group began experiencing hallucinations while rowing down the river at night.
‘In my opinion, I have always liked the idea of traveling along the Congo River. I’ll probably never do this because it’s like 50 percent suicide.
“But whoever travels that river, the Congo River from its source to the sea in Africa, I honestly believe it will go down as one of the greatest expeditions of the last 50 to 100 years,” he said.
Ash added that the mission would see an adventurer fight through “the toughest jungle there is” while dodging dangerous animals, undiscovered diseases and even cannibals.
‘You’ve got all the snakes, spiders and wild cats, probably some undiscovered species.
“You would also have to be very aware of people, there is a lot of guerrilla warfare, potentially even some communities that still practice cannibalism,” Ash explained.
However, despite the risks, Ash might be “tempted” to take on the challenge if he had a sponsor who could help make it as safe as possible.
“If you have helicopter evacuation, adequate security, adequate funding to protect you at all times, then it could be worth it,” he said.
Ash’s mission was supported by pop icon Cher’s charity, Free The Wild, this journey which focuses on protecting wild animals and their habitats.
Free the wild strives to stop the suffering of wild animals in captivity and ultimately find a way to release them into better-equipped sanctuaries or zoos.