As he struggled through the impenetrable Amazon Rainforest with potential death on all sides, 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 uncharted river to the Atlantic Ocean.
But just days into their ‘brutal’ expedition things had started to go wrong – skin and toenails were falling off the explorer’s feet, starvation was taking hold and their small troupe was being stalked by one of the jungle’s most fearsome predators.
Over 37 ‘agonising’ days and 370-miles Ash and his friends Jacob Hudson, Dick Lock and Matt Wallace hacked through the punishing jungle terrain, following the Coppename river and facing danger around every corner.
The odds were stacked 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 told MailOnline how from the moment he touched down in the dense jungle he realised he had made a ‘rookie’ error that left him in a world of pain.
‘I took shoes that were one or two sizes too small and then I didn’t break them in either. So when I was out there I got so many blisters.
Ash Dykes and three others became the first people to to travel from the source of the river to the Atlantic Ocean
After 37 ‘brutal’ days Ash and the group made it to the finish line on the Atlantic ocean. Pictured: Ash on the final day of his journey
Ash with his girlfriend Shab Tava who manages his social media who he left behind in civilisation as he underwent the perilous journey
The team L-R: Dick Lock, Jacob Hudson, Ash Dykes and Matt Wallace
Just days into the trip Ash’s feet started to bluster and skin began to fall off
Ash said the pain was so bad it felt like he was ‘stepping on fiery needles’ here the erxplorer’s feet are blistered and swollen
Ash also had a nasty infection in his shin which filled with pus that he had to squeeze out
Pictured: A jaguar which ‘came to the river bank and stood there staring for at least two minutes which was unreal’, Ash said
‘I lost three toenails. I snubbed my toe and there was flesh hanging out I thought maybe I would need stitches.’
Ash also experienced chafing caused by water and sand in his shoes.
‘Multiple layers of skin were rubbed away, each step felt like I was stepping on fiery needles,’ Ash recalled.
Nature also took a severe toll on the team and the mission was nearly aborted when jungle expert Matt was stung by a venomous scorpion which was hiding in his glove.
He writhed around in agony from the ‘electric shock’ sensation before declaring he was fit to plough on saying: ‘At least I ticked that one of my bucket list’.
‘Thousands’ insects and blood-sucking ticks added fuel to the fire – savaging the men and having to be plucked from their skin each night.
But critters were the least of their worries as the troupe also came face to face with two of the jungle’s most dangerous predators, a fierce jaguar and a terrifying Goliath tarantula – the world’s largest spider.
‘A jaguar came to the river bank and stood there staring for at least two minutes which was unreal’, Ash said.
The team travelled more than 370-miles on foot and in kayaks
They followed the Coppename river in sweltering 40 degree heat facing danger around every corner
Trees cover 93 per cent of Suriname and the group’s drop of point could only be reached by helicopter
After six days of gruelling work the team were relieved to stumble upon the source of the Coppename river. Here they can be seen navigating through the difficult terrain with their kayaks
The team constantly had to be on high alert especially at night when the jungle became a death trap.
Describing the eerie scene the explorer said: ‘You’ve got a head torch on and you’re looking around and you’ve just got loads of pairs of eyes shining back at you reflecting off the torch.
‘You start to decipher what is what. If there’s a pair of orange eyes, that’s caiman, if there’s like these diamond eyes – and there were hundreds of diamond eyes – that’s a s*** ton of spiders.’
Hunger pangs also began to dampen moral 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 extra sustenance.
After six days of grueling work the team were relieved to stumble upon the source of the Coppename river – but they were not out of the woods yet.
For Ash one World Record didn’t suffice and he also set out to summit the country’s highest mountain on his way to the Atlantic.
But although the team achieved the feat they had to pay a price for their place in the history books.
The mission was nearly aborted when jungle expert Matt was stung by a venomous scorpion. The skin left him writhing around in agony
The scorpion had been hiding in Matt’s glove
Pictured: The scorpion following the sting
The men had pushed their physical and mental capabilities so far that they began to lose their minds and experience unnerving hallucinations.
During the 100km kayak to the finish line Matt started seeing ‘dark grey figures in the distance’ and the others experienced strange sensations of water rising and falling – despite the river being calm.
‘When we would kayak through the night, and it would be so calm and so still, and all of the stars above you in the night sky would be reflecting off the river it was almost like we were just paddling through space’, Ash said.
‘And then you hit the trance where it then feels like you’re riding 30 metre waves, where you feel emotion going up and down, even though there were no waves whatsoever.
‘I think that probably was due to the sleep deprivation. I think at that point your mind starts playing games because it’s tired and it starts to make you believe things are happening when, when they’re not’, he explained.
When he reached the Atlantic on Friday October 4 Ash said it was ‘very emotional for us all’.
He added: ‘Those last three days were some of the hardest.
‘In three nights, we had under five hours of sleep. So we were extremely sleep-deprived and started to hallucinate.
Ash developed developed staphylococcus aurus, a nasty bacteria, which pits into your flesh and eats away
Here Ash is pictured squeezing 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 with heat exhaustion. We were dehydrated.
‘I don’t think words will ever be able to express just how tough it was.
‘To get over that finish line was just monumental, just unreal.’
Following their incredible journey the team headed back to civilisation where they were greeted with a feast consisting of all the food they had been dreaming about.
‘There was literally a bucket of KFC chicken, there was chicken butter Indian, there were pizzas, there was ice cream, chocolate cake, you name it. We were suffering afterwards but it was so worth it,’ Ash said.
The explorer has previously had numerous close calls such as when he was tailed by a pack of wolves in Mongolia, was just hours from 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 sort of growling at me. And his strap for his AK-47 kept slipping off his shoulder, and he kept catching the gun by the trigger, with the barrel pointing right at us.’
Although Ash has already taken on some of the world’s most inhospitable terrain there is one mission that he describes as ’50 per cent suicide’ which is so dangerous even he is reluctant to undertake.
Pictured: Ash holding of the jungle critters. He said at night there were hundreds of diamond eyes belonging to a s*** ton of spiders’
‘Thousands’ insects and blood-sucking ticks savaged the men and had to be plucked from their skin each night
Towards the end of their 37 day trip the group began to experience hallucinations while paddling down the river at night
‘In my mind, I’ve always liked the idea of doing the Congo River. I probably won’t ever do this because it’s like 50 per cent suicide.
‘But whoever does that river, the Congo River from source to sea in Africa I honestly think it will go down as one of the greatest expeditions the past 50 to 100 years, he said.
Ash added that the mission would see an adventurer battle through ‘the harshest jungle there is’ all the while dodging dangerous animals, undiscovered diseases and even cannibals.
‘You’ve got all of the snakes and spiders and wild cats, probably some undiscovered species.
‘You would have to be very aware of the people as well, there’s a lot of guerrilla warfare , potentially even some communities out there that still practice cannibalism’, Ash explained.
However, despite the risks, Ash could be ‘tempted’ to take on the challenge if he had a sponsor who could help make it as safe as possible.
‘If you’ve got helicopter evacuation, the right security, the right funding to, you know, to protect you throughout, 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 endeavours to stop the suffering of wild animals in captivity and ultimately find a way to release them into sanctuaries or better equipped zoos.
