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Explorer Vanishes in Congo, Found Safe After TikTok Joke
22 Oct
Summary
- Influencer Ash Dykes and teammates are safe after being missing.
- The team kayaked 800 kilometers through the dangerous Congo Basin.
- Dykes previously joked about dangers including bees and hippos.
Explorer Ash Dykes, 35, and his two teammates have been located and are safe following a concerning 16-hour period of no communication during their "Project 6" expedition. The team was kayaking 800 kilometers along the Sangha River in the Congo Basin, an area described by Dykes as the "second-largest tropical rainforest on Earth."
The expedition, which began last month, faced challenges that Dykes had previously downplayed in a TikTok video posted on October 20. In the video, he sarcastically recounted encounters with bees, silverback gorillas, elephants, hippos, buffalo, and tsetse flies, while asserting that careful planning and local knowledge were key to avoiding dangers.
Communication was lost when the team's Starlink internet connection failed and their power bank died, leaving them with only intermittent signal from a Garmin device. This lack of contact sparked worry, particularly as Dykes had been documenting their progress of approximately 80 kilometers per day, aiming to reach the expedition's end that weekend and reveal the next location for his "Project 6" initiative.
