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NorCal Man Witnesses And Escapes Fatal Crocodile Attack

JOHANNESBURG (AP) -- An acclaimed outdoorsman who wrote movingly of testing himself against nature is presumed dead after a crocodile snatched him from his kayak while he led an American expedition from the source of the White Nile into the heart of Congo.

Two Americans being led by 35-year-old South African Hendrik Coetzee on the grueling trip could only watch in horror, then paddled unharmed to safety after the Tuesday morning attack on the Lukuga River in Congo. The International Rescue Committee, which runs development projects in Congo, helped evacuate the Americans to a nearby town after Tuesday's attack, said Ciaran Donnelly, the organization's regional director in the Central African country.

The body of Coetzee, who was living in Uganda, has not been recovered. The stretch of river where the trio was traveling is notoriously dangerous for its whitewater, and because of its high density of crocodiles and hippos.

In a blog called The Great White Explorer that chronicled the trip sponsored by the Eddie Bauer clothing and outdoor equipment company, Coetzee wrote of the thrill of taking to uncharted waters, including stretches that might soon disappear due to planned dams. He also described sometimes facing suspicion from military and other officials. One day ended in a storm:

"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," Coetzee wrote.

A friend, Celliers Kruger, who owns a South African kayaking company, called Coetzee a legend.

"He was the bravest guy I've ever known," Kruger said. "But he wasn't crazy. He was very calculated and set the bar high for future exploration in Africa."

Eddie Bauer said the trip was a first-of-its-kind kayaking expedition from the White Nile and Congo rivers into Congo. The three men, all experienced kayakers, were documenting unexplored whitewater and development projects in the region.

"There are three-ton hippos that will bite you in half," one of the American kayakers wrote on his blog, quoting Coetzee, who was known as Hendri. "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?"

Deadly hippo and crocodile attacks on humans are not uncommon in Africa, though figures are hard to pin down. Johnny Rodrigues, a wildlife expert in Zimbabwe, said parks authorities there are reluctant to give out numbers for fear of scaring away tourists.

"They are the predators of the water," Rodrigues said of crocodiles, adding he believed they were more dangerous to humans than hippos.

The two Americans -- Ben Stookesberry and Chris Korbulic -- were "physically unharmed but shaken up by the incident," Donnelly of the International Rescue Committee said Thursday. They are currently in Congo but expect to return home to the U.S. shortly. Korbulic is from Rogue River, Ore., and Stookesberry is from Mount Shasta, Calif.

In his blog, Coetzee discussed the importance of trusting instincts and the group's only rule -- "nobody panic."

In Coetzee's most recent entry dated Nov. 26, he wrote: "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."

"Dwarfed by lush green mountains rising up to 3,000 feet above us, we were drawn in ever deeper with a constant eye on the banks for trouble," he wrote.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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