Welsh adventurer Ash Dykes and his crew have been out of contact for more than 16 hours on a 700 km kayak expedition down the Sangha River. What is known so far.
Photo credit: Ash Dykes/PR Hunter
Welsh adventurer Ash Dykes has gone quiet in one of the most remote places on Earth.
On Wednesday, October 21, his support team said it had heard nothing from Dykes or his crew for more than 16 hours, describing the gap as concerning.
There is no confirmation that anyone is hurt or in danger. The team has not said where the group last checked in or what might be behind the blackout.
The update went out on Dykes' official social channels, signed by a support team member named Matt.
It promised more information as soon as the team hears from the expedition.
Dykes, 35, is paddling an inflatable kayak down the Sangha River in the Congo Basin.
He set off on October 8 alongside filmmaker Will Pérez and their guide, Obed Temba.
The route covers more than 700 kilometres (about 435 miles), from Nola in the Central African Republic to Mossaka in the Republic of the Congo.
The whole trip was expected to take three to four weeks.
The North Wales Daily Post reports that his own website calls the region one of the last true wildernesses left on the planet. Crocodiles, hippos, tropical disease and punishing heat are all part of the risk, and Dykes had already posted about a painful sting from an unidentified insect.
Dykes had been posting regular videos from the river, showing raw day-to-day conditions rather than polished travel content.
Around day 14, he shared a clip walking through the challenges the team was facing.
The trip had not started smoothly either.
Reports note logistical setbacks before the crew even reached the water at Nola.
His choice of an inflatable kayak sparked plenty of debate online, with many followers worried it left the team exposed to large wildlife.
Dykes has argued the opposite, telling Paddling Magazine that the boats can take hits from sharp rocks and branches and still keep the journey moving.
The project is built around taking people along in near real time.
That is also why a gap of a single day landed so heavily with his large online audience.
The kayak is new territory for many of his followers, but his reputation was built on foot.
That is why so many runners and endurance athletes track every update.
In his early twenties, he became the first recorded person to cross Mongolia solo and unsupported, covering roughly 1,500 miles in 78 days.
He dragged a trailer weighing around 120 kilograms behind him the whole way.
He then trekked about 1,600 miles through Madagascar's interior in 155 days, climbing the island's eight highest mountains en route. He contracted malaria during the journey and kept going.
His best-known feat took 352 days.
He became the first person to walk the roughly 4,000-mile length of China's Yangtze River, a journey that made him a household name in China.
More recently, he completed a source-to-sea paddle through the interior of Suriname for the documentary Uncharted Amazon.
The Congo trip is Mission 01 of Project 6, a plan for six expeditions in six extreme environments over about 12 months, according to his Wikipedia profile and expedition coverage.
Expedition communications in dense rainforest are fragile.
Satellite devices need open sky and charged batteries, and a thick canopy, storms or a long day on the water can all delay a check-in.
That is exactly why serious teams agree on check-in windows before anyone leaves home.
A missed window does not mean disaster, but it does mean the people at base start working through a plan that was agreed in advance.
The support team's message reflected that balance.
It flagged real concern without speculating, and it asked followers to be patient.
You do not need to be crossing the Congo Basin for this to apply to you.
Long solo trail runs, remote ultra course recces and pre-dawn road miles all carry a smaller version of the same risk.
Tell someone exactly where you are going and when you expect to be back.
Then agree on the moment they should stop waiting and start calling.
On remote trails, a two-way satellite messenger can send a check-in or an SOS where phones fail.
It is the same basic tool expedition teams rely on.
A dead battery turns a minor delay into a genuine scare for the people waiting on you.
Carry a small power bank on long days and switch your phone to low-power mode early.
Decide how many missed check-ins should trigger action, and who takes it.
A clear plan stops your support person from panicking too early or waiting far too long.
A two-word message at the same points on every run is worth more than a long update once a day.
Regular, predictable contact makes it obvious, fast, when something has actually changed.
Agree on the format too, whether that is a preset satellite message or a quick text with your location.
The less thinking a check-in takes, the more likely you are to send it when you are tired.
Cody Taylor's 17 days alone on Vermont's Long Trail shows how much planning goes into time spent far from help.
If you are weighing whether to train solo at all, it is also worth reading why running with a partner can make you faster.
Heat is the other quiet danger on any long, remote effort.
The warning signs in this guide to preventing heat stroke while running apply whether you are on a Kentucky road or a tropical riverbank.
For now, the honest answer is that nobody outside the expedition knows what has caused the silence.
Across earlier journeys, Dykes has come through malaria, a pack of wolves trailing him in China and near heat stroke in the Gobi.
About two weeks into a journey planned for three to four weeks, a long stretch of the Sangha still lies between the team and Mossaka.
Whatever comes next, the support crew at home will be the first to know.
His team has promised updates as soon as there is news.
We will update this story when contact is restored.
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