Congratulations to Ash Dykes, on becoming the first person to complete a gruelling 1,600-mile walk covering the length of Madagascar after beating malaria and fighting crocodiles during his 155-day journey.
Ash set off on his intrepid adventure last September from the south island, walking more than 3.5 million steps to reach Cap d'Ambre – the most northerly point of Madagascar.
During his expedition he battled unforgiving and dangerous terrain comprising sweltering deserts, sand dunes, dense jungle and rainforest - with temperatures scaling from 0C to 45C. He climbed eight mountains, narrowly avoided encounters with crocodiles, scorpions, snakes and the odd poisonous centipede, contracted a deadly strain of Malaria, and suffered an adverse reaction to spider bites. [all in a days work!]
“It’s pushed me to extreme limits and I’ve stared death in the face on a number of occasions, but I endured and persevered through the pain to the finish.”
Despite all this, he completed his record-breaking walk in the early hours of 15 February 2016.