Unfortunately, I didn't get any Crocs for Christmas. But luckily for a paddler on the Umgeni River in South Africa, a croc didn't get him.
Keith Ellerker, a 49-year-old South African paddler, said a croc attacked him and his boat as he paddled down a popular stretch of the Umgeni River.
Ellerker, who was training for the elite, 120 km Hansa Powerade Dusi 2009 paddling marathon that starts Jan. 15, said he noticed the smell of rotting meat as he paddled past some bushes on the river bank.
"Shortly after I passed it, I felt as if there was another paddler 'riding my wave,'" Ellerker told the Capetown Independent Newspaper. "I turned to look back and saw a 2.5 meter crocodile attack the back of my canoe."
(Note to Yanks: "Canoe" is still how much of the English-speaking world refers to kayaks.)
Ellerker, who's an experienced paddler in the race that will see its 58th running this year, said he quickly paddled away from the croc, got to the other side of the river, and got out of his boat. He wasn't injured, and luckily didn't flip when the croc struck.
"My boat wasn't badly damaged, but it had a few scratches on it," Ellerker said. A true competitor, he said the incident wouldn't deter him from training, or racing in the Dusi event.
That's a big deal for the organizers of the race, which attracts nearly 2,000 paddlers, receives national and international media attention, and provides a significan economic boost to the region as it makes its way from the city of Pietermaritzburg to Durban.
In fact, race spokesperson Ray De Vries underscored the fact that the site of the attack wasn't on the race route.
What's more, the incident caught the attention of local crocodile hunter Trevor Kelly, who said he'll do all he can to catch the croc before the race starts.
"A trap would be laid by this evening and I'm confident that the crocodile would be caught within a week or two," he told the newspaper.
Maybe he'll be the one to get the croc in the new year.
Best wishes and good luck to Ellerker, and all the Dusi competitors.
Happy 2009.
