Living the Best Day Ever

It is now four years since our friend and author of Adventure Travel book Living the Best Day Ever, Hendri Coetzee, was taken from his kayak by a crocodile in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The tragedy was compounded by a request from him to the two of us (myself and filmmaker Emily Hatfield) to edit and produce his book for publication. The enormous task sat heavy on our shoulders.

Arriving in Banff for the 2014 Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival (Living the Best Day Ever was a finalist in the Book Competition) was like coming full circle. Self-publishing the dream book in a style of the nineteenth century Africa explorers that inspired Hendri was only possible with a talented team of friends and family. We polished the final text left behind in the kayak he was paddling during the incident, added photos that date back to his childhood and included maps hand-inked to illustrate his journeys. The memoir is full of humour, harrowing tales of African adventures, and whitewater poetry.

The Banff Mountain Book Competition was the first port to call, an ideal fit given the success of Kadoma, Hendri’s tribute film that won best film Adventure and Exploration, 2011. Director and fellow paddler Ben Stookesberry joined us at The Banff Centre to celebrate Hendri’s success. To be recognized at such a prestigious festival validates that Hendri was both a world-class paddler and captivating author. In spirit he joins the throngs of outdoor enthusiasts gathered in this space to celebrate the continuing legacies of individuals pushing the boundaries of their sport.

We were in fact, amazed by how many adventure industry people were reading, had just finished, or traveled with Hendri’s book to the festival.His story has reached outside the whitewater world and onto the nightstands of those of us who share his ethos – the idea that “It is all about today. Today is the best day ever because tomorrow might not happen.”

During the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival the Hendri Coetzee Trust was able to connect with fellow authors, filmmakers, athletes, and creators to gain access for the self-published memoir. From there, we are being featured in the Explorers Connect Bristol meeting on the January 8. Books will be sold at the Adventure Travel Show in London from January 16-17 through TIA Adventures, the company set up by Hendri’s best friend and fellow adventurer Pete Meredith. We are counting down the copies with only roughly 1,500 left in stock.

Then, the trust will venture to Uganda, Hendri’s former playground, for the Nile River Festival. The organizers created a special event called the Hendri Coetzee Itunda Race. It is a head-to-head speed and style race down a class-five river, where the paddlers go through rapids with names like “pencil sharpener” and “ashtray” with the finish line in “the bad place.” It is a symbolic location to have the event because there is a memorial bench that sits on the hill above the festivities.

Etched into the wood is his name and a quote from his book, “Thank you for the flat rock I sleep on. Thank you for the peace I feel. Thank you for the chance to live my dreams.”