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Two Naked Pals Survive Three-Week Holiday In Malaysian Rainforest Eating Creepy Crawlies

Two Naked Pals Survive Three-Week Holiday In Malaysian Rainforest Eating Creepy Crawlies

This is what we imagine the real life I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! would be like

Rebecca Shepherd

Rebecca Shepherd

Some travellers try to discover themselves and figure out their spiritual side in southeast Asia. Others take up work on a farm picking fruit in Australia.

Not Daniel Olifi, 26, and James Moynihan, 27, though. They had other ideas for how they would spend their holiday.

Instead of doing a bit of Aussie-labouring, the university pals battled blistering heat, machete wounds, thunderstorms and hypothermia to survive three weeks in the Malaysian jungle - totally naked as well, if you were interested.

In fact, the survival junkies only took a flint rock, a machete, a mosquito net, a metal water pot and a first aid kit on their trip. Not my idea of fun, that's for sure.

Financial tech worker Daniel and cruise ship entertainer James lost 46lbs between them after failing to find much to eat except bugs and berries.

Daniel and James eating worms.
SWNS

They nearly ran out of water within hours and one had to go to hospital after he sliced his own hand with a machete. Anyone feeling tempted to copy them?

The pair endured dozens of mosquito bites, hypothermia and dehydration but managed to complete their three week 'holiday' near the equator.

The hardy duo decided not to wear clothes to 'show that it can be done' and recorded their adventure in video diaries.

This is where the pair slept.
SWNS

Daniel, from London, said: "It was scary at times. Going to sleep at night, for all you know a snake might get in your shelter and you might not wake up the next morning. You can really step on a snake at any point and not know it, or hypothermia can get you.

"You realise: 'Damn! This is how idiots die in the wild and are never found'. It was tough. Our bodies were cannibalising our muscle for energy just to stay alive. We wanted to do something truly inspirational and epic - once in a lifetime.

It's hard to see why they were bitten and ended up with hypothermia, living in here.
SWNS

"You only live once, so you may as well do everything you can. We wanted to show that anybody can push themselves to the limit to a point beyond giving up in a primal situation.

"We did it without clothes - to strip ourselves down to the bare minimum - to show that it can be done."

Daniel on his jollies.
SWNS

Daniel is no stranger to adventure, having walked from the UK to the Alps in 2014 where he partially survived on a diet of slugs and water from the mountain rivers. A diet of WHAT?!

In 2015 he cycled across the Sahara, drinking his own urine to conquer the 1,800km desert ride. Oh, Daniel - can you not go and lie on a sun-lounger in Greece?

Inspired by TV survival programmes, the pair flew to Malaysia in October last year for their latest challenge in the rain-forests of Kuantan in Panhang.

On day one, they set off to find a lake in the middle of the forest which they thought was half a day's walk away - but they never found it.

James during his naked adventure.
SWNS

Within hours they were running out of water and while James, from Woking, Surrey, went to find water, Daniel started to build a shelter to protect them from an incoming thunderstorm.

He fell down a ravine and cut his hand with a machete, leaving him with a nasty cut he tried to patch up with superglue. Don't try this at home, kids.

Daniel said: "I tried to fix my hand with superglue to create a seal from bacteria, which I thought would be a temporary fix. It hurt a lot. We tried to make a move early in the morning, but this was impossible. Mosquitoes started to bite us."

The next morning his hand was so painful they had to leave the rain-forest and get help - making their way to the road and hitching a ride to a nearby hospital.

Dan had an x-ray and the wound was fixed with stitches, before they left the hospital to restart their adventure, this time in a different rain-forest near Sungai Tekai.

Daniel had to have stitches in a local hospital.
SWNS
Daniel tried to glue his hand back together after slicing it open with a machete.
SWNS

They stripped off, and for a further 18 days survived on berries and bugs and were so starving they would regularly black out. Dan's fifth day diary entry reads: "We made it back to our second shelter but the walk depleted our calories.

"We did more to the shelter to make it waterproof and warmer and I cleaned my wound again but it was still not healing. We find wild berries to eat. Unsure if they are poisonous or not we do basic tests on them and we proceed to eat them."

On day six, they finally found a river and added: "Our positivity increased as now we can find fish but there is still one problem. Where there are fish, there should be birds but we didn't see or hear any birds.

"My hand is still not healing and smells rotten. James and I question how long I can stay in the jungle before it gets severely infected."

James grew weaker from day eight.

James became weaker as the adventure went on.
SWNS

Dan wrote: "He potentially has early on-set hypothermia and we question whether he should continue with the challenge or leave. James saw a large lizard but it is too late for Danny to catch it. As I stand up I black out. The blackouts for me and James become more severe. Later that day I ate a cricket."

By day 13 they were experiencing numbness in their arms and legs because they were so weak and their hearts weren't pumping blood around their bodies properly. Two days later all they could find to eat was worms and bugs.

Dan said: "Without clothes we became very vulnerable to mosquito bites. They forced us to itch until we bled. The nightly thunderstorms soaked us, and we were shivering every night. I had to share body heat with James just to stay warm."

On day 16 they abandoned their shelter and planned a two-day trek back to civilisation.

The duo recorded their experiences in a video diary.
SWNS

Dan's final day entry said: "We make our trek out as we put on clothes and leave the rain-forest through a stream. A further few miles on a dirt path both our legs give up. Once we get to a road we hail down a lift to the nearest village."

They flew home to England after several days spent recovering in Kuala Lumpur, where they gorged on crisps, cookies, pizzas, and burgers.

Daniel and James said their favourite moments were finding the river, making a fire, and getting one dry night in the shelter. Their lowest included the constant shivering at nighttime during the thunderstorms, Daniel's hand laceration, the long treks, and their blackouts.

James said: "I'm a bit of a gambling man, whether it be on football or the horse. But how many people can say they have gambled with their life?

"Everyone will face life-and-death situations, but it's normally not planned. And most people wouldn't choose to put themselves in that situation.

"I have, and I can tell you that Malaysia was the most rewarding gamble I've ever taken because now I can say I've felt what it's like to have lived."

Why not try a nice city-break next time, LADs?

Featured Image Credit: SWNS

Topics: News, travel, Weird