Chapter 885: Chapter 881 Tana River Chapter 885: Chapter 881 Tana River Bi Fang led Harley along the riverbank, trying to find a shallow place or a crossing on land, but after more than half an hour of walking, they still couldn’t find a suitable place to cross the river.

Harley, having walked a long distance, felt somewhat fatigued and lay down on the ground, refusing to move another step.

Bi Fang, seeing this, had no solution.

Faced with this river filled with crocodiles, they could only think of another way to cross.

“Crack.”

A tree trunk as thick as an arm was forcibly broken off, and when it reached a suitable length, Bi Fang bound it with lianas to other trees in parallel, forming a row.

Judging from the arrangement of the wood, it was clearly a simple raft.

“We can’t find a suitable place to cross directly, so if we want to continue heading north, we have no choice but to make a raft to get across,” Bi Fang said.

If it were any other river, Bi Fang would have chosen to swim across with Harley.

But this is Africa, where the rivers teem with fierce Nile crocodiles.

“In many wildlife documentaries, we often see Nile crocodiles lurking in rivers to hunt, but in fact, they only get the chance to eat animals a few times a year.”

“For the vast majority of Nile crocodiles, they only have two big meals a year, both related to the Great Migration of animals in East Africa.”

“The animals eat once when they go and once again on their return; these are the only two meals most Nile crocodiles get.”

[No way, just two meals?]
[That’s outrageous, just two meals a year, wouldn’t they starve to death?]
[I’m so scared I hurriedly wolfed down two bites of food.]
“They won’t starve to death. Nile crocodiles have an extremely strong ability to endure hunger. After feasting on a zebra, they can go without food for over half a year.”

“During Africa’s dry season, there is little rain. To avoid these unfavorable living conditions, Nile crocodiles often dig holes in the riverbanks with their mouths and feet to hide underground in a hibernation-like state until the next rainy season arrives.”

“Sometimes they can dig down to 12 meters, which is the deepest known excavation performed by any animal using just their body.”

“So I would absolutely not dare to swim across the river. Before the major wave of animal migrations arrives, each crocodile is starving and wouldn’t let any large living creature pass.”

[Nile Crocodile: Brothers, we’ve got some action!]
[Splash, splash splash, Crocodile: What’s that B noise?]
“You should know that Nile crocodiles attack humans 275 to 745 times a year, and over 63% are fatal. Nile crocodiles involved in non-fatal attacks have an average size of about 3 meters, while those in fatal attacks average 3.5 meters. They are considered the most lethal large wild animals in Africa when it comes to attacking humans.”

“By comparison, from 1990 to 2006, lion fatalities in Africa are estimated to be one-eighth of those caused by Nile crocodiles.”

[Death roll!]
[If a crocodile grabs you, they’ll tear you apart, right?]
[That’s terrifying!]
[How frightening!]
Bi Fang bit the end of the rope, pulling it tight. His fingers weaved in and out, binding the wood together firmly.

The plains had plenty of large dead trees, which were good materials for building a raft.

“To make a raft, you can use bamboo, uproot small trees with their roots intact–these materials are solid and durable, immune to rot, or you could use the tops of dead tree trunks, have good buoyancy, and require less material for the same level of buoyancy.”

“If you have oil drums around, or objects capable of floating, that would be even better. They could all be used to support the raft to float.”

“If you really can’t find any wood, a piece of waterproof tarpaulin or other waterproof material can also be used to make a light, manned craft.”

The midday sun was somewhat intense, and as Bi Fang worked without a moment’s rest, sweat began to bead on his forehead.

Droplets of sweat slid down from his temples, fell along his jawbone, and a few murky beads dropped onto the bleached dry wood, darkening it slightly.

A multitude of trees of uniform thickness were laid side by side, bound firmly with ropes made from tree bark as thick as a pinky finger.

By now, Bi Fang had become increasingly skilled at making ropes from fibers, able to produce within a minute a one-meter segment of bark rope as thick as a pinky with sufficient strength, which significantly hastened the completion of the entire raft.

“The water system of the river in front of us is quite complex; from a geographical and directional perspective, I guess it could be part of the Tana River system or one of its tributaries.”

While making the raft, Bi Fang was also able to multitask, introducing the audience to information about the river before them.

Just the width of the river in front of them exceeded fifty meters, and the current was not swift–inattentive eyes might even think it had stopped flowing. There were a few pieces of land scattered in the middle of the river, grown over with reeds and grass as tall as a person.

From a drone’s aerial view, it looked entirely like a marshland.

Such breadth, plus the unknown length.

A river of this size could not possibly be some unnamed “river.”

As a professional survival expert, one should be familiar with the world’s famous rivers, and as the world’s number one survival expert, Bi Fang was no exception.

“There are many major rivers in Africa, but in Kenya, there are only eight rivers of the size we see before us. However, based on our current direction, there are only two possibilities, which are the Tana River and the Galana River.”

“Both of these rivers originate from the Great Rift Valley and rush all the way down to the Indian Ocean.”

“Their sources are the same, and their destinations are the same, so it would be difficult to distinguish between the two rivers without knowing one’s precise location.”

“But we are now in the eastern part of Kenya, south of the Nyika Plateau. In this location, due to the altitude difference, the river flows very rapidly. The Galana River is just like this. The Tana River would have been the same, but because it has a greater volume and larger flow, Kenya built a dam upstream to generate electricity.”

“Although it’s the rainy season now, it is far from the time to release water from the dam. With the dam’s buffering, the Tana River’s flow appears much more placid, and the water quality is also relatively clear. So we can distinguish it from these two points and confirm that the river before us is the Tana River.”

The impact of the dam on the river’s flow rate is complex, and Bi Fang simplified it.

However, one concept was clear: energy cannot appear out of nowhere. Hydroelectric power plants use the potential energy of the water flow to generate electricity, so the flow rate naturally slows down.

[Not sure what to say, it’s outrageous, but since it’s Master Fang speaking, just go with the flow.]
[Performing steadily, keep it up.]
[Shout out to Master Fang!]
[An analysis fierce as a tiger, but the viewers look amusingly befuddled.]
[Got it, but not quite.]
[Rolling a solo 6.]
After about two hours, a wooden raft about three meters long and two meters wide was completed.

“When riding the raft, make sure to securely tie all equipment to the raft or to a safety rope.”

“Ensure the edges of the raft are not dragging anything, otherwise, it might tear the raft on the shallows.”

“At the same time, we need to secure a few free ropes on the raft; when we are in the river, we should tie the ropes around ourselves, anchoring us in place, acting as safety lines.”

“The safety line should be long enough to allow everyone free movement but not so long as to drag in the water.”

“When quickly crossing through rapids with a high drop, it’s best to untie the safety line. That way, if the raft loses control, everyone can swim towards the shore.”

Having tied the rope around his waist, Bi Fang found a safe spot and gently pushed the raft into the river.