You know them ones when “lads on tour” turns into a hostage situation featuring pirates?
Three Brits had an unexpected twist to their sailing holiday in Tanzania when they found themselves in the middle of what could be a horror film.
Chris Shimmin, Taz Ibrahim and Anthony Gullan had been taking part in the Ngwala Cup – a 500km charity boat race in Tanzania – when their fishing boat broke down, leaving them stranded on a remote island.
Whilst they waited for their boat to be fixed, 4 men approached the group to ask for water, and the next thing they knew, they were surrounded by pirates and had been taken hostage.
The 3 were dragged into the woods where their electronics, iPhones, bank cards and clothes were taken by knife wielding and dynamite carrying pirates. Luckily, a tourist boat pulled onto the island and scared the pirates away, but not until the Brits had suffered the ordeal for an hour.
Chris said, “The next thing I knew there was a crash behind us and some more guys came down, one of them had his arm around my chest and a serrated fisherman’s knife at my throat”.
“It took us completely by surprise and we couldn’t defend ourselves, they dragged us off into woods behind where we set up camp and demanded money.
“They tied us all up to each other with our hands behind our backs and took all our clothes, bank cards, electronics, iPhones, cameras, the works.”
It’s safe to say, the lads never completed their boat race.