ADVENTURER Phillip Harwood braved treacherous rapids, civil unrest and was even jailed with prostitutes as he undertook what he believes to be the first ever descent of the Congo river, in Africa.

Phillip has just been honoured by the Duchess of Cornwall with a Winston Churchill medallion to mark his epic five-month journey, which was fraught with danger.

The former Royal Marine started the gruelling 2,922-mile journey in May 2008, as part of the Winston Churchill Fellowship, which aims to inspire others to complete their goals.

In addition to his time in jail, gangs demanded money and threatened to kill him.

Phillip, of Marine Parade, Leigh, recalled: “I was sailing past the town of Kabalo when some soldiers pulled me ashore and searched my canoe.

“I refused when they wanted to do a strip search and later, when I was in the immigration office, one of the officers tried to take my passport away.

“I got arrested and spent two hours in a prison cell full of prostitutes.

“I also hired four brothers to help me get through a notorious stretch of the river where there were a number of criminals, as well as cannibals, and there were times when we didn’t sleep at all and sailed day and night to get through.

Phillip, 43, started his challenge by followimg the Chambeshi, Luapula, Luvua and Lualaba tributaries before canoeing through Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He finished his journey at the mouth of the river, in the Atlantic Ocean.

He said: “I decided to do it because, as far as I know, it has never been done before. It is something I have wanted to do, because I do get bored very quickly – so I am all about the adventure.

“I want to inspire people to take on adventures and challanges and hopefully my adventure on the Congo is a great example of this.

“I have canoed through various rivers around the world, including in Canada, Alaska, Mexico and Borneo, both solo and with friends, so I had plenty of experience doing it.

“It did take me two months longer than I initially thought, because it was exhausting out there. It was so hot and I did suffer with malaria, which set me back.”

During the journey, Phillip bought fresh fish to eat every evening, filtered water from the river through an old T-shirt and slept under the stars in a bivi bag, a lightweight alternative to a tent.

He added: “I wanted to get a real experience of how people lived out there and pass on my adventure to inspire other people to achieve their dreams.”