It tried to escape. And when I provoked it a little bit, and acted a little more like a predator, that's when it turned around and defended itself," he added.

The explorer was swallowed head first and spent more than an hour inside the giant snake, he said, adding that he kept in touch with his team the whole time.

He said he was scared that something would go wrong, but at the same time, "I was very excited to do it."