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Expedition Africa
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TravelTranscript
00:01Previously on Expedition.
00:03Okay, master.
00:04We could be afraid to death to travel through this continent.
00:06Well, how are we gonna get past it?
00:08The goal is to try our hardest to march ahead.
00:11Hold it down, guys.
00:12Minimize those risks, knowing that we're not gonna be completely safe.
00:17You guys, look, look. My God.
00:19If Benedict has malaria, I don't know how he could finish the expedition.
00:23We may have to leave him.
00:24I can't believe how quickly he's deteriorating.
00:27I'm certainly not ready to leave him behind.
00:30Squad has used my absence due to malaria to sort of take over the whole expedition.
00:34But now we're filtering the water.
00:36Well, what's the difference? I'll pour it in the filter, too.
00:38He's somehow puzzled by the fact that we have a voice and an opinion in all of this.
00:42And the fact is, majority rules.
00:45And now on Expedition.
00:47We're running out of time to get to you, Gigi.
00:49Walking at night is quite dangerous out here.
00:52Not something you normally do.
00:53Bluntering through the vegetation that you're not familiar with.
01:02When the world's greatest explorer, Dr. David Livingston, vanished deep in the heart of uncharted Africa,
01:08a young journalist, Henry Morton Stanley, began a desperate search that would become one of the greatest adventures of all
01:15time.
01:17Now, using only a compass and basic maps, four modern-day explorers are on a quest to relive the most
01:23grueling parts of Stanley's 970-mile journey to find Dr. Livingston.
01:32Well, I don't agree.
01:54When you decide what the hell you want to do, you simply ask Milt.
01:57What about the Prime SixthRA
01:58infants ask you when they need to drink water and you keep insisting that your way is so simple
02:02we're all confused by it so it's not working guys let's go back to the old way no no no
02:08no
02:12don't yell at me
02:16god pasquale although the issue might seem to be about water actually it was about something
02:24much bigger trying to re-establish equilibrium on this expedition
02:29he does like a way of getting to people isn't he
02:34sorry i lost it oh it's okay it's okay it's very easy to do yeah and the cursing and the
02:40yelling
02:41and it does it gets my blood boiling oh how do we move forward from here you have this huge
02:49fight
02:50it's an in-your-face confrontation you get it all out i mean we have to talk to each other
02:54we have
02:54to make decisions along the way i'm willing to bury the hatchet as long as he starts listening
03:00from now on the big containers will try to get full water in there we'll only try to put wash
03:06water here
03:06we'll only try to put uh filtered cook water here okay maria she's a strong-willed cuban woman with
03:13hot temper and her cuban temper my sicilian temper clashed a lot that said it's so important for
03:20us to get to ugigi it's so important for us to go there as a team and go in harmony
03:24that i'm willing
03:25to sacrifice any feelings i have you know over how we should run an expedition
03:45i think we want to get out of here yeah i want to get morning already plus just seems like
03:52we're
03:52running out of time to get to ugigi yeah it's that final push yeah the final push is not not
04:00easy
04:02never is this time is running out the rains are gonna arrive sooner or later and we've lost a whole
04:08day effectively because my malaria but now we've recuperated here at the ugala and now in order to
04:16make up that time for slipping away very early in the morning stanley also used the light to travel in
04:22largely because he wants to get away from the local people they were exacting larger and larger tributes
04:27he's running out of supplies running out of gifts to give all the local chief students the men stole
04:33quietly out of the village and by 3 a.m the entire expedition was outside the boma and not the
04:39slightest alarm had been made his family broke camp at midnight and traveled for nine hours in the
04:46darkness to avoid these tribes and and try to get as much distance as he could between them we're going
04:51to kind of retrace that tonight yeah it's been 140 years but what's changed about that it's going to be
04:58us in
04:58the dark the same predators when he did it lions and hyenas and snakes yeah all of them got night
05:05vision we haven't
05:15can we put the lanterns out already yeah we need to relight them you know for me if we keep
05:21the lanterns
05:21back a bit i see like a thousand times better okay just like this i can see ahead of 100
05:27meters
05:28i like travel at night at night every little sensation of yours is illuminated the sounds and
05:34the the feels and it's really nice makes you use senses you generally don't use what i need to do
05:41now is i have to read a white needle on a compass so i need to make sure that i
05:44know exactly what that
05:45compass needle is it's hard keeping at night it's hard to keep within five degrees i can't because i can't
05:49see my cups is dark it's not illuminated okay guys let's uh let's take a look at the maps huh
05:54we're sitting
05:56here right now we're heading 180 degrees obviously to the south about three kilometers to the river
06:02also too once we leave the trees we have a clearing a little less than a kilometer but then we
06:08have a
06:09pretty long way to go come all the way up we're sitting right here on the banks of the malagarasi
06:14and our goal here is to get all the way down the river obviously you've got to be really careful
06:18it's a long ways there's crocodiles we have a long long day ahead of us we want to get this
06:23day behind
06:24us so that we can get to our next camp before dark be able to set up camp and the
06:27safety of the
06:28light you know get our shelter fire everything built everybody pretty much ready yeah packed up
06:43this is one of the most dangerous portions of our trek we're going to be amongst animals that are
06:47familiar with the dark lions hyenas other predators and hippos of course who are highly territorial
06:56so we'll be at a distinct disadvantage to these animals let's get going okay is everybody ready daddy okay
07:20hey woke up the hippos yeah hippos are back in the river sounds like they're they've been disturbed
07:27by us and they've jumped back into the river did you hear how close those hippos oh yeah yeah we're
07:33stereo hippos right here you know walking at night is uh quite dangerous out here and we just
07:40have to keep our eyes open there's hippos there's lots of predators that come out at night
07:45it's very difficult for us to get around and to see for our eyes to adjust and make sure that
07:51we all
07:52stay together as a group
08:06our job here we have come to work as the soldiers of the group in the case of an attack
08:13we have been having
08:14weapons in the case of any incident to our friend then we can assist
08:21be really careful here dangers getting lost is you're lost if you start getting lost you don't
08:28have a compass you start going in circles dangers are snakes are definitely nighttime creatures although
08:34we have to go when it gets cold
08:45let's go this way
08:50Hey, Pasquale?
08:52Hey.
08:54Yeah, I dropped my bow and arrows.
08:57OK.
08:58Give me one sec.
09:00I had my bow and arrows strapped to my pack,
09:03and they must have fallen as we walked.
09:08Of course, everything is so difficult to see right now.
09:13My sight is so good at spotting these things.
09:16Hopefully she'll be back in a second with her bow.
09:19But we've got to keep pressing on,
09:21otherwise we'll lose the advantage.
09:27Maria?
09:29Maria?
09:32There's some eyes out in here.
09:34At night, they feed. Animals come out after dark.
09:38The biggest concern I have is hyenas.
09:41All the injuries and deaths I've read of
09:43where people have been pulled out of tents have been hyenas.
09:45And they're capable of taking a fully grown man
09:47and just grabbing him by the neck and just dragging him off.
09:50So it's dangerous.
10:02Maria?
10:08Maria?
10:08Maria?
10:09Maria?
10:12They try to find a bow and arrow and all these sticks and everything.
10:15Good luck, huh?
10:18Can we just search to there?
10:20Yeah.
10:21The masas, they don't hear animals.
10:24Yes, I know animals are dangerous, but I can know how to escape an animal.
10:30But if you know ways of escaping an animal, then you're not going to be attacked by an animal.
10:39Oh, great.
10:41Good eyes.
10:45Well, happy about that.
10:50Maria?
10:52Are you okay?
10:53No, no.
10:54Got it.
10:54Got it.
10:55Brilliant.
10:55Sorry about that.
10:56Okay, ready?
10:56Duende.
11:01Okay, keep your eyes open for a clearing.
11:07When you're in a forest setting like that, pitch black for quite a ways, with a compass that you can't
11:13barely read,
11:14it makes you nervous because you keep thinking, oh, something's wrong, something's wrong.
11:18But that big tree out there, just walk straight to that big tree.
11:26Have we passed a clearing yet?
11:29No.
11:31It's dark out here.
11:32We have the moon for a part of the way, but we're getting to thicker woods right now, so we
11:36need to check the compass readings.
11:38I haven't had due south quite a ways.
11:41We have not hit that clearing yet.
11:43The river is here to the left.
11:46So let's do this.
11:47Let's just go to the left a little bit.
11:49See if we continue to hit that thing.
11:53Right there.
11:55Looks like we've hit our open field.
11:57Yeah.
11:58Okay, so we're safe.
12:01We shouldn't be heading away from the river like this.
12:03We should be trying to cross the river.
12:06And this track's now leading us away.
12:14Squally, how are we doing on the Bering?
12:16Let me double check.
12:17Must have sunrise coming up behind us.
12:22We're heading due east, aren't we?
12:25And generally we should be dropping right down towards the south.
12:28Oh, you know what?
12:28Hold on a second.
12:29I get up here.
12:30Hold on.
12:33No.
12:33No, you guys were in the wrong place.
12:34We're heading this way.
12:35You're right.
12:36We did turn the other direction.
12:38We should have gone that way to the right, which was south.
12:42Yeah, it's a curve.
12:43Okay, let's go back.
12:45Turn around.
12:47That was a good catch by Benedict to go for the long.
12:49Yeah.
12:50Either way.
12:50Good to be back on track.
12:52Yeah.
12:53I should know better than that.
12:54If I took off and checked my compass, of course they put it away.
12:58And then you should take it out a lot more.
13:01You really took that hard, didn't you?
13:03Oh, yeah.
13:03I don't like making mistakes like that.
13:05It's stupid.
13:05It's a mistake to make.
13:07I think that Pasquale's come a really long way.
13:10He's learned to listen more.
13:12Overall, I think that Pasquale is a better leader because of this expedition.
13:22Look at that.
13:23Beautiful.
13:25Do you think it's the brand new day like this?
13:27I love it coming up.
13:34Sunlight rise at 6.30.
13:36We just crossed the Ugala River.
13:41And we're going to Malagrasi.
13:45We have a very long day.
13:53God, what is beautiful.
13:54Beautiful.
13:55Yeah.
13:55It's just gorgeous.
14:07Forget about the engine away.
14:09It's still going to absolutely line through these last six days.
14:13The most dangerous stage of any expedition, I think, the three-quarter stage, you lose concentration.
14:20You're starting to think of the end.
14:22You're forgetting about now.
14:23But actually, things can go so quickly wrong.
14:26One bad foot and you'll sprain your ankle, break your ankle.
14:30All you have to snatch by a crocodile is you go and fill up your water container.
14:33I always find that's when most people have the most difficult time because they can almost see the end.
14:38We've got to be careful not to let our guard down at all because, you know, it could be deadly.
14:49Can you see the river, guys?
14:50Hey, you look good.
14:51Hey, Malagrasi.
14:52Hey, it's a bigger river than I thought it was, too.
14:54Yeah, very big river.
14:5560 meters across, maybe?
14:56Yeah, I think more than that.
14:58Yeah, maybe probably close to 100 meters across.
15:03Guys, we've got about 20 minutes, huh?
15:05Yeah, let's go.
15:06Let's go.
15:06Let's get a camp set up.
15:12In the Malagrasi, this is three quarters through Stanley's journey, and this is one of the most difficult times for
15:17him yet.
15:18He's left Tabora, and yet he's contracted cerebral malaria, which can kill you.
15:23He's running out of food supplies.
15:24He needs a miracle to save him.
15:26And at the same time, Livingstone is an Ujiji, destitute, no food.
15:31He needs a miracle as well.
15:32So you have these two men, both in dire situations, and who knows if either of them are going to
15:38survive.
15:47It's just an avenue of palms everywhere you look.
15:50Looking all the way up the river, too.
15:51The question we have is do we want to camp before it or right on the river?
15:55If we're thinking that this might be a campsite, I don't think we should go there.
15:58Should we see the site, though, first?
15:59You know, just check the other options.
16:00Yeah, we go do that.
16:01What about leaving our packs here?
16:03Because we're running out of time.
16:04I just like to look at it before we make that decision.
16:06You know what?
16:07You can see how dense that vegetation is on the banks.
16:10Yeah.
16:10The risk of flooding, because this is the start of the rains.
16:13Let's go take a look.
16:15It was thundering earlier.
16:16Yeah.
16:16It's a good safe option.
16:17This is a really good spot.
16:18It's not as picturesque as down there, but on the other hand, picturesque places tend to get out.
16:22Absolutely.
16:23Kevin wants to be down by the river, I think, to camp.
16:26But sometimes the prettiest places are the worst sort of places to actually camp in.
16:29I mean, it has to be an entirely practical decision, not a romantic decision.
16:34That is a floodplain there.
16:36It's now the rainy season.
16:38We've heard thunder.
16:39It's a classic scenario for getting washed away by a flood of water.
16:45Yeah.
16:45No people have lived.
16:46It's abandoned houses, so that's always a good sign.
16:48Why don't we just take a look?
16:49Drop our packs, and then we can set up.
16:51Yeah?
16:51But we really...
16:52We should start setting up camp, but we're going to be cooking in the dark right now.
16:55Right.
16:56So if we look in five minutes, then we'll come back and say camp up.
16:58All right.
16:59Our guys are fast.
16:59You mind if I just stay here and start building farms?
17:01All right.
17:02Yeah.
17:02So we're not even going to...
17:03No, no, you do.
17:06There were times, quite honestly, when the expedition was very frustrating for me.
17:10It's a constant battle.
17:12Camp?
17:12He's going to go check.
17:13He's going to go...
17:14Just give me five minutes.
17:15Just give me five minutes.
17:16I'm someone that's been in a lot of war zones and hairy situations, but this is different.
17:20There hasn't been a lot of let up in this thing.
17:23It's wearing on me physically and mentally.
17:35Gosh, look at all those palms.
17:38This is one of the more stunning places we've been to so far.
17:40I think so.
17:41I think it's one of my favorites.
17:42Yeah.
17:43Why do you think Kevin wants to be down by the river to camp?
17:46I don't know.
17:48Well, they probably started setting up camp.
17:49I think they waited for us to leave camp.
17:51Okay, break the tarps out.
17:53All right, Kevin's gone.
17:54Put it up.
17:56Hey, do we start setting camp?
17:57Tarp here, tarp here, and a tarp there.
18:00Can you even see the river?
18:02No, I don't yet.
18:03It seems like we're running parallel to it.
18:05It's getting dark, and there's a lot of crocs in there.
18:08Yeah, definitely.
18:08So we should try and cut to it as soon as we can and head back.
18:11Okay.
18:14In the Malagorasi, Stanley was crossing it in a dugout canoe,
18:18and he had his favorite donkey swimming beside him.
18:21They were leading it, and the donkey, unfortunately,
18:24got eaten right out from under him by crocodiles.
18:29Take him right to his house.
18:31Love, love, love.
18:33Why is this place abandoned?
18:35It's because the crocodile were attacking kids while swimming.
18:40Wow.
18:41This used to be their home.
18:42Yes.
18:43And there's so many crocodiles in this river, they moved.
18:46Oh, yeah.
18:46Because of the crocodiles.
18:49Oh, here it is.
18:50We're going to check it out.
18:51Oh, look at this.
18:53Oh, wow.
18:54The water right here does not look great.
18:56It's not flowing as much as we would like it to.
19:00Would it make a difference to, like, borrow one of those dugouts?
19:02And if you went in there, it could just push you out a little bit?
19:06Yeah, I'll just get you away from the shoreline a little bit.
19:08The problem with standing this close to the banks
19:10is that there are a lot of crocs here,
19:13and they're able to jump out of that water quite quickly and aggressively.
19:16Exactly.
19:17Boy, I really hope a croc doesn't decide to spring up from down there.
19:20I'm keeping an eye out.
19:24Okay, I'll brace it.
19:25All right.
19:26Good?
19:29Ready?
19:29Cool.
19:30Be really careful, seriously.
19:32Yeah.
19:32For a second, just take a good look around.
19:37The things we've done for water on this trip.
19:43You don't look all that comfortable.
19:46It's really funny because I love the water,
19:48and I always feel so comfortable in it,
19:50but when you're in areas like this, you are so vulnerable.
19:53Oh, without a doubt.
19:58I looked down, and I saw a shadow, and...
20:01That should be good.
20:03Good.
20:07All right, glad we got that one out of the way, then.
20:19I have a lot of respect for African waters.
20:22Okay.
20:28There you go.
20:29Okay, don't move.
20:37Note to self, send Benedict and Pasquale tomorrow.
20:53Okay, today is the 26th day of the expedition,
20:56and we're on the banks of the Malagorasi River.
20:59You know, Stanley did this journey in nine months.
21:01We've been trying to do it in 30 days,
21:03and I think it's taken its toll emotionally,
21:05physically, and otherwise.
21:07I'm still tired, still kind of underfed,
21:12and I'm ready for a shower.
21:14I'm ready for, you know, three square meals,
21:17maybe get a little protein in the diet,
21:19and maybe sleep in a bed,
21:21or at least somewhere that's not on the ground.
21:36Hey, look at the clouds over this ridgeline.
21:40Beautiful, huh?
21:41The mist.
21:49Ooh.
21:52Hello.
21:54This is really cool, because this is a python.
21:57These guys can actually get up to 15, 16 feet long.
22:01I'd like to get closer.
22:03It's just settling in,
22:04because it's got a nice patch of sunlight there.
22:06Look at that.
22:07These guys are really strong,
22:09and you can actually feel it as you're tugging on it.
22:11The muscles in this thing are just amazing.
22:19Yeah, don't want to do that or that.
22:23They're one of the few non-venomous snakes.
22:25They can actually cause a lot of damage,
22:27because just the force of the impact from these things,
22:31and it uses its head to just knock its prey out.
22:34These guys, they bite down, but their fangs are hooked,
22:37causing the prey, when it moves,
22:40to shift back and rip its flesh apart.
22:43You really don't want to anger one of these.
22:47You guys want to look at this map real quick?
22:49Yeah.
22:51We're actually here.
22:52Right.
22:52So we're going to head this due west,
22:54hit the river, kind of follow the river around to that point,
22:57and then what we do then is we head straight cross-country.
23:00We cut off this S-bend to there.
23:03It's due west.
23:04So I think it could be 10 miles.
23:07Then it's a river trip.
23:09Stanley never paddled down the Malagorasi,
23:11but rivers are a key part of that early African exploration,
23:14and we want to have some of the same experiences,
23:17and we're also trying to beat the rainy season.
23:19So we're going to take the Malagorasi to Lake Tanganyika
23:22because of time constraints.
23:23Okay, Wendy.
23:26We've had a taste of the rainy season in the Sagara Mountains,
23:28and we're wondering.
23:30It could come back at any time.
23:32It could turn some of the areas that we're going through
23:34into swamps, and that could really derail the expedition.
23:40Check this out, guys.
23:41Look at the rock.
23:44So this, you guys want to know what this is?
23:46Yeah, I know it would be.
23:47Caliche, like freshwater lake deposits.
23:49What it is is a limestone, and these bugs,
23:51this is called terrapant structure.
23:53This is a term called terrapant structure.
23:56I have an exploration geologist.
23:58I've worked around the world,
23:58so I'm excited about rocks,
24:00and this, Africa is an exciting place for rocks.
24:04The river coming right out of camp
24:05was a pink-red quartz-bedded fluvial sandstone.
24:10When all the continents split apart,
24:12it created these huge valleys that filled up with water
24:15and formed the big lakes that feed the Nile
24:18and the Zambezi and the Congo.
24:20And it was in these lakes that the great explorers came up
24:26to try to find the source of the Nile.
24:28And these lakes are completely controlled
24:30by the geology of Africa.
24:32Yeah, but it's just, you feel it.
24:35It's just the feel of, and the look at it, the color.
24:37If you look at this under a microscope, it'd have lines.
24:39Professor Pasquale has given us
24:42some very insightful lessons on every rock
24:45that we would pass along the trail.
24:48This is actually called the caliche.
24:50What this is is the limestone rock
24:51that's almost modern.
24:53It's not old.
24:53There's only so much you can really hear about rocks.
24:57I mean, I like rocks,
24:58but I don't want to hear about them for eight hours.
25:01This may be my favorite hike yet.
25:11Sounds like there's a bad storm for me.
25:13Yeah, there is.
25:18There's a lot of lightning behind us.
25:22We're climbing these hills, these mountains,
25:24to cut off a bend of the river,
25:27trying to get a shortcut.
25:28But we don't want to be up on this mountain
25:31when this storm hits,
25:34because we could get killed by lightning,
25:36but lightning could pick any of us off.
25:37It's really dangerous to be on the tops of mountains
25:39in lightning storms.
25:43There's a village right here.
25:45I need three minutes, okay?
25:50Hey, Julius?
25:51You guys?
25:51I just wouldn't mind talking to this guy for a second.
25:53The guy of the house.
25:54Just see how it is to live here.
25:56Yeah, do you mind translating?
25:57Yeah.
25:58Thanks.
26:00Jumbo.
26:01Unfortunately, Africa has been rife in conflict
26:03for much of its history.
26:05And during the time of Stanley,
26:06he was experiencing what was going on
26:08in a war between the slave traders
26:10and a local chieftain, Marambo.
26:12And that created a refugee problem.
26:14People fleeing from the fighting.
26:16And you see people fleeing conflict even to this day.
26:18Has there been any problems with refugees
26:21coming from the Congo or from Brundi
26:23or any other places here?
26:25Stanley was a journalist.
26:27This was ultimately a newspaper project
26:30that he was doing.
26:31So I'd like to explore my profession
26:33within the means of this, too.
26:34We know refugee usually when they arrive.
26:37They arrive at the Kiyomo.
26:38Right.
26:39In big group.
26:40Oh, son of a , it's gonna rain.
26:47Can we just do this?
26:50Thanks.
26:51We're in this small village,
26:53and there's thunder everywhere.
26:55Black clouds all around us.
26:56And if we don't get to camp,
26:58we're gonna be setting up camp
26:59in the pouring rain.
27:00And Kevin starts talking to a local there,
27:02the interpreter.
27:04And it goes on and on.
27:06Five minutes, ten minutes.
27:07Had they been able to get enough food
27:09to survive and feed the family?
27:11And it's almost as if they were
27:12He intentionally extended his talking
27:15and slowed down just in spite
27:17of the fact that we wanted to get going.
27:20Well, they have, uh...
27:23I know you guys want...
27:24It's been ten.
27:25It's gonna start raining.
27:26We just wanna...
27:26Dude, I just...
27:27It's one interview.
27:28Just a little bit.
27:29Let me just ask him a question.
27:30Jesus Christ.
27:31Those lightning and thunder
27:32f***ing rain.
27:33F***ing ass.
27:35I wanna f***ing go.
27:37What's the f***ing big deal?
27:39I'm so f***ing tired of it.
27:43I know it might rain.
27:44This is taking a little bit longer
27:46than you want,
27:46but it was 15 minutes out of our day.
27:48The expedition has stopped
27:50for every, you know, tree and flower
27:52and every...
27:52Anything that anybody else has wanted.
27:54It was my turn to satisfy
27:56my intellectual curiosity.
27:57Are they able to fish
27:58or anything like that?
28:00There's lightning and thunder.
28:01He decides to stop her.
28:02It's been ten minutes.
28:03It was a three-minute stop.
28:05I've got to go.
28:05He f***ing blows me off.
28:07I'm getting f***ing pissed at it now.
28:20I've got to go.
28:23I've got to go.
28:25And the way we do it
28:26is, you know,
28:27How to do it.
28:28I've got to go.
28:29So how do you do it.
28:31A big deal,
28:33you know.
28:33Your great deal.
28:34You got to go.
28:34You got to go.
28:35You got to go.
28:37I don't know.
28:38We're in this small village, black clouds all around us,
28:41and Kevin wants to an interview,
28:43but he's not even beginning to think of the fact
28:45that everybody's sitting around waiting to leave.
28:49We'll just say goodbye to them.
28:53Thank you very much.
28:54If I walk through Tanzania and haven't talked to the people of Africa,
28:59I'll be remiss for the rest of my life.
29:03You know, this is what I do.
29:05I was going to get a sampling. I'll get more before this is over.
29:08Okay, Wendy.
29:14So we have basically three miles in the open,
29:18and then we hit the river,
29:20got to follow the river around to that point over here.
29:26There is a chilliness in the air now, which means rain.
29:29Yeah.
29:31Look at this guy in the escarpment over here.
29:32Yeah.
29:34Yeah.
29:34Clouds are becoming really slatey, dark.
29:40I think we're about nine miles out. We've got a mile to camp.
29:42I'd like to get to camp as quickly as we can.
29:45It's starting to rain a little bit now.
29:46What we don't want to do is get there in a downpour.
29:48We have set up in soaking wet conditions,
29:49so we're going to push pretty hard here
29:54and try to get there, but I don't know if we'll beat it or not.
29:57I think it's going to get us.
30:00The storm's now this way.
30:01Yeah, just don't speak too soon.
30:03I know.
30:05All right, here's a forest clearing.
30:06We can go up in this clearing.
30:07You know what I mean?
30:08What do you think? Off to the right, maybe?
30:10Here we go. This will work.
30:12Any place in here.
30:14It's more open over here.
30:16What do you think?
30:17It's up to you guys.
30:18Um, I don't think so.
30:21A lot of stumps up there.
30:22All right, then let's, um...
30:27All right, right here.
30:30That's our camp right here.
30:32River's right here.
30:33Uh, yeah, no , but this is just kind of uneven.
30:38Kevin is very tired.
30:39He doesn't understand that expeditions
30:41are not always what you think they are.
30:43They're going to be hard.
30:44It's the process that drives us to these things.
30:47It's being in Africa.
30:48That's a little uneven up there.
30:50I mean, there's big divots.
30:51What do you think, Hans?
30:53We'll do our camp over here.
30:54There won't be an argument with you, Hans.
30:55I'll guarantee you that.
30:56There's one person I won't argue.
30:57It's with you.
30:58Everybody else but him.
31:01It's all about the attitude right here.
31:03You know?
31:04And that attitude is starting to wear thin.
31:08What's going on?
31:10Well, just, uh, you know what I mean?
31:11The whole thing's just about attitude.
31:13You know what I mean?
31:16And, uh...
31:18Yeah, he's tired, unhappy, he went out.
31:21But keep your attitude out amongst other people.
31:24Don't bring everybody down to this.
31:25Don't bring everybody down to the same level.
31:27It just, it's a bummer.
31:29It puts a lid on your enjoyment of this thing.
31:33Is that it?
31:34Yeah, I just get bummed.
31:36You know?
31:37Hmm.
31:37What are we going to do about that?
31:39You got a bottle of whiskey.
31:41Whiskey.
31:41You got to score some booze.
31:42Whiskey.
31:57All right.
31:58So, you know, I've done my share of wine, you know, for whatever reasons.
32:02I mean, you know, I see how you're enjoying this.
32:05And I see how this is part of who you all are.
32:08Yeah.
32:08Um, and, you know, I rarely try to say things, um, that, that in some ways, you know, dampens
32:18the enthusiasm someone else has for their life and their experience.
32:21And I hope I didn't come across that way.
32:23No, I think at one level, it's very easy for us to enjoy these challenges, because that's
32:28what our whole life is about.
32:29What's been missing a little bit personally for me is that we've only had snippets of
32:34each other's past.
32:35Hmm.
32:36And, and I'd love to learn a little bit more.
32:38And I'm thinking perhaps we can all share a story from our past that we feel kind of defines
32:43us in some ways.
32:45Why don't you go first?
32:46Oh, you want me to go first?
32:47Yeah.
32:48Um, you know, I've been a work correspondent for the last seven years.
32:51of my life.
32:52And when I went to Northern Iraq, just prior to the invasion, we ran into a Feddine checkpoint.
32:58We pulled up and this angry man in a red keffiyeh and a dirty raincoat pointed an AK-47 right
33:04in the car.
33:05He forced us to get out of the car.
33:07And we were face down on the asphalt with AKs at our heads.
33:11And when you're in that position, that's probably an execution position.
33:15But our, our fixer, Tofiq, started saying things to them.
33:19And I don't know what he was saying, but eventually he ended up getting one of our vehicles back.
33:25We got in there and we drove north and, and we got to, uh, to safety.
33:30And we asked Tofiq, um, you know, well, what was it that you said to them?
33:33Um, and he said, I just, I did my job.
33:36Don't worry about it.
33:38This has been a successful expedition with Kevin.
33:41He's discovered himself, how he operates under the, uh, under the pressure of an expedition.
33:47And that's what makes it successful.
33:49All right, guys.
33:50While I share my story, I want to hear some of your stories.
33:53Who's going to go next?
33:55Let's see.
33:56You know, I came from a really unstable family background as a young kid.
34:00You know, my father didn't spend much time with the family.
34:03And my mother was, uh, paranoid schizophrenic the entire time I was growing up.
34:08Really?
34:09Yeah.
34:09And from the time I was probably eight years old, we didn't have any parents in the house.
34:13And I left home when I was about 14.
34:17You know, my mother was in a mental institution at the time.
34:21And so I learned at a really young age, just take care of myself.
34:24Just do my own thing.
34:25Ah.
34:26Because you are incredibly independent.
34:28Well, I'm, I'm very independent.
34:30No one's ever given me anything.
34:31I just, if I need it, I go do it.
34:33Relying on other people and things, I just, I'm nervous.
34:36I feel nervous when I have to rely on other people to do things.
34:38I think you've noticed that too.
34:43Sharing what we shared probably came at the perfect time.
34:46I went through this initiation ceremony.
34:49We've beaten every day for six weeks.
34:51I like learning about people slowly.
34:54You have to, to get an understanding of who someone is by spending time with them.
35:00And I've spent a lot of time with these individuals.
35:02I almost died out there because I wouldn't quit.
35:05It was, it was actually my downfall.
35:07Hearing those personal stories they shared, I think, came with much more credibility because
35:13I had spent so much time with them.
35:15So for me, it was perfect.
35:17If you don't have empathy for your fellow human beings, you can't really have hope.
35:39You can't go in.
35:41You are listening to me.
35:43You can't drive or�имся.
35:44I don't even have a understanding of how you have to do."
35:44In the comments and you feel that you're missing them.
35:44Off Z067
35:44Coffee without sugar.
35:45Coffee with sugar.
35:46Coffee Ka-vu Graph.
35:49Coffee Ka-vu.
35:50Flash.
36:01You know I'm not afraid to learn foreign languages I think it's an honor to the
36:04country we travel through and the porters and and I hope I'm not
36:07embarrassing them or embarrassing the locals I don't think I am I think I'm
36:11trying to be respectful too much work is gaza nyingi by spending so much time
36:26learning Swahili learning their custom what's happened is I built up a really
36:30tight friendship with the porters I've had such a good time to them it's a hard
36:34language because you add beginnings to the numbers also
36:42have you decided what you're gonna take or keep yeah I just take another change of
36:47clove my flops I mean I never have truth on river trip I just I just have flops we
36:52have three days and two of those days will be in the water or three of those
36:56probably three of them today the plan is to go ahead and march down a little bit
37:03to find some canoes and kilometer two kilometers three kilometers and then
37:08what we want to do is we want to get on the river and push down and then take
37:12off towards Ajiji
37:13so how are you feeling about the porters today I think they know that it's ending
37:17for them yeah they're afraid of death of water the crocs they can't swim I know
37:22we're gonna have to let the porters go a lot of ways they were kind of expecting to go
37:26all the way to Ajiji with us and that's just not possible you know we have the
37:29canoes they can't swim it's just too big a group to risk taking across the lake
37:34and so we're gonna have to let them go and I don't know it's it's sad we need to
37:38get down there sort out all the canoes but then more importantly sort out the
37:42porters yeah make sure that we do that in the best way possible because they've
37:46been so amazing during the expedition it's really difficult right now for me
37:51because we've had the porters with us from the beginning they've dredged the
37:54swamps the deserts the mountains and they've never given up never complained
37:59it's sad it's gonna be tough
38:12we're gonna push pretty hard here but anyway it's starting to rain already big
38:17drops we're less than 80 miles to Ajiji but is the rainy season and as close as we
38:24are we know that unless we're careful that the rainy season could easily stop
38:29our expedition be excited about getting on the water I am excited I am excited about
38:36getting on the river
38:53wow yes look at that guys the river comes around looks like it slows eh we're almost there eh so
39:04it's only a matter of minutes now and then we're going to get on the river
39:07we're on the water and then only a matter of days up to now the expedition has been a series
39:12of
39:12obstacles and we've hardly dared look ahead now this river the Malagorasi is like all rivers
39:19it's leading somewhere it seems like a passageway out for us it's not that easy though because we've
39:27got to get up late Tanganyika and that's going to be hard work
39:29for Jumbo
39:32we'll be on water which is a shifting mysterious often treacherous place which likes to seize control
39:50itself
39:51nice canoes
39:53uh huh
39:58I'm Jumbo
40:00how about it
40:05this is pretty
40:07Jolius we like their uh canoes they know where we can rent some for ourselves
40:11these are pretty simple dugout canoes just a hollow palm that's carved into a boat the canoes here are a
40:19bit
40:19bigger and stronger than the ones we had previously seen leading up to this which is a relief to all
40:24of us
40:24okay should we go and uh yeah we should yeah hey Bisquale we should probably uh yeah
40:33alright let's go talk to our guys
40:36this is D-Day this is the moment where we're getting rid of all our porters we're only keeping
40:40Julius and the Maasai unfortunately this next leg of the expedition is far too dangerous
40:45guys we gotta go on another leg of this journey and it's gonna be all in these canoes we want
40:51all of you to go to Ujiji with us but it's not gonna be possible
40:55we've got Lake Tanganyika there's big big waves and uh the crocodiles there you don't swim
41:02it's it's gonna be risky even for us
41:05first of all
41:07um I think you guys are some of the strongest
41:12most honest hard-working people I have ever known
41:17your attitudes and your strength is an honor to Tanzania
41:24and we shall never forget that
41:30it was a very emotional day when we released the porters because I've gotten extremely close to them myself
41:35and I shall not forget you
41:40it was almost like I was leaving my brothers when I got that close to these guys
41:43and it was it was hard it was it was really hard
41:47I just want to shake every one of your hands ma'am
41:50thank you
41:51throughout the entire expedition we've had porters
41:54that were basically our support system
41:56and we've now cut them loose
42:00we have no support system we're totally dependent on ourselves
42:03if anything were to go wrong
42:05that's the end of the expedition
42:07we make a mistake
42:08no Ujiji
42:10here we go
42:11it's on here
42:12it's on here
42:13here we come
42:16ready
42:24bring your backpacks over here
42:27yeah we can cover this stuff
42:28yep
42:28I believe our luck has just run out
42:31that rain that sudden rain really instilled a lot of fear in us
42:35it was a huge thunderstorm and there's a lot of danger in getting on the water while there's a storm
42:42because you may get electrocuted
42:44it doesn't look like it's going to pass any time soon either
42:46we were so ready to go
42:48and then suddenly that all changed
42:50we couldn't go
42:51it carries on all day
42:52we're going to sit here
42:53well it carries on all day
42:57it's possible that we thought we were beating the rainy season but in fact the rainy season is about to
43:03beat us
43:06I get on river with five grand
43:09little boat in the middle of the river
43:12we just didn't know
43:13had we not moved quickly enough
43:15had we let the rains catch up with us
43:18and just kill the end of the expedition
43:24at this point it's us to UGG
43:26or we fail
43:35next time on expedition
43:37ah
43:39brutal
43:40they're all over the place
43:42after nearly a thousand miles the explorers battle rain flooded swamps on their final push to reach UGG
43:47I just twisted my head
43:49you okay
43:50my legs are just cut to me
43:51this is the toughest going that we've had
43:53we just feel like giving up
43:56you okay
44:04you
44:04you
44:04you
44:04you
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