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00:00.
00:10I'm a little bit apprehensive about the journey ahead, Adams.
00:14It is natural to fear what you don't know.
00:18And you're coming from the other side of the world.
00:21I don't know how you're going to handle this,
00:23because in fact some of the fears that you have read about
00:27are really true.
00:29I thought of you that you were going to reassure me.
00:32You're not reassuring me at all.
00:33It means that we could be careful.
00:46We live on a crowded planet.
00:51More than 8 billion of us and rising.
00:56For 20 years I've been travelling the globe.
00:59Flipping heck.
01:00Just a couple of decades ago almost all of this was just desert.
01:05Seeing how humans have taken over so much of the world.
01:08.
01:17Now I'm going in search of the vast remote areas.
01:21Where nature still has the upper hand.
01:24Silence.
01:26.
01:28It looks like another planet.
01:31The last great wildernesses.
01:39I'll try to cross four of these rugged landscapes.
01:43Oh my God.
01:44On my toughest journeys yet.
01:46I have to be honest.
01:48Things are not going brilliantly.
01:50We have a medical situation.
01:51Help is a long way away.
01:55Welcome.
01:57I want to meet the people for whom the wilderness is home.
02:01Testicles for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
02:05.
02:05To see how they live alongside nature.
02:10Whoa!
02:12I can stay down there for a minute or so.
02:15He's still down there now.
02:17Walking around.
02:19And in this critical time for our world.
02:22Huge carcasses of great trees.
02:25Seek out the rare and majestic creatures that still survive.
02:30My heart is racing.
02:32Yeah.
02:33In some of the most hostile environments.
02:36Are you okay Jonathan?
02:38Yeah.
02:38Yeah.
02:39And the remotest regions.
02:40Bloody hell.
02:42Of our wild planet.
02:51Big cats.
02:52Roaming free.
02:54This surely is the absolute definition of a real wilderness.
03:18I'm traveling through the Congo Rainforest.
03:24Across Central Africa.
03:26Hundreds of rivers feed this vast green wilderness.
03:31And trees.
03:33Billions of beautiful trees.
03:35Stretching further than the mind can imagine.
03:40This is the second largest tropical rainforest in the world.
03:52The size of the forest.
03:54The sheer scale of it.
03:56Is breathtaking.
03:58But also.
03:59Humbling.
04:00And in truth.
04:01Quite overwhelming as well.
04:03The thought of traveling through this forest.
04:06Of existing within it.
04:08Is actually quite intimidating.
04:11Also very.
04:13Very exciting.
04:16I'm going to spend three weeks sweating and battling my way across the Congo.
04:23Starting in the northwest I'll travel more than 500 miles.
04:29Trying to reach the largest and most remote area of protected forest in Africa.
04:36I'll attempt to trek through thick jungle.
04:39To an isolated camp.
04:40Where I'll search for one of our little known animal cousins.
04:43The bonobo.
04:44In the wilderness where it still survives.
04:50But first I'm trying to find the people who know the Congo rainforest better than anyone.
04:56We're on our way to try and meet up with a remote community deep in the forest.
05:01It's a bit of a risk to be honest because we don't know entirely where they'll be.
05:05We think we'll find them.
05:07But it's a gamble.
05:09I'm going in search of an indigenous people called the Baka.
05:13Nomads and hunter-gatherers who've lived in the Congo rainforest.
05:17Shaping and protecting it for thousands of years.
05:23My guide is Adams Kasinga.
05:26He's a Congolese conservationist, investigator and forest ranger.
05:31He's a passionate and committed defender of this wilderness.
05:36Adams is going to try and help me find the Baka.
05:38And keep us safe.
05:41We're travelling through a wild part of the planet.
05:45How affected has it been by humans?
05:48How much of a wilderness is it?
05:49I can actually reassure you that there is a place in this forest where a human has never set foot.
05:56A few years back we used to talk about the two lines of humanity.
06:01Mentioning the Amazon being the left and the Congo Basin being the right.
06:07But I guess in current times I would say this is the last hop.
06:13Compared to the rest of the world, the Congo Basin forest is the last frontier.
06:23I think this is it.
06:25It's a remote jungle landing spot.
06:29All right, you ready Adams?
06:31Yeah.
06:31You're already ready.
06:33Let's go to the jungle.
06:45High humidity makes the jungle feel like a steam bath.
06:53Okay.
06:55It's a home to scores of poisonous snakes and insects.
06:59If anything happens to anyone on our team, we're days from a hospital.
07:04And we've got a hard slog ahead.
07:08There are still incredibly remote communities living out here.
07:13But they tend not to have mobile phones.
07:15So communicating with them and finding them can be tricky.
07:22We're heading to where Adams thinks we'll find the backer.
07:25Careful.
07:27But they're nomadic.
07:28They don't stay in one place for long.
07:30And it's tough going.
07:32Have to be careful here.
07:33Slippery.
07:38It's hard for me.
07:39And I'm not carrying a camera.
07:42Oh yeah.
07:44Are you okay Jonathan?
07:45Yeah.
07:45Yeah.
07:47You're in it.
07:48Not quite as deep.
07:49Are you all right?
07:54I'm trying to look for solid ground.
07:56But there's none.
07:57I have no other option but to go.
08:10All right.
08:11So that's my goal now.
08:12Yeah.
08:14Is there a lot of foggy, boggy, peasy swamp?
08:18It's just everywhere in the forest.
08:21Oh my goodness.
08:22It's like glue.
08:25Bloody hell.
08:35Oh my good lord.
08:38Welcome to the Congo jungle.
08:40Thank you mate.
08:41Yeah.
08:41Let's crack on.
08:42All right mate.
08:51Oh my goodness.
08:51Scientists now believe the peak bogs here cover an area the size of England.
08:56Clearly the Congo still holds many secrets.
09:03We should look for a spot where we can sleep tonight.
09:06it's not a brilliant idea to travel in the forest at night.
09:10OK.
09:11Remember, we're not alone.
09:20That's loads of ants.
09:23Don't want them crawling into my hammock.
09:31That's enough already to make fire.
09:34I genuinely do love the jungle.
09:38I like the unpredictability of it.
09:42I'm out of my comfort zone, but that's good, right?
09:49With the absolutely crucial insect net, tarpaulin over the top.
09:56I'll stretch that out, make it all nice and cosy.
10:00Ooh.
10:04Absolutely vital.
10:06There's half a squash ball.
10:09And any water running down or insects should drip down then as a result
10:15and not soak me, fingers crossed.
10:20Is this going to help keep some critters away?
10:24It is also a means of security.
10:27Any other thing which is not human in this forest is scared of fire.
10:34I think we've done pretty well here, haven't we?
10:37Sure.
10:37Food, water, shelter.
10:39What more do we need?
10:41I'm looking forward to tomorrow.
10:42You know, a lot of people don't know about the Congo Basin forest.
10:48But there is a certain people which has been living in here for thousands of years.
10:54And you know, you and I are just surviving in here.
10:58But they thrive in here.
11:01You need every race that you can.
11:03No, the journey is still too long.
11:06No, the journey is still too long.
11:33And the backer community we're looking for could be anywhere.
11:45You got it?
11:47Endlessly we trek, chop and wade.
11:53Our top speed is no more than a mile an hour.
11:59This is bloody mad.
12:02I don't know if we're going to make it.
12:07It's completely, utterly exhausting.
12:14But with another day drawing to an end,
12:16we finally find signs that can only mean humans are nearby.
12:23It's a trap, a snare.
12:25I do find it amazing that people live out here.
12:29The remoteness is staggering.
12:34I can hear a village.
12:38Have I arrived?
12:40I can't quite believe it.
12:43Oh my God.
12:50Oh my good Lord.
12:57It looks like the backer have heard us coming as we crash through the forest.
13:11What the times?
13:16Let's go.
13:41Oh my goodness.
13:51Loma Oromo speaks for this small Baka community.
13:55He's producing the children.
13:57He's producing the children.
14:00But four children.
14:03Four children.
14:07It's always risky to try the local language,
14:10but Loma persuades me to have a go.
14:33How long have you been here?
14:38So you've only just arrived here?
14:58So if we have a look round, how many people are living in the community?
15:07The Baka are some of the original first people of the Congo Basin.
15:12They'd been here for tens of thousands of years
15:15before European colonists arrived in the 1800s and called them pygmies.
15:21Under Belgian and French rule,
15:23indigenous communities were persecuted, exploited and killed.
15:26Many retreated deeper into the forest.
15:30Today they have clothes and tools that are traded along the river.
15:34They hold on to their skills in their forest.
15:37Is their life their way?
15:41Their footprint is quite small and discreet, isn't it?
15:46It is.
15:47You know, in the modern world, it's about how big you have, how much you have.
15:52For them it's not the case.
15:55They have a very close relationship with these forests
15:58to the extent that they do not take what they want.
16:02They just take what they need.
16:11I think they might be making one of these for us.
16:16Not entirely sure whether it's the right thing for me to get involved.
16:20I was definitely signalled and indicated
16:24that I should sit on my behind like the rest of the guys.
16:28Many Baka survive off whatever the jungle provides.
16:33They hunt, gather, craft and build.
16:42Like anywhere, the arrival of outsiders can be a good excuse for a party.
17:00If anyone wants to speak, I was told they just have to shout, listen.
17:05Oka, Oka!
17:07Oka!
17:09Oka, okay!
17:11I just want to say huge thank you to you!
17:14Ladies, to the women who built this incredible structure.
17:18look at this guys it's an amazing structure outside and in i love the rat giving a round
17:26of applause look at it inside it's like a work of art in here it really is all right i'll
17:34make
17:35me bed get the bugs out i'm absolutely shattered the jungle is already sapping the energy out of me
17:48i'm gonna get to sleep even the noise of my neighbors is not gonna keep me awake
18:07well it's half past six in the morning
18:11i'm very impressed with their stamina i have to
18:41you're not saying you're clearing up because i'm here are
18:55women here seem to do almost everything in the village the men go hunting it can be difficult
19:03and dangerous searching for food hunting forest animals with spears bows and traps
19:11quick pit stops are for fruit and nuts grabbed on the go as they search for one of their favorite
19:17foods honey made by aggressive jungle bees to live off the forest requires extraordinary skills
19:27and knowledge they will climb that tree they suspect there is something up there they're
19:34checking some of the trees for the beehives in their pretty eternal quest for hunting
20:08they're spading them
20:13they're already 20 meters off the ground and they're still going
20:20so one of the guys has kindly agreed to wear a camera on a chest harness
20:25so that we can see what's going up there because strange as it may sound
20:29I can't climb this tree
20:36like this everyone can see what's going up here
21:01Come on!
21:02Come on!
21:04Come on!
21:08Come on!
21:10Come on!
21:16Come on!
21:18What are you doing here?
21:20What's up?
21:21What's up?
21:22Yes, man.
21:23What's up?
21:24I'm not going to die.
21:25I don't know.
21:27I don't know what you're going to do.
21:27Hey hey, hey, hey.
21:28I said, I'll get you.
21:29We're going to be taking a shot.
21:37You're going to be doing a lot.
21:48It's going to be a little too big.
21:54It's getting all the работу.
22:01It's coming down, look.
22:05Whoa!
22:08Oh my goodness.
22:10That is an incredible color.
22:14And the smell.
22:16Look at that smile.
22:18That's a happy honey hunter.
22:29That's very kind, thank you.
22:36Wild honey is completely packed with taste and goodness.
22:45That's astonishing.
22:48I've been told that in Baka communities, everything is shared among the families.
22:53What would happen in a situation where a hunter who has spent several days pursuing a small antelope,
23:02comes back to the community with that creature?
23:05There's a lot of animals.
23:09There's a lot of animals.
23:13There's a lot of animals.
23:15There's a lot of animals.
23:19There's a lot of animals.
23:25I love people.
23:27Thank you for sharing that with us.
23:39Many baka believe in a creator and guardian of the world who made the planet for all creatures
23:45to share and that no person or species has more of a right than any other to the rainforest
23:52and its treasures.
23:57But not everyone shares the baka's mindset.
24:00Loggers are chopping into the rainforest to harvest valuable timbers.
24:04As the wilderness slowly shrinks, the baka have more contact with outside villages, which
24:11puts them at greater risk from diseases like malaria, carried by the deadly mosquito.
24:19A mosquito thrives in an area where there is stagnant water and there is heat.
24:26So the forest becomes like a natural canopy that protects them.
24:31Like you and I have been here, have you seen any single mosquito?
24:36No, I don't even have seen a single one.
24:38So now, with deforestation, we then having the need to get out of the forest to go out
24:44and that's where they get malaria and bring them back to the forest.
24:46Right.
24:48It could take, even when you've got money, it could take you about three or four days before
24:53you can have access to the least effective drug against malaria, so you'll be dead.
25:02Three or four days from here to medical care?
25:06To medical care.
25:07Wow.
25:09So the child mortality is quite high.
25:14Yeah, that's sobering, isn't it, when you think of all the children here?
25:19The Baka have lived in the forest for generations, but that doesn't mean life here is easy.
25:28What are the greatest challenges you face in the forest?
25:56The Baka used the word Bantu to describe the majority ethnic groups in Central Africa.
26:01Baka.
26:02They mostly live in permanent villages and towns.
26:06I mean, I'm amazed to hear you say this because I thought you would identify the greatest challenges
26:12you face as being natural, as being something in the forest.
26:17I have lived in the forest, and I have lived in the forest.
26:25Across the Congo rainforest, hundreds of Baka have been attacked and killed by other ethnic groups.
26:32When you hear him say this, how do you feel?
26:34You're a Bantu, aren't you?
26:37You're a Bantu?
26:38Yeah, I would say I am a Bantu to them.
26:42I feel ashamed, and at the same time, I feel shocked and surprised.
26:48I think we are talking racism, we are talking discrimination.
27:05I don't want to sugarcoat their existence.
27:08Life in the forest for the Baka can be harsh.
27:12But their close community in the heart of the wilderness and time spent with family and friends
27:18is something many of us might still envy.
27:22It's time to go.
27:24I'm heading on.
27:28I want to travel further across the Congo rainforest.
27:32Well, I don't know about you, but I think it's surprising that people still live like this in the 21st
27:37century,
27:37but also rather reassuring as well.
27:43Chief, farewell to you.
27:51I'm deeply honoured.
27:53Thank you very much indeed.
27:55So many of us try to tame nature or separate ourselves from it.
28:02The Baka have a very different approach.
28:05I really hope they can maintain their special culture,
28:08and this critical rainforest can survive the pressures of the 21st century.
28:30So we've got a bit of a journey on this boat,
28:33and then hopefully we're going to arrive at a village just on the edge of a really wild area of
28:40the forest here.
28:42And, fingers crossed, there should be a four-wheel drive vehicle waiting for us there.
28:51It's another long journey in a small boat.
29:07This must be the village.
29:11And there's a vehicle.
29:13It's got to be ours.
29:17Okay.
29:18All right.
29:18Yeah, bag's off.
29:30It feels strange to be in a vehicle again.
29:36Roads represent one of the main threats to the Congo forest.
29:40Roads like these are often created by logging companies,
29:44and inevitably they result in more people coming into the jungle,
29:50and that leads to more poaching, more mining, and more illegal logging.
29:58Look at these logs.
30:03Huge carcasses of great trees.
30:06As well as being a forest ranger, Adams has set up a network of investigators across the Congo,
30:13dedicated to tackling environmental crimes, like illegal logging and wildlife poaching.
30:19His organisation has had hundreds of people arrested.
30:22He wants to see if these trees have been cut down illegally.
30:26Look at the size of these, with numbers on them.
30:29Can you see any name of the company?
30:33It should start with a C.
30:35No, I can't see.
30:37Those are hundreds of years old.
30:39That is redwood.
30:41Redwood?
30:42Yeah.
30:42Yeah.
30:42So, valuable trees.
30:44Yes.
30:45Yeah.
30:45There's a number on that.
30:46So, G34215.
30:52With this number we can always double-check if this is legit or it is illegal.
30:58Oh, it's trying to come past us.
31:01African redwood is a highly prized hardwood timber used in homes in Europe, America and Asia.
31:07There is logging here that claims to be sustainable.
31:11Still, giant old trees are being cut to make parquet flooring and window blinds.
31:17Right now, Adams is on the phone to one of his contacts to check whether the logs we saw have
31:24been chopped down legally.
31:29What did they say?
31:31The story has checked out.
31:32It's all legitimate.
31:34Legal logging.
31:35It's legal logging.
31:37Even those enormous trees.
31:39So, just because it is legal, it doesn't mean it is morally and environmentally right.
31:46Yeah.
31:52It's a bit rudimentary, but it looks like it does the job.
32:02Some scientists think the Congo rainforest is now the most important forest in the world.
32:09It's second in size only to the great Amazon.
32:12But here, there's actually been much less clearing of the trees.
32:17Logging, mining and cattle ranching companies have been slower to exploit and clear the Congo.
32:22But that's starting to change.
32:28The rivers which criss-cross the land, these are the highways of the Congo Basin.
32:33And they are very important because they facilitate the movement, not only of the people, but also of goods.
32:40It is also a highway that takes out dead trees from the forest to the nearby urban centres, unfortunately.
32:51I'm heading onwards to one of the most remote and unspoiled regions of the Congo.
32:57The downside is I have to say goodbye to Adams.
33:01I wish you good luck with all your amazing work, OK?
33:04Thank you very much.
33:06Good luck, big guy.
33:08Take care.
33:09It's also time for me to leave the Republic of the Congo and head into its giant neighbouring country, the
33:16Democratic Republic of the Congo.
33:18A nation the size of Western Europe.
33:23I want to reach an area known as Solonga Lukeni Sankuru, home to the largest tract of protected forest in
33:31the whole of Africa, where there's no real roads.
33:34I'm beginning a tricky search for one of the most elusive and iconic creatures in the whole of Africa.
33:48A local boatman is taking me as far as possible into the forest.
33:58So from here the boat goes back and we trek into the jungle.
34:15So we are heading to what we think is a small, abandoned village where some scientists and researchers have made
34:25a base in the last couple of decades for studying primates who are a man.
34:32Among our closest relatives.
34:35And they are called bonobos.
34:39This is a creature about which still not that much is known compared to our other cousins like chimpanzees and
34:49gorillas.
34:50Bonobos still have a fair bit of mystery around them.
34:54I would love to see them in the wild.
34:58I'm hopeful.
34:59Maybe a bit optimistic.
35:05But whether it actually happens I just don't know.
35:07People have said to us, you've got to be joking.
35:10But we'll see.
35:13Crossing fingers.
35:15My guide on this part of my journey is Lombert Butoh.
35:19He works for an international conservation project.
35:22He's an expert on bonobos.
35:25If anyone can find them, it's Lombert.
35:29...
35:50Lombert grew up in a village nearby on the edge of the wilderness.
35:53Life for his family was a struggle.
35:56With few jobs around to earn money, he turned to poaching,
36:00helping to hunt forest elephants for their ivory.
36:23Lombert returned from university, a man transformed.
36:27He left as a poacher and came back as a conservationist,
36:30determined to protect the forest and its wildlife.
36:57The black-crested mangabe is only found in the Congo rainforest.
37:02They spend most of their time high in the jungle canopy, living off nuts and seeds.
37:07But that doesn't protect them from poaching.
37:17The Democratic Republic of the Congo, the DRC, is one of the poorest countries in the world.
37:24Tens of millions of people here live on the equivalent of less than two pounds a day.
37:31They'll often trap or shoot animals in the forest for food.
37:45Days of travel from a proper road is the village of Lompole.
37:50Here we'll be able to rest, get some supplies and prepare for a final trek into the depths of the
37:56rainforest.
37:58As we arrive, Lombert spots something he wants to show me.
38:03It's okay.
38:04The trick here is here.
38:07Bonjour, monsieur.
38:08Bonjour.
38:09What is this?
38:10Ça, c'est panier de viande.
38:13C'est qu'on appelle communément matinda.
38:17What are the animals?
38:18The porc de pique?
38:20Ça, c'est le seigne.
38:22Ça, c'est red de kokoloboy.
38:23Ça, c'est blek magabengi.
38:26C'est falof.
38:27C'est falof.
38:28C'est falof.
38:28C'est falof.
38:29C'est falof.
38:30Porc de pique.
38:31Porc de pique.
38:31C'est falof.
38:36C'est falof.
38:37C'est falof.
38:45C'est falof.
39:00wheynes all of this come from?
39:05I was amazed to hear this.
39:08Just like Lombe years before, this lad was out hunting to pay school fees.
39:16Across the Congo, it's estimated 6 million tons of wild animal meat is eaten every year.
39:22But that includes endangered wildlife.
39:25Living in such a remote location, villagers here survive by hunting,
39:30clearing the forest to grow crops and cutting trees for firewood.
39:37Individually, their environmental footprint is tiny compared to a European or an American.
39:42But with tens of thousands of villages scattered across the Congo,
39:46the sheer scale of the population here inevitably has an impact on the wilderness.
39:53Just walking through this community and we are surrounded by tiny, tiny children.
40:00The population of this country, the DRC, has doubled this century.
40:05And it's expected to grow much further.
40:09Much, much further.
40:26We've got a long journey today to the middle of nowhere.
40:32To have any chance of finding the bonobos, I need to trek deeper into the rainforest.
40:38Our filming equipment is weighed.
40:41And Lombe pays local villagers to help carry our kit, food and water for the filming team and our expedition
40:48medic.
40:51Lombe, what's the journey going to be like?
40:53The path is a bit difficult, but there are some challenges.
41:01There are some challenges.
41:01There is a big savane called Bobokapola.
41:04It's very difficult.
41:05And with the savane.
41:07We're going?
41:07We're going.
41:08OK.
41:09After you, mate.
41:10You lead.
41:15Here is very clearly where we leave the village and head into the forest.
41:25I'm setting off on the toughest part of my journey.
41:28A long trip with a heavy pack.
41:31Through jungle, across rivers and a vast open savannah in the ferocious heat of the midday sun.
41:39We're aiming to reach a remote jungle camp before dark, from where we can begin our search for the bonobos.
41:53The bonobo is an icon of the Congo rainforest.
41:57They're now officially classified as endangered, at risk of extinction.
42:02Where they live is so remote, nobody really knows how many there are.
42:07There could be as few as 10,000 left.
42:11Here they have at least some protection.
42:14Lombe and his team have worked with villages persuading locals to avoid hunting them.
42:21So we've just emerged into this huge natural savannah.
42:29We've got to get across it.
42:32It's now approaching the middle of the day and the sun is really beating down so it's scorching out here.
42:45In this heat I'm sweating so much.
42:48I'm needing maybe half a litre of water an hour.
42:52Maybe as much as that.
42:57No time for wilting.
42:59Lombe just keeps going.
43:08Back in the jungle the canopy provides shade.
43:12But the humidity is draining and we're running out of water.
43:38We can change the place.
43:41We can change it again.
43:42No way.
43:42No way.
43:43We have to cut one.
43:48We'll take...
43:55No way.
43:56No way.
43:57You...
43:57You can...
43:59You can try.
44:04I'm trying.
44:05No way.
44:06Yes.
44:08We can go.
44:12And you can try.
44:15I'm a bit shattered, to be honest.
44:21Nothing quite prepares you for the reality of the jungle.
44:34So it's now getting a little bit later in the day, and we do not want to be out in
44:40the
44:40jungle at night.
44:45Eyes down, avoiding roots, we walk and trot along animal tracks.
44:52It's wet and sweaty.
44:54The hours pass slowly.
45:00Oh my goodness.
45:03We made it.
45:06We've arrived.
45:06Mate, this is where we're going to stay tonight, this remote, very remote camp.
45:13And hopefully we'll get a good night's sleep, and then tomorrow we'll be up, we'll be out,
45:17and we'll be looking for an animal that I am absolutely hoping to see in the rainforest
45:22here.
45:22The magnificent, the incredible bonobo.
45:28Well done, mate.
45:29You got us here.
45:30Well done.
45:56We set off at dawn in search of bonobos.
46:01What I hate about being in the jungle is putting wet boots on in the morning.
46:12Bonobo family groups can travel up to 10 miles in a single day foraging for food.
46:18They could be anywhere.
46:21For day after day, we trek through swamps and thick jungle and don't see even a glimpse of
46:28a bonobo.
46:29It's punishing for the whole team.
46:35Getting bit into shreds here.
46:37To give you an idea of how many insects we're dealing with, take a look at Jonathan's hat.
46:50At times, the insect attacks make it hard for us to carry on.
47:12The end of another day and on a sight of a bonobo.
47:21But we have got up close and personal with the wildlife.
47:25We've all been bitten and stung and something's taken up residence on cameraman Jonathan.
47:31Back at camp, expedition medic Simon sets up his clinic.
47:35A bit of a medical situation.
47:37Not me.
47:38I've just got some blisters, but Jonathan here has got an issue on his, is it on the ankle?
47:48Yeah.
47:49It's a jigger flea.
47:51It's a jigger flea.
47:52They live in the sand and they burrow themselves into their skin and lay eggs.
47:57So in there we've got a little flea in there, which has laid its eggs there, which will
48:03at some point pop out and spread.
48:05But if we don't take it out, it will spread to other parts of his foot, unfortunately.
48:11So basically I'm a nest for a family of fleas.
48:15Yes you are.
48:15You are a flea nest.
48:16I'm a host.
48:17You're a host.
48:18There's two bits you want to get out.
48:20There's actually the flea in there, and there's also the eggs.
48:23So we just need to make sure we get the eggs and the sack.
48:27Ready?
48:27Yep.
48:30Oh look, look, look.
48:32That is properly gross.
48:38Did you get it all?
48:39It pretty much came out all in one go, excuse me or so.
48:43I know you're a former Royal Marine, but have you ever seen such extraordinary heroism?
48:48He's done well.
48:50He's even lighting the scene himself.
48:53We'll put an iodine dressing on there just to keep it nice and sterile, so if anyone didn't
48:58realise the jungle is full of nasties, if we did need to get Jonathan out of the jungle,
49:04it would take us about three and a half days, so that's why we've got to be nice and tidy
49:09and make sure it's all nice and sterile.
49:31Last night was very stormy, thundery and wet, and the forest is still dripping, which makes
49:39sense.
49:40It's finding the bonobos even more challenging.
49:48Lambert thinks the bonobos we're looking for have retreated into a huge swamp.
50:01Oh, bloody hell.
50:04How am I going to get across there?
50:06I think I'm about to get pretty wet.
50:36You'll be locked here
50:37Oh! Insects are crawling up inside our clothing. Love you!
50:50We're coming under attack from angry bees so everything is just getting quite a bit
50:56trickier. Getting properly attacked now by...
51:11I think this is this is just about the toughest jungle I've been in jungles in
51:17Colombia in Burma in Borneo they're not as bad they're not as uncomfortable
51:27they're not as sticky and bitey as this is this is tough this is really tough I
51:32think this is gonna be we are gonna be very very lucky to see bonobos here
51:38I hate to say it
51:49but then suddenly we do get lucky
51:55noises ahead
52:00we think we might have heard some bonobos up here
52:09and then just in front of me I can see shapes moving in the trees
52:15we all need to be wearing these masks not just for Covid but for the transmission of any other
52:22virus or disease the bonobos are just about 15-20 meters through the trees now but the foliage is so
52:31thick they might as well be a mile we need to get a bit closer slowly carefully
52:43for the kitchen
52:44I've got it I've got it I've got it
52:46Im delivers my Morrison here
52:54I got it I've got it I've got it I've guns into it
53:00There are bonobos just above us in the trees
53:13my heart is racing my skin is tingling to see these creatures here in this pristine environment
53:24is breathtaking these are some of our closest living relatives perhaps our closest closer
53:33even something than chimpanzees our cousins our kin bonobos are only found in the congo and there's
53:43still much to learn about them we do know they live in extended family groups which the females
53:49tend to dominate even though they're smaller than the males i just love their relaxed gentle nature
53:56which is probably because they don't have much competition for food lombert's keen to impress
54:02on me that what larger animals like bonobos eat is crucial to the whole forest ecosystem
54:07so they eat a lot of fruit from the fruit that comes to the stomach and it's all that we
54:14call
54:15the lift and then they make the caca they consume a lot of plants and this is why we say
54:24that
54:24When the forest doesn't have any value,
54:28that means that the forest doesn't have any value,
54:31because the birds don't have any value anymore.
54:33So we can say that it's the biggest gardener.
54:40This is a really crucial point.
54:42A forest isn't just the trees.
54:45It's everything that lives there.
54:48Protecting a forest isn't just about stopping illegal logging.
54:51It's protecting all the life within.
55:02Oh, my goodness, babies.
55:06I can see one, two, three, four.
55:11There's one just up the trunk of the tree above us.
55:15On our busy planet,
55:17wildlife and wild areas are taking a hammering.
55:21Countless extraordinary creatures are being pushed towards extinction.
55:26But this wilderness in the Congo,
55:28and these awe-inspiring animals,
55:30are a reminder beauty and wonder still exists.
55:39Compared to other great rainforests around the world,
55:42the Congo is still relatively untouched.
55:44there is still time to save and protect this unique ecosystem.
55:58I can see a dark shape just through here on the ground,
56:02looking directly at me.
56:11The
56:13go
56:32to the
56:39look at him there so relaxed he is so like us we of course are so like him
56:50he looks as though he's just getting some final rays of sun on a lounger in benedorm
57:04this is one of the most important places i have been to on any of my journeys i'm in awe
57:12of this
57:13forest this wilderness and the life it still contains this is one of the last great strongholds
57:22for wild nature on planet earth
57:42next time i'm crossing the wilds of patagonia the gauchos the landscape the wilderness
57:51i'll travel through the foothills of the andes right there it's the king man it's the king of
57:58patagonia and i'll try to reach a vast ice field in one of the least explored mountain regions on earth
58:06bloody hell the wind is really going for it now it's a little bit scary to be honest
58:24so
58:35you
58:37you
58:37you
58:41you
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