- 2 days ago
Hazen Audel learns how to survive like the Huaorani in the Amazon rainforest and must master the basics of hunting and gathering to stay alive.
探险家黑森·奥德尔（Hazen Audel）在厄瓜多尔亚马逊雨林中学习像瓦奥拉尼人（Huaorani）那样生存。他必须掌握能在茂密丛林中保命的生存技能，只有这样，瓦奥拉尼人才会带他踏上一场终生难忘的狩猎之旅。
探险家黑森·奥德尔（Hazen Audel）在厄瓜多尔亚马逊雨林中学习像瓦奥拉尼人（Huaorani）那样生存。他必须掌握能在茂密丛林中保命的生存技能，只有这样，瓦奥拉尼人才会带他踏上一场终生难忘的狩猎之旅。
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TVTranscript
00:10I'm just, um, using the light from my camera to see what that is.
00:24Um, that's a big spider.
00:27Jeez.
00:30In some of the most inhospitable places on Earth, tribal people have survived against
00:35the odds for thousands of years.
00:39I'm Hazen Odell, survival instructor and wilderness guide.
00:43Quick, quick.
00:44I want to learn from the masters, so I'm traveling to some of the most remote corners
00:48of the globe to take on the toughest tribal challenges.
00:52To succeed, I must survive the tribe.
00:56These arrows have got to count.
00:57Amazing.
00:58It's absolutely on me.
01:05This time, I'm training with the Waorani, a legendary tribe of rainforest hunters who target monkeys
01:12in the high jungle canopy with lethal blowguns.
01:19They live in Ecuador, in a region of rainforest that covers a third of the country, and includes
01:25the headwaters of the mighty Amazon.
01:32I've traveled for two days by boat into Waorani territory to master the unique survival skills of this isolated tribe.
01:41That's where I'm sleeping, I guess.
01:43I have ten days in the small community to learn the techniques they perfect over a lifetime, before I join
01:51an elite team on an extreme hunt into the depths of the rainforest.
01:57My first lesson is basic jungle survival, and the village has turned out to put me through my paces.
02:06To show willing, I've decided to travel as they do, barefoot.
02:11This is the way it is.
02:12This is their walk to work.
02:14When you wear boots, they just get full of water and give you blisters.
02:18But the rainforest is a dangerous place.
02:21You have to learn to keep your eyes open and your wits about you.
02:25And only a few hundred yards from the village, there's a chilling reminder.
02:40This is the most feared animal in the forest by the Waorani.
02:45This is the Fertilance, and a big one, too.
02:50These fangs deliver some of the most deadly toxin in the entire world.
02:55Bites lead to hemorrhaging, paralysis, and possible death.
03:00Back home, I have experience with snakes, but I don't have to live with deadly species on a daily basis.
03:09Lead hunter Penty's own mother was killed by a pit viper just like this.
03:14And yet, it's taboo in their culture to kill a snake.
03:18Even though it kills a lot of Waoranis every year, it has its own place in the forest, so I'm
03:23going to let it go.
03:32After venomous snakes, the number one life-threatening danger in this enormous rainforest is getting lost.
03:40What they're showing me right now is really important.
03:42It's so incredibly easy to get lost.
03:45In dense jungle, sound can be more useful than sight, and the Waorani have a system of calls to keep
03:53in touch.
03:56So if we ever do get separated, we're going to need to use this technique.
04:01This is my Waorani SOS.
04:11If I get lost on the hunt, I'll need to be self-sufficient.
04:18So knowing how to find safe sources of water and food in the jungle is essential.
04:27Penty shows me a vine that contains good, clean drinking water.
04:35Oh my gosh, it's like, it's like water right out of the faucet.
04:41This is an incredibly important survival skill.
04:43We can only last two, three days without water until we die.
04:48It's knowledge like this that can keep us all alive out here.
04:56Now for food, and Penty's got me looking in this old log for an unusual source of emergency
05:01calories.
05:12Inside, I discover what we're looking for.
05:15Oh my God, look at that huge beetle larva.
05:23This might be a popular snack for the Waorani, but I have my doubts.
05:28Oh, um, now, it's moving and it's got a big head and it's with jaws even.
05:40What, I mean, look at those things.
06:00I wouldn't say that insect grubs are my favorite.
06:08And now just to swallow it, it's just gooey, but the crunchy head.
06:12Hold it in there.
06:13Get him.
06:14Um.
06:16How you going?
06:18Oh, and there's still bits still left over.
06:20Oh.
06:21Bah.
06:23Rotting wood is often home to grubs and insects, a good source of protein and minerals
06:28when you're desperate.
06:33On the hunt, it's knowledge like this that could keep me alive.
06:41But that's a long way off.
06:42I've still got basics to learn.
06:46The jungle is a complex environment and provides the Waorani with all their survival needs.
06:53On forest expeditions, they carry little because everything can be found along the trail.
06:59This is their grocery store.
07:01This is their pharmacy.
07:02This is their hardware store, all wrapped up into one big jungle.
07:07This species of palm tree provides leaves that can be split down and woven into string.
07:12Even just this little bit, I can't break it.
07:20And this forest grass provides a sharp blade for cutting.
07:24They actually use this small, tiny stick as a forest knife.
07:29That's amazing.
07:32These are all useful skills.
07:34But for my big hunting challenge, I'm also going to have to learn how to utilize the forest canopy.
07:42Kent is showing us one of the most important wild trees to get nuts from.
07:47The ungarela palm.
07:49The ungarela palm fruits twice a year.
07:52The nuts are edible, but can be difficult to get to.
08:00So first, let's see if they're okay to eat.
08:10It's really hard.
08:12I'm not going to say it tastes really good.
08:15But they say that it's ready to harvest.
08:19These nuts are a great source of fat and protein.
08:23But there's a much more efficient way to get them down.
08:28These are roots stretching down hundreds of feet from plants that are growing on top of the trees.
08:35The Waurani use these roots of epiphytes to get them up to the forest canopy.
08:40But on this occasion, they are not the ones who will be doing the climbing.
08:46They're telling me that I should be the one to climb the tree.
08:51Okay.
08:54But not only just climb the tree, I need to have one hand free so I can hold a long
08:58stick that will reach that cluster of ungarela nuts right now.
09:08My feet are bound together to provide grip on this branchless tree.
09:12But it's not easy for a rookie like me.
09:15I've got this lever just like a pair of pliers on the tree.
09:19Who's getting me right up?
09:21Not to say I'm not sort of scared.
09:26Being high up on a thin tree reminds me just how tough life is here.
09:34We're 15 hours by boat from the nearest hospital.
09:39Slip and you're in trouble.
09:43The Waurani usually die from trauma before old age.
09:51This is hard work.
09:53And it's sort of scary.
09:56I'm 60 feet up.
09:58Time to hold tight and reach out for the prize.
10:07High in the rainforest canopy is no place to make a mistake.
10:11But this is territory I need to master.
10:15I'm holding my nerve and the roots around my ankles are holding me in place.
10:20Time for some high altitude piñata.
10:23This is coming right down.
10:26Wow, this is just an abundance of food right here on one single tree.
10:33That's enough for right now.
10:40Not only have I harvested the fruit of the forest,
10:43I've also learned an important climbing skill that could help me when we go hunting.
10:50Wow, there's so much fruit in that single tree.
10:56Within the time that I was up in the tree,
10:58the women wove this basket.
11:01But they're going to use this to carry all the nuts.
11:05Something that you begin to notice about the Waurani culture is they live in the now.
11:10There's no such thing as preserving food.
11:12They don't have refrigeration.
11:13So they just have to live off the abundance that's here in the forest.
11:21I'm starting to understand the Waurani survival strategy.
11:24It's based on an in-depth knowledge of this hardcore environment.
11:28Both its dangers and potential riches.
11:32You know, it's amazing.
11:32We first entered the forest relatively empty handed.
11:35Now, we're returning back to the village.
11:39Everybody's hands, arms are full of food.
11:41It's been a good day for the Waurani.
11:44And a good day for me too.
11:47I've learned basic jungle survival and acclimatized to the challenges of the forest.
11:52But there's still plenty I need to get used to.
12:03I keep getting woken up.
12:05Either they wake up in the middle of the night and start singing,
12:11or they start just talking.
12:13And while Waurani's talking, they just keep talking and talking.
12:15I don't know what they talk about.
12:16But then they talk themselves to sleep, or they sing themselves to sleep.
12:20They go back to bed.
12:24Maybe I'll catch a few hours of sleep.
12:26And then they wake back up and go into dancing and chanting and talking.
12:30And it seems like the Waurani don't really have a specific schedule in which they sleep.
12:43Today, I start my training for the big hunt.
12:47The Waurani hunter's top target is the monkey.
12:51Its meat is a rich source of protein and a valuable part of their diet.
12:56It's hunted high in the forest canopy using blowguns.
13:01This classic Waurani weapon can accurately fire a poison dart over 100 feet.
13:08The next part of my training is to join seasoned warrior Kemperi to make a blowgun of my own.
13:16Everything we need to make this weapon can be found in the forest.
13:20And Kemperi has been gathering materials here since he was a boy.
13:25He doesn't know how old he is, probably in his late 70s.
13:29But he does know everything about making blowguns.
13:33Kemperi has found the palm, the main component of the blowgun.
13:39No one gets an easy ride here.
13:41And despite his age, Kemperi doesn't dodge the hard work.
13:49But look at him, he's almost 80 years old and he's cutting a tree and he still keeps a smile
13:55on his face.
14:01Back at Kemperi's hut, we start to turn the lengths of wood into a lethal weapon.
14:06Kemperi wants me to finish carving out a groove that will go the entire length of these two sticks of
14:13this palm wood.
14:14That's going to be like the barrel of a gun.
14:21This wood, I just can't get over how difficult this wood is.
14:28It's almost like extremely hard plastic.
14:37Ten different trees and plants are used to make this weapon.
14:43When the barrel has been carved, the two halves of the gun are tied together and an airtight seal is
14:49created using beeswax.
14:53Finally, the blowgun is tightly bound together with the bark of a vine.
15:00It's a privilege to work with a craftsman like Kemperi.
15:04Learning skills that have been passed down from Waorani to Waorani for thousands of years.
15:13But today is not the day to test out my new weapon.
15:17There's rain on the way, and downpours here can be sudden and torrential.
15:23Heavy rain prevents canopy hunting with blowguns, but it opens up other options, like gathering honey from angry bees.
15:32Even though it's raining so hard, they say it's a perfect time to harvest honey because the bees can't fly
15:38nearly as well when it's raining like this.
15:41The village has come together to grab a golden opportunity.
15:46A hive like that has thousands of individual bees. Their job is to protect their honey. They're not going to
15:52let it go easy.
15:53We need to get the hive on the ground as soon as possible.
15:58Look at how you feel them!
15:59Just like me, the Waorani have a sweet tooth. But with no candy store in the jungle, they have to
16:05take big risks to get their sugar fixed.
16:08We need to be putting this cotton in our ears because these are biting bees. These bees are going to
16:13get into every hole, every orifice.
16:16They're going to be all through our hair. We need to protect our ears if we can.
16:20Cutting down a tree this size is dangerous. It's several tons of wood and will crush anyone under it.
16:25We've got to get out. We've got to go out. We're going to fall this way.
16:29Oh my gosh, it's falling right now!
16:35The tree gets stuck halfway down, and we can't reach the hive.
16:41We have to identify all the different plants that are keeping this nest off the ground.
16:46We have to do it fast. They're really starting to come down now.
16:49It's a mad panic to get the nest to the ground before we're all overcome.
16:53You guys are tough. I am getting bitten to pieces by bees.
16:59It's not just one tree. It's not just one vine.
17:03Let's hold you up this tree. We've got to go fast.
17:11One of the Waorani makes a bid for the nest, but is beaten back by the bees.
17:16He was the one just climbing the trees covered in bees.
17:19Look at this. These are all bees.
17:24I see a chance to prove myself to the tribe. This is my shot. I'm going to try to reach
17:30the hive.
17:43The closer I get to the hive, the more the bees attack. I'm getting bitten all over, and the pain
17:50is intense.
17:54There are just too many angry insects, and I'm forced back.
18:05All I can do is just crunch them up into my hair.
18:11Finally, the tree is cut free, and it crashes to the ground.
18:19The beehive is ripped clear, and it's then a feeding frenzy to get at the honey.
18:25This jackpot won't be saved for later. These hunter-gatherers live in the moment.
18:30They're so excited they're getting it right now. They're not waiting.
18:39It tastes like it's the most sour honey you've ever tasted. Like it's lemon-flavored honey.
18:48Bees are everywhere.
18:53This has been a special bonding experience with the tribe.
18:58I proved I'm willing to grasp the moment and share in the dangers.
19:03I wasn't the hero of the day, but this was a team effort, and I get my share of the
19:08reward.
19:13It's been an exhausting day. What I need now is a good night's sleep.
19:18But a village pet has other ideas.
19:23It's really early in the morning, and this is what came to visit me.
19:29Just like how a dog visits you in the morning, back home, to be fed, or just to say hi.
19:40Here we've got tapirs.
19:45Good morning.
20:02Go to bed.
20:09As the days pass, I'm starting to understand how the Waurani have survived in this jungle for thousands of years.
20:15Using a combination of their unique skills and natural resilience.
20:20But there's much more to learn before I can join them on a traditional hunt.
20:27An epic life and death struggle in the heart of the dark jungle.
20:30And the vertical limits of the forest canopy.
20:39Hunting for the Waurani is about survival, but it's dangerous for an outsider like me.
20:44So Penty is taking me deeper into the jungle to teach me the skills I'll need to survive the hunt
20:50itself.
20:52First up, he shows me a simple navigation aid used when the hunt strays off the beaten track.
20:58This is their GPS.
21:00Just this little flick of the wrist and breaking this branch or toppling over a leaf.
21:04This could help me find my way back to the group if I fall behind on the hunt.
21:10If you get lost out here, you can die.
21:16The chaos of the hunt can also lead to unexpected encounters with dangerous animals.
21:22We have to be prepared for jaguars, venomous spiders, and, as I've already seen, deadly snakes.
21:33Waurani hunts can cover great distances, and there's no guarantee of a return to the village before nightfall.
21:40Being able to build a quick shelter out here is a potentially life-saving skill.
21:45So they found a really straight tree, and that's going to act as the ridge pole.
21:52The forest provides all the materials we need.
21:55The Waurani supply the know-how, and I lend a willing hand.
22:05A hundred percent organic house in about five minutes.
22:10We already have our roof done.
22:12Now what they're doing is they're just laying down leaves.
22:14That separates us from this dirty ground full of all kinds of creatures.
22:19It doesn't look like much, but within a few minutes, we have a shelter that's good enough to keep us
22:24alive for the night.
22:26Temperatures here rarely drop to dangerous levels.
22:28But torrential rains are a constant threat if the hunter is caught in the open.
22:33If it rains, even though it's tropical here, they could die of hypothermia.
22:38So they need to build things like this to keep them alive.
22:42The final skill the hunter needs is the ability to make fire.
22:48At the very bottom right here, that's the cotton.
22:50It's really dry, and those small microfibers are going to be the very first things to catch an ember.
22:57But in a rainforest, starting a fire when everything is wet is a big task.
23:03This is extremely hard work. We're talking a major workout.
23:07My arms, they're just burning.
23:10But smoke's coming out.
23:13Smoke is important out here for repelling biting insects.
23:16But to keep animals away, you need fire.
23:19It's easy to make smoke, but to make fire is a whole different thing.
23:27I don't have it in my hands anymore. They're just worn raw.
23:34Right now, we're not going to be able to make a fire.
23:39Recent rain has made the wood too damp to ignite.
23:43Survival here is tough, and even the best can struggle.
23:47Luckily, today was just a test run.
23:50And we can take the easy route out and back to the village.
23:58This feels like a defeat. The jungle has beaten us back.
24:03But this place gives as well as takes.
24:06Suddenly, we spot a caiman that might make a good meal.
24:10And I am elected to catch it.
24:22This cousin of the crocodile has crushing jaws and quick reactions.
24:26This will be a one-shot deal.
24:30Quick, quick, quick, quick.
24:36All of these guys have the potential to catch this.
24:39But they would much rather watch me either succeed or fail.
24:47It's still a juvenile.
24:49They're going to let this guy go and live another day.
24:55This was a good test.
24:58I'm getting the measure of this environment,
25:00and I'm ready to handle whatever it throws at me.
25:04The tribe too seems encouraged that I'm ready for the hunt.
25:09Now, it's time to work out what role I'm going to play.
25:13So it's back to the village to see if I can make the grade as a blowgun marksman.
25:20I've been aiming at targets my entire life, but I'm not underestimating this challenge.
25:25Kimperi is setting up this banana flower for target practice.
25:30It sort of looks like a small target for me.
25:33This is the first outing for my new blowgun.
25:36What Penti is extracting right now is a kind of a wild cotton.
25:40That acts like fletching, but it also maintains the air seal that's going to be necessary to give this thing
25:45the velocity that it needs to become really a lethal weapon.
25:52Years of practice have made these guys dead shots.
25:57Oh, right on, right, look at that.
26:00For comparing these guys, this is just child's play.
26:05Penti shows me the technique that makes him one of the deadliest marksmen in the village.
26:13Then he challenges me to take a shot.
26:18Just learning to handle this 10-foot weapon is tough.
26:21This thing is very long.
26:24I'm using all of my muscles to hold this up.
26:28Okay.
26:33I missed it.
26:34He's telling me I gotta go a little bit to the left.
26:37I reload and try again.
26:42Hey! I hit it! I hit it!
26:44Oh, right next to his.
26:46It's not dead on center, but I still hit it, which I'm pretty proud of.
26:54This is one incredibly accurate weapon.
26:59But will I get a chance to use it on the hunt?
27:04It's still a day away.
27:06Our preparations for a major forest hunt are intricate and start early.
27:11For my first task, I've been sent down to the river to catch a fish.
27:16And not just any fish.
27:18A piranha.
27:20For many, this is a fish to avoid.
27:22But for a Waurani hunter, it provides an invaluable tool.
27:27We have to be careful because it has exactly what we're looking for.
27:31Razor sharp teeth.
27:34Piranha teeth provide one of the sharpest cutting edges in the forest.
27:38This is used with surgical precision to prepare the blow darts for the monkey hunt.
27:44He's using the teeth of the piranha that he has here to make that delicate scratch, a breaking point in
27:51this dart.
27:52If the monkey tries to grab that poison dart out of its body, this breaks inside, allowing this poison to
28:01remain inside so it does the work.
28:03The tiny cut with the piranha teeth makes the difference between a catch and a kill.
28:09This may be a subtle detail, but it's all the detail that they need to be able to make this
28:15the most effective weapon in the rainforest.
28:19Armed with my new cutting blade, I return to the village with the prepped blow darts to prepare the poison
28:25that will transform them from dangerous into deadly ammunition.
28:32First step is to scrape the bark off this curare vine.
28:36Inside the shavings is the highest percentage of toxin, and they'll refine it into one of the most poisonous plant
28:42toxins known to man.
28:44Curare.
28:46An efficient paralyzing poison, curare is the blow gun hunter's toxin of choice.
28:52When it enters your bloodstream, it stops your muscles from working.
28:55It paralyzes your diaphragm. It's an extremely potent neurotoxin.
29:02The shavings are rolled up in a palm leaf, which acts as a natural percolator.
29:08Penty is ever so carefully pouring water into the top of the funnel.
29:13And as he's doing that, he's extracting those poisonous alkaloids that are in these shavings.
29:19What's dripping down, that's the poison.
29:23The solution is then heated to concentrate the poison.
29:27They're just extracting this really concentrated, dried, slimy stuff off the surface of the liquid.
29:36This is a master class in organic chemistry, given by self-taught scientists who have refined their methods by trial
29:44and error over hundreds of generations.
29:48Now it's ready to put on the end of the darts.
29:52This is a deadly production line.
29:55The lethal darts are then left to dry overnight.
29:59Tomorrow is the big day.
30:01The day of the hunt.
30:04I'll be heading out with the Waorani into the depths of the rainforest in search of elusive prey.
30:11We will need all our skills, our patience, and a dose of luck.
30:17But the nighttime omens are not good.
30:25Now it's raining a whole bunch outside.
30:33I'm just, um, using the light from my camera to see what that is.
30:47Um, that's a f***ing big spider.
30:53Uh, yeah.
30:56That's a big spider.
30:59Hm.
31:01Oh my God, where'd it go?
31:06Where, where did that thing go?
31:11Oh my God, I don't even know if I can sleep here anymore.
31:20It's the morning of the big hunt, and I join the Waorani hunters for some last-minute preparations.
31:29Then, we head out into the jungle.
31:32We'll be going further and deeper than I've ever been before, and there will be no room for mistakes.
31:38It's up to me to use my new skills to keep safe, and to make myself a useful member of
31:43the team.
31:45We carry blowguns to target monkeys up in the forest canopy, and spears to hunt animals on the jungle floor.
31:53But there are no guarantees what we'll find, and we could be out in the wilderness for days.
32:01Two hours into the hunt, and we find our first sign of prey.
32:06These two fingernail prints.
32:09That's a sure-tail sign that we're tracking the urre, the peccary.
32:16Peccaries look like wild pigs.
32:18They can inflict serious injury, but make good eating.
32:23Unfortunately, their tracks soon dry up.
32:28This is where their knowledge of behavior comes into play.
32:31They can't see the tracks.
32:33They're trying to think like a pig.
32:35They didn't go that way to get water.
32:37They didn't go that way to get food.
32:41Suddenly, we hear the screech of a peccary.
32:44And the hunt is on.
32:49The team splits up to surround the animals.
32:53Some other guys are going that way?
32:55It would be easy to lose the group here.
32:58But using the calls they taught me, we stay in touch through the dense undergrowth.
33:04I just ran through a wasp nest.
33:14As we head into a swamp, the going gets really tough.
33:19Everything is snagging on my skin.
33:22The Waurani make light work of it and stay on the trail of the peccary.
33:29But I'm struggling to keep up.
33:32I have to stop and just listen.
33:35Whee!
33:37They're right there.
33:39In the near distance, things are heating up.
33:42Penty has wounded one of the peccaries and he's following a trail of blood.
33:48But I'm now too far behind and out of hearing range.
33:53You can tell they were just here.
33:55The water's all stirred up and it's murky like that.
33:58Over there, see how clear that is?
34:02I'm just following murky water.
34:06And this swamp is destroying my feet.
34:11There goes another toenail.
34:18These plants just stopped me down in my tracks.
34:22As the mud settles around me, I realize I'm lost in the world's biggest jungle.
34:31I have to be very careful here, choose the wrong path, and I might never be found.
34:41But the Waurani have taught me well, and my new skills offer a way out of this situation.
34:47Oh God.
34:51I can see more evidence of somebody being here.
34:54I can see broken branches, like that, right there.
34:59It's gotta be us.
35:04That's incredibly reassuring.
35:08Following these clues, I finally spot a route out of the swamp.
35:14Camperi's right there.
35:17Camperi's up ahead.
35:19He's also lost contact with the group.
35:22Camperi.
35:26To tell you the truth, I feel so much safer for one of these guys.
35:30As the oldest hunter in the tribe, Camperi has an excuse for falling behind.
35:35I haven't.
35:37But at least, I now have the knowledge to be useful.
35:40This is the one palm that they showed me earlier, that you can eat.
35:44The fibrous inside of this palm is potentially a life-saving snack.
35:49Nobody brought granola bars, and this is the closest thing we're gonna get tonight.
36:02When you're lost in a place like this, the smartest option is often to sit tight and wait to be
36:08found.
36:14Three hours after we got separated, the hunting group finally returns my calls.
36:22It's been a long, long day.
36:26The hunters are exhausted, but it's clear I've missed out on a successful hunt.
36:31The team are returning with a sizable peccary.
36:36And a good story.
36:40This is what they live for, killing the adventure of the hunt.
36:50This is the kill shot right there, right to the jugular. That would have been quick.
36:56I'm frustrated I got lost and missed the kill.
36:59But at least my survival skills kept me safe.
37:03And hopefully, I'll get another chance on the hunt tomorrow.
37:08For now, though, night falls fast on the equator.
37:11And we've got to move quickly to build a shelter.
37:14If we wait any longer, it's gonna be dark.
37:16And when it's dark, that's when all the snakes are here.
37:19Once again, my Waurani training kicks in.
37:23I'm just doing exactly what I've been taught.
37:26I'm starting to think like them.
37:29But the real challenge, as I've already learned, is getting a fire started.
37:34We failed to make a fire last time. We've got to make a fire tonight.
37:39The rain has soaked everything.
37:41But we have to find a way to get this fire going.
37:45If we have smoke, that means no bugs tonight.
37:48If we don't have smoke, it's gonna be miserable.
37:53But this time, there's a perfect hunter's solution to our problem.
37:57Now we're actually taking greasy hair off the pig and burning that.
38:02Ah, it smells.
38:04The oily pickery here does the trick.
38:07And we've soon got a fire to see us through the night.
38:10It's been an incredible day.
38:12We're exhausted.
38:14I wouldn't want to be here with anyone else but these guys.
38:18They're incredible, incredible human beings.
38:23Today, I failed to keep up with some of the best hunters in the world.
38:27I won't let that happen again.
38:31We're going for the kill right now.
38:40It's morning in the heart of the Ecuadorian rainforest.
38:44The second day of the hunt.
38:46The Walrani are hoping for a monkey.
38:49I'm hoping to keep up, play my part, and earn the respect of my fellow hunters.
38:56The Walrani use all their senses to track animals.
39:00And we soon find evidence of monkeys.
39:03This is monkey food.
39:05They can identify by those teeth marks what kind of animal's been here.
39:10They think it's spider monkeys.
39:13And mimic the animal's call.
39:20Did you hear it? That was it. That was it.
39:24We quietly head off to find our prey.
39:29Monkey has been spotted right there.
39:31They're waiting for a clear shot.
39:34Penty silently sends up a couple of darts.
39:38But he can't get a clear shot.
39:41It's hidden right in the crotch of branches.
39:44Spider monkeys are endangered.
39:46But the Walrani have traditional hunting rights.
39:48So it will be down to one of them.
39:52And not me to take the shot.
39:54But I can help out in other ways.
39:57Right now my job is to flush the monkey into the open.
40:09One of the other hunters heads high for a better shooting position.
40:19He reaches eye level with the monkey.
40:23He's 80 feet up in the air.
40:25On a branch this big.
40:27If that branch breaks.
40:29He's dead.
40:31But he still can't get a clean shot.
40:34Our noise has failed to flush out the monkey.
40:37So the Walrani resort to more drastic measures.
40:41They're cutting down trees.
40:43All over the place.
40:49The noise of that should startle the monkey.
40:51Just trying to get it within range of firing.
40:55He told me to not move.
40:57I'll stay here.
40:57But I've got eyes to see if it's gonna go that way.
41:02And suddenly the monkey spooks.
41:04The monkey flew out of that tree.
41:06We're on the chase.
41:08Here we go.
41:09A full speed pursuit between man and monkey.
41:13And this time.
41:14I'm hot on the trail.
41:17I spot the monkey's new position.
41:19There it is. There it is. There it is.
41:20Do you see it? Do you see it?
41:22I can keep my eye on the monkey.
41:27The monkey is still high up.
41:29But he's exposed.
41:31We have a clear shot.
41:33That one hit. That one hit.
41:38They're going for the kill.
41:39They're going for the kill right now.
41:42Oh yay yay.
41:44Hi.
41:44It's been hit. It's been hit by a dart.
41:47The monkey's going to start to get drunk from the poison.
41:51When the monkey tries to go and jump to another tree.
41:54Its depth perception is all off.
41:57It may just very well plummet to the ground.
42:02I was determined to keep up this time.
42:04And not miss the kill.
42:08But having played my part.
42:09I now find this harder to watch than I had ever imagined.
42:15Maybe I'm not the hunter I thought I was.
42:30I need to remind myself what this is all about.
42:34What are we watching?
42:36This is what people have been doing for thousands of years.
42:39He needs to feed himself. He needs to feed his family.
42:42If there's ever been hunting.
42:45Yeah.
42:46This is it.
42:48Okay.
42:49I'm to carry the kill.
42:51They want me to take you back to the village.
42:53It's an honor.
42:55But also burden.
42:57This is a paradox.
43:01It's a heavy one.
43:03I love the natural world.
43:06Also I love these people.
43:10And to fully understand life.
43:14You have to understand this.
43:21It's the end of a long journey.
43:24I'm returning from the hunt with the prize.
43:26But also with a greater reward.
43:29The respect of the tribe.
43:31I've learned the skills that have enabled the Walrani to survive in the extreme environment of the rainforest for thousands
43:38of years.
43:40But more than that, I have experienced the power of the tribe.
43:44The Walrani thrive in the rainforest.
43:47Thanks not just to their skills and strength.
43:49But also to mutual respect and cooperation.
43:53And that for me is the very essence of tribal survival.