Wilderness with Simon Reeve (2024) s01e01 Episode Script
Congo
1
I'm a little bit apprehensive about
the journey ahead, Adams.
- It is natural to fear what you don't
know,
and you're coming from the other side
of the world.
I don't know how you're going to
handle this,
because in fact, some of the fears
that you have worried about
are really true.
- I thought that you were going to
reassure me.
You're not reassuring me at all.
- It means that we will be careful.
- We live on a crowded planet.
More than eight billion of us and
rising.
For 20 years, I've been travelling the
globe
Flippin' 'eck.
Just a couple of decades ago, almost
all of this was just desert.
..seeing how humans have taken over so
much of the world.
Now I'm going in search of the vast
remote areas
ELEPHANT TRUMPETS
..where nature still has the upper
hand.
HE WHISPERS: Silence.
It looks like another planet.
The last great wildernesses.
I'll try to cross four of these rugged
landscapes
Oh, my God! ..on my toughest journeys
yet.
I have to be honest, things are not
going brilliantly.
A bit of a medical situation.
Help is a long way away.
- Well done.
- Well done.
- I want to meet the people for whom
the wilderness is home
Testicles for breakfast, lunch and
dinner.
..to see how they live alongside
nature.
Whoa!
I can stay down there for a minute or
so.
He's still down there now, walking
around.
And in this critical time for our
world
Huge carcasses of great trees.
..seek out the rare and majestic
creatures that still survive
My heart is racing.
THUNDER
..in some of the most hostile
environments
Are you OK, Jonathan?
- Yeah, yeah.
- ..and the remotest regions Bloody
hell!
..of our wild planet.
Big cats roaming free.
This surely is the absolute definition
of real wilderness.
I'm travelling through the Congo
Rainforest.
Across Central Africa, hundreds of
rivers feed
this vast green wilderness,
and trees, billions of beautiful
trees,
stretching further than the mind can
imagine.
This is the second largest tropical
rainforest in the world.
The size of the forest, the sheer
scale of it, is breathtaking.
But also humbling.
And, in truth, quite overwhelming as
well.
The thought of travelling through this
forest,
of existing within it, is actually
quite intimidating.
But also very, very exciting.
I'm going to spend three weeks
sweating
and battling my way across the Congo.
Starting in the northwest, I'll travel
more than 500 miles
..trying to reach the largest and most
remote area
of protected forest in Africa.
I'll attempt to trek through thick
jungle to an isolated camp,
where I'll search for one of our
little known animal cousins,
the bonobo, in the wilderness where it
still survives.
But first, I'm trying to find the
people
who know the Congo Rainforest better
than anyone.
We're on our way to try and meet up
with a remote community
deep in the forest. It's a bit of a
risk, to be honest,
because we don't know entirely where
they'll be.
We think we'll find them but it's a
gamble.
I'm going in search of an indigenous
people called the Baka.
Nomads and hunter-gatherers who've
lived in the Congo Rainforest,
shaping and protecting it for
thousands of years.
My guide is Adams Cassinga.
He's a Congolese conservationist,
investigator and forest ranger.
He's a passionate and committed
defender of this wilderness.
Adams is going to try and help me find
the Baka and keep us safe.
We're travelling through a wild part
of the planet.
How affected has it been by humans?
How much of a wilderness is it?
- I can actually reassure you that
there is a place in this forest
where a human has never set foot.
A few years back, they used to talk
about the two lines of humanity,
mentioning the Amazon being the left
and the Congo basin being the right.
But I guess, in current times, I would
say
..this is the last hop.
Compared to the rest of the world,
the Congo basin forest is the last
frontier.
- I think this is it.
It's a remote jungle landing spot.
All right, you ready, Adams?
- Yeah.
- You're always ready.
- Let's go to the jungle.
- High humidity makes the jungle feel
like a steam bath.
OK?
It's a home to scores of poisonous
snakes and insects.
If anything happens to anyone on our
team,
we're days from a hospital.
And we've got a hard slog ahead.
There are still incredibly remote
communities living out here
but they tend not to have mobile
phones,
so communicating with them and finding
them can be tricky.
We're heading to where Adams thinks
we'll find the Baka.
Careful.
But they're nomadic, they don't stay
in one place for long,
and it's tough going.
- We have to be careful here. It's
slippery.
- Woo! Gosh.
It's hard for me and I'm not carrying
a camera.
- Oya.
- Are you OK, Jonathan?
- Yeah, yeah.
- You're in it not quite as deep.
Are you all right?
- Urgh.
Trying to look for solid ground
- Yeah.
- ..but there's none.
I have no other option but to go
- All right, so that's my goal now.
Is there a lot of boggy Urgh!
..boggy, peaty swamp?
- It's just everywhere in the forest.
- Oh, my goodness, it's like glue.
Bloody hell!
Argh.
SIMON LAUGHS
ADAMS LAUGHS
Oh, my good lord.
- Welcome to the Congo jungle.
- Thank you, mate.
- Yeah.
Let's crack on.
- All right, mate.
Scientists now believe the peat bogs
here
cover an area the size of England.
Clearly, the Congo still holds many
secrets.
- We should look for a spot where we
can sleep tonight.
It's not a brilliant idea to travel in
the forest at night.
- OK.
- Remember, we're not alone.
- There's loads of ants.
I don't want them crawling into my
hammock.
- That's enough already to make a
fire.
- I genuinely do love the jungle.
I like the unpredictability of it.
I'm out of my comfort zone, but
that's good, right?
The absolutely crucial insect net.
Tarpaulin over the top. I'll stretch
that out.
Make it all nice and cosy.
Ooh!
Absolutely vital
on goes half a squash ball.
And any water running down, or
insects,
should drip down then as a result and
not soak me,
fingers crossed.
Is this going to help keep some
critters away?
- It is also a means of security.
Any other thing which is not human in
this forest is scared of fire.
- I think we've done pretty well here,
haven't we?
- Sure.
- Food, water, shelter.
- What more do we need?
- I'm looking forward to tomorrow.
- You know, erm, a lot of people don't
know about the Congo basin forest,
but there is a certain people which
has been living in here
for thousands of years and, you know,
you and I
are just surviving in here, but they
thrive in here.
You'll need every rest that you can.
The journey is still too long.
- It's already taken us days of hard
travel
to reach this part of the Congo,
and after trekking for hours, we've
only covered a few miles.
This area is extremely remote
and the Baka community we're looking
for could be anywhere.
You got it?
Endlessly, we trek, chop and wade.
Our top speed is no more than a mile
an hour.
This is bloody mad.
I don't know if we're going to make
it.
It's completely, utterly exhausting.
But with another day drawing to an
end,
we finally find signs that can only
mean humans are nearby.
It's a trap. A snare.
I do find it amazing that people live
out here.
The remoteness is staggering.
DISTANT VOICES
I can hear a village.
- We arrive.
- I can't quite believe it.
Oh, my God.
SINGING
Oh, my good lord.
It looks like the Baka have heard us
coming
as we crash through the forest.
SINGING
GREETINGS IN BAKA
Oh, my goodness.
Loma Aromo speaks for this small Baka
community.
Introducing their children.
- He's got four children.
- Four children.
- Yes, and that's the last one.
- It's always risky to try the local
language,
but Loma persuades me to have a go.
CHEERING AND LAUGHTER
Oh, OK!
How long have you been here?
So you've only just arrived here.
So, if we have a look around,
how many people are living in the
community?
The Baka are some of the original
first people of the Congo basin.
They'd been here for tens of thousands
of years
before European colonists arrived in
the 1800s and called them Pygmies.
Under Belgian and French rule,
indigenous communities were
persecuted, exploited and killed.
Many retreated deeper into the forest.
Today, they have clothes and tools
that are traded along the river.
They hold on to their skills in their
forest.
It's their life, their way.
Their footprint is quite small and
discreet, isn't it?
- It is.
You know, in the modern world, it's
about how big you have,
how much you have.
For them it's not the case.
They have a very close relationship
with this forest
to the extent that they do not take
what they want,
they just take what they need.
- I think they might be making this
one of these for us.
I'm not entirely sure whether it's the
right thing
for me to get involved.
I was definitely signalled and
indicated
that I should sit on my behind like
the rest of the guys.
Many Baka survive off whatever the
jungle provides.
They hunt, gather, craft and build.
DRUMMING AND SINGING
Like anywhere, the arrival of
outsiders
can be a good excuse for a party.
SINGING
If anyone wants to speak, I was told
they just have to shout, "Listen."
HE SHOUTS "LISTEN" IN BAKA
I just want to say a huge thank you to
you, ladies,
to the women who built this incredible
structure.
Look at this, guys.
It's an amazing structure, outside and
in.
I love that they're giving a round of
applause.
Look at it, inside
..it's like a work of art in here, it
really is.
All right, I'll make my bed, get the
bugs out.
SINGING
I'm absolutely shattered.
The jungle is already sapping the
energy out of me.
I'm going to get to sleep. Even the
noise of my neighbours
is not going to keep me awake.
Night-night.
DRUMMING AND SINGING
DRUMMING AND SINGING
Well, it's 6:30 in the morning.
I'm very impressed with their stamina,
I have to say.
You're not saying you're clearing up
because I'm here, are you?
Women here seem to do almost
everything in the village.
The men go hunting. It can be
difficult and dangerous.
Searching for food,
hunting forest animals with spears,
bows and traps.
Quick pit stops are for fruit and
nuts,
grabbed on the go as they search for
one of their favourite foods, honey,
made by aggressive jungle bees.
To live off the forest requires
extraordinary skills and knowledge.
- They will climb that tree. They
suspect there is something up there.
- They're checking some of the trees
for beehives
..in their pretty eternal quest for
honey.
The speed of them.
They're already 20 metres off the
ground
and they're still going.
So one of the guys has kindly agreed
to wear a camera on a chest harness
so that we can see what's going on up
there,
because strange as it may sound, I
can't climb this tree.
BUZZING
It's coming down. Look.
Whoa!
Oh, my goodness.
That is an incredible colour.
And the smell.
Look at that smile. That's a happy
honey hunter.
That's very kind. Thank you.
Wild honey is completely packed with
taste and goodness.
That's astonishing.
I'd been told that in Baka
communities,
everything is shared among the
families.
What would happen in a situation where
a hunter
who had spent several days pursuing a
small antelope
comes back to the community with that
creature?
Thank you for sharing that with us.
THEY CHUCKLE
SINGING
Many Baka believe in a creator and
guardian of the world
who made the planet for all creatures
to share
..and that no person or species has
more of a right than any other
to the rainforest and its treasures.
But not everyone shares the Baka's
mindset.
Loggers are chopping into the
rainforest
to harvest valuable timbers.
As the wilderness slowly shrinks, the
Baka have more contact
with outside villages, which puts them
at greater risk
from diseases like malaria, carried by
the deadly mosquito.
- Mosquito thrives in an area where
there is stagnant water
and there is heat.
- Mm.
- So the forest becomes like a natural
canopy that protects them.
It's like, you and I have been here,
have you seen any single mosquito?
- No, I don't think I've seen a single
one.
- So now, with deforestation, with
them having the need
to get out of the forest, to go out
there, that's where they get malaria
and bringing it back to the community.
- Right.
- Even when you've got money,
it could take you about three or four
days before you can have access
to the least effective drug against
malaria.
So you'll be dead.
- Yeah.
- So, the challenge
- Three or four days from here to
medical care?
- To medical care.
- Wow.
- So the child mortality is quite
high.
- Yeah, that's sobering, isn't it?
When you think of all the children
here.
The Baka have lived in the forest for
generations,
but that doesn't mean life here is
easy.
What are the greatest challenges you
face in the forest?
The Baka use the word Bantu to
describe
the majority ethnic groups in Central
Africa.
They mostly live in permanent villages
and towns.
I mean, I'm amazed to hear you say
this,
because I thought you would identify
the greatest challenges you face
as being natural, as being something
in the forest.
Across the Congo Rainforest,
hundreds of Baka have been attacked
and killed by other ethnic groups.
When you hear him say this, how do you
feel?
You're a Bantu, aren't you? You're a
Bantu?
- Yeah, I would say I am a Bantu, erm,
to them.
I feel ashamed and at the same time I
feel shocked and surprised.
I think we are talking racism, we are
talking discrimination.
- I don't want to sugar-coat their
existence.
Life in the forest for the Baka can be
harsh.
But their close community in the heart
of the wilderness
and time spent with family and friends
is something many of us might still
envy.
It's time to go.
I'm heading on.
I want to travel further across the
Congo Rainforest.
Well, I don't know about you, but I
think it's surprising
that people still live like this in
the 21st century
but also rather reassuring as well.
Chief, farewell to you.
I'm deeply honoured. Thank you very
much indeed.
So many of us try to tame nature or
separate ourselves from it.
The Baka have a very different
approach.
I really hope they can maintain their
special culture
and this critical rainforest can
survive the pressures
of the 21st century.
So, we've got a bit of a journey on
this boat
and then hopefully we're going to
arrive at a village
just on the edge of a really wild area
of the forest here
and, fingers crossed,
there should be a four-wheel drive
vehicle waiting for us there.
It's another long journey in a small
boat.
This must be the village.
And there's a vehicle. It's got to be
ours.
OK.
- All right?
- Yeah. Bags off.
Oh!
It feels strange to be in a vehicle
again.
Roads represent one of the main
threats to the Congo forest.
Roads like these are often created by
logging companies
and inevitably they result in more
people coming into the jungle
and that leads to more poaching, more
mining
and more illegal logging.
Look at these logs.
SIMON GASPS
Huge carcasses of great trees.
As well as being a forest ranger,
Adams has set up a network of
investigators across the Congo
dedicated to tackling environmental
crimes
like illegal logging and wildlife
poaching.
His organisation has had hundreds of
people arrested.
He wants to see if these trees have
been cut down illegally.
Look at the size of these, with
numbers on.
- Can you see any name of the company?
- Erm
- It should start with a C.
- No, I can't see
Those are hundreds of years old.
- That is redwood.
- Redwood?
- Yeah.
- So, valuable trees?
- Yes.
Yeah
- There's a number on that.
So, G, 3, 4
..2, 1, 5.
- With this number we can always
double check
if this is legit or it is illegal.
- Well, it's trying to come past us.
African redwood is a highly prized
hardwood timber
used in homes in Europe, America and
Asia.
There is logging here that claims to
be sustainable.
Still, giant old trees are being cut
to make parquet flooring
and window blinds.
Right now, Adams is on the phone to
one of his contacts
to check whether the logs we saw have
been chopped down legally.
What did they say?
- The story has checked out. Erm, it's
all legitimate.
- Legal Legal logging?
- It's legal. It's legal logging.
- Even those enormous trees?
- So, just because it is legal,
it doesn't mean it is morally and
environmentally right.
- Yeah.
It's a bit rudimentary, but it looks
like it does the job.
Some scientists think the Congo
Rainforest
is now the most important forest in
the world.
It's second in size only to the great
Amazon,
but here, there's actually been much
less clearing of the trees.
Logging, mining and cattle ranching
companies have been slower
to exploit and clear the Congo, but
that's starting to change.
- The rivers which crisscross the
land,
these are the highways of the Congo
basin,
and they are very important because
they facilitate the movement
not only of the people but also of
goods.
It is also a highway that takes out
dead trees from the forest
to the nearby urban centres,
unfortunately.
- I'm heading onwards to one of the
most remote
and unspoilt regions of the Congo.
The downside is I have to say goodbye
to Adams.
But I wish you good luck with all your
amazing work, OK?
- Thank you very much.
- Good luck, big guy.
- Take care.
- It's also time for me to leave the
Republic of the Congo
and head into its giant neighbouring
country,
the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
a nation the size of Western Europe.
I want to reach an area known as
Salonga-Lukenie-Sankuru,
home to the largest tract of protected
forest
in the whole of Africa, where there's
no real roads.
I'm beginning a tricky search for one
of the most elusive
and iconic creatures in the whole of
Africa.
A local boatman is taking me as far as
possible into the forest.
So, from here, the boat goes back and
we trek into the jungle.
- Au revoir.
- So, we are heading to what we think
is a small abandoned village,
where some scientists and researchers
have made a base
in the last couple of decades for
studying
..primates who are among our closest
relatives
..and they are called bonobos.
This is a creature about which still
not that much is known
compared to our other cousins like
chimpanzees and gorillas.
Bonobos still have a fair bit of
mystery around them.
I would love to see them in the wild.
I'm hopeful, maybe a bit optimistic
..but whether that actually happens, I
just don't know.
People have said to us, "You've got to
be joking," but we'll see.
Crossing fingers.
My guide on this part of my journey is
Lambert Booto.
He works for an international
conservation project.
He's an expert on bonobos.
If anyone can find them, it's Lambert.
Lambert grew up in a village nearby,
on the edge of the wilderness.
Life for his family was a struggle.
With few jobs around to earn money, he
turned to poaching,
helping to hunt forest elephants for
their ivory.
Lambert returned from university a man
transformed.
He left as a poacher and came back as
a conservationist
determined to protect the forest and
its wildlife.
LAMBERT IMITATES MANGABEY CALL
The black crested mangabey is only
found in the Congo Rainforest.
They spend most of their time high in
the jungle canopy
living off nuts and seeds.
But that doesn't protect them from
poaching.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo,
the DRC,
is one of the poorest countries in the
world.
Tens of millions of people here live
on the equivalent
of less than £2 a day.
They'll often trap or shoot animals in
the forest for food.
Days of travel from a proper road is
the village of Lompole.
Here we'll be able to rest, get some
supplies
and prepare for a final trek into the
depths of the rainforest.
As we arrive, Lambert spots something
he wants to show me.
Bonjour, monsieur.
- Bonjour.
- What is this?
What are the animals?
Can we ask where where has all this
come from?
I was amazed to hear this.
Just like Lambert years before,
this lad was out hunting to pay school
fees.
Across the Congo, it's estimated
six million tonnes of wild animal meat
is eaten every year.
But that includes endangered wildlife.
Living in such a remote location,
villagers here survive by hunting,
clearing the forest to grow crops and
cutting trees for firewood.
Individually, their environmental
footprint is tiny
compared to a European or an American,
but with tens of thousands of villages
scattered across the Congo,
the sheer scale of the population here
inevitably has an impact on the
wilderness.
Just walking through this community,
and we are surrounded by tiny, tiny
children.
SIMON CHUCKLES
The population of this country, the
DRC, has doubled this century
and it's expected to grow much
further.
Much, much further.
COCKEREL CROWS
We've got a long journey today into
the middle of nowhere.
To have any chance of finding the
bonobos,
I need to trek deeper into the
rainforest.
Our filming equipment is weighed
and Lambert pays local villagers to
help carry our kit,
food and water for the filming team
and our expedition medic.
Lambert, what's the journey going to
be like?
OK. After you, mate. You lead.
Well, here is very clearly where we
leave the village
and head into the forest.
I'm setting off on the toughest part
of my journey -
a long trek with a heavy pack through
jungle, across rivers
and a vast open savannah in the
ferocious heat of the midday sun.
We're aiming to reach a remote jungle
camp before dark,
from where we can begin our search for
the bonobos.
The bonobo is an icon of the Congo
Rainforest.
They're now officially classified as
endangered - at risk of extinction.
Where they live is so remote, nobody
really knows how many there are.
There could be as few as 10,000 left.
Here they have at least some
protection.
Lambert and his team have worked with
villages,
persuading locals to avoid hunting
them.
So we've just emerged into this huge
natural savannah.
We've got to get across it.
It's now approaching the middle of the
day
and the sun is really beating down, so
it's scorching out here.
In this heat, I'm sweating so much,
I'm needing maybe half a litre of
water an hour.
Maybe as much as that.
No time for wilting. Lambert just
keeps going.
Back in the jungle, the canopy
provides shade,
but the humidity is draining and we're
running out of water.
This one?
I'm a bit shattered, to be honest.
Erm, nothing quite prepares you for
the reality of the of the jungle.
So it's now getting a little bit later
in the day
..and we do not want to be out in the
jungle at night.
Eyes down, avoiding roots, we walk and
trot along animal tracks.
It's wet and sweaty.
The hours pass slowly.
Oh, my goodness.
SIMON LAUGHS
We've made it!
We've arrived. This is where we're
going to stay tonight -
this remote, very remote camp,
and hopefully we'll get a good night's
sleep and then tomorrow
we'll be up, we'll be out, and we'll
be looking for an animal
that I am absolutely hoping to see in
the rainforest here.
The magnificent, the incredible
bonobo.
Well done, mate. You got us here.
Well done.
We set off at dawn in search of
bonobos.
What I hate about being in the jungle
is putting
wet boots on in the morning.
Bonobo family groups can travel up to
ten miles in a single day,
foraging for food.
They could be anywhere.
But day after day, we trek through
swamps and thick jungle
and don't see even a glimpse of a
bonobo.
It's punishing for the whole team.
I'm being bitten to shreds here.
To give you an idea of how many
insects we're dealing with,
take a look at Jonathan's hat.
Ouch! Ah!
At times, the insect attacks make it
hard for us to carry on.
Urgh!
The end of another day and not a sight
of a bonobo.
THUNDER
But we have got up close and personal
with the wildlife.
We've all been bitten and stung,
and something's taken up residence on
cameraman Jonathan.
Back at camp, expedition medic Simon
sets up his clinic.
A bit of a medical situation. Not me.
I've just got some blisters.
But Jonathan, here
..has got an issue on his
Is it on the ankle?
- Yeah.
- Take your shoe off, then.
It's a jigger flea. They live in the
sand
and they bury themselves into the skin
and lay eggs,
so in there we've got a a little
flea in there,
which has laid its laid its eggs
there,
which will at some point pop out and
spread, but
if we don't take it out,
it will spread to other parts of his
foot, unfortunately.
- So, basically, I'm a nest for a
family of fleas.
- Yes, you are. You are a flea nest.
- I'm a host.
- You're a host.
There's two bits you want to get out.
There's actually the flea in there and
there's also the eggs,
so we just need to make sure that we
get the eggs and the sac.
Ready?
- Yeah.
- Ooh, look, look, look.
That is properly gross.
Urgh! Urgh!
- Did you get it all?
- It pretty much came out all in one
go.
Excuse me a sec.
- I know you're a former Royal Marine,
but have you ever seen
such extraordinary heroism?
- He's done well.
- He's even lighting the scene
himself.
- We'll put an iodine dressing on
there just to keep it
nice and sterile.
So if anyone didn't realise, the
jungle is full of nasties.
If we did need to get Jonathan out of
the jungle,
it would take us about
three-and-a-half days,
so that's why we've got to be nice and
tidy
and make sure it's all nice and
sterile.
- THUNDER
HEAVY RAIN
Last night was very stormy, thundery
and wet
..and the forest is still dripping,
which makes finding the bonobos even
more challenging.
Lambert thinks the bonobos we're
looking for
have retreated into a huge swamp.
Oh, bloody hell.
How are we going to get across there?
I think I'm about to get pretty wet.
We've got a rock here to clamber over.
Ugh.
Insects are crawling up inside our
clothing.
Bloody hell.
We're coming under attack from some
angry bees,
so everything is just getting quite a
bit trickier.
Again, probably attacked now by
Argh,
- BLEEP!
- You all right?
- BLEEP.
BLEEP.
- I think this is just about the
toughest jungle I've been in.
Jungles in Colombia, in Burma, in
Borneo
..they're not as bad, they're not as
uncomfortable,
they're not as sticky and bitey as
this is. This is tough.
This is really tough. I think this is
going to be
We are going to be very, very lucky to
see bonobos here.
I hate to say it.
But then, suddenly, we do get lucky.
- Here, here, here.
- Noises ahead.
BONOBOS CALL
HE WHISPERS: We think we might have
heard some bonobos up here.
And then, just in front of me,
I can see shapes moving in the trees.
We all need to be wearing these masks,
not just for Covid,
but for the transmission of any other
virus or disease.
The bonobos are just about 15, 20
metres through the trees, there.
But the foliage is so thick, they
might as well be a mile.
We need to get a bit closer, slowly,
carefully.
I've got it, I've got it.
There are bonobos just above us in the
trees. Right here.
I can't believe this. I never thought
we would get so close.
I never thought we would really see
them, to be honest.
We just ploughed on. And now look.
My heart is racing.
My skin is tingling.
To see these creatures here, in this
pristine environment,
is breathtaking.
These are some of our closest living
relatives.
Perhaps our closest.
Closer even, some think, than
chimpanzees.
Our cousins, our kin.
Bonobos are only found in the Congo
and there's still much to learn about
them.
We do know they live in extended
family groups
which the females tend to dominate,
even though they're smaller than the
males.
I just love their relaxed, gentle
nature,
which is probably because they don't
have much competition for food.
Lambert is keen to impress on me that
what larger animals
like bonobos eat is crucial to the
whole forest ecosystem.
This is a really crucial point.
A forest isn't just the trees, it's
everything that lives there.
Protecting a forest isn't just about
stopping illegal logging,
it's protecting all the life within.
Look at these babies.
I can see one, two, three, four
There's one just up the trunk of the
tree above us.
On our busy planet, wildlife and wild
areas are taking a hammering.
Countless extraordinary creatures are
being pushed towards extinction.
But this wilderness in the Congo and
these awe-inspiring animals
are a reminder beauty and wonder still
exists.
Compared to other great rainforests
around the world,
the Congo is still relatively
untouched.
There is still time to save and
protect this unique ecosystem.
HE WHISPERS: I can see a dark shape
just through here, on the ground,
looking directly at me.
Look at him there, so relaxed.
He is so like us.
And we, of course, are so like him.
He looks as though he's just getting
some final rays of sun
on a lounger in Benidorm.
This is one of the most important
places I have been to
on any of my journeys.
I am in awe of this forest, this
wilderness
and the life it still contains.
This is one of the last great
strongholds for wild nature
on Planet Earth.
BONOBOS CALLING
Next time, I'm crossing the wilds of
Patagonia.
The gauchos, the landscape, the
wilderness.
I'll travel through the foothills of
the Andes
- Right there. It's the king, man.
It's the king of Patagonia.
- ..and I'll try to reach a vast ice
field
in one of the least-explored mountain
regions on Earth.
Bloody hell.
The wind is really going for it now.
It's a little bit scary, to be honest.
I'm a little bit apprehensive about
the journey ahead, Adams.
- It is natural to fear what you don't
know,
and you're coming from the other side
of the world.
I don't know how you're going to
handle this,
because in fact, some of the fears
that you have worried about
are really true.
- I thought that you were going to
reassure me.
You're not reassuring me at all.
- It means that we will be careful.
- We live on a crowded planet.
More than eight billion of us and
rising.
For 20 years, I've been travelling the
globe
Flippin' 'eck.
Just a couple of decades ago, almost
all of this was just desert.
..seeing how humans have taken over so
much of the world.
Now I'm going in search of the vast
remote areas
ELEPHANT TRUMPETS
..where nature still has the upper
hand.
HE WHISPERS: Silence.
It looks like another planet.
The last great wildernesses.
I'll try to cross four of these rugged
landscapes
Oh, my God! ..on my toughest journeys
yet.
I have to be honest, things are not
going brilliantly.
A bit of a medical situation.
Help is a long way away.
- Well done.
- Well done.
- I want to meet the people for whom
the wilderness is home
Testicles for breakfast, lunch and
dinner.
..to see how they live alongside
nature.
Whoa!
I can stay down there for a minute or
so.
He's still down there now, walking
around.
And in this critical time for our
world
Huge carcasses of great trees.
..seek out the rare and majestic
creatures that still survive
My heart is racing.
THUNDER
..in some of the most hostile
environments
Are you OK, Jonathan?
- Yeah, yeah.
- ..and the remotest regions Bloody
hell!
..of our wild planet.
Big cats roaming free.
This surely is the absolute definition
of real wilderness.
I'm travelling through the Congo
Rainforest.
Across Central Africa, hundreds of
rivers feed
this vast green wilderness,
and trees, billions of beautiful
trees,
stretching further than the mind can
imagine.
This is the second largest tropical
rainforest in the world.
The size of the forest, the sheer
scale of it, is breathtaking.
But also humbling.
And, in truth, quite overwhelming as
well.
The thought of travelling through this
forest,
of existing within it, is actually
quite intimidating.
But also very, very exciting.
I'm going to spend three weeks
sweating
and battling my way across the Congo.
Starting in the northwest, I'll travel
more than 500 miles
..trying to reach the largest and most
remote area
of protected forest in Africa.
I'll attempt to trek through thick
jungle to an isolated camp,
where I'll search for one of our
little known animal cousins,
the bonobo, in the wilderness where it
still survives.
But first, I'm trying to find the
people
who know the Congo Rainforest better
than anyone.
We're on our way to try and meet up
with a remote community
deep in the forest. It's a bit of a
risk, to be honest,
because we don't know entirely where
they'll be.
We think we'll find them but it's a
gamble.
I'm going in search of an indigenous
people called the Baka.
Nomads and hunter-gatherers who've
lived in the Congo Rainforest,
shaping and protecting it for
thousands of years.
My guide is Adams Cassinga.
He's a Congolese conservationist,
investigator and forest ranger.
He's a passionate and committed
defender of this wilderness.
Adams is going to try and help me find
the Baka and keep us safe.
We're travelling through a wild part
of the planet.
How affected has it been by humans?
How much of a wilderness is it?
- I can actually reassure you that
there is a place in this forest
where a human has never set foot.
A few years back, they used to talk
about the two lines of humanity,
mentioning the Amazon being the left
and the Congo basin being the right.
But I guess, in current times, I would
say
..this is the last hop.
Compared to the rest of the world,
the Congo basin forest is the last
frontier.
- I think this is it.
It's a remote jungle landing spot.
All right, you ready, Adams?
- Yeah.
- You're always ready.
- Let's go to the jungle.
- High humidity makes the jungle feel
like a steam bath.
OK?
It's a home to scores of poisonous
snakes and insects.
If anything happens to anyone on our
team,
we're days from a hospital.
And we've got a hard slog ahead.
There are still incredibly remote
communities living out here
but they tend not to have mobile
phones,
so communicating with them and finding
them can be tricky.
We're heading to where Adams thinks
we'll find the Baka.
Careful.
But they're nomadic, they don't stay
in one place for long,
and it's tough going.
- We have to be careful here. It's
slippery.
- Woo! Gosh.
It's hard for me and I'm not carrying
a camera.
- Oya.
- Are you OK, Jonathan?
- Yeah, yeah.
- You're in it not quite as deep.
Are you all right?
- Urgh.
Trying to look for solid ground
- Yeah.
- ..but there's none.
I have no other option but to go
- All right, so that's my goal now.
Is there a lot of boggy Urgh!
..boggy, peaty swamp?
- It's just everywhere in the forest.
- Oh, my goodness, it's like glue.
Bloody hell!
Argh.
SIMON LAUGHS
ADAMS LAUGHS
Oh, my good lord.
- Welcome to the Congo jungle.
- Thank you, mate.
- Yeah.
Let's crack on.
- All right, mate.
Scientists now believe the peat bogs
here
cover an area the size of England.
Clearly, the Congo still holds many
secrets.
- We should look for a spot where we
can sleep tonight.
It's not a brilliant idea to travel in
the forest at night.
- OK.
- Remember, we're not alone.
- There's loads of ants.
I don't want them crawling into my
hammock.
- That's enough already to make a
fire.
- I genuinely do love the jungle.
I like the unpredictability of it.
I'm out of my comfort zone, but
that's good, right?
The absolutely crucial insect net.
Tarpaulin over the top. I'll stretch
that out.
Make it all nice and cosy.
Ooh!
Absolutely vital
on goes half a squash ball.
And any water running down, or
insects,
should drip down then as a result and
not soak me,
fingers crossed.
Is this going to help keep some
critters away?
- It is also a means of security.
Any other thing which is not human in
this forest is scared of fire.
- I think we've done pretty well here,
haven't we?
- Sure.
- Food, water, shelter.
- What more do we need?
- I'm looking forward to tomorrow.
- You know, erm, a lot of people don't
know about the Congo basin forest,
but there is a certain people which
has been living in here
for thousands of years and, you know,
you and I
are just surviving in here, but they
thrive in here.
You'll need every rest that you can.
The journey is still too long.
- It's already taken us days of hard
travel
to reach this part of the Congo,
and after trekking for hours, we've
only covered a few miles.
This area is extremely remote
and the Baka community we're looking
for could be anywhere.
You got it?
Endlessly, we trek, chop and wade.
Our top speed is no more than a mile
an hour.
This is bloody mad.
I don't know if we're going to make
it.
It's completely, utterly exhausting.
But with another day drawing to an
end,
we finally find signs that can only
mean humans are nearby.
It's a trap. A snare.
I do find it amazing that people live
out here.
The remoteness is staggering.
DISTANT VOICES
I can hear a village.
- We arrive.
- I can't quite believe it.
Oh, my God.
SINGING
Oh, my good lord.
It looks like the Baka have heard us
coming
as we crash through the forest.
SINGING
GREETINGS IN BAKA
Oh, my goodness.
Loma Aromo speaks for this small Baka
community.
Introducing their children.
- He's got four children.
- Four children.
- Yes, and that's the last one.
- It's always risky to try the local
language,
but Loma persuades me to have a go.
CHEERING AND LAUGHTER
Oh, OK!
How long have you been here?
So you've only just arrived here.
So, if we have a look around,
how many people are living in the
community?
The Baka are some of the original
first people of the Congo basin.
They'd been here for tens of thousands
of years
before European colonists arrived in
the 1800s and called them Pygmies.
Under Belgian and French rule,
indigenous communities were
persecuted, exploited and killed.
Many retreated deeper into the forest.
Today, they have clothes and tools
that are traded along the river.
They hold on to their skills in their
forest.
It's their life, their way.
Their footprint is quite small and
discreet, isn't it?
- It is.
You know, in the modern world, it's
about how big you have,
how much you have.
For them it's not the case.
They have a very close relationship
with this forest
to the extent that they do not take
what they want,
they just take what they need.
- I think they might be making this
one of these for us.
I'm not entirely sure whether it's the
right thing
for me to get involved.
I was definitely signalled and
indicated
that I should sit on my behind like
the rest of the guys.
Many Baka survive off whatever the
jungle provides.
They hunt, gather, craft and build.
DRUMMING AND SINGING
Like anywhere, the arrival of
outsiders
can be a good excuse for a party.
SINGING
If anyone wants to speak, I was told
they just have to shout, "Listen."
HE SHOUTS "LISTEN" IN BAKA
I just want to say a huge thank you to
you, ladies,
to the women who built this incredible
structure.
Look at this, guys.
It's an amazing structure, outside and
in.
I love that they're giving a round of
applause.
Look at it, inside
..it's like a work of art in here, it
really is.
All right, I'll make my bed, get the
bugs out.
SINGING
I'm absolutely shattered.
The jungle is already sapping the
energy out of me.
I'm going to get to sleep. Even the
noise of my neighbours
is not going to keep me awake.
Night-night.
DRUMMING AND SINGING
DRUMMING AND SINGING
Well, it's 6:30 in the morning.
I'm very impressed with their stamina,
I have to say.
You're not saying you're clearing up
because I'm here, are you?
Women here seem to do almost
everything in the village.
The men go hunting. It can be
difficult and dangerous.
Searching for food,
hunting forest animals with spears,
bows and traps.
Quick pit stops are for fruit and
nuts,
grabbed on the go as they search for
one of their favourite foods, honey,
made by aggressive jungle bees.
To live off the forest requires
extraordinary skills and knowledge.
- They will climb that tree. They
suspect there is something up there.
- They're checking some of the trees
for beehives
..in their pretty eternal quest for
honey.
The speed of them.
They're already 20 metres off the
ground
and they're still going.
So one of the guys has kindly agreed
to wear a camera on a chest harness
so that we can see what's going on up
there,
because strange as it may sound, I
can't climb this tree.
BUZZING
It's coming down. Look.
Whoa!
Oh, my goodness.
That is an incredible colour.
And the smell.
Look at that smile. That's a happy
honey hunter.
That's very kind. Thank you.
Wild honey is completely packed with
taste and goodness.
That's astonishing.
I'd been told that in Baka
communities,
everything is shared among the
families.
What would happen in a situation where
a hunter
who had spent several days pursuing a
small antelope
comes back to the community with that
creature?
Thank you for sharing that with us.
THEY CHUCKLE
SINGING
Many Baka believe in a creator and
guardian of the world
who made the planet for all creatures
to share
..and that no person or species has
more of a right than any other
to the rainforest and its treasures.
But not everyone shares the Baka's
mindset.
Loggers are chopping into the
rainforest
to harvest valuable timbers.
As the wilderness slowly shrinks, the
Baka have more contact
with outside villages, which puts them
at greater risk
from diseases like malaria, carried by
the deadly mosquito.
- Mosquito thrives in an area where
there is stagnant water
and there is heat.
- Mm.
- So the forest becomes like a natural
canopy that protects them.
It's like, you and I have been here,
have you seen any single mosquito?
- No, I don't think I've seen a single
one.
- So now, with deforestation, with
them having the need
to get out of the forest, to go out
there, that's where they get malaria
and bringing it back to the community.
- Right.
- Even when you've got money,
it could take you about three or four
days before you can have access
to the least effective drug against
malaria.
So you'll be dead.
- Yeah.
- So, the challenge
- Three or four days from here to
medical care?
- To medical care.
- Wow.
- So the child mortality is quite
high.
- Yeah, that's sobering, isn't it?
When you think of all the children
here.
The Baka have lived in the forest for
generations,
but that doesn't mean life here is
easy.
What are the greatest challenges you
face in the forest?
The Baka use the word Bantu to
describe
the majority ethnic groups in Central
Africa.
They mostly live in permanent villages
and towns.
I mean, I'm amazed to hear you say
this,
because I thought you would identify
the greatest challenges you face
as being natural, as being something
in the forest.
Across the Congo Rainforest,
hundreds of Baka have been attacked
and killed by other ethnic groups.
When you hear him say this, how do you
feel?
You're a Bantu, aren't you? You're a
Bantu?
- Yeah, I would say I am a Bantu, erm,
to them.
I feel ashamed and at the same time I
feel shocked and surprised.
I think we are talking racism, we are
talking discrimination.
- I don't want to sugar-coat their
existence.
Life in the forest for the Baka can be
harsh.
But their close community in the heart
of the wilderness
and time spent with family and friends
is something many of us might still
envy.
It's time to go.
I'm heading on.
I want to travel further across the
Congo Rainforest.
Well, I don't know about you, but I
think it's surprising
that people still live like this in
the 21st century
but also rather reassuring as well.
Chief, farewell to you.
I'm deeply honoured. Thank you very
much indeed.
So many of us try to tame nature or
separate ourselves from it.
The Baka have a very different
approach.
I really hope they can maintain their
special culture
and this critical rainforest can
survive the pressures
of the 21st century.
So, we've got a bit of a journey on
this boat
and then hopefully we're going to
arrive at a village
just on the edge of a really wild area
of the forest here
and, fingers crossed,
there should be a four-wheel drive
vehicle waiting for us there.
It's another long journey in a small
boat.
This must be the village.
And there's a vehicle. It's got to be
ours.
OK.
- All right?
- Yeah. Bags off.
Oh!
It feels strange to be in a vehicle
again.
Roads represent one of the main
threats to the Congo forest.
Roads like these are often created by
logging companies
and inevitably they result in more
people coming into the jungle
and that leads to more poaching, more
mining
and more illegal logging.
Look at these logs.
SIMON GASPS
Huge carcasses of great trees.
As well as being a forest ranger,
Adams has set up a network of
investigators across the Congo
dedicated to tackling environmental
crimes
like illegal logging and wildlife
poaching.
His organisation has had hundreds of
people arrested.
He wants to see if these trees have
been cut down illegally.
Look at the size of these, with
numbers on.
- Can you see any name of the company?
- Erm
- It should start with a C.
- No, I can't see
Those are hundreds of years old.
- That is redwood.
- Redwood?
- Yeah.
- So, valuable trees?
- Yes.
Yeah
- There's a number on that.
So, G, 3, 4
..2, 1, 5.
- With this number we can always
double check
if this is legit or it is illegal.
- Well, it's trying to come past us.
African redwood is a highly prized
hardwood timber
used in homes in Europe, America and
Asia.
There is logging here that claims to
be sustainable.
Still, giant old trees are being cut
to make parquet flooring
and window blinds.
Right now, Adams is on the phone to
one of his contacts
to check whether the logs we saw have
been chopped down legally.
What did they say?
- The story has checked out. Erm, it's
all legitimate.
- Legal Legal logging?
- It's legal. It's legal logging.
- Even those enormous trees?
- So, just because it is legal,
it doesn't mean it is morally and
environmentally right.
- Yeah.
It's a bit rudimentary, but it looks
like it does the job.
Some scientists think the Congo
Rainforest
is now the most important forest in
the world.
It's second in size only to the great
Amazon,
but here, there's actually been much
less clearing of the trees.
Logging, mining and cattle ranching
companies have been slower
to exploit and clear the Congo, but
that's starting to change.
- The rivers which crisscross the
land,
these are the highways of the Congo
basin,
and they are very important because
they facilitate the movement
not only of the people but also of
goods.
It is also a highway that takes out
dead trees from the forest
to the nearby urban centres,
unfortunately.
- I'm heading onwards to one of the
most remote
and unspoilt regions of the Congo.
The downside is I have to say goodbye
to Adams.
But I wish you good luck with all your
amazing work, OK?
- Thank you very much.
- Good luck, big guy.
- Take care.
- It's also time for me to leave the
Republic of the Congo
and head into its giant neighbouring
country,
the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
a nation the size of Western Europe.
I want to reach an area known as
Salonga-Lukenie-Sankuru,
home to the largest tract of protected
forest
in the whole of Africa, where there's
no real roads.
I'm beginning a tricky search for one
of the most elusive
and iconic creatures in the whole of
Africa.
A local boatman is taking me as far as
possible into the forest.
So, from here, the boat goes back and
we trek into the jungle.
- Au revoir.
- So, we are heading to what we think
is a small abandoned village,
where some scientists and researchers
have made a base
in the last couple of decades for
studying
..primates who are among our closest
relatives
..and they are called bonobos.
This is a creature about which still
not that much is known
compared to our other cousins like
chimpanzees and gorillas.
Bonobos still have a fair bit of
mystery around them.
I would love to see them in the wild.
I'm hopeful, maybe a bit optimistic
..but whether that actually happens, I
just don't know.
People have said to us, "You've got to
be joking," but we'll see.
Crossing fingers.
My guide on this part of my journey is
Lambert Booto.
He works for an international
conservation project.
He's an expert on bonobos.
If anyone can find them, it's Lambert.
Lambert grew up in a village nearby,
on the edge of the wilderness.
Life for his family was a struggle.
With few jobs around to earn money, he
turned to poaching,
helping to hunt forest elephants for
their ivory.
Lambert returned from university a man
transformed.
He left as a poacher and came back as
a conservationist
determined to protect the forest and
its wildlife.
LAMBERT IMITATES MANGABEY CALL
The black crested mangabey is only
found in the Congo Rainforest.
They spend most of their time high in
the jungle canopy
living off nuts and seeds.
But that doesn't protect them from
poaching.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo,
the DRC,
is one of the poorest countries in the
world.
Tens of millions of people here live
on the equivalent
of less than £2 a day.
They'll often trap or shoot animals in
the forest for food.
Days of travel from a proper road is
the village of Lompole.
Here we'll be able to rest, get some
supplies
and prepare for a final trek into the
depths of the rainforest.
As we arrive, Lambert spots something
he wants to show me.
Bonjour, monsieur.
- Bonjour.
- What is this?
What are the animals?
Can we ask where where has all this
come from?
I was amazed to hear this.
Just like Lambert years before,
this lad was out hunting to pay school
fees.
Across the Congo, it's estimated
six million tonnes of wild animal meat
is eaten every year.
But that includes endangered wildlife.
Living in such a remote location,
villagers here survive by hunting,
clearing the forest to grow crops and
cutting trees for firewood.
Individually, their environmental
footprint is tiny
compared to a European or an American,
but with tens of thousands of villages
scattered across the Congo,
the sheer scale of the population here
inevitably has an impact on the
wilderness.
Just walking through this community,
and we are surrounded by tiny, tiny
children.
SIMON CHUCKLES
The population of this country, the
DRC, has doubled this century
and it's expected to grow much
further.
Much, much further.
COCKEREL CROWS
We've got a long journey today into
the middle of nowhere.
To have any chance of finding the
bonobos,
I need to trek deeper into the
rainforest.
Our filming equipment is weighed
and Lambert pays local villagers to
help carry our kit,
food and water for the filming team
and our expedition medic.
Lambert, what's the journey going to
be like?
OK. After you, mate. You lead.
Well, here is very clearly where we
leave the village
and head into the forest.
I'm setting off on the toughest part
of my journey -
a long trek with a heavy pack through
jungle, across rivers
and a vast open savannah in the
ferocious heat of the midday sun.
We're aiming to reach a remote jungle
camp before dark,
from where we can begin our search for
the bonobos.
The bonobo is an icon of the Congo
Rainforest.
They're now officially classified as
endangered - at risk of extinction.
Where they live is so remote, nobody
really knows how many there are.
There could be as few as 10,000 left.
Here they have at least some
protection.
Lambert and his team have worked with
villages,
persuading locals to avoid hunting
them.
So we've just emerged into this huge
natural savannah.
We've got to get across it.
It's now approaching the middle of the
day
and the sun is really beating down, so
it's scorching out here.
In this heat, I'm sweating so much,
I'm needing maybe half a litre of
water an hour.
Maybe as much as that.
No time for wilting. Lambert just
keeps going.
Back in the jungle, the canopy
provides shade,
but the humidity is draining and we're
running out of water.
This one?
I'm a bit shattered, to be honest.
Erm, nothing quite prepares you for
the reality of the of the jungle.
So it's now getting a little bit later
in the day
..and we do not want to be out in the
jungle at night.
Eyes down, avoiding roots, we walk and
trot along animal tracks.
It's wet and sweaty.
The hours pass slowly.
Oh, my goodness.
SIMON LAUGHS
We've made it!
We've arrived. This is where we're
going to stay tonight -
this remote, very remote camp,
and hopefully we'll get a good night's
sleep and then tomorrow
we'll be up, we'll be out, and we'll
be looking for an animal
that I am absolutely hoping to see in
the rainforest here.
The magnificent, the incredible
bonobo.
Well done, mate. You got us here.
Well done.
We set off at dawn in search of
bonobos.
What I hate about being in the jungle
is putting
wet boots on in the morning.
Bonobo family groups can travel up to
ten miles in a single day,
foraging for food.
They could be anywhere.
But day after day, we trek through
swamps and thick jungle
and don't see even a glimpse of a
bonobo.
It's punishing for the whole team.
I'm being bitten to shreds here.
To give you an idea of how many
insects we're dealing with,
take a look at Jonathan's hat.
Ouch! Ah!
At times, the insect attacks make it
hard for us to carry on.
Urgh!
The end of another day and not a sight
of a bonobo.
THUNDER
But we have got up close and personal
with the wildlife.
We've all been bitten and stung,
and something's taken up residence on
cameraman Jonathan.
Back at camp, expedition medic Simon
sets up his clinic.
A bit of a medical situation. Not me.
I've just got some blisters.
But Jonathan, here
..has got an issue on his
Is it on the ankle?
- Yeah.
- Take your shoe off, then.
It's a jigger flea. They live in the
sand
and they bury themselves into the skin
and lay eggs,
so in there we've got a a little
flea in there,
which has laid its laid its eggs
there,
which will at some point pop out and
spread, but
if we don't take it out,
it will spread to other parts of his
foot, unfortunately.
- So, basically, I'm a nest for a
family of fleas.
- Yes, you are. You are a flea nest.
- I'm a host.
- You're a host.
There's two bits you want to get out.
There's actually the flea in there and
there's also the eggs,
so we just need to make sure that we
get the eggs and the sac.
Ready?
- Yeah.
- Ooh, look, look, look.
That is properly gross.
Urgh! Urgh!
- Did you get it all?
- It pretty much came out all in one
go.
Excuse me a sec.
- I know you're a former Royal Marine,
but have you ever seen
such extraordinary heroism?
- He's done well.
- He's even lighting the scene
himself.
- We'll put an iodine dressing on
there just to keep it
nice and sterile.
So if anyone didn't realise, the
jungle is full of nasties.
If we did need to get Jonathan out of
the jungle,
it would take us about
three-and-a-half days,
so that's why we've got to be nice and
tidy
and make sure it's all nice and
sterile.
- THUNDER
HEAVY RAIN
Last night was very stormy, thundery
and wet
..and the forest is still dripping,
which makes finding the bonobos even
more challenging.
Lambert thinks the bonobos we're
looking for
have retreated into a huge swamp.
Oh, bloody hell.
How are we going to get across there?
I think I'm about to get pretty wet.
We've got a rock here to clamber over.
Ugh.
Insects are crawling up inside our
clothing.
Bloody hell.
We're coming under attack from some
angry bees,
so everything is just getting quite a
bit trickier.
Again, probably attacked now by
Argh,
- BLEEP!
- You all right?
- BLEEP.
BLEEP.
- I think this is just about the
toughest jungle I've been in.
Jungles in Colombia, in Burma, in
Borneo
..they're not as bad, they're not as
uncomfortable,
they're not as sticky and bitey as
this is. This is tough.
This is really tough. I think this is
going to be
We are going to be very, very lucky to
see bonobos here.
I hate to say it.
But then, suddenly, we do get lucky.
- Here, here, here.
- Noises ahead.
BONOBOS CALL
HE WHISPERS: We think we might have
heard some bonobos up here.
And then, just in front of me,
I can see shapes moving in the trees.
We all need to be wearing these masks,
not just for Covid,
but for the transmission of any other
virus or disease.
The bonobos are just about 15, 20
metres through the trees, there.
But the foliage is so thick, they
might as well be a mile.
We need to get a bit closer, slowly,
carefully.
I've got it, I've got it.
There are bonobos just above us in the
trees. Right here.
I can't believe this. I never thought
we would get so close.
I never thought we would really see
them, to be honest.
We just ploughed on. And now look.
My heart is racing.
My skin is tingling.
To see these creatures here, in this
pristine environment,
is breathtaking.
These are some of our closest living
relatives.
Perhaps our closest.
Closer even, some think, than
chimpanzees.
Our cousins, our kin.
Bonobos are only found in the Congo
and there's still much to learn about
them.
We do know they live in extended
family groups
which the females tend to dominate,
even though they're smaller than the
males.
I just love their relaxed, gentle
nature,
which is probably because they don't
have much competition for food.
Lambert is keen to impress on me that
what larger animals
like bonobos eat is crucial to the
whole forest ecosystem.
This is a really crucial point.
A forest isn't just the trees, it's
everything that lives there.
Protecting a forest isn't just about
stopping illegal logging,
it's protecting all the life within.
Look at these babies.
I can see one, two, three, four
There's one just up the trunk of the
tree above us.
On our busy planet, wildlife and wild
areas are taking a hammering.
Countless extraordinary creatures are
being pushed towards extinction.
But this wilderness in the Congo and
these awe-inspiring animals
are a reminder beauty and wonder still
exists.
Compared to other great rainforests
around the world,
the Congo is still relatively
untouched.
There is still time to save and
protect this unique ecosystem.
HE WHISPERS: I can see a dark shape
just through here, on the ground,
looking directly at me.
Look at him there, so relaxed.
He is so like us.
And we, of course, are so like him.
He looks as though he's just getting
some final rays of sun
on a lounger in Benidorm.
This is one of the most important
places I have been to
on any of my journeys.
I am in awe of this forest, this
wilderness
and the life it still contains.
This is one of the last great
strongholds for wild nature
on Planet Earth.
BONOBOS CALLING
Next time, I'm crossing the wilds of
Patagonia.
The gauchos, the landscape, the
wilderness.
I'll travel through the foothills of
the Andes
- Right there. It's the king, man.
It's the king of Patagonia.
- ..and I'll try to reach a vast ice
field
in one of the least-explored mountain
regions on Earth.
Bloody hell.
The wind is really going for it now.
It's a little bit scary, to be honest.