Equator (2006) s01e03 Episode Script

- I've followed the Equator across
Africa and across Asia,
and now I've got just over one month
to follow the line across Latin
America.
Hopefully I'll make it across the
continent in time to ride on a giant
wave.
Now, the route is going to take me
across some of the most dangerous
parts of Colombia
and some of the most beautiful parts
of Brazil.
But right now, I get to witness
one of the great wildlife spectacles
on the planet, here on the Galapagos.
The final leg of my long trip around
the Equator took me across Latin
America.
It's a continent rich in natural
resources
and home to the lungs of the planet,
but dogged by drugs and civil war.
I began in the Pacific Ocean, off the
South American mainland,
at an island archipelago straddling
the Equator -
the Galapagos - where I witnessed a
spectacular display of wildlife
like nowhere else on Earth.
It was young Charles Darwin's visit to
the Galapagos in 1835
that ultimately transformed our
understanding of evolution
and put these islands on the map.
Today, I'm being guided around by
conservationist Paul,
who wanted to show me the sea lions,
some of the very few mammals native to
the islands.
Ah!
Fantastic!
That was absolutely extraordinary.
This is one of those breathtaking sort
of moments.
The seals are swimming and dancing all
around us
as we're under the water.
Scientists regard the Galapagos
as one of the most precious habitats
on Earth,
and the islands are carefully
preserved,
with a whopping 97% of them declared
national park by the government of
Ecuador.
I just had a wonderful moment then
where I was going down and a sea lion
was coming up,
and he looked quite surprised to see
me,
and it just kicked its tail and just
went whoosh, raced out of the way.
It's just Extraordinary creatures,
they really are.
What a privilege.
The landscape here really is
completely otherworldly.
- It's stark.
- Millions of years ago, these islands
emerged from the Pacific Ocean as a
result of volcanic activity.
Their isolation has helped keep them
unspoiled,
providing scientists with a portal to
the past.
A quarter of the shore fish, half of
the plants, and almost all of
the reptiles are only found here.
- The land iguanas are really the
highlight of this island.
You're tripping over them, almost.
- Look at this huge beastie here.
They're all around us.
- They're all around us, they're all
on the move.
- They don't seem particularly
concerned by our presence.
- No.
Fearless. Absence of predators,
absence of humans chasing them
and eating them.
- He's just so close.
You're a fearsome-looking creature.
- We have a huge yellow one that's on
the move over here, and we might have
a bit of action.
Looks like he's going to chase the
other females.
- Ooh!
He's stopped now cos we've caught him
at it!
- They have a hemi-penis.
- A hemi-penis? What is that?
- It's
almost like a little double penis,
so it doesn't get too awkward to have
to move things around too much, you
just have one on each side.
- It doesn't mean they can have two
lady iguanas at once?
- No.
But it means if one of them goes
unserviceable, they've got a back-up.
Quite nice.
- He's not going to show us his
todger, is he?
- No, he doesn't usually.
- I'm almost relieved. I'm not sure I
want to have any envy in that
department.
- No, no.
- Particularly not from an iguana!
How come no mammals ever made it here?
Do you think they might have done, and
couldn't survive?
- Well, no.
The biggest limiting factor to life in
Galapagos is the journey across.
So if you're coming on floating rafts
on the ocean current,
the minimum time it takes to get here
is two weeks.
- Right.
- Two weeks without food or water.
- That's too long in the baking sun
for a mammal?
- Exactly.
A mammal cannot live for more than
three days without water.
- But reptiles
- Whereas a reptile can.
And that is the limiting factor to
life, terrestrial life on Galapagos.
- Argh!
That was one of the worst so far.
No wonder land mammals had trouble
making it across the ocean.
As we headed to the capital island,
Santa Cruz, we were given a real
battering by the Equatorial waters.
And my idea of a relaxing four-hour
boat trip was disappearing fast.
One by one,
we all succumbed to seasickness,
including my producer, Steve.
- HE GROANS
"Come to paradise," they said.
"Have fun," they said.
"See the animals."
- Hang on - this is what YOU said!
Argh!
Visitor numbers to the Galapagos
National Park
have more than doubled during the last
decade,
now reaching 100,000 tourists a year,
and bringing in $200m.
But not all the 30,000 inhabitants of
the islands are benefiting from this
influx of cash.
Down at the harbour, it's not only the
pelicans who are scraping together a
living.
Fishermen on the islands claim it's
difficult to make a living
because of fishing quotas imposed by
the government, who say they are
trying to protect fish stocks.
It didn't look as if any of these
fishermen expected to make their
fortune playing cards,
so I thought it was safe enough
to take my chances among the sharks.
Can we play a game with you? I've got
- LOUD CHATTER, LAUGHTER
- I've got 20!
Come on, then. Sit here?
- Yeah.
- OK.
Are we playing for a lot of money?
- LAUGHTER
- There's no way I'm going to win any
money!
Protect the cards!
Which one do you think I should put
down?
- That two.
- OK.
This happens all the time.
- He says you've got the wrong
teacher. HE LAUGHS
- I'm a bit flummoxed by this game.
Is this the popular game, Fleece the
Tourist?
- LAUGHTER
- While conservationists want to
preserve the Galapagos,
these fishermen just want to make a
decent living.
A growing number are furious about
government restrictions
on their work,
and say the government cares more for
the wildlife than for humans.
In recent years, the anger boiled over
and fishermen besieged the
prestigious Darwin Research Centre,
holding scientists and animals
hostage.
Jose defends the protest.
- TRANSLATION: All the problems
started because there are too many
conservationists in the park.
- Have they stopped you working?
- Not stopped as such, but we have a
growing problem with sea cucumber
fishing that gets worse every year.
Now we are only allowed to fish it for
two months of the year, and that has
caused many problems.
Also, we have been trying to sell our
local products, mainly fish,
internationally,
and we have got the buyers, but they
have been clamping down on that.
- The angry fishermen confined 30
scientists and several rare tortoises
to the Darwin Centre
for four days and refused them any
food or supplies.
You were holding people there, almost
holding them hostage then, and the
tortoises as well?
- It took place at the entrance to the
park.
A net barricade was put up by the
gate.
They didn't even try to leave.
They wouldn't have been able to do so
because of the people outside.
There were ten times more of them.
That war was not started by fishermen.
They were the ones who started that
war.
- The gang of disgruntled fishermen
came here to the Darwin Centre,
wielding machetes and knives,
and threatened to kill Lonesome
George, one of the best-known
residents of the Galapagos.
I've come to see Lonesome George,
who's really perhaps the most famous
of the tortoises here.
Oh, there he is! He's huge!
Hello, George.
George is an 80-year-old
giant saddleback Galapagos tortoise,
and the last of his kind.
Since 1972, the Darwin Centre has been
trying to save his sub-species
by encouraging him to mate.
But poor old Lonesome George has
always resisted.
What have you been doing to try and
find him a mate?
- TRANSLATION:
- So that he can reproduce, a girl
came from Switzerland
so that the tortoise can learn to be
friendly with people because he was
very timid.
- You're talking about a human?
- A human.
- A human being?
- A human Swiss girl, yeah, a
scientist.
- A scientist. And why did he need a
friend?
- He needed her to extract his sperm.
- First of all, she started touching
him in sort of strategic areas and
trying to get him excited.
- So this scientist had to masturbate
this giant tortoise?
- Yes, she did.
- Just so we're clear about that.
When the Swiss scientist failed to
produce the goods,
two female tortoises were moved into
George's pen.
But that was more than 14 years ago.
I'm just on my way to see one of
the ladies who George has rejected.
Oh, she's not fantastically attractive
from the back,
but from the front, I'm reliably
informed, she's a bit of a looker for
a tortoise.
He's the last of his kind.
Aren't you?
It would be such a shame if his
particular sub-species was to die out
along with him.
The Galapagos are so isolated,
it's an incredible 600 miles across
the Pacific Ocean, along the Equator,
until you finally hit land again - the
west coast of Ecuador.
I think this is Karina, who's going to
be our guide and who's going to
take us across Ecuador.
Karina!
- DOG BARKS
- I wanted to stick closely to the
Equator,
so we hired a four-by-four to get us
across Ecuador's
agricultural heartland.
The population here is a mix of
indigenous tribes
and descendants of African slaves and
Spanish colonisers.
A full 70% of the 14 million people
live below the poverty line.
My foot is right down.
Straight through it.
- ENGINE REVS
Go, go, go, go, go, go!
Go, go!
- Ow!
Sounds like the engine's going to
explode.
- Go, go, go, go, go, go, go!
Go, go, go!
- Oh
OK, we're stuck.
Oh, dear.
Oh, and it's so sticky.
- KARINA LAUGHS
- So, now we sort of know how
difficult it's going to be to
travel along the Equator.
There's the town. I can see the town.
We managed to free ourselves from the
mud,
but that was the easy bit.
Oh, no!
Argh!
There's no way we're going to get
across there.
Argh!
- What do you think?
- It's very frustrating, cos we've
just driven a hell of a long way.
- THEY SPEAK IN SPANISH
He does not recommend us to cross,
because if the car turns off,
the river will take us.
- Really?
- Yeah.
He has people that can push us.
- Push us? Oh, that's very kind.
OK, I think we should try and drive
across, then.
These guys, the villagers, are very
kindly standing in the water. They
are going to guide our car across,
which means I've gotta drive through
the river, which I'm a little bit
nervous about, to be honest.
- OK!
- OK!
- OK!
- 'I was hoping to make it across, and
stay dry.'
Oh
I can feel the water.
Gracias!
Aye, aye, aye.
OK, we're having trouble now.
OK, OK. Ah shit, we're drifting.
- SHOUTING
KARINA: Bravo!
- Yes!
Gracias! Everybody who's wet gets a
beer, I think.
These guys deserve lots of beers.
- OK.
- Beers all around.
Hey!
Does anybody else need a beer?
Due to a major fault line that cuts
across the Equator,
Ecuador has one of the greatest
densities of volcanoes in the world.
It's Avenue Of The Volcanoes is a
stunning 325km-long valley.
Tucked away, right in the middle of
these volcanoes lies Quito,
the world's second-highest capital
city.
1.8 million people, surrounded by
several active volcanoes.
Experts say they are expecting a huge
eruption, but no-one seems to be
taking any notice.
We set off from Quito to climb the
volcano Pichincha,
the closest volcano to the city,
and the most threatening.
Pichincha has erupted at least 25
times.
The worst eruption was in 1660,
when more than 25cm of ash and
volcanic rock covered the capital.
We'd arranged to meet Theo, a
volcanologist on a mission to save
Quito.
- Hi, Simon.
- Theo.
- Hi, Theo. Here's Simon.
- Hiya.
- How are you?
- Nice to meet you.
You look as though you've got properly
togged up there.
- We're regularly up here, we know
what to do.
- In 1993, two volcanologists were
killed climbing Pichincha.
They were working at the crater mouth
when Pichincha suddenly erupted,
hurling out steam and ash, killing the
two scientists instantly.
Theo was taking me to the very same
crater.
We just take it
nice and slow.
Is there any connection between the
Equator, the actual line, the
Equatorial line,
and all these volcanoes?
- I would say yes.
All those volcanoes which are
bordering us are the result
of this chain of volcanoes, which were
born or formed at the Galapagos.
Now those volcanoes, they move toward
the South America continent.
There is a connection. You cannot deny
this.
A person denying this must be
religious, with no idea from science.
- Is anybody listening to you when
you're warning about this?
- People live there, they say, "I
always lived here. Nothing happened
the last 30 years.
"Oh, nothing big." They just want to
forget, to ignore the danger.
But I say, " No, this is stupid."
- Craziness?
- Craziness, exactly.
The threat is there, it's out there.
- We climbed nearly 5km into the
clouds, more than halfway up Everest.
- HE GASPS
- The altitude left me breathless and
exhausted.
We're on top of the world.
Oh, it's knackering up here.
You've got to be a mountain goat to go
up here.
Theo, promise me we're nearly there.
Theo, we've made it!
We can't see down into the crater.
The weather is absolutely terrible.
You've brought me to the top of the
world.
I'm absolutely shattered.
'The mouth of the crater, where the
two scientists had met their end,
'might seem a dangerous place to stop
for a picnic,
'but Theo had brought some artichoke
hearts.' Mmm!
Cheers!
I think it's time to go down.
We continued east towards Colombia,
intending to cross the border on the
Putumayo River, near the Equator.
But our travel plans were scuppered by
the Colombian authorities,
who forced us to make an annoying
detour north, away from the Equator,
to Ipiales, where there is a heavily
controlled immigration point.
The word "Colombia" is just synonymous
with assassinations and death squads
and murder
and cocaine and drugs and killings and
kidnapping of Westerners.
Welcome to Colombia.
- Hi, Simon.
- Nice to meet you.
'My Colombian guide, Juan Pablo met me
in Puerto Asis,'
a jungle town on my route south,
as I tried to get back onto the
Equator.
Puerta Asis is the heart of the
multi-billion-pound cocaine industry.
Government forces have militarised the
town in an attempt to recapture this
entire region
from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia - FARC -
left-wing guerrilla rebels
who have been at war with the state
since the 1960s.
How safe is it in the town where we
are now, for foreigners?
- Yeah, I mean the town is a little
bit difficult for everybody.
- Difficult? What does that mean?!
- Very, very dangerous.
- 'Getting back onto the Equator would
take us through one of the
most dangerous regions of Colombia,'
where the army regularly battles with
FARC guerrillas.
- HE SPEAKS IN SPANISH
- To secure safe passage south, we
needed the help of the local Army
commander,
Lieutenant Colonel Quintero, a man
whose battles with FARC have left him
with a hefty price on his head.
What we didn't expect was that the
colonel would insist on personally
escorting us,
along with his armed bodyguards.
I'd just hitched a ride with one of
the FARC's most-wanted men.
I know you've got a bounty on your
head.
Do you know how much money FARC is
offering for you,
and what are the chances of you
getting attacked?
- TRANSLATION: FARC have offered a
lot of money, but they can't stop me.
We die the day we're meant to.
- Despite assurances from the colonel
that the army was now in control,
dozens of soldiers had been killed in
recent battles,
and FARC were still launching attacks,
in this case, bombing the town's oil
supply.
OK, it's formed this sort of lake of
just oily water.
Why do you think they attacked the
pipeline?
- TRANSLATION: They want to punish the
civilian population because they
support the state,
the government, the army.
They always attack the civilian
population.
We are here to protect defenceless
civilians.
- God, I mean it just looks like we're
part of the bloody army,
doesn't it, now?
This is exactly what we didn't want.
We wanted to keep away from the
military if we could.
We're now connected with the military,
and that makes us a much more inviting
target.
Behind the camera, there's about
15 soldiers following us.
We need to get out of here.
- Let's go.
- We decided it'd be safer to leave
the colonel and his bodyguards behind,
and continue south on our own. This
stretch of the road sees regular FARC
activity,
and I didn't want to be caught up in
any crossfire.
We only got a few hundred metres
outside town
and we've just been pulled over by a
few of the Colombian army soldiers.
I heard the word "gringo" there.
- The FARC is very eager to kidnap
gringos, or to see if they can get
some
- I hate that word "kidnap"! I hate
that word.
This is what life is like here, for
the people who live here.
Constant checkpoint, conflict,
two sides battling against each other.
For the locals, they just want to get
on with their lives and pass through.
Later that day, we finally reached the
un-unnervingly quiet town of Teteye,
which had been attacked and captured
several times by one side, and then
the other.
The population has dwindled to a few
dozen.
This is the president of the town.
He's just come and found us, he's come
straight from his fields.
Why has everybody left?
- TRANSLATION: They were afraid,
because sometimes there is conflict
between the two sides.
They came here and cautioned them
..then killed them.
Shot them in the head.
- And who did this?
- TRANSLATION: It was the army.
The army came here and started to ask,
"Where are the guerrillas?"
But people don't have anything to do
with the guerrillas,
so they don't give the army any
information.
- Colonel Quintero had insisted the
army was protecting civilians,
but if what the president of this town
says is true,
it's clear the people of Colombia
suffer, whoever's in charge.
In the decades of fighting between the
army, right-wing paramilitaries
and the FARC,
tens of thousands have died and
millions have been forced to leave
their homes.
We travelled deeper into south-east
Colombia,
finally joining the Putumayo river,
and heading towards the Equator,
now just a few kilometres ahead.
This is beautiful!
'Entering La Paya National Park we
hitched a ride towards the Equator
with head gamekeeper Carlos.
'Hundreds of bird species thrive here
at the western edge of the Amazon
Basin.'
The Equatorial line cuts right through
your park
but we're in southern Colombia which
doesn't really attract many tourists.
Do you get many visitors, many
foreigners or tourists coming here?
- TRANSLATION: In Colombia, as in the
rest of the world, when people hear
the name Putumayo, they reject it.
They are scared of coming here.
But the conflict is not as bad here as
it is elsewhere in the region.
- Fourteen, eleven, eight, six, five,
two, one - we've just crossed the
Equator.
We've just crossed! Congratulations!
This is the centre of the world.
Amazing!
I think we should try and land and set
up camp.
- Looks like there's no food.
- What?
- Looks like there's no food.
- 'It seems we'd inadvertently omitted
to bring some rather essential items
of our jungle inventory.'
We really haven't got any food.
'Namely, our dinner.
'Apart from a bit of rice, which
wouldn't feed us all.'
Everybody on our team is now going to
pitch in to try and find us some food
because otherwise our stomachs are
going to be rumbling all night.
'Like all good cameramen, ours had
come well prepared.'
- What's that you've got?
- Rum. It's good.
- BOAT CLANKS
Yes.
Ah, jinks!
OK, OK.
What the BLEEP! is that?
- A tarantula!
- Shitting hell!
There's a
- BLEEP!
- tarantula.
OK, don't. Let's get serious, though.
Don't get so
- BLEEP!
- close to it.
- It's not going to jump to your face.
That's a small one
but there must be Mummy round here.
- Did Simon come back?
- These are desperate times. Every man
for himself.
- Tsk, tsk.
- You shouldn't make any noise,
there's an alligator there. Oh,
- BLEEP!
- I'm starting to find the Colombian
jungle
a slightly dangerous place to be.
We have to be quiet because there's an
alligator in front of us.
- THUMP ON BOA
MORE THUMPS
- Life on the Equator, who would have
thought it could be such fun(?)
There's only one way to deal with this
situation.
It's time to get pissed.
It's the only option.
'It was looking as if we'd have to
resort to a liquid diet, when we got
lucky with a catch.
'Well, our Colombian fisherman friend
did.'
There is a fish. The man has a fish.
Look at the teeth on it.
That is not going to feed eight
people.
Can you go out and catch another 20 of
them?
Oh, wow, is this for us?
'Carlos cooked us a jungle feast with
our rice, and the few fish.
'We weren't to know this would be our
last hot meal for a few days,
'as the next morning we were going in
search of a remote tribe
'who we'd been told had a sacred
monument to the Centre of the World.
'All I had to do now was negotiate my
hammock.'
Oh, please hold.
Ah.
Aaah!
Goodnight, everybody.
I'll have breakfast at nine, please.
'We chartered a small plane from a
nearby jungle airstrip,
'and headed to one of the remotest
parts of the Colombian Amazon.'
Just crossed the Equator, we're now
going to head east directly along it.
Beneath us now is an awful lot of
jungle but not many villages.
But there is one at a place called
Pacoa which we're heading to now
where they have a monument signifying
that they're at
the centre of the world.
That was perfect!
The tribe at Piedra Ni live 15 days by
boat from the nearest town.
And hadn't had a foreign visitor for
more than 20 years.
Hola. Buenos.
I'm not sure they see many foreign
film crews here
or if they see any foreigners at all.
Look at this.
'We stumbled into the main hall,
clearly the heart of the community.
'The children certainly seemed pleased
to see us.'
What is this? Show the camera this.
'But the village shaman wasn't very
happy about our arrival.'
We were told to stop filming.
You need to get permission first
from the village elders who are just
behind me,
so we've just had a very long meeting
and, quite frankly, very tense
negotiations and discussions
with really most of the village.
Everybody's had a say, it's been
democracy in action, really.
But ultimately they've agreed that we
can film.
We're going to go through
some sort of initiation ceremony
and then we'll be allowed hopefully to
visit their sacred memorial to the
centre of the world.
- PANPIPE IS PLAYED
- This really is an extraordinary
sight.
- LAUGHTER
- What is the purpose of the ceremony?
- TRANSLATION:
It is performed on very special
occasions, seasons of the year.
Because of the rain, the weather,
because of these things, we perform
the ceremony.
- What I really love is how inclusive
it is.
That's how they try and keep their
culture alive.
By getting the young and the teenagers
involved now.
They'll know these dances hopefully
for the rest of their lives.
Early next morning, some of the elders
from this 160-strong tribe
took us to their sacred place.
- TRANSLATION: It's just over there.
We'll soon be looking at it.
- So we're nearly there?
- TRANSLATION: All these places here
are sacred.
- It's hard to know what to expect
because obviously for us it's been
built up into something huge
and hugely significant and imbued with
huge meaning.
And certainly for the people who live
here it does seem to be the real focus
of their lives.
After we've travelled such a long way,
it's very exciting to finally see it.
To the people around here,
this is absolutely the very essence
of what it means to live here and to
be part of their tribe.
- TRANSLATION: He is saying that the
first figure represents the God.
It is the sun that is illuminating us
now.
Because it is the one that holds the
life of all the indigenous people.
- It's extraordinary to think that
tribes around here have
worshipped this
and venerated it as being the centre
of the world for many decades,
and now modern science is able to
confirm for them
that it really does lie at the actual
centre of the planet.
- How long it's going to take?
They want to know because they don't
want to spend too much time.
- For some reason, the villagers were
unhappy about the amount of time
we were spending looking at the
monument.
Why don't you like looking at the
monument?
- TRANSLATION: This is the sun and
that is why we cannot look up.
Just as we can't look directly at the
sun, we can't look directly at that,
as we'll lose our sight.
- I don't know quite how their
monument to the centre of the world
came to be on the Equator,
but it had been a privilege to have
spent time with the tribe and
witnessed their ceremonies.
- Ciao.
- We crossed into Brazil through
the back door, on the Uaupes River,
just north of the Equator.
There's a Brazilian military
checkpoint over there that we need to
stop at.
They're not pleased at the fact that
we're crossing the river at this point
because there's no immigration point
here.
So whether they're going to let us go,
we're not entirely sure.
Fingers crossed again.
Our somewhat cavalier attitude to
border controls
was making our Brazilian guide Augusto
a little uneasy.
- Can you stop filming now?
- Why?
- Military.
- Cos what?
- Military.
- We've landed in Brazil.
So this is the commander coming down
now to see us.
- Passport number?
- No, your father name.
- I think we're doing OK. They're
going to let us go and I think
we're going to be all right.
They're not cross or angry. "You're
crossing here? Nobody crosses here!"
Can we stop now?
Very slow, very slow.
Stop, stop.
Equator! Zero, zero, we've just
crossed from one to the other.
We're crossing an imaginary line but
it's still quite exciting in a way.
We're going from one side of the
planet to the other.
Oh!
- Hey, Simon - come on.
Many piranha, alligator, anaconda
..big monster.
- What sort of big monsters?
The only big monster there is you!
- Come on, Simon, swim.
- Hold on, he's got some valuables.
- I've got my passport in my pocket,
for crying out loud!
It does feel quite special, swimming
on the Equator,
even though something did just brush
my ankle and I've already been warned
about snakes and piranhas.
We're swimming on the Equator,
along the Equator.
East is this way.
Come on!
The Uaupes River runs directly along
the Equator for 200km,
before joining the River Negro, deep
in the Amazon rainforest.
35,000 Indians from 23 different
tribes populate the riverbanks
along the Uaupes and Negro rivers,
and they could do with some serious
help to protect and preserve their
fast-disappearing way of life.
This is the first community of people
we've seen actually living on the
Equator. It's now 12.17.
Feel a bit cheeky just turning up in
their village.
The community here is very quiet.
I wonder if there's anybody in.
Unfortunately for us, there doesn't
seem to be anybody here.
Finally, a young woman appeared from
one of the houses.
She seemed to have been left behind.
Thankfully, she didn't mind a few
prying questions.
Sorry to be so cheeky but can I ask,
are you married? Do you have children?
- HE ASKS HER THE QUESTION
SHE REPLIES
She has one son and she gave birth one
week ago.
- One week ago!
Ah, congratulations!
That's incredible!
- So she's 17 years old.
So she's not married.
- Do you think it will be hard for you
to live as a single mother out here?
- TRANSLATION: I think it is difficult
because he doesn't have his father
here, he's in Sao Gabriel.
It is difficult as a mother - you
don't have the means to support your
child.
- Are many of the adults in the
village working in Sao Gabriel?
- TRANSLATION:
From here there are nine.
- Nearly half of the village's men
had been drawn up the river to the
jungle town of Sao Gabriel,
in search of work.
And this looks like Sao Gabriel.
The bars are open and going strong.
- Yeah.
- 10.30am.
'Along the Uaupes and Negro rivers,
and throughout the indigenous
communities,
alcohol is banned by federal law,
but visitors to Sao Gabriel can enjoy
all the usual benefits of 24-hour
drinking.
Here's to travelling.
'After several days travelling down
river through the rainforest, a cold
beer was a welcome sight.
'And I wasn't the only person who
thought so.'
Are you waiting for a boat?
- TRANSLATION: My boat is about to
leave, but I don't want to go yet.
I want another drink.
- Are they're waiting for you?
- I'm already drunk.
- You're already drunk?
- Yeah.
- You're even more of a lightweight
than me!
You've had about that much.
- I couldn't have one, actually.
- You're falling off the table.
- Yes, I'm a bit oooh!
- 'Before the advent of 24-hour
drinking,
'indigenous communities drank heavily,
but only once or twice a year at
special ceremonies.
'I met Domingo, the president of
FOIRN, which campaigns for the
indigenous community.
'He fears this constant availability
of alcohol has spelt disaster for the
indigenous tribes.'
- TRANSLATION: Their biggest dream is
to be in this city, with a job
and a good standard of living.
But when they arrive here they don't
find the dream that they had when they
were in their communities.
That doesn't exist.
So the indigenous people end up
destroying themselves.
So many indigenous families are
destroying themselves with alcohol.
Little by little, the culture is
forgotten.
Life here in Sao Gabriel has no
dignity.
HE SLURS HIS WORDS
- He's absolutely pissed. When you
encourage the indigenous people to
leave their ancestral homes
where they've lived for generations,
and come to a town like this
..and when you promise them or offer
them jobs and education and health
care and then when they come here
and they find that there's very few
jobs. ..You OK?
- Ah?
- Very little health care and the
education is quite expensive,
it's hardly a wonder they get
depressed.
Although, he's not very depressed,
he's quite happily drunk.
And then you throw 24-hour drinking
into the mix,
they're going to turn to the bottle.
As you have, haven't you? You've
turned to the bottle.
Nao falo Portuguese.
I don't speak Portuguese at all.
Leaving Sao Gabriel, we flew east
across the Amazon rainforest.
On the Equator, the forest remains
largely untouched
due to its remoteness,
but farmers and loggers are slowly
encroaching from the south.
Finally we approached Brazil's east
coast,
where the many tributaries of the
mighty Amazon lead to the Atlantic
Ocean.
The final leg of my Equatorial
adventure took me towards the mouth of
the Araguari river.
On this river, when the moon and tides
are aligned,
a natural phenomenon occurs pushing a
massive wave back up the river.
The Pororoca is the longest wave in
the world.
A wave which will be attempted to be
surfed, by the daring,
the foolhardy
and me.
I'm very interested and excited about
this landing because I've never
surfed.
Why is the Pororoca here on the Amazon
Basin, on the Equator, so special?
- TRANSLATION: Surfers come from all
over the world.
On the sea, a wave will last a maximum
of 15 seconds.
With the Pororoca wave you can surf
for about 30 minutes.
That's why it's considered the longest
wave in the world.
- So there are risks involved in
surfing the Pororoca, then?
- The risks are that the boat could
roll over or the surfer could hit
something with the board.
There is the chance of all kinds of
animals coming along.
The biggest danger would be the
arraias.
Their poison is so powerful that it
gives you many hours of pain
and can even make your whole leg
paralysed.
- 'It was more than a little unnerving
watching an experienced surfer like
Ejiman prepare for the worst.'
Ejiman, are you excited about surfing
the wave?
- Hold tight.
- There's quite enough waves already!
- He say that it's possible to see on
the horizon
a volume of water coming.
- Well, I can't see it.
- I think I can.
- There was a slight change on the
horizon.
OK, maybe now it's not quite so
slight.
Bloody hell!
This has to be the most incredible
natural phenomenon I've ever seen,
this boiling, seething mass of water.
It really feels like we're being
chased by wild horses,
clawing their way down the river or up
the river.
You're not going to get us!
- OK, it's going to kick now.
- I'm clinging on for dear life.
But this is what we're going to have
to do.
He seems to have vanished into the
wave.
I'm sure he's OK because he's one of
those lunatics who always survives.
Stand, mate! Go on, stand up.
He's up, he's up.
He's done it!
What a dude.
Oh, now he's off, he's off, argh!
- I'm going to rescue him over there.
- We've got to rescue both of them.
I'm about to jump in the wave
to try and rescue Stanley.
Aggh!
Aaaah!
That was absolutely amazing.
Stanley!
You lunatic!
Well done! Now it's our turn.
Personally I haven't got a clue what
to do.
- Hold tight.
- What's the Brazilian for "man
overboard" and "drowning"?
We didn't do very well.
In fact, we were pretty hopeless,
weren't we?
We felt its force.
'My journey around the entire planet
was finally at an end.
'25,000 miles, eight countries, wars,
floods, and killer diseases.
'Quite frankly, I was exhausted.
'But the Equator had one final
unexpected thrill
left in store for us.'
What the
- BLEEP!
- happening?
We forgot the Pororoca was twice a
day!
And it's happening now in the
night-time. Woah!
- Stanley's gone overboard.
- Stanley's mattress. His mattress has
gone overboard.
- Aagh! Just stood on some glass.
What did he say?
- I don't know. Do you
speak Portuguese?
- The chef was in the shower.
- Didn't anybody think to tell us?!
Next time, tell us as well!