- 7 months ago
Troubles In Africa
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TravelTranscript
00:02Previously on Expedition...
00:04You know what we're missing, don't you?
00:06The swamps of Bagamoyo turned out to be
00:08a very, very confusing place.
00:09It's like a labyrinth of vegetation.
00:13Navigating by community democracy is getting really hard.
00:18Check it out.
00:19It's impossible to climb.
00:21Well, how are we gonna get past it?
00:23So we go back because it's tough?
00:24This is what happens on an expedition.
00:27And now on Expedition...
00:29It's the place of the hunter and the hunted.
00:32And we could end up being the hunted.
00:33You're so exposed here,
00:35and you have no way to defend yourself.
00:42When the world's greatest explorer,
00:44Dr. David Livingston,
00:45vanished deep in the heart of uncharted Africa,
00:48a young journalist, Henry Morton Stanley,
00:51began a desperate search that would become
00:53one of the greatest adventures of all time.
00:57Now, using only a compass and basic maps,
01:00four modern-day explorers are on a quest to relive
01:03the most grueling parts of Stanley's 970-mile journey
01:07to find Dr. Livingston.
01:24I love the mornings in Africa.
01:25Listen to the birds, huh?
01:27Just don't hear that in the United States.
01:29There's nowhere in the United States,
01:30when the sun first light comes,
01:33you hear just...
01:33the sounds of, you know,
01:35hundreds and thousands of birds just singing.
01:42Time to get up.
01:43Good morning.
01:45There's two legs done.
01:46We have six legs left.
01:48Coming out of the Uluguru Mountains
01:50and starting our trek across the Makata Plain,
01:52we have 880 miles left before we reach Ujiji.
01:56We're going to start our trek through the Makata Plain.
01:58And we're going to have to be extremely careful now
02:01with the wildlife.
02:02I mean, we've been pretty lax about certain things out here,
02:04but there you have got to be careful.
02:06There's real animals here that can really hurt.
02:08Lions, elephants.
02:08Like what kind of stuff are we talking about?
02:09Yeah.
02:09You know, elephants are one of the most dangerous animals out there.
02:12Yeah.
02:12We all felt a sense of relief and accomplishment
02:15leaving the Uluguru Mountains,
02:17but now we were feeling the great trepidation
02:19of the Makata Plains.
02:21We know that we're going to have to take more drastic steps
02:24at camp in order to protect ourselves,
02:26like building a boma, lighting fires,
02:29just ensuring that we're safe.
02:31All right, let's go.
02:32Come on.
02:32Duende.
02:33Duende.
02:34Okay, everybody.
02:35Duende.
02:41The Makata Plain is easily one of the harshest trains
02:44in Tanzania.
02:48We have six and a half miles today,
02:50so we can't just dally around.
02:52We cannot reach camp at dark.
02:54Once sunset starts hitting,
02:55I can go no further.
02:57Okay.
02:58Duende.
02:58Duende.
03:05Damn, is it hot.
03:08Is it better for us that it's not wet?
03:10I could use some water now.
03:13The Makata Plain is not a great place to travel.
03:16In the dry season, like now,
03:18it's like a sort of frying pan.
03:20You hear it sizzling away with all the insects.
03:23It's hot.
03:24It's really hot.
03:26Today, we've got a huge challenge ahead of us
03:29because we've got to get to the next water source.
03:31And in Africa, water is everything.
03:33You can survive two or three weeks without food,
03:36but you cannot survive more than a day or two without water.
03:54We're going back, all the way back there,
03:56all the way in the trees.
03:57Amazing Africa.
03:59How do these animals survive?
04:00Look at them run, it's like in slow motion.
04:02It's like slow motion, isn't it?
04:03Glory.
04:04Yes, sir.
04:06Stanley came into the Makata Plains
04:08at the beginning of monsoon season
04:10where this dry, parched, cracked ground
04:13turned into a swamp.
04:15There was so much sickness that resulted
04:17from this travel period of the journey.
04:20And Stanley himself got sick.
04:21He had dysentery.
04:22He was throwing up.
04:24He had cases of diarrhea.
04:26This was truly a test of his will
04:28getting through this portion.
04:36We're heading straight west towards the camp.
04:38We know over here about 10 kilometers from here right now.
04:43Good pace.
04:45There's no escaping the sun out here, is there?
04:48No.
04:50Kevin, look.
04:51Giraffe bones.
04:53Do you think?
04:54Giraffe, what?
04:56It's a small to be a femur.
04:57That's like a tibia or something?
05:00It's a, what do you call that?
05:02A shin bone.
05:02Yeah.
05:03You're so exposed here.
05:05Life, it's harsh.
05:06It's the most uninviting of environments.
05:08And you're constantly aware
05:10that you need to be on the lookout
05:12for things like buffalo, hippo, lions, elephants.
05:16I mean, it's just, it's endless.
05:18Your mind really has to stay focused
05:20on your surroundings at all times.
05:23A landable of a zebra.
05:26It's like one huge graveyard, isn't it?
05:29I don't know, a lot of life here.
05:31Just a lot of heat and thorns.
05:33And death.
05:34And death.
05:36There's a buffalo kill here.
05:38Yeah, that could very well be, huh?
05:40It's been dead a while.
05:43What do you think brought this town?
05:45It's in the inside, so probably hyena.
05:48What do you think killed this buffalo?
05:50Probably the lion.
05:51Lion.
05:52That sort of sight stops you short.
05:54You think to yourself, it could be me next.
05:56So you've got to be aware
05:57that this is a place of a hunter and the hunted.
06:00And we could end up being the hunted.
06:17Ooh, we've got some tall grass ahead of us, boys and girls.
06:20So be careful, huh?
06:21That stuff is dangerous.
06:22It is, it is.
06:24This is it.
06:25Yeah, tall grass, right?
06:26We're gonna do it with the tall grass right here.
06:28Okay, let's bring the Maasai up here.
06:29Pull him aside through the tall grass.
06:32Okay, Maasai.
06:33Huh?
06:33You lead?
06:34Through the big grass?
06:36You may get your lion yet, huh?
06:38The tall grass,
06:40usually lion like to hide.
06:43Pascal, he just asked that,
06:46can you walk in front?
06:48Because I think Pascal was worried.
06:55Tell him to slow down, we're gonna lose him.
06:58Slow down!
07:05One of the great features of Africa is that what you don't see is more scary than what you do
07:10see.
07:10When you're walking through those long grasses,
07:12you see what you think is a couple of golden eyes staring at you.
07:15You just think, is that a lion's face?
07:21You know there are things at home in that environment, and that they are waiting for you.
07:26That you're sort of bait that's walking into a trap.
07:34You guys coming, huh?
07:37Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
07:39Hang on.
07:41Ooh.
07:42Just got snarred on that.
07:46Stop it!
07:47Stop, stop, stop, stop.
07:50Come this way.
07:51Wait a sec.
07:52Stop!
07:52Give me your pack, I think I'm gonna go.
07:55So I hear the whistle and I run back and I see Maria and her hands bleeding.
08:00In fact, there's quite a lot of blood on it.
08:04Casper, bring my bag up.
08:06Give me that med kit quick, guys.
08:07There's a huge risk of infection out here, so I'd want to clean it right away.
08:12It's got iodine in it, so.
08:14Oh, God.
08:15I know, I know, I'm sorry.
08:16I did get a hose of that.
08:17It's kind of deep.
08:18Hey, you know what?
08:19This is probably going to take a couple stitches to close up.
08:21It's all right.
08:21Let's get going, because I don't want to get caught out here.
08:25Seriously, it's fine.
08:26I don't want to be caught in these grasses.
08:32Kevin, in my opinion, overreacts.
08:34It is a deep cut, but we're like in a sea of grass, totally sitting there exposed to anything
08:39around us, which we can't see.
08:41And I didn't think that was the right place to attend to a cut.
08:45It sort of is like your bait out there.
08:47You're a walking target, and you have no way to defend yourself once you're in there.
09:02How does it feel?
09:03Well, it's bleeding a lot.
09:04Did it just open up?
09:05Yeah.
09:06Well, it's not fine.
09:08Let me just splint it.
09:09No, no, no, no, no.
09:09Let's go.
09:10Let me just splint it, because it's going to continue bleeding.
09:12No, no, no.
09:12Put the water.
09:12Seriously, I want to go.
09:14We're just going to splint it like that.
09:15It's going to take two seconds.
09:16I'm not.
09:16I'm not really.
09:17I want to have my hands.
09:18I don't want to do that.
09:20I wanted to splint her hand against her chest to keep it from bleeding.
09:24And it really disturbed me.
09:25But, you know, she's stubborn and didn't want me to do it.
09:28I don't want to have just one arm available to me.
09:31It'll be fine.
09:32These are big boys and girls here.
09:34They make their own decisions.
09:36You don't want me to splint your hand?
09:37Bleed.
09:43Scully, we're going to have to camp very, very soon, aren't we?
09:45Yeah.
09:47This is very, very...
09:48Let's get to this tree up here.
09:49Let's go and get to this tree and just take a look at it.
09:52I've said this over and over.
09:54I'm sick of saying this.
09:56Guys, we have to move faster.
09:59For us not to get to proper camp before sunfall could be deadly.
10:07Because a major consideration for us is going to be that this is a wildlife area.
10:11And what do you reckon?
10:11Is this small?
10:12These are small elephants?
10:13Yes, we've got to set up.
10:14I know it sounds crazy.
10:15Big elephants, but they're just...
10:16They're rubbing themselves.
10:18Yeah, they want their backs here and that's why you see all this mud.
10:21I'll tell you what, guys, this is...
10:22Now, the thing is, you can see clearly there's these elephant highways coming right through here.
10:27I don't want to be woken up in the middle of the highway.
10:30I would either camp here or...
10:31Whatever we want on that side over there.
10:33I think it's long enough out of...
10:34Yeah, plus we still got eye shot.
10:36Well, the most important thing, guys, is we've got two trees to put our tarp up too.
10:39That's not the most important thing.
10:40That's pretty important.
10:41That's not the most important thing.
10:42The most important thing is survival here.
10:44And that's...
10:45Shelter?
10:46Yeah, food...
10:47Well, water first, then fire, then shelter.
10:49Do you like that spot over there?
10:51Yeah.
10:51I think that's okay.
10:52Why don't you take a look at it?
10:53I'm going to walk through the water, see what the water source looks like.
10:57Food, shelter, fire, fire, food, shelter, disorganized mess.
11:00It's stupid is what it is.
11:03I've always been at loggerheads with Pasquale, and I'm backing away from a leadership role
11:08because there's too much confrontation all the time.
11:10I'm just banging my head against a brick wall.
11:12Fire, .
11:13What the ?
11:14These guys can't have a clue how to keep myself considered.
11:17So I still can't help but chip in and contradict him.
11:21And I wish I wouldn't.
11:23But I keep on seeing things that seem to me not right.
11:28Yeah, hippo.
11:29We got a hippo in the water, guys.
11:35The big thought in my mind is just safety.
11:37And we're wondering...
11:38I'm wondering if we have time to build a thorn fence, Burma.
11:43I don't think we do.
11:44It's getting dark so quick right now.
11:46I know.
11:46And I think we're barely going to get the tarp set up in time.
11:48I just think we need to be aware that we're going to be quite vulnerable.
11:51Burma is a stockade, really.
11:53It's made of thorns, roughly assembled in a circle.
11:57Essentially, it's a barrier between you and the lions and hyenas and jackals.
12:01Normally, in this situation, you would set up some sort of shelter.
12:04It's lion, country, buffalo, elephants.
12:07The water's a hippo full of hippos.
12:09So it'll be water at best.
12:13What do you mean?
12:14Well, it's hippo.
12:15You ever see hippos where hippos live?
12:17It's pretty .
12:18It's pretty muddy.
12:19Full of hippos.
12:21Hippos like...
12:22Hippos are the security side.
12:24They're one of the most dangerous animals out here.
12:28So you have to be really careful.
12:29I mean, I know you wanted to go wash some clothes.
12:31I strongly suggest you don't go do that.
12:33Oh, yeah.
12:34Everyone knows that hippos are strongly territorial.
12:37Come out at night.
12:38They'll be out here, grazing.
12:40We don't want to bump into them.
12:41That's a set-up camp, huh?
12:42Yeah, we can't just...
12:43I understand that.
12:44See that sun right there?
12:45In three minutes.
12:45I know, I know.
12:47We're going to have no light.
12:54We want to make sure, because of the hippos and the elephants and that sort of thing,
12:57that we keep a fire going all night.
13:00And we would like for you to keep watch.
13:17It's up to you and you to keep us safe from the beasts.
13:23Okay.
13:23Yeah.
13:24Okay.
13:24All right.
13:25Good deal.
13:36Almost got it, dude.
13:40It's crucial because it's going to be our security.
13:42It's almost like a chemical formula.
13:44Trying to get the right amount of elephant dung and zebra dung.
13:49Zebra dung, lovely and fine.
13:50That catches the spark, in theory.
13:52Okay.
13:54Elephant dung.
13:54Elephant dung is fibrous and it helps take the fire to the next stage.
14:00That's close, dude.
14:01It's so close.
14:04Got it.
14:04Got it.
14:05Good job, dude.
14:06Good job.
14:18Get up.
14:23In terms of animals that are going to scout around us.
14:27I mean, hyenas are quite dangerous, actually.
14:29Hyenas are one of the most dangerous animals.
14:31Absolutely.
14:32They're not afraid at all of coming into your camp and if they see someone lying there,
14:36they will go for their head.
14:40I think, you know, at night the dangerous ones are definitely hyena lion.
14:45And just, you know, pay attention to those two main predators.
14:55Well, it's day nine of the expedition and the Makata Plains has one of the richest diversity
14:59of wildlife that you can possibly imagine.
15:01Behind me, although it's pitch black, there's a pool of water and there are a bunch of hippos
15:07in there.
15:07And I don't know a lot about hippos, but I do know that they are considered the most dangerous
15:12animal in Africa.
15:13They are responsible for many, many deaths here.
15:15And so we want to be careful.
15:24Say good night, man.
15:26Good night.
15:32But there's some eyes.
15:33There's some eyes out in here.
15:38The animals, what they do is they smell the food we're cooking and they hear us
15:42and they all come in the tall grass around us.
15:45And they're sitting there and I'm sure there's plenty of jackals, maybe hyenas too.
15:52The biggest concern I have is hyenas.
15:54All the injuries and deaths I've read of where people have been pulled out of tents
15:57have been hyenas the last few years.
15:59And it's deadly because they have, their jaws are many times more powerful than lions.
16:03And they're capable of taking a fully grown man and just grabbing him by the neck and just dragging
16:07him off.
16:08So it's dangerous.
16:17There's been a lot of debate tonight about whether we build a BOMA or not.
16:21We got to camp late.
16:21We didn't have time to actually put one together.
16:24I think we were too tired and we've been a little lax about it.
16:26The risk, you know, is there definitely.
16:33But hopefully there won't be a hyena dragging me from my tent, you know, or a hippo, you know,
16:38trampling down our tarp shelter tonight.
17:11They're quite family-oriented, aren't they?
17:13Yeah, they are.
17:14Last night we took an incredible risk because we were sleeping right next to a watering hole.
17:19Under ideal circumstances, we would have set up a BOMA around us to at least protect us,
17:24say, from the hyenas and the lions.
17:26So we ended up taking a huge risk.
17:28We're letting a lot of things fall by the wayside and it could potentially cost us the expedition
17:35and our own survival.
17:43What I'm doing is grubbing around with the bits of charcoal to make a water filter
17:47because that water is unusable as it is and it's likely that any water we come across in this place,
17:55unless it's from the sky, it's going to be in need of filtering.
17:59Today we've got a huge challenge ahead of us because we've got a water source here,
18:04we've got to get to the next one, and it's a deadly scenario.
18:06If you turn up at that water hole and find the water is polluted by buffalo or a hippo, as
18:11they are here,
18:12it can be poisonous, it can kill you.
18:15So we're going to get to the next water source and then I'm going to have to work on trying
18:19to purify it a bit.
18:25Six miles, huh?
18:27We're currently at this camp.
18:29Yeah, yeah.
18:29We're going to head straight, plus three degrees.
18:32Six miles, ten kilometers.
18:34So hopefully there will be water there.
18:37Hopefully there will be campsite.
18:39Hopefully it won't be too grassy.
18:41Okay, how's it going, guys?
18:42Everybody getting ready?
18:4320!
18:43Okay, 20!
18:4620!
18:57Look at them.
18:59There's a bunch of them crossing there.
19:01See the baboons, Kevin?
19:02They're all crossing there.
19:07Look.
19:09Generally the juveniles tend to be braver than the adult ones and like to get closer.
19:15This is the part of the expedition that I've been looking forward to the most.
19:20Walking on the Makata Plains and bumping into a troop of baboons.
19:24Primates are my specialty.
19:25That's what I went to graduate school for.
19:28And it's nice to be able to share that with these guys who say they know nothing about primates.
19:34It's important that we stick together because we don't want to surround them and make them feel scared and intimidated.
19:42The other thing is you shouldn't make direct eye contact with them, nor should you smile at them,
19:47because that's the way in which they display aggression.
19:51Really?
19:51So if you do that, they're going to think you're trying to threaten them.
19:55So if you stare them down, that's a problem?
19:57That's definitely a problem.
19:58Will they attack you?
19:59They will, sure.
20:00And they can pack a mean bite.
20:01They've got really great big canines, so you don't want to do that.
20:10Does all the studying you've done over the years of primates, does it actually help you understand our food dynamic?
20:16Yeah, Benedict, you can't help but see the relationship between them and us and have the similarities.
20:22And even with you guys, I always joke around that I've got my three alpha males in the group.
20:28All of the tip of your fingers.
20:31It's sort of fun to go through the baboon troop hierarchy.
20:34You've got an alpha male, which in our case would be Pasquale.
20:39Come on guys, don't stop!
20:41Then you've got a subordinate but smart male.
20:45That would be Benedict.
20:46This is the sort of thing you need to look out for if you're trying to survive.
20:49Follow the baboons, see what they're eating.
20:51You've got the female, alpha female, I'd like to think.
20:56That would be myself.
20:57And then you've sort of got this juvenile baboon.
21:00And in our case, that would definitely be Kevin.
21:03Really?
21:05Yeah, well.
21:06Surprise.
21:07Remind me of anyone?
21:08Remind me of anyone.
21:13So, all right, we've gone less than two miles still.
21:17So we're slowing down a little bit.
21:20See, I've been bearing 275, something right to that big hill.
21:24So as we come on and we get off our marks, we need to veer to the left a little
21:28bit.
21:28And we need to go straight in now, okay?
21:30If you've got a geographical point I can navigate to, you know, regardless of what the compass says, I can
21:36stay within 10, 15 degrees.
21:37I'm not following the compass exactly.
21:39I'm following Landmark.
21:40Because I couldn't see, I can only see the top of that mountain most of the time.
21:44So I've been navigating by the top of that mountain.
21:46So we're just going to have to set up a compass bearing and just draw like hell to get within
21:50a quarter mile of where we're trying to get.
21:52Okay, 2.0.
21:54Let's go.
21:55I want to get there already, yeah.
21:56I want to make sure we have water.
21:57Mm-hmm.
22:04So what are we doing?
22:06We're going to head to that towards and we're going to cut off towards that little peak.
22:08Because that's how you're originally at 270 at that little peak.
22:12What about 260?
22:13Wouldn't that be nice?
22:14Yeah, yeah.
22:14We'll get right here.
22:15We'll get there.
22:15I pick a bearing on a peak and I keep it, then I correct to the next point.
22:21Do you think Pasquale knows where we're going now?
22:24No.
22:24Oh.
22:25Pasquale?
22:26How are we doing on the bearing?
22:29Well, hey, dude.
22:32I'm in towards the big peak.
22:33The big peak is about 280.
22:35And when we get close to the big peak, I can see it.
22:37I'm going to veer on to the little peak, which is 270.
22:39That'll put us at 260.
22:43Okay?
22:43Don't keep telling me which way to go, guys.
22:46I know where I'm going.
22:47Benedict questions my direction.
22:48I'm trying to keep straight.
22:50You know, so I'm constantly saying, okay, this way, this way, this way.
22:54And it gets tough.
22:55And it makes it really difficult when you're trying to navigate by democracy.
22:59It just doesn't work.
23:11God, no matter how many times we say we're going to get to camp early, it never ever happens.
23:17Right now, we're racing towards camp.
23:19We've got about a kilometer to go to get to camp.
23:20We'll get a BOMA, build a BOMA, and that'll keep us safe for the night.
23:23So we've got, you know, an hour before sunset.
23:26That's why we're moving so fast.
23:27Gwani, where are you going?
23:30I haven't gone.
23:31Guys, just follow me.
23:33Oh, God.
23:35I think I'm going to have to shoot either myself or you personally.
23:39There's an old BOMA right here, a big one.
23:42This one looks like a lovely one.
23:43Okay, so we'll set up camp right in here, huh?
23:46We've just found an abandoned BOMA.
23:48As a matter of fact, it's a pretty good place to camp, but we can't really stay here very long.
23:53We have no water.
23:54Quick talk about security.
23:55Yeah.
23:56Because of the threats of lions and elephants, we have to make sure that we go through our security protocol,
24:03make sure Benedict inspects lots of things.
24:05I think because we're still in lion country, we've got to secure the BOMA a little bit more.
24:10It's got great big holes in it.
24:12So perhaps we could rally the troops and they could just walk around patching up the holes.
24:18Sounds good. I'll do the fire, you do the BOMA.
24:20We've got plenty of firewood, that's for sure.
24:23Okay, let's go.
24:25I'm building up the BOMA.
24:28That's the fence, the corral, the stockade that we're going to be steeping in.
24:33There are lions around here and you've got to build up the fences.
24:38Last night, there we were, right by a waterhole and very, very exposed.
24:44It's not an ideal situation.
24:46So when you've got the time, when you've got the daylight, what you do is build up a stockade like
24:51this.
24:52Look at these thorns.
24:54They're absolutely vicious.
24:56Pointing that way, pointing that way.
24:58It's just a wonderful thing to better cut down a little thorn tree and prevent something like a lion attacking.
25:08Well, we got firewood.
25:10Yeah, that's not a problem today.
25:12Africa's got unbelievable numbers of dangers.
25:14There's a lot of animals that can hurt you.
25:16What you don't see are the bugs and the diseases.
25:20Those are the ones that will get you almost all the time.
25:24You know, if there's some kind of neurotoxin in this, I don't know if it's going to affect your internal
25:31organs so much as it is, you know, your central nervous system.
25:34Benedict had an ulceration on his skin near his watch, which could have been an infected spider bite.
25:40And his wound, I had marked it with a Sharpie pen.
25:43So I would be able to see if the redness went beyond that if the infection was spreading.
25:47I really feel, you know, like something in my system, like an infection or something that my body's fighting.
25:53I'm very, very slightly feverish as well.
25:56You started on Cipro, so you should be fine.
25:59Why are you giving them Cipro right off the bat when we don't even know what that is yet?
26:03Because it's infected.
26:05Because I've had that exact same thing before.
26:07Well, I mean, the thing is, if you start pumping people with Cipro right away, they're going to build up
26:12the tolerance.
26:14Yeah, but if you don't pump them up with Cipro right away, it's going to get into a nasty infection.
26:18That's why I circled it, to make sure it wasn't going anywhere.
26:21She gave him a medication, which I didn't feel was appropriate at that time. It was an antibiotic.
26:26I'm not trying to play myself off as a doctor. I'm not.
26:30You know, I'm someone that's had first responder training and I'm a certified EMT.
26:34But I'm certain within this group, I have the most training.
26:37Just don't start handing out meds, please.
26:39Well, I didn't know that you were the official medic.
26:42I've done this before a million times and you haven't been on my expeditions.
26:45I didn't feel uncomfortable giving him the Cipro.
26:48The professionals that I talk to time and time again, just, you know, you hold off on the antibiotics until
26:53you really...
26:54I realize that. It gets a little bit frustrating because, you know, I've been through this a million times.
26:59And to be honest with you, I think experience trumps books.
27:03I know you have a lot of experience.
27:04I know you have a lot of experience in the past and it's not like I'm an amateur either.
27:07You're not an amateur or anything. No one's accusing you of that.
27:11So, I think you just throttle it back a little bit.
27:18You're quite domineering.
27:19Yeah, you're domineering. Oh, come on.
27:20But you're very sweet with me, I will say.
27:22I'm trying.
27:23Like now he actually calls me to the front before he marches on.
27:35We just had four local Maasai come by from the village and they just wanted who we were.
27:40What happened? There's a great explorer, Stanley.
27:43And it was 140 years ago he came through.
27:49So, they are very excited for what you are doing, so they are welcoming you.
27:58So, they want to join a dance.
28:14It was wonderful just to hear that life-affirming rhythm of the Maasai singing.
28:25Wonderful bass voice from these men. It was very, very powerful stuff.
28:31As a guest of the Emma you are doing.
28:34You are welcome.
28:46Getting my room off, you're welcome.
28:50Come up, you're welcome.
28:51Come down, we're welcome.
28:57Welcome to the local Maasai band.
28:59If you have a dog, you will be really at home.
29:00and they start to jump and just celebrate together.
29:33You know when you feel clammy, like it just feels off, like the top of my skin feels sort
29:38of cold, but you feel warmish inside.
29:42I have not been feeling well the last several days, and I'm still not feeling very well today.
29:47I had a really rough night last night.
29:50Are you guys okay?
29:51Yeah.
29:52Pretty good.
29:53I wonder.
29:55I've been eating and drinking the same as you.
29:57We ate the same thing.
29:58I mean, you had those.
29:58Yeah.
29:58It could be anything.
30:00It could be anything.
30:01There's water, vegetables.
30:03Yeah, but I've been eating and drinking the same thing as you guys.
30:06I do feel sort of a kinship with Stanley now, being sick in the Makata Plains.
30:11It is absolutely horrible, and I think about his journals and the way he writes.
30:16You know, he's laid up and loses weeks at a time not knowing what's happening, and I can
30:22see that because I just feel deathly ill.
30:26That was great last night though, that damn thing.
30:28That was awesome.
30:29That was awesome.
30:30Are you looking forward to this thing this morning?
30:33Yeah, I'm a little scared.
30:35You know?
30:36What?
30:37Yeah, I'm a little scared of drinking blood.
30:39You were scared?
30:39Well, I'm scared of drinking blood.
30:41I've never had it before.
30:42The Maasai still cling really hard to their cultural heritage, the old ways they used
30:46to do things.
30:46These people live in such close harmony with their cows.
30:49I mean, they're such things of value.
30:51They love them so much that they want to know if we would join them in going ahead and tapping
30:58the vein of a cow, fill up a gourd full of blood, and then drink it with them.
31:02I do get scared.
31:06I never had blood.
31:06Well, I figured, but I didn't think you'd say it out loud.
31:26It's like if you're going to draw blood from a human.
31:30Yeah, you put a constriction behind that.
31:33Yeah.
31:33This is like a gun.
31:43Kevin, you see how they're blocking his eyes so he can't see what's happening?
31:46Yeah.
31:47Don't worry.
31:48All over soon.
31:49Just a small prick.
31:51Get the gourd ready.
31:55Yay!
31:56Check it out.
31:59It's huge.
31:59It's huge.
32:01How much will they take from it, Benedict?
32:03Because it's going to weaken quite a bit.
32:06Probably taking full gourd.
32:07It's going to be two litres.
32:09The Maasai have come up with a very good way of living in arid, dry grasslands, and
32:15it's to rely on the cow.
32:16The cow is everything.
32:18It's prestige, it's money, and it's survival.
32:22So whenever the Maasai need sustenance, what they do is not just kill the cow because that
32:28would get rid of their great resource.
32:30They tap it.
32:31They drink the blood from the cow without actually killing it.
32:36It just seems very strange, doesn't it?
32:40It just drain the cow with its blood and they still use it, though.
32:42Keep it alive.
32:47That is hardcore.
32:48He's sucking right off his neck.
32:50It is?
32:50It's crazy, isn't it?
32:53He's sucking from the wound now, and then they plug it with a piece of cow dung.
32:58Cow dung is a sort of antiseptic.
33:00It's not as fearful as we might think, the cow pie.
33:05What's it put in the blood now?
33:07What do you do?
33:07Just keep it to stop it coagulating.
33:14Check it out, check it out, check it out, check it out, check it out.
33:17Are you serious?
33:17What is this?
33:19Kevin, what is that that coagulates around the stick?
33:21It's just, you know, the blood is made up of plasma, which is liquid, and red leukocytes,
33:26which are red blood cells.
33:27They're looking at the coagulated red blood cells.
33:30What we're going to be drinking is not just, it's not really blood, just plasma.
33:33It's the liquid portion of blood.
33:35That guy's chewing.
33:36Yeah?
33:37He can have that.
33:38Yeah.
33:39Run the dick.
33:39By nature, I tend to be a fairly cautious person.
33:42I was very hesitant and that whole thing kind of nerve me just because it was,
33:46it seemed like a foolish thing to do.
33:48If you've been here long enough, a lot of the cows, a lot of the meat is infested with worms.
33:53And so you eat the meat, it's not cooked well enough, and you get worms.
33:56Run the dick.
34:00That guy's chewing.
34:01You ready?
34:02Yeah.
34:03Run the dick.
34:06Yeah.
34:12So it was a pretty amazing experience.
34:15I'd never done that before.
34:16I've seen it lots and lots of times, but I never thought I would ever do it.
34:19Drink up.
34:20Don't bother saving me any.
34:23I definitely think it's an acquired taste.
34:25Beer's easier to drink, put it that way.
34:29Drink.
34:41Not bad.
34:42Yeah.
34:43We had this little bond of unity because we drank the blood of the cow.
34:46The cow's still alive.
34:47It showed the respect of the Maasai keeping this alive and the fact that this is literally
34:52the lifeblood of the community.
34:55And they were willing to share it with outsiders, to share their traditions and their culture with us.
35:01What do you think?
35:03Delicious.
35:04I wouldn't say that.
35:05As Maasai, we are useless just like you are taking a soda or you are taking a tea.
35:10Blood is something normal to us.
35:12Yo, don't chug at all.
35:15So actually, it was interesting to see that they can try to do everything that other people
35:20does.
35:20So it's a good experience also to them, and it's a good lesson to learn.
35:25Because if you have never taken blood before, and then you try to drink it, and then, oh,
35:29that's a very funny thing.
35:31Sant'ai sana.
35:32Sant'ai sana.
35:32That's very good.
35:34Yeah.
35:34Ashealing.
35:35Ashealing.
35:35Ashealing.
35:39Ashealing.
35:40Myombo river.
35:41You know?
35:42Yeah.
35:42Myombo.
35:43Is it far?
35:44Not long to sita.
35:46No way.
35:47Come in and be there.
35:4920.
35:50No, it's not 20.
35:51It's 20 kilometers either.
35:52You know, right now, we've got about six and a half miles today.
35:56It doesn't sound long, but it's long.
35:58It's hot.
35:59The sun's right overhead.
36:00We got a late start because of this blood deal.
36:03So guys, listen, the Nyombo River,
36:05does it have fresh water?
36:09That's a camp point for us, right?
36:11No, no, that's a potential camp for us.
36:13Exactly.
36:14So we got somewhere between short and stupid long
36:16to this river.
36:17And we're low on water.
36:19We're hoping there's water where we're going to.
36:21It doesn't have to be clear, it just has to be wet.
36:29Now it's getting hot.
36:30Oh, the heat's just baking us, yeah.
36:33How hot do you think it is, guys?
36:36100, 8, 9?
36:37110.
36:38110 degrees?
36:39110 degrees.
36:39I'm miserably thirsty.
36:41Think about it, and then just press on.
36:44All right, everybody, we're heading towards the Nyombo River.
36:48I'd like to push out of this heat.
36:50It is one hot day right now.
36:52The Makata Plain is hot, flat, full of grass, mud.
36:57In the rainy season, now it's dry with huge cracks, drying
37:02cracks in the mud.
37:04There's no trail, so we're walking completely cross country.
37:07We're out of water, and people are starting to get tired.
37:19Let's get around this thing, huh?
37:20Surely he must be stuck.
37:22Do you, uh, is he staked out there, or is he, uh?
37:25You think he's stuck?
37:29What's he doing?
37:31Is he going down?
37:32Let's not waste time, guys.
37:34What's he, uh, ask him what he's going for.
37:37Oh, he's not very well at all.
37:40Nah, he's dying.
37:42Yeah, he's not very well.
37:46It says something about the Maasai love of cows, that they've walked away from our expedition.
37:50No explanation.
37:51No explanation.
37:51Just walked straight away.
37:53Try and rescue that cow.
37:55That's so...
37:55No, he looked visibly upset when he came upon it.
37:58Yes.
37:58He had no doubt about it.
37:59Even when Pasquale said, come on, come on.
38:01He just completely ignored Pasquale.
38:04Maybe he was trying to go to drink water, but there was, uh, big mud, and, uh, he couldn't
38:13come out.
38:14And we went there with the solo and just helped.
38:18Because Masai, usually they, they feel, when they see somewhere cow, Masai cows, they
38:24feel like, maybe I can feel like my cows.
38:30Because those scenes back there, spearing the cow, they look pretty brutal, didn't
38:34they?
38:34But this shows, really, where the heart is with the cow.
38:40Oh, look, look, it's getting up.
38:42It's getting up.
38:42There you go.
38:43They put it to its feet.
38:45Yeah.
38:46Look at that.
38:46Oh, that's amazing.
38:47Oh, wow.
38:51Good job, guys.
38:54Oh, that's very moving, actually.
38:57Let's go.
39:01Everybody listen up.
39:02If that happens to Pasquale, I want you to do the same thing, okay?
39:05Dears and tails.
39:06Pulling out of the mud.
39:10Go.
39:11Go.
39:14Go.
39:16Go.
39:17Go.
39:19Go.
39:20Go.
39:20Go.
39:20Go.
39:22Go.
39:222.7 miles and we've got camp, huh?
39:26But one level, I'm simply looking for possible signs of water, and so that includes, for example, there's some
39:33fever trees, which are acacias that grow along river banks. So I'm looking for water signs.
39:41There's a water source here.
39:44But it looks like a well rather than just a collection point of rainwater. Clearly the water at some time,
39:49it hasn't been that far away.
39:51It's a very shallow bucket, so this might have been left over from the rainy season, so I'd guess no
39:58more than a meter down below that sand is good water.
40:05What do you think is why?
40:07I've heard of rivers that people call crystal clear or muddy dumps, and I've seen rivers that people call muddy
40:12and just aren't that bad.
40:14Dying with anticipation to see what this river looks like.
40:26It's not exactly the river I had in mind.
40:31African rivers generally flow milky brown.
40:35There's so brown that you can see the swirls of the mud in the river.
40:39You can't expect anything more than that for African water.
40:42So we might have to filter it a little bit.
40:44Yeah, yeah, yeah.
40:46How do we do that?
40:47I've got a bit of charcoal.
40:48This is a place used by the local people to collect water.
40:51It's not brilliant.
40:54You can see how cloudy it is.
40:55And that's a problem with the dry season generally.
40:57The flow isn't continuous, so you get a buildup of bacteria and so on.
41:03Greeny towel.
41:04Put that over there.
41:04I'm just going to munch up some charcoal that I got from this morning's fire.
41:11And build up the charcoal, filter the water out.
41:14That's the first stage of the process.
41:16And once you've cleared the water, then you can boil it and so on.
41:19There's much less risk of infection.
41:24What if there are any crocs in here?
41:26We'll find out.
41:27It's not exactly the river I had in mind, but it'll do.
41:30It's water.
41:31One of the beauties about getting to camp early, finally,
41:34is that we can set up camp and we can take a bath.
41:39I've been waiting for this for days.
41:41Yeah, me too.
41:42Ah, yeah, that's what I'm talking about.
41:45Yeah, it feels great.
41:55I suddenly don't feel as clean as I thought.
41:59Yeah, I've been wonderful to eat a few 30 seconds ago.
42:03And now I realize, I don't know, I've been sharing the bath with a whole lot of cows.
42:08The whole thing is actually quite surreal.
42:12You couldn't even make that stuff up.
42:14And it happens here in Africa.
42:20Water has become the most critical element for the success or failure of this expedition.
42:29And it's scary because the further west we go, the drier it gets, the hotter it gets.
42:36It's a little daunting to know that we really haven't come out of the worst yet.
42:41In fact, we're heading towards the worst.
42:44Part of what we wanted to do in taking on this expedition was to challenge ourselves
42:49and find out, are we as tough as all of these great explorers?
42:54You really do find out what you're made of out here.
42:57And I think that's the journey for us.
43:10Finally, huh?
43:12Yeah.
43:13We've arranged for a car to meet us once we get to a major road
43:15so that we can drive around the major towns and villages
43:18and tackle the toughest sections of Stanley's journey.
43:23All right, let's go.
43:24All right, let's get out of here.
43:27We are leaving the Makata Plains and we're heading to the Cigarro Mountains.
43:38Next time on Expedition.
43:40Hold it down, guys.
43:41Hold it down.
43:42The minute it starts raining, you find yourself no longer tracking but suddenly surviving.
43:46The African rains bring misery and open old wounds.
43:49Until you've taken a teammate that you love and wrapped their body in a tarp
43:53and carry them out for three days, then you don't understand.
43:56You have to have to do it anyway.
43:59Butolo is this Friday?
43:59You're my favorite company.
43:59You're my favorite company.
43:59You've been on holiday.
44:02You can never int Sean because we know me,
44:03It was浮巾 and he lived because he's doing it.
44:05You