02x04 - African Plains

[bunniefuu]

So, I am going to test my secret weapon.

That'll keep a leopard or two away from me
tonight.

The image of Africa is one of majesty and
danger, beauty and challenge, home to an

incredible variety of wildlife and an
impressive variance of landscapes.

Africa maintains a nearly mystical
reputation.

For this survival odyssey,
I'm headed into classic Africa,

the kind I have seen in movies
and documentaries for years.

I'm headed into the north edge of South
Africa.

Thousands of hectares of scrub brush and
forests, cliffs and plains.

In the extreme pre-dawn, well before any
major breezes have had the chance to blow

up, I'm able to launch into the
picturesque scene they call Africa by one

of the most beautiful ways to see the
world.

Here we go!

Hot air balloon.

This is Africa.

Big skies, open plains and jungles.

And down there, there are wildebeest and
antelope, surviving in the same land as

the predators, the lion and the cheetahs,
the hyenas.

And by hot air balloon
has to be one of the most

spectacularly beautiful
ways to see this continent.

You can just drift and glide silently over
top of the game.

You can get close down and see everything.

It's absolutely stunning.

But what if you were down there and you
had to survive alone for seven days?

Well, I'm going to find out.

Well, that's it then.

Crew's taking off.

And they'll leave me here absolutely alone
for the next seven days.

In the middle of a remote stretch of
Africa.

I've landed in an area just on the edge of
some plains.

There's a bit of forest all around me and
not much else.

There's no question that this balloon
basket will come in handy for survival.

I'm barely here a half an hour.

Some wicked lightning and here comes the
rain.

It's coming right at me and it's going to
be a strong downpour.

I can see if I can pull the parachute
here, but it weighs a lot.

I don't think I can pull the whole thing.

I figured I'd have time to cut it up and
maybe use it.

I tried to plan this
challenge around landing

the balloon and
setting up for the night.

But weather can change quickly and foil
some of the best laid plans.

Hey, hey, hey, hey.

Okay, here it comes.

I'm out of time.

Gotta watch where you're running,
too.

Okay.

Part of the hot air balloon is actually a
bit of... it's wool.

And I wanted to make sure that I kept it
dry so I can use it as a blanket tonight.

It's gonna be a long seven days.

Well, I can't wait forever.

It just keeps on raining here.

And that big hot air balloon is one big
tarp that I can use.

So I think I'm just gonna
go out in the rain as

it is, get it here and
then get underneath it.

Otherwise, I'm just sitting
under some branches

here, getting dripped
on the whole time.

It might be in between thunder clouds
here.

I'm gonna do this sort of without rhyme or
reason.

I'm just gonna cut something off I can use
just to get me through the night.

Yeah, I hear ya.

Come on, just give me 15, 20 minutes here.

Come on, that's 15 minutes.

Not three.

Okay.

Oh.

That's the wool.

Come on with me.

The lower section of the balloon itself is
made of wool, which will be really handy.

But all my movement out in the open like
this can attract dangerous predators.

Now it can rain.

The coolest thing.

The bottom of this basket
has a big foam sponge,

so that's gonna give me
a nice cushion to lie on.

And that'll help.

It's not gonna stop a lying.

But I've got a few tricks up my sleeve yet
for protection.

At least I'll be drying here tonight
anyway.

The advantage of having
the ripstop nylon balloon

material in the basket for
a survival situation is huge.

Not having to build a
rain-proof shelter out of the

bush saves me an incredible
amount of time and energy.

Time to test my line of defense.

If something comes at me from the front,
here's what I can do.

Oh yeah, baby.

That'll do.

With the sun dropping down, I'll let you
know my challenge this time.

It's first to survive here in the plains
of Africa, then make my way through very

dangerous lying territory, go up to the
top of that plateau in behind me,

where my crew will rendezvous with me
seven days from now.

It's like being in a little wicker home
right now.

Probably the most comfortable I've ever
been surviving.

The moon is intense tonight.

I'm gonna stay inside here with my
fireball-flinging jets at the front door.

All night long, the thunder in the
distance rumbled, so I'm hoping that I can

get away without having another downpour
to deal with.

There we go.

Day two in Africa.

It's a long uphill climb to the plateau,
so obviously I can't carry the basket with

me, but there's a lot inside of it that I
can use.

What's left of a small bottle of water.

My multi-tool.

In this area, they call it a panga.

Machete.

I also got myself an air horn.

That will hopefully at least freak out the
odd lion if he wants to come in close.

And, lastly, I figure if I'm gonna have to
get into real up-close, hand-to-hand

combat with a 750-pound lion, I might as
well have some kind of advantage.

So I asked for and picked up a big ol'
belt knife.

Now that's a knife.

Well, crash landing in a
hot-air balloon at least leaves

you with a number of supplies
that come with the balloon.

The basket itself has given me a fantastic
shelter.

And it is full of cables and rope and
wires and webbing.

It's gonna be just fantastic.

This hot-air balloon came with its own
first aid kit.

There wasn't much in it.

Just a few band-A*DS and some medication.

Believe it or not, simply
combining some basic

medications will give
me an edge on survival.

It's day two, stranded in the African
plains.

The weather has cleared,
so it's time to head back out

and see what else I can
cannibalize from the balloon.

Not really certain what it is I'm doing
here.

Maybe this will work.

Just a ton of rope came out of this
balloon.

This is good.

This is really good.

Plan is to make myself a hammock.

It may seem like such a small thing,
but having the knowledge of various rope

knots can greatly
improve my chances of

survival when coping
with a situation like this.

I now have a hammock.

Before I go anywhere, one thing I could
and should do while I'm here immediately

is set myself up with a sort of a
protective pole walking stick.

And I can even maybe lash on my knife and
turn this into a real protective spear.

So the point here is I want to extend my
reach with this knife.

See that?

Formidable spear.

When stuck in one place, it'll give me a
great advantage to know what's around me.

That's where doing a proper patrol comes
in.

It's all about distance and time.

Making a patrol map is not complicated.

All you need is a watch, a pen,
and paper.

Every time you come upon a distinct
landmark, you make a note of that landmark.

And how much time has passed since the
previous one.

If it's an actual trail that you see,
make a note of its direction.

North and south, or east and west.

This technique originates with the
military.

But it's very effective in any survival
situation.

Whew.

This is what I like to see.

It's not super clean, but it's moving.

There's sand and there's life.

The water's probably fine.

Probably one of the best things I can do
in this kind of heat...

...is get a cool sandana on me.

But the best place to put it, really, is
not up around your head and your face.

..

...but actually, if you can, wrap it around
your neck so that your carotid arteries.

..

...take the coolness.

Cattail.

It grows all over the world.

Mmm.

Excellent.

The thing about the c*ck...

...you can eat a different part of it
almost every season of the year.

Hmm.

This is unfortunate.

I was hoping this might be a termite nest
that I could...

...chow down on and get in there and get
some termites to eat for lunch.

But it seems to be riddled with snake
holes.

Old termite holes are a favorite haunt of
the formidable black mamba snake.

Plenty of room for it to wind up its up to


And if this is its
home, it will sh**t out

with great aggression
to defend its territory.

A man once woke up to realize that a mamba
had slipped into his sleeping bag.

By the time his friends had grabbed his
shoulders and pulled him out...

...which took only about three seconds,
the mamba had bitten him 13 times.

He didn't make it.

Okay, the results of my patrol map were
great.

Because of this map now, I can find my
way...

...to and from the small river,
the creek, with the flowing water...

...whenever I need to fill up and get a
drink and get rehydrated.

This way, I can find my way there and
back...

...even when I'm not feeling really good,
if I'm disoriented.

And if I was with somebody, I can say,
here, here's the location to the water.

They can take it, head out to the water
and find their way back.

Patrol maps, they're worth their weight,
that's for sure.

As the skies darken, the sounds of Africa
are keeping my senses on high alert.

Okay, I am listening to something very
large.

Growl and moan and groan.

Not too far from here.

I would say, at the most, a quarter of a
kilometer about...

...you know, about a two tenths of a mile
sort of thing.

I have no way of knowing whether it's a
wildebeest, buffalo, leopard, or a lion.

So I am going to test my secret weapon.

There we go.

That'll keep a leopard or two away from me
tonight.

Morning of day three.

Thought I was gonna storm up, like batten
down the hatches.

Never did rain though.

Thundered a lot.

I'm gonna get on the move today.

I have three days left before I have to
rendezvous with the crew.

And that means I have to get moving today.

Heading towards the plateau, through lion
territory.

If I could, I would take all of the
advantages of the hot air balloon with me.

But there's only so much I can carry on my
back.

It's not so easy to leave a place of
security.

What have we here?

I think I see a spot I can use.

All day I've been hiking in the brutally
hot sun.

And that's enough.

So we got this tree and that tree over
there I'm gonna use for my hammock.

Now this is survival.

And here it comes, turning right back on
me.

Whoa!

sh**t!

Okay, this is not gonna be fun now.

Fortunately for me, the heavy winds were
just a false alarm.

There'll be no storm this day.

I'm not far, maybe about 100 yards from
where I've set up the hammock.

And a nice dry river bed here I can pull
some water from.

So, this is definitely a good spot to get
some water.

Not necessarily this muddy water.

I suppose if I really had to I could drink
it.

But my assumption
is that the ground is

saturated with probably
animal feces and urine.

Ooh, what the heck is that?

Ooh, there's some big holes in the side
there.

And I better be careful because there
could easily be snakes in those holes.

So I want to be able to get fresh water
out of this.

As you can see, it's pretty much just mud.

What I'm gonna do is dig myself a hole.

Scoop out.

It's already starting to fill in with
water.

It's really as simple as that.

While I let the water
seep in, I want to satisfy my

curiosity about some of
the holes in the mud wall.

Big mistake.

That gave me a fright.

Maybe a stupid move on my part,
eh?

Some deep holes in this cliff side.

And, uh... In my situation, probably
not smart to, uh, try poking in them.

I think I just woke up a hornet's nest in
the other hole.

Oh, boy.

Nice juicy ant.

The ant bums...

Hmm.

Are quite tasty.

With protein.

You can munch on the little ant bums.

The docile ants.

Don't go after the aggressive ants.

The little docile ants, the big ones with
the big bums.

The protein.

Let's go see how my water's making that.

If I had to, I could just simply drink
this as it is.

But what I can do is, of course,
use my bandana.

And, uh, get some water that way.

It's working.

Well, that ought to clean the system out.

I haven't had a fire in nearly three days.

And believe it or not, the medication in
my first aid kit can help remedy that.

Rhino dung.

Protassium permanganate.

An antiseptic.

Glycerin.

For diarrhea.

Watch what happens when you put them both
together.

That's what happens when you put the two
of them together.

Now that I no longer have my big jet
flamethrowers to protect me, this fire

will go a long way towards keeping any
curious leopards in the area at bay.

No shortage of dry material around here,
let me tell you.

Now, I can boil some water up.

Using a plastic bottle.

Alright, I've been drinking that, uh,
chocolate milk, muddy water, so far.

But I'm gonna show you
that you can boil water

in a plastic bottle,
if you really had to.

If you really needed to purify your water.

As long as the flames
only lick the bottle

where it's filled with
water, I should be okay.

Good red hot coals would work even better.

The danger is obviously that I might burn
right through, leaving me without a water

carrying container, or even putting my
fire out.

That's pretty cool, getting water to boil
in plastic.

It's...

deformed it, but... it works.

And that helps to, uh, purify any bad
water you might be able to collect,

even if all you have is a plastic bottle.

There's something big out there.

I'm hoping it's just a wildebeest.

If it's a buffalo, I'm in serious trouble.

Okay.

Now there's two of them.

What do you think?

Maybe they're not music lovers.

This is how I slept.

Got the hammock.

And I used the, uh... The wool
blanket I took off with a hot air balloon.

Because believe it or not, I got a bit
cool.

I took the bottom part of my pant legs
off.

And then I got too cool at night.

Go figure.

I should be moving on today.

We'll see.

We'll see how the rain holds out.

This is a fantastic by-product...

of getting rained on.

Fresh, clean water.

Oh, I'm gonna guzzle up as much of this as
I can.

Well...

This beautiful...

soft...

plant is called weeping wattle.

And in Africa... it's
nature's toilet paper.

So... if you will...

Excuse me.

I gotta go.

Oh, yeah.

The benefits of rain.

Mmm.

Mmm.

Alright, well... I don't know whether
it's because I'm refreshed from all this...

fantastic rainwater...

Mmm.

Or... it was just because
it is a little brighter, but...

I've gotta make my way.

And, uh... I think
I'll take the chance.

The teardown.

Nice not to be traveling in the heat of
the sun.

The plateau is an easy target to hedge
for.

It's a clear landmark in the
distance... beyond the lower planes.

Look at this little bugger.

This guy is going right...
for a sensitive spot.

There have been ticks on me since I
started this thing.

Big ones, small ones, fast ones,
slow ones.

Ones with striped legs.

Ones all red.

Fortunately, not too many of them are
carrying a lot of diseases.

My nerves are now on high alert.

I'm out of the plains and into the
forested area...

where the predators have more hiding
places.

I knew from scouting this area in
advance...

that this particular location...
had a pride of lions in it...

led by a huge 750 pound male.

And the guides in the area told me... there
are a particularly aggressive pride...

when it comes to humans.

This tree here... is where
I'm gonna make... my shelter.

Now I've chosen it... because... it's a
strong enough tree for me to climb on...

if I had to get up out of the way of a
lion.

And it looks like I should be able to
climb it quickly.

There's an obvious huge advantage...

having the balloon material as a tarp in
lion territory.

Still though... it always amazes me...
that you can feel almost protected...

from lions... or even bears for that
matter... with just a thin piece of nylon.

It really just is a false sense of
security.

But I'll take it for now.

Really, by all standards...
it's a bit of a paradise...

compared to what I'm usually used to.

Now I'm still very exposed
here... very wide open to lions... if...

if were there to come in.

So... there's something else I
can do here... that most people do...

to protect your shelter from lions.

And that's find some good solid
Thorn trees... and circle the whole...

perimeter... with Thorn trees.

Now this is the first time... I've ever
made a door... out of a Thorn bush...

let me tell you.

The idea... is I climb inside... pull
this last Thorn tree... in behind me...

and I'm... effectively
surrounded... by acacia Thorn trees.

Apparently... that's
a barrier for lions.

At least it...

buys me a little bit of time... just
enough time... for the lion to get...

a little bit more hungry.

Alright... something
else I can do.

Thick rope... came
from the hot air balloon.

I was wondering... when I was
gonna get a chance... to use it.

And this would be...
the perfect place.

I'm gonna loop the rope up... to the tree
there... dangle it down into... my shelter.

That way... hopefully not... but if I
do have to... make a quick escape...

up the tree...

I've got a climbing
rope... to help me.

Okay... here we go.

I even put a couple
of... loops in it.

Which will give me... maybe something to
grab onto... with my hand... or step into.

Let's get... any advantage I can have...
against a 750 pound lion... I'll take.

Well I'm getting closer.

That plateau... up there... there's
a... a nice... even... way up...

to take me to... where I have
to... rendezvous with the crew.

But I am... still for now... stuck
right in the middle... of lion territory.

So I should talk quieter.

a little muddy...
but it's clean.

Oh yeah... that's lucky...

I got myself... a little crab.

Oh yeah...

Buddy... you... are...
now... nicknamed... dinner.

And don't... nip on anything...
when you're in there.

There we go... I got myself a
meal... however small it might be.

The potassium permanganate...
and glycerin... are working great...

for getting any
fire... going easily.

That's what I like to hear.

A fire in lion territory...
is controversial.

Some feel... it keeps them
away... but many others feel...

it actually attracts them...
since they're naturally curious.

I'm gonna cook me
up... a crab dinner.

Where are you... going?

Come back here.

Gotcha.

Whew... this guy's fast.

There we go.

Into the fire he goes.

This is gonna be good.

While I cook him... let me
tell you... a couple of things.

First of all... it's clear to
understand... that this Thorn bush...

that I have around my shelter...
is probably... fairly inadequate.

It should be
thicker... and higher.

There's not much more...
Thorn bush around here.

Secondly... it's not...

a barrier.

It's a deterrent...
not a barrier.

If the lion wants to get
in here... he's coming in.

Same thing goes for this fire.

It might be a deterrent...
but it's not a barrier.

Okay.

I think he's cooked.

Actually... when he's this small... I
could probably just eat... shell and all.

But I will...

go for the legs.

Mmm.

A little Sandy... but good.

Mmm.

I never thought I'd be eating...
fresh crab... while surviving in Africa.

When you're this hungry...
everything tastes good.

I'm just eating the shell...
my claws... everything.

Settle for the night soon.

Spend all night listening for lions.

You can bet on that.

A night in lion territory... is not
likely one... where I'll see much sleep.

Like.

I'm... hearing something.

Morning can't come soon enough.

All right.

I made it through...
night in lion territory.

And...

I did get attacked...

by about... seven or eight
ticks... through the night.

Hungry little buggers.

Well... I'm not
out of danger yet.

I've still got to get out of here.

And...

head up to an area where... in truth...
here it seems the danger was more...

at night.

Where I'm going... the
danger is more... as I travel.

Because it's... heavy buffalo...

and... elephant territory.

And...

all of them are pretty ornery.

Along with their... little slithering
friend... the black mamba.

Little being anywhere
from... six to...

fourteen feet here.

So...

I'm gonna get up... get on my way...
and see how I do... making it through...

that territory.

This is my little rocky knoll...
I think for sure... for the night.

I'm just gonna check it
out for... snake dens...

snake holes... and
any other dangers.

I've got a little... spot here on
the rocks... somewhat shaded...

somewhat flat... with a really
good view... to the front...

so I can see what's going on around me.

Up on the heights... I might be out of lion
territory... but I'm not out of danger.

Buffalo... are feared
more than lions... in Africa...

for their intense aggressive
behavior... towards humans.

Okay, I swear... I just heard
something growl... over there.

I'm gonna back away slowly.

It seems that the only answer... to
just about everything... in Africa...

is to back away slowly...
whether it's a black mamba...

or a lion... or a buffalo.

If it's anything up here... it's
gonna be a buffalo... and...

that's the last thing... I
wanna... come across.

I don't see anything.

I have no idea... what
that... grumble growl was...

but that was close enough for me.

Before setting up my camp... I better deal
with this... very obvious... snake den.

I'll tell you what... before I actually...
poke around in there... with a stick...

I'll... throw a couple of rocks
at it... see if that does anything.

Nothing yet.

I'll try poking.

Okay, so I doubt... there's anything
in there... it's just an old hole.

And hopefully nothing... is coming
back... to its home... later tonight.

Normally a spot like this... I'd
just... lay out on the rocks... but...

this is... very active... black mamba
territory... so... I'm just gonna get myself...

up off the ground.

Now you might think that... I could pretty
much just... grab any bug... and eat it...

and get some protein.

It's not true.

This guy's a good case in point.

Some of these bugs...

at the very least... aren't palatable...
but often they'll even have...

toxic poison in them.

This guy...

I've got a couple
things... going against him.

Number one... he's got brightly
colored legs... that's the first thing...

you want to look out for.

Bright colors... be careful...
usually means something toxic.

Number two... he's
really cumbersome...

and just plodding along... and just...
bumbling along... right out in the open...

without issue.

And when they do that... means they
probably got nothing... to worry about.

They're probably carrying some
kind of... toxic poison with them.

And number three... and I'm not even
gonna bother... testing this one... is...

do they smell bad?

And often they'll... have a
horrible little odor to them.

So if they meet... three of those... or even
just one of those... three conditions...

then... it's probably a
good... bug to stay away from.

Okay... I'm gonna do something...
that I should have done...

when I first started
off... survival.

That's the piece I want.

If you're doing that... or that.

Throwing stick is about as...
primitive of a... of a hunting implement...

as you can find.

Pretty basic.

Get into Australia... you
know... there are boomerangs...

everywhere else... it's just usually...
some sort of a curve like this.

it's good if you've got... a bit of
a... ball on the end of the head there.

A throwing stick is an advantage...

but it's no guarantee.

There's always a danger... of losing
track of my bearings... and getting lost...

when I go out hunting... but I've
only eaten a few ants... a crab...

and some random wild edibles... in
four days... and I think it's worth it...

to take a chance...
at getting some food.

Just some very small...
leopard tracks... very young one.

I saw lots of... Guinea fowl... when I
didn't have a... throwing stick in my hand.

Much bigger leopard tracks now.

I've seen some small ones...
but that's a good-sized cat.

It makes sense now... to head back to
camp... while I still have a bit of daylight.

It's a starry night.

It's beautiful.

I'm in extremely active... Black Mamba
territory... so my biggest concern...

is obviously snakes.

I'm not too worried...
about leopards.

They should leave me alone.

Especially with this fire going.

Time to break
camp... and get going.

I'll try to hunt for
food... all along the way.

Just over here... there's
some quail... Guinea fowl.

I'll take them back down.

I haven't walked very far.

I'll see if I can get a shot at them.

I had this in... in
the... side of my pack.

I didn't want to have it... in my
hands carrying it... but I guess I will.

So that whole time... I was just talking
to you... there was one down here.

I keep my spear... and my... most important...
my throwing stick handy... this time.

is preparing to enter... foolishly,
on the beginning of my trek...

I had tied my throwing stick... to my
back... so when I first saw The Birds...

it took me too long to pull out the
weapon... and get a good shot away.

One simple wrong decision, and that can
make the difference between survival or not.

It's got to keep guzzling water everywhere
I find it.

This is it.

My last home.

I had been planning to sleep under the
stars tonight, but...

there's thunder rumbling and clouds
pulling in.

Boy, six days with hardly any food,
and you can't stand up too quick.

You get very light-headed, and I'm all
wobbly and dizzy, but same token,

I've got to go get some food.

Mind you, it's come to this.

I'm now chopping termite mounds.

Let's see if I can still a little munch.

I can't even find the big juicy termites.

I'm going to pig out on the little
termites.

There we go.

Four at once.

Mmm.

Oh, and the dirt's a bonus.

Oh, I'm getting stuffed.

To tell you the truth,
I'd much rather set this

tent up like a dome,
with some bent branches.

It makes a much stronger shelter.

But, uh, it's no word of a lie to say I
just don't have the steam anymore.

Well, that's it.

It's my last night in Africa.

And, uh, storms have passed.

Everything's calmed right down.

My only real concern for tonight will be,
uh, scorpions.

There's a lot of scorpion holes around
here.

So I'm going to hope that nothing decides
to come in and sleep with me tonight.

And, uh, and snakes.

But I should get through one more night.

I'm actually not that far from an African
nature reserve lodge now.

But the deal was to meet my crew out on
the plains.

And believe me, the sight of that white
truck gave me a great adrenaline rush.

So for now, I head back to safety after a
week on the African plains.