00x07 - The Great African Adventure

[bunniefuu]

[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]

Thank you, everybody, thank you,

and welcome to what is
a Top Gear Special,

a two-part adventure
around the heart of Africa.

We were each told to buy
a second-hand estate car

here in Britain
for not more than 1,500 quid.

And then we were told to report,
with our cars,

to the start line, which was
in a small village in rural Uganda.

So, you've seen Sir David Attenborough's
take on Africa,

now it's time to see ours.

CLARKSON: I was the first to arrive
and I was feeling a biz' nervous.

As you can see,
I've gone for a BMW 528i,

and on the Internet,
it looked fantastic.

But I've now had the chance
to examine it more closely,

and one or two things are giving me
cause for concern.

For example,
it's got a manual gearbox.

Now, that tells me the previous owner
was the sort of chap

that likes to take it to the max
between gear changes.

Secondly,
the front tyres are Pirellis,

the back tyres are made by a company
I've never heard of.

So that tells me
it's been run on a tight budget.

I don't know what the challenge
is going to be, but...

I'm going to be doing it like that.

- [ENGINE REVS]
- Oh, hang on,

that is the throb
of a turbocharged flat-4 engine.

A sound which, all over the world,

heralds the imminent arrival
of a moron.

CLARKSON: And it did here, too.

It's Richard Hammond, everybody,

who I suspect has started
to dye his hair.

See what you think.

Hammond!

- And there it is.
- It is, yes.

It is the... Well, there can
be only one word, legend.

Subaru Impreza WRX estate.

And driven by emeritus professors
all over the world.

- Yeah, yeah. No, no. just hang on.
- Vicars' wives.

Here's my thinking.
I don't know what's going to face us,

what challenges face us here,
but think about it.

"Subaru" stands for
"Toughest Thing On The Planet",

"WRX" stands for "World Rallycross",
which the Impreza just owned.

It's all there. Four-wheel-drive,
turbocharged estate.

But you're going to look
stupid doing it.

I don't have to look.

You've turned... I know I'm wearing
double denim, and that is a mistake,

but you've got Daktari trousers on,
and the wheels of the agri-yob.

- It actually looks a bit like you.
- What?

You know, small, and with
a sort of surprised expression.

"A tree!"

- Yes...
- "A house!"

- Well, that's perfect!
- It's terrible!

My face in that car.
I'm... Honestly, I'm so chuffed.

This time, I've done this right.

- Big boot.
- Practical.

- Practical?
- So, what have you got?

- Oh!
- 528i, rear wheel drive, 2.8 straight-6.

- How many miles has it done?
- 151,000. This, though,

is the last of the mechanical 5-series.

After this,
they started using computers.

What, their solid state?

This is simple, mechanical engineering.

- Anyway, listen.
- Yes?

- James isn't here.
- No.

No surprises there.
I know, for a fact, what he's got.

- Go on.
- He'll have a Volvo.

Yeah.

- He just will. He'll have gone...
- Yes, yes, yes, he will.

... "Estate car..." Because you know
he's got no imagination at all.

CLARKSON: As it turned out,
James did have a Volvo,

but not the sort of Volvo
we were expecting.

- That isn't an 850R, is it?
- It is, it is!

- That's a bold call!
- Gentlemen.

- HAMMOND: Yes?
- You bought an 850R?

It doesn't matter, it's a Volvo.

This defines the estate car.

Nothing else is an estate car,
only this.

Have you seen the tyres on an 850R?

HAMMOND: Well, there aren't any.
MAY: It has tyres...

- Painted on.
- It's just

a thin veneer of paint
on a wheel.

But they're high-performance tyres.
It's a high-performance car.

- CLARKSON: I know, standing on dust!
- It does 146mph.

Do you remember British Touring Car
Championships? These were

- great fun to watch.
- MAY: Exactly.

And they were on dirt tracks,
weren't they?

- CLARKSON: No.
- Racetracks.

Yes. Do you think when Volvo sat down
to the design the 850R, they said,

"Now, Africa. We need to try and get
some market share over there,

"so let's lower the suspension,
fit very low-profile tyres."

They didn't think that
in so many words.

- Hang on...
- When you design a Volvo,

- you design it for everything.
- It doesn't look at home, does it?

That looks at home.

That looks at home on the M4
in the outside lane,

too close to the car in front,

being driven by an embittered
toner distribution manager.

- [LAUGHS] He's right.
- MAY: Let's be honest.

That's going to beach.

- It's not.
- It is!

CLARKSON: As we argued,
a challenge arrived.

- Gentlemen.
- Oh, hello.

Here you are.

Uh!

"You will find
the source of the River Nile."

- What, that's it?
- That's it.

Oh, so we're Livingstone,
Burton and Speke!

- Yes, we are.
- And I have the right car!

Oh, come on, for exploring.
If Livingstone was still alive...

He's not, is he?

No. Ken Livingstone is,
but it's not Ken Livingstone.

Right, well, if the other
explorer Livingstone bloke were alive,

he would drive
a Subaru Impreza WRX estate.

Yeah, but Speke, my favourite of all
the Victorian explorers, Beemer man.

- Was he?
- Yeah.

So do we just go that way?

Well, do you know,
I'd head downhill, personally.

Oh, no, no, no, uphill!

Right, uphill.

Looking for the source
of a river, uphill.

Here we go.

The source of the...

- [RUMBLING]
- The source of the River Nile.

CLARKSON: The Nile,
the longest river in the world.

A mighty 4, 000-mile ribbon
of year-round water,

running from the heart of Africa
to the Mediterranean Sea,

bringing life and sustenance
to millions.

Finding its source
has occupied the minds

and claimed the lives of explorers
for thousands of years.

Roman legions, Arab traders,
the Victorian British.

All have forged a path through the vast
heat of this awe-inspiring continent

to find where the raging torrent
came from.

And today, we would join
that illustrious band of brothers.

We would take up the challenge
no matter what the perils,

no matter what the hardships,
no matter what...

I'm sorry to interrupt myself...

- [RATTLING]
- ...but I think we have a problem.

Um... We've found it.

Right.

HAMMOND: Um... Do you...
CLARKSON: Um...

That is Lake Victoria.

MAY: It is.

CLARKSON: Man has known for 160 years
that Lake Victoria

is the source of the Nile,
and it's not like we could miss it.

- It's quite big.
- It's quite large.

- It's the size of Latvia.
- Is it?

- Yeah.
- This exploring is not as hard

- as I thought it would be.
- No, my car hasn't suffered at all.

No, I'm fine.

What are we going to
do for the rest of...

We're only a few minutes in.

We could pretend we have...
If we stand like this...

- No, because you can hear it.
- No, you can't miss it.

What?
Look, we've already found it, you idiot.

That is the source of the Nile.

This is not the source of the Nile.

It is.

"The source of the Nile
is still disputed.

"The Victorians thought
it was Lake Victoria,

"but today we know this huge body
of water is fed by many rivers.

"One of them is the true source,
and even today,

"in 2012, experts have not been able
to determine which it is.

"You will."

You know what?

This is an opportunity for us
to write ourselves

into the history books.

I mean, finding the source of the Nile,
if we can say this is it...

And then it would be marked on a map,
and we'd be able to go, "That was us."

- Yeah. This is quite a big one.
- That is quite good, actually.

- I quite like that.
- What?

Just... It says, "Experts have not been
able to determine which it is."

- Yeah.
- Well, where do we fit in?

CLARKSON: We broke out the map
and discovered that two places

are currently marked
as the source of the Nile.

One in Burundi, found by
a Dr Burkhart Waldecker,

and one in Rwanda,
found by Joanna Lumley.

And since our source had to be
further from the Mediterranean

than either of these two,
it had to be further south.

Hang on, hang on, hang on.
Here's the Nile, okay, but look,

the Nile also comes here,
into this lake and then this lake,

which is connected to that lake.

It doesn't say on the map,
but if these two are connected,

look, this will be the source
of the Nile, down here.

MAY: Yeah,
but if those two were connected,

I think we'd know about it

- by now, and they'd have drawn it on.
- No, no, you say that,

but David Livingstone thought
the source of the Nile was down here.

So what we need to do is go here
and establish these two are joined up,

check it out, we're in business.

CLARKSON:
And so, our epic journey began.

A journey that would see us
taking on nature at its most brutal.

There would be lions, insects

and thick, glutinous mud.

We'd have to climb every mountain
and ford every stream.

And we'd have to do it all
in three second-hand cars

we'd bought
for less than 7,500 quid each.

Right, my car.

Well, it's got quite a sticky throttle,
but other than that,

every single thing works,
even the air conditioning.

I've never, ever had a car with
working air conditioning before

on one of these trips,
but I have now, and it is joyous.

The Impreza is all about
that engine and drive-train.

You're just aware, constantly,
that this is rally bred.

The other two, they're just
sporty versions of ordinary estate cars.

This is the best car here, fact.

It's a cracking car,
the Volvo 850R.

This one's done 145,000 miles.

It's just clicked over, in fact,
onto that figure,

and you wouldn't really know.

It's so smooth,
the transmission is excellent,

the engine is silky,
everything works

except the air conditioning.

But at least that saves me
the effort of getting really annoyed

when the other two deliberately
break it out of spite,

jealousy and small-mindedness.

[SIREN BLARES]

Crikey!
It's the Ugandan rozzers.

[SIRENS BLARE]

I think the President's
just driven past us.

A couple of rules you need to know,
really, about Uganda,

if you're coming here.

Number one,
if you're a male h*m*

and you indulge in your h*m*,

it's life imprisonment.
That's very important to know.

Also, it is compulsory here
for motorcyclists to wear crash helmets,

unless you are a woman on your way
back from the hairdresser's.

Then you are allowed to wear
a carrier bag on your head instead.

[LAUGHS] I promise that's true!

CLARKSON: At this point; the producers
told us to stop off

at the still b*llet-scarred
Entebbe Airport.

It was here, in 7 .976,

that Israeli special forces
staged a daring operation

to rescue passengers
from a hijacked airliner.

MAY: Oh, wow, look at this!

I tell you what, I couldn't be
Israeli special forces.

- You'd get out of breath.
- I couldn't get... I'm exhausted.

HAMMOND:
They'd be all sitting there thinking,

"Oh, help, here comes help," and then...

[IMITATES WHEEZING]

"Sorry, just give us five!"

CLARKSON: More b*llet holes.

Out on the balcony,
we saw something a bit worrying.

Is that a Ford Scorpio?

- HAMMOND: Where?
- There.

Yeah, it is.

MAY: Estate.

- I'd say that's there for one reason!
- I know why the producers...

That's why they brought us here.
Funny.

- Funny.
- Because what that is...

- That's the forfeit car.
- It is.

If one of our cars goes wrong...

Which, let's face it, James,
yours is going to break in half.

I've always liked the Scorpio!

You have not!

You know that word you like, James,
"gopping"?

It is gopping!

That was invented... Nothing has ever
been more gopping than that!

HAMMOND: And as we prepared to leave,

it looked like one of us
would soon be driving it.

- [ENGINE REVS]
- That's full throttle.

It's revving slightly,

but not... I'm not doing it.

You know this all-mechanical BMW
of yours? You were very proud of that.

- Yeah, yeah.
- Does it have a fly-by-wire throttle?

- Yeah.
- [LAUGHS]

- It's all mechanical, except that bit?
- Shh! Shh!

HAMMOND: jeremy broke out
his vast and sophisticated toolkit.

What else is electrical in here?

BOTH: Not the exhaust manifold.

- [LAUGHS]
- I've done the fuse box,

if that's what that is.

- That's an air filter.
- It's not, it's an air filter.

Right... "It's all mechanical,
you can mend it with a hammer!"

- If this works...
- HAMMOND: Yes?

[ENGINE REVS CONSISTENTLY]

[GUFFAWS]

Soldier on.

CLARKSON: With my throttle
still not working brilliantly,

we set off for the lakes.
But first we had to get through

Uganda's capital city, Kampala.

[HORNS BLARE]

HAMMOND: This is going to turn out
to be one of those places

with terrible crash statistics.

CLARKSON: In fact, Hammond was wrong,

because to have a crash,
first you have to be moving.

CLARKSON: Holy cow!

That is...

We're never, ever, ever
going to get through.

What are we going to do,
seriously, here?

We're never, ever
going to get through there.

CLARKSON: It's probably safe to say
the Victorian explorers

didn't face problems as big as this.

Uh, Jesus!

Sally Traffic, are you watching this
on Radio 2?

Because this is what we call
a traffic jam. From now on, just go,

"Everything's going very well
in England, really."

[WHISTLE BLOWING]

Oh, my God.

Hammond, this is phenomenal.

HAMMOND: It is the heaviest traffic
ever, ever seen.

This is just like a scrapyard
on the road, in front.

Cars and vans
piled on top of each other.

Going to finish our days here.

CLARKSON:
Well, we're all right if we want supper.

I fancy a banana.

Excuse me?

Not knowing the exchange rate,
I accidentally bought more than one.

No, it's all right.
Do I have all of them?

Oh, Christ! Oh, bloody hell!

How do you do that?

How the hell do you do that?

I can't! [LAUGHS]

MAY: Three hours later, our
average speed made for grim reading.

Ugh...

It must quieten down soon.

It's evening now.

But it didn't.

It wasn't a dream.

I'm still here.

I can't get over how heavy
those bananas were.

How could she have them on her head?

HAMMOND: By this stage,
we were pretty famished,

but then breakfast turned up.

Wow, that's just a meat feast
in front of me here!

Hang on, look, look. Right...

Thank you... Well, you were here first,
so do I buy yours?

More bones.

Bone.

- What, it's goat bone?
- Yeah.

I don't want that.

How much is the water?

- Yes.
- How much is that?

- This one.
- It just happens to be that.

Obviously, it is. Of course it is.
Thank you very much.

No, thank you. I've got one.

What is it?

Is it a chair leg?

CLARKSON:
Soon, we found a dual carriageway,

a**l at last
the traffic started to move.

Freedom!

That's it, that's the end! A-ha!

MAY:
We headed west; towards the lakes,

surprised at how easy
this exploring was turning out to be.

This is just tremendous.
This is like being in northern France.

Look at that ahead.

Ha-ha, Hammond,
you don't need a Subaru!

This road is fantastically smooth.

Apparently, it was built by the Chinese

in exchange for some oil deal.

It's like the Swiss have done it
with some Austrians.

Yeah, right now, we could be on the M4.

But the point is, further on,
if things get tough, if we end up

off this road and on tracks,

the other two will be
completely stuffed.

I will have the last laugh.

Wow!

It's my town!

We've just entered Jezza.

Oh, no!

When I say we've just entered Jezza,
that's a disgusting thought.

We've come into Jezza.
No, we haven't come into Jezza...

[LAUGHS]

CLARKSON: Even though we were
on an important mission,

I decided we should pull over
and have a look around

Jezza Church.

They've actually had a church
where they worship me.

HAMMOND: "Protect and serve"?

I've never seen that
and those close.

That doesn't make any sense at all.

- My name is Jezza.
- Your name is Jezza?

My name is Jezza.

- What do you think of that?
- Ya, ya, ya.

You'll like this, James.

There is Jezza's back alley.
Well found.

CLARKSON: At this point to demonstrate
that Hammond's car was too small,

James and I bought him a present.

Uh!

- Oh!
- MAY: Do you like it?

HAMMOND: I got the...

We like...
'Cause it's really the Dralon.

- Yeah.
- 'Cause we know you like Dralon

- 'cause you're from Birmingham.
- I do like it.

And we know that you like

the peacock and cheetah blend
which gives

- an African and yet Birmingham flavour.
- Yes!

MAY: And I've put it in my car

- and we know it fits.
- We know it fits, and mine.

- It fits in both our cars.
- Does it?

- Yes, it does.
- Does it really?

- Yes, it does.
- Precisely into your car?

- It fits! It's snug.
- Is it? Snug.

Anyway, Hammond, if you'd like to...

There are plenty of people here
who can help you.

Good.
Let's pop it in the back of my car.

Okay, now, um, maybe I could...

[WHISPERS] I think he's started
to dye his hair.

Do you?

Have a look. He's 45
and there isn't a grey...

- You know Paul McCartney?
- Yeah.

Go and have a look at that.

HAMMOND: I think if I maybe...

- [WHISTLES CASUALLY]
- Oh, easy, yeah. That'll fit.

Yeah.

HAMMOND: Um...

Is it nearly in? Let's have a look.

Pretty close.

What you've got now is
like a big rear spoiler.

- [LAUGHS]
- That's how it runs.

Right, I think it is time
to pull out of Jezza.

I just hope nobody sees me doing it.

MAY: As we headed further West,
we discovered that rural Uganda

is the world capital
of the speed hump.

Oh, God!

[SCRAPING]

Ah-ya-ya!

CLARKSON: James is now regretting
selecting the R.

Ooh!

If they get any bigger,
I've had it, if I'm honest.

MAY: Annoyingly, though,
the speed mountains

didn't seem to worry the agri-yob.

Easy. No problem, goodbye.

Ah!

But Jeremy and I suffered
for mile after graunching mile.

Uh!

- That's it, no more.
- [CLUNKS]

Apart from that one.

But that really was
the absolute last one.

- Whoa!
- [CLUNKING]

Oh. my God!

Uh!

- Relax.
- [JUDDERING]

Not yet.

MAY: As night started to fall,
it was time to look for a hotel.

'oh!

And Hammond thought we'd stand
a better chance of finding one

if we switched to the side roads.

- Which was a great idea.
- Whoa!

- MAY: Whoa!
- Argh! I can't stop!

- [CRASHING]
- MAY: Oh! You idiot!

CLARKSON: I can't stop it!

- [CRASHING]
- MAY: Well, I can't stop it, either!

I'm enjoying the sounds
of disaster behind me.

MAY ON RADIO:
Hammond, there '0' better be

a really good hotel at the end of this.

These buildings down here,
there'll be a very nice hotel.

One of those with a posh book in it.

So, in your mind,
because there's tea being grown,

there's a sort of plantation house
with a veranda and somebody saying,

"Would you like a gin sling?"

People in white linen suits with
hats on have to come to tea plantations

to test and buy tea
for supermarkets.

I've seen it on the television.
They will need hotels to stay in,

there will be one near
the tea plantation, if not in it.

Fact.

MAY: Hammond...

HAMMOND ON RADIO: What?

If we're about to rejoin
that main road,

I'm going to have to get out
and k*ll you very slowly, I'm afraid.

I believe that is what has happened...
Yeah.

CLARKSON: Still, at least
it's a lovely evening.

There you go. I told you there
would be a hotel, and there it is.

CLARKSON: I don't see anybody coming out
to help with our luggage.

HAMMOND ON RADIO: $0, let's go check in.

Jesus.

- That is characterful, isn't it?
- CLARKSON: No.

Have you heard of
those boutique hotels?

Small,
with a style all of their own?

You're getting that room.

This one's got a chair and a table.

I don't think you'd even notice
the smell, after a while.

Oh. my God!

[SHOUTS] Hammond!

The next morning,
desperate to redeem himself I

Hammond called
an emergency breakfast meeting.

Let's just face reality here.

We're in Africa, and we're not in
a big, touristy bit of Africa, are we?

MAY: No.

All the hotels are going to be like that
or worse, and I've had an idea.

If you suggest camping,
there will be a live

- and celebrated televisual death.
- I promise you,

your love affair with tenting...
No, I'm not camping.

It's not, I, I... I...

Let me finish. I haven't said tents.

- We've all three got estate cars, yeah?
- Yes.

Why don't we sleep in the cars?

We can control it, it's ours,
they're dry, warm...

- just get in the car.
- Actually, that's not a bad idea.

Get a sleeping bag, sleep in your car.

If I could get a mattress that hasn't
got excrement all over it...

But seriously,
you could get, you could...

You could get a mattress
in your car, easy.

MAY: I could easily get one.
I'm not sure about you.

- CLARKSON: Did he have that as an idea?
- He sort of did, yeah.

Come on, it's like camping,
but it's not camping,

'cause there's no tents...

No, you're right, it's a good idea,
but don't do that, "Come on,"

as if we're supposed to go,
"Hammond, you're brilliant",

you've just about redeemed yourself
with quite a good idea.

He hasn't redeemed himself.

And this is where you've
brought me for breakfast.

No breakfast, then, obviously,
because Christ The King,

as it turns out, is shut.

- Christ The King hasn't risen yet.
- [LAUGHS]

That's the problem.

[ALL LAUGH]

Right, come on. It's a plan,
it's stuff to do.

HAMMOND: We split up,

and set about getting the stuff
we '0' need to convert our cars.

The best hotel room I ever stayed in
was in South Beach, in Miami,

and what I'm going to try and do
is replicate the decor there

in the back of my Beemer.

- Morning.
- Morning.

Do you have any white cotton?

HAMMOND: Ooh...

And it's got a c*ck on it. Yeah,

I'll have one of them
and the kettle. Thank you.

- Nails?
- Yeah.

Deal

[WOMEN LAUGH]

There we go.

And this is half-inch? Perfect.

That's quite a lot, isn't it?
That's more than I expect...

I didn't think it was this long,
I'll be honest.

Uh...

- [HORN BEEPS]
- Oh!

Sorry!

Yes.

This kind of size...

For me. Small.

Standard size. Six feet.

Five foot seven is enough.

Well, five foot seven and a half.

HAMMOND: With all our materials bought,
we set to work.

This is epic!

And then met up
to reveal our creations.

Gentlemen,
behold the future of exploring.

I've given this some thought.

- CLARKSON: It'll be a mouse cage.
- No. Look!

- MAY: Wow!
- Let me talk you through it.

I'm just going to climb into
the sitting area at the back,

but it's not just a sitting area,
note the footwell for the feet.

- Where the spare wheel was?
- Yeah, yeah.

- Where's that now?
- It's gone. There's a bin in here.

But you can't fail
to notice the kitchen.

- CLARKSON: Mmm-hmm.
- Burners, gas,

taps, running water, cold and cold.

- Do these work?
- Yes, yes, yes...

- So you've got a gas bottle in here?
- Yes.

CLARKSON: Yeah, that's fine.

Under-storage there, cupboard,
full of useful things for me.

Along here, everything I need
for cooking and eating.

- It's all...
- And where do you sleep?

There. There's the bed. You see?
Let me get out.

Leopard-skin sheets.

HAMMOND: We are in Africa.
Come and have a look.

See?
You can go in by the side entrance

- if you wish.
- CLARKSON: Question.

- HAMMOND: Yes?
- Our gift.

Well, there wasn't room for it.

Actually, that is now
my upstairs sitting room.

- Is it?
- Yes.

CLARKSON: Well, let's move on to
have a look at May's car, shall we?

You will see
a gentleman explorer's quarters.

It's got a globe, it's got a telescope,
it's got maps, it's got music...

- CLARKSON: It's a library, James.
- Yeah. Look at the range of books.

Things you don't need when you're
looking for the source of the Nile.

Number one, library.

Well, if you look carefully, you'll see
some of the books are about exploring,

plus there's a selection
of English poets to read in bed.

Do any of the books contain the exact
location of the true source of the Nile,

in which case it's a rather
wasted exercise, anyway?

- No, but it's inspiration.
- So there's a library

- in the front...
- Yes.

...and I'm guessing, in the back,
some kind of dungeon.

- Whoa!
- That's not a dungeon, is it?

It's living quarters
combined with a workshop.

That's... I'm genuinely astonished.

Would you like me to run through
what's in there?

CLARKSON: Not really.

- May I just sneak in, do you mind?
- MAY: Yes.

That doesn't look terribly comfortable.

It's been good enough for the Army
for several hundred years.

And this will just make you itch.

It's an itchy blanket. It's designed
to remind you how lucky you are.

So you can cook food for us, you can
mend mechanical things that go wrong.

- Keep us going.
- What have you done?

- What have I done?
- Yes.

You might want to come
and have a look.

I should warn you, there are
two electronic things on this car.

The throttle, which is broken,
and the electronic boot release,

which is broken,
so I've fitted a manual replacement.

And there you are.

What I've done is I've filled it with
Egyptian cotton and duck down.

Um... Is that a coffin?

Yeah. Who knew a coffin
was dual purpose? But it is.

It could be used for bodies,
or I've used it as a chest of drawers.

Washing things, clean clothes,
dirty clothes and shoes.

Can I just say, it's all very nice,

but you haven't, sort of,
considered your colleagues' needs.

Well, there are two features on this
car that you might be interested in.

In the front, gentlemen, we find here,
instead of a passenger seat...

Oh, so you have thought
of sustenance, a fridge!

That's good, that's good.

And it runs off the cigarette lighter
in the car.

That's a tradable commodity
you've got there.

It is, but something
even more useful than beer...

No, actually, no.

Nearly as useful as beer,
is what I've fitted over here.

A shower.

And if we peel back the curtain...

HAMMOND: Oh, it's a complete
bathroom in there.

Oh, yeah. So, you lower this window...

HAMMOND: It lowers it automatically?

CLARKSON: Hang on.
Yes, it does, but...

HAMMOND: It's not going.

There are three electrical components
on this car, as it turns out.

MAY: I get it, though, the window goes
down, and that lowers the bog seat,

- is that right?
- Yes, exactly.

MAY: That's quite good.
HAMMOND: That's quite theatrical.

- It doesn't work, but it's very...
- Well, the battery's somehow gone flat.

I suspect the fridge is drawing

- quite a lot of power.
- MAY: Mmm.

- Can I have a jump?
- No.

CLARKSON: With the BMW re-energised,
we set off once more for the lakes.

So, here we are now,
Livingstone, Burton and Speke

in full explorer mode.

James, with those modifications,
will have added,

got to be getting on for a tonne,

which will have reduced
his ground clearance

from one inch to much less
than one inch.

What an idiot.

[BANGING]

I have made it quite heavy.

Still, could be worse.

CLARKSON: I've uncovered one design
feature in here that I don't like.

The driver?

No. Every time I brake,
my curtain closes.

Braking...

CLARKSON: Despite my terrible hardship,

we carried on,
and soon we turned off the road

where the speed humps
were frequent...

[JUDDERING]

...and onto a road where
they were continuous.

[CONSTANT JUDDERING]

Oh, God!

Nice. Washboard gravel.
My favourite.

Once again, though,
the agri-yob was unfazed.

More like it.

Finally, I get to do some Subaru-ing.

[IMITATES CAR ENGINE]
Whoo-hoo! Whoo-hoo!

[LAUGHS TRIUMPHANTLY]

CLARKSON: Because we were now
off the beaten track,

we started to encounter more animals,

but sadly, as we saw in Botswana,

the Top Gear cameramen do struggle
when they're not filming cars.

HAMMOND: No, there!

Did you see that, Hammond?
It was a monkey.

Did you get it? Elephant!

What elephant?

HAMMOND ON RADIO: Elephant on
the right-hand side of the road.

CLARKSON:
Ooh, this is strangely familiar,

you telling me about animals
that you've just seen that I haven't.

[LAUGHS LOUDLY]

Oh, you evil sod!

That reminds me
of a television programme.

James, can you think what
that television programme was?

Shut up, shut up!
Shut up, shut up, shut up!

Was it Richard Hammond coming to you
from a tent in the dark?

Was it that one?

CLARKSON: Hammond, there was
a little man, and he kept saying,

"I've had an amazing day,
I've seen lots of animals,

"but sadly, this is live
and it's dark now."

Shut up!

CLARKSON: Eventually, we arrived
at Lake Edward.

Whoa, whoa, whoa,
that's a beautiful lake.

50 beautiful, in fact, we decided
to stop on its shoreline

for a night
in our new accommodation.

Right, let's pitch the tents. Done.

Beer?

- It's already chilled.
- That would be lovely.

I'll put dinner on.

- MAY: Oh, God!
- What?

My bed's gone out of alignment.

- Oh, you've got problems.
- There we go.

- What's your problem?
- Nothing.

No, what's your problem?

Nothing. I think the chair,
the fringe has just slightly...

- What is your problem?
- Oh, dear!

CLARKSON: Is this every single thing?

- I'm just going to tidy up.
- It's Hammond's kitchen nightmare.

[ALL LAUGH]

CLARKSON: We sat
and watched the sun go down,

looking forward to Heston Hammond's
delicious dinner.

- I'm enjoying the bean course.
- Yeah, good.

- What's next?
- Beans.

Can you honestly not cook anything
other than beans?

No.

- What's that?
- HAMMOND: Flypaper.

CLARKSON: Do you still not like insects?

You know, they've got their place,

in the world, or something.

- Is it in your car?
- No.

CLARKSON: Then, it was time for bed.

Nobody in the history of Africa has
ever been more comfortable than this.

I'm under a layer of duck down
and Egyptian cotton,

I'm watching Kristin Scott Thomas
in a film

where she's bound to do lesbionics
at some point.

I've had some beans.

Oh, this is just heaven.

[HORN BLOWS]

What's for breakfast?

MAY: Beans.

MAY: Today, our exploring
would begin in earnest,

but first; we had to mend
Jeremy's car, again.

What you need under here,
is an M8 screw,

and a home-made little clip made out
of tin, which I've got in there.

Easy.

While I was doing this,

Jeremy had time to develop
one of his theories.

Gentlemen, this is a map, okay,
of what all these famous explorers

told the Victorian English was Africa.

Now, look at the Sahara Desert.

HAMMOND:
Which is really tough and difficult,

we've been there, it's horrible.

Yeah. All done,
every nook and cranny explored.

- This is really tough.
- Sudan, impossible.

- Awful.
- All done.

But, here, in this pleasant
Garden of Eden where we are now,

unexplored territories.

What was holding them up?

- Here?
- Yes.

It's not mountainous, every tree
has got food growing out of it.

It's a good point, when you think
about it. There's nothing here

that would stop you.
Gentle wooded hills...

CLARKSON: Temperature?
MAY: Lovely.

CLARKSON: Yet they kept coming out
here and saying, "Oh, very difficult,

"I must go out there for five years.
I shall probably be lost."

- It all stinks a bit, doesn't it?
- Yeah.

So let's just work it out.
England, go home.

Would you like to go to Mrs Simpson's
piano recital this evening?" Or,

they come out here, dusky maidens,
lovely temperature,

very pleasant views,
great food, get a tan...

Write home, tell them it's awful.

Yes, exactly.

Send a letter. "Dear Mrs Hammond.
It is with a heavy heart I write to say

"we have not seen Richard
for three years."

"He's in the vice-like grip of..."
What's-her-name? Fever.

I'll put that in. Fever, yeah.

- Call it malaria.
- Okay. "Malaria." Yeah.

Basically, our conclusion is
that Victorian explorers were just

a bunch of hoorays
on a very long gap year.

- Am I right?
- BOTH: Yes.

Well-funded gap year here!

CLARKSON: With all that cleared up,
we set off to do exploring.

Our task was to scour
the perimeter of Lake Edward

to see if any of the rivers we crossed

were flowing into it
from the lake below.

If it turned out these lakes
were joined,

we would head south to find
the true source of the River Nile.

Follow me. River this way, gentlemen.

Right, this is actual off-road,
and it's starting to rain.

Oh, f*ck!

This is more like it.

Feeling confident about your choices
of cars now, chaps?

MAY ON RADIO: Are we moving,
Hammond, or not?

Yes. The question is, for how long?
And James, you've gone very quiet.

Yeah, yeah.

This car is just masterful.

[CLUNKS] Whoa!

HAMMOND: James's "masterful" Volvo
was now minus its protective skid plate.

Oh, dear.

Oh, look, it's all under the car.

"They laboured for six long months
to cut off the plastic spoiler."

You do that, I'll go
and write to your loved ones.

Would you, would you?
Make it sound a bit better.

Put a lion in it, some fever...

- Build it from there.
- Exactly.

CLARKSON: With the Volvo mostly mended,
we got back to exploring,

and unlike the Victorian hoorays,
we decided not to shilly-shally.

This is Top Gear exploring.

High-speed exploring!

This is good.
We will cover some ground.

CLARKSON: In the racing Volvo,
though, life was not so good.

Ah!

This is going to be bad.

Ah. argh!

I'm going to have to stop for a minute.

[GROANS]

CLARKSON: Our colleague
was in considerable pain

so we left him behind.

"Dear Mrs May, James has suffered
a terrible back injury

"wrestling a lion.

"He will be home, in maybe five years.
Please send money."

CLARKSON: River, Hammond, river.

Oh, hello, exploring to be done!

CLARKSON: We needed for it
to be flowing north.

- I've got 68 degrees east.
- Yeah, yeah.

It's no good to us.

- Here we go. More exploring.
- [SIREN WAILS]

Yes, now I've got a siren.

It's going that way, east.

- [SIREN BLARES]
- River.

That's the angle
I want you to tell me.

East. It's no good.

CLARKSON: When Captain Back-ache
caught up...

Whoa!

We still hadn't found a river
flowing in the right direction.

I think this is our final bridge.
I think it's the last river.

We don't need to throw a stick in that
to see which way it's flowing, do we?

- MAY: Not really.
- It's going that way.

HAMMOND: It's sort of... South-east.

- South-east?
- Yeah.

CLARKSON: Our theory about the two lakes
being connected was in tatters.

Our expedition seemed
to be at an end.

50 that night in camp,
the mood was despondent.

But then, while poring over the maps,
I noticed something.

Wait a minute, wait a minute...

Hammond! May!

- What?
- Come here, come here, come here.

You see it says here, "Source du Nile"?

- Yes?
- Source of the Nile.

That's Joanna Lumley's, and that's
the furthest the water has to flow

- down a very wiggly river, yes?
- HAMMOND: Yes.

This one is in Burundi, yes?

And this is the furthest the crow flies
from the exit of the Nile. Okay?

- Yes.
- Yes.

I believe they're both wrong.

- HAMMOND: Right...
- Where is the exit of the Nile?

- Alexandria, which you can see on this.
- There.

Okay? So their rivers flow
through Lake Victoria

and then go there into another sea,
inland sea, effectively.

The Mediterranean isn't even tidal,
just like Lake Victoria.

The actual exit of the Nile
is Gibraltar,

'cause that's where it goes
into the ocean.

The ocean is here.

Their sources are both
to the west of Lake Victoria...

- I see what you mean.
- ...which are close.

We are looking for a river
on the east side of Lake Victoria.

- Do you see what I mean?
- HAMMOND: Because it's further...

That's further from Gibraltar.

MAY: So if there was one
down there...

CLARKSON: And I have found it.

Gentleman,
the actual source of the Nile is

around there.

South-east of Lake Victoria.

That's as far from Gibraltar
as you can get. You follow a river

called the Grumeti,
or it's a tributary of the Grumeti,

which I have just traced back.

I can't work out exactly where it is,
but it's about here.

That's the furthest as the crow flies
and it's the furthest the water flows.

- That's extremely good.
- So we're here,

we have to get from where we are now,

on completely the wrong side
of Lake Victoria, to the other side,

that means going through Rwanda,
Tanzania, to there.

HAMMOND: It's such a long way.

- It is a long way.
- It's worth it though, isn't it?

MAY: The next morning,

the Top Gear crew prepared
for the long journey that lay ahead.

Hammond, meanwhile,
cooked breakfast...

Oh, careless.

...and I fitted a new skid plate
to protect the underside of my Volvo.

CLARKSON THROUGH MEGAPHONE
Nobody is allowed to use my car

as a lavatory any more.

[THUMPING]

You could hear my improvised guard
working there,

protecting my vital intercooler
from mud

and sharp points.
To be honest, it is

a bit of an improvisation,
it's not the thickest steel there is.

You have to work with
what you've got out in the bush.

Ahh! I had a cold shower this morning,
my p*nis was like a press stud.

Again.

Going out into the wilderness,
in my little mobile house.

Hello, chaps.

Aw, are you both stuck? [CHUCKLES]

CLARKSON ON RADIO:
Are you stuck, James?

MAY ON RADIO: I've gone into a bit
of a soft bit, are you stuck?

Er... I tell you what, let's find out.

[ENGINE REVS]

Oh, come on!

Ooh!

[CHUCKLES] I've improved
the style of the Subaru, no end!

- MAY: I'm free, as well.
- [CLARKSON LAUGHS]

Thank you, guys,
that was a trap, wasn't it?

CLARKSON: A bit, yes.

You evil sods.

CLARKSON: We pointed our cars
at the border with Rwanda and set off

on a 600-mile journey to what we now
knew was the true source of the Nile.

I wonder if we are heading towards
that massive rain cloud.

Yeah, we are, aren't we?

♪ Hurry, boy, it's waiting there for you

♪ Gonna take a lot
to drag me away from you

♪ There's nothing that a hundred men
or more could ever do

♪ I bless the rains down in Africa... ♪

CLARKSON: As the miles rolled by,
we started to climb into the mountains.

Oh, wow, this is
very, very pretty, here.

But we couldn't really admire the view
because the road was starting

to be a biz' of a test for two
of the 7, 500 quid second-hand cars.

[SCRAPING]

My bash plate is earning its keep today.

Oh, c*ck!

Ooh! Ow.

We are both in the same boat here,
James and I.

It's called HMS Careful.

Yeah, ha-ha!

Meanwhile, far ahead,

my four-whee!-drive Subaru
was scampering along.

Come on, come on!

[LAUGHS]

I am king of the forest.

Oh, bloody hell, look at this one.

Come on, Beemer! Come on!

How is it doing this?

Ooh...

Absolutely no chance.

MAY: Annoyingly, I had to ask
the agri-yob to come back and help.

What's that expression about pig in...

It's Hammond in mud.

Yeah, it'll pull out.

- Give him a tug.
- I'm going to.

[CRASHING]

- Did it hit you?
- Yes, it did.

MAY: What was that?

HAMMOND: It was a huge
chunk of tree just bounced off...

CLARKSON:
And it's smashed my windscreen.

- MAY: Has it?
- Yeah.

Right, we probably should get a move on.

I'll back it up.
James, get your tow rope out.

MAY: Go, go, go.

HAMMOND: As I pulled James free...

MAY: Yes!
Bloody brilliant, Hammond.

...some locals arrived,
and Jeremy decided to give them

a quick lecture on his theories
of off-road driving.

Now, I believe in speed.

Power.

- Power and speed solves many things.
- Yes.

- Right...
- James, how far?

Middle of the puddle.

CLARKSON THROUGH MEGAPHONE
Speed and power!

[BOTH LAUGH]

Go faster!

Speed and power doesn't work.
It was doing quite well.

It was. To be honest,
I was surprised you got that far.

- Do you think you could push it out?
- Yeah.

Yes?

Okay.

HAMMOND: Which way...
Oh, they're lifting...

I've got to get out of the way.
These guys are immensely strong.

- Drive back, drive back.
- Okay.

- Okay!
- Okay.

HAMMOND: Yeah, keep going!

There you go.

HAMMOND: Having freed Jeremy,

the men started to build him a new road.

I wouldn't do that bare feet,
I can't watch. Argh!

MAY: I am assuming
he's never got it wrong

'cause he's still got
an entire right foot.

MAN: Okay.
CLARKSON: Yeah! Three, two,

One!

- [APPLAUSE]
- HAMMOND: Yes!

- [CHEERING]
- Well done, that was amazing.

- MAY: Well done.
- Thank you, guys, that's amazing.

CLARKSON: With my dues paid...

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

...we were back on our way.

It's amazing, those guys actually
turned out to be Ugandan army

up here training.
God, they're strong!

We hoped that that would be
the last of the mud

but as the day went on,
it got even worse.

Oh, no, I've got no steering.
Oh, no, no, no!

MAY: Go!

Thank you.

CLARKSON: It is beached.

Oh, bloody hell!

- Thank you.
- Hit it.

Oh, c*ck!

CLARKSON ON RADIO:
Oh, we 're just going to blow

the clutches to pieces.
We're going to have to pull it out.

Go on, go on, go on,
you son of a...

Ha-ha-ha!

Argh!

That was so damn close.

CLARKSON: And then,
to ado' to the misery,

I discovered
there had been treachery.

- How long has that been there?
- Good grief!

You must have...

Hammond,
I know what your panto face is.

Hammond, where is that?

What are those really big things?

- Hammond, what has...
- They could rip steel.

Oh, it won't do with that there,
will it?

- I know exactly where it is.
- I have no idea

- and you'll never get it out of me.
- May!

Is that thing on the front of your car
made out of my door?

[WHISPERS] Yes, it is.

- Can you give me a tow?
- Is that my door?

What?

It is from my...
I know it's from my door.

Well, you're not using that bit
and it was more useful on my car.

- You didn't even notice.
- That's it, that's it.

- Can you give me a tow?
- No!

CLARKSON: As evening drew in,
conditions started to improve.

This is all feeling a bit Gorillas In
The Mist now. It's a bit mystical.

It's kinda wonderful.

CLARKSON: Thanks to my door,
the Volvo had survived the ordeal.

But in the BM!/14
my throttle problem was even worse

and my handbrake had broken.

Hammond, keep moving, I can't stop,

I can't do hill starts any more.
Keep going.

This has to be one of the toughest days
we've ever had on Top Gear.

There hasn't been a single moment
when one of us wasn't stuck.

No car is built to survive
conditions like this.

None. Not one.

And there were still
more than 500 miles to go.

Keep going, you fool.

CLARKSON: As dawn broke,
the peace and serenity

of this beautiful Ugandan morning

was shattered by
the bellow of a wild animal.

MAY: Clarkson!

Last night, while Hammond and May
were round the campfire

discussing Uganda,

I made an interesting
modification to my car.

Yesterday, I discovered hill starts
were very difficult.

I can't ride the clutch
because of the throttle problem

and I can't use the handbrake
because it's broken,

so what I've done is fitted
this log at the back.

You tow it along normally, but then
when you want to start on a hill,

you let the car roll back onto it,

use it as a wedge

and set off easily.

It's simple, it's elegant,
it's brilliant.

HAMMOND:
As we set off on our long drive,

the mood was a little fractious.

If I know James May at all,
and I'm sorry to have to say I do

he won't be so cross about the theft
of half of his bonnet

as he will be about the shoddiness
of the execution of the theft.

It's not a neat job.
That will rankle.

Look at it!

I mean, that looks like it was done

with a knife and fork
by the council.

It's not square, it's not neat,
he's wasted material,

he's left sharp edges,
it's all bent.

I cannot conceive of the mind of a man
who would look at that

and think that was
the right way to do it.

[OVER RADIO] I don't mind you taking
a bit of my bonnet that's fair.

I do mind you doing
such an appalling bloody job of it,

you ham-fisted oaf!

Honestly, I could do a better job
than that

with the end of a bulldozer!

Well, I... I couldn't find any tools.

The back of the car is
full of bloody tools.

The biggest tool in this operation
was you!

A pair of tin snips looks like
a pair of robust scissors,

and their function is obvious.

They are obviously not a hammer!

This could go on.

MAY: Obviously not a screwdriver!

They are obviously not a spanner!

They are obviously designed...

- [RADIO CONVERSATION FADES]
- There we go, that's got rid of him.

CLARKSON: Soon,
we came to an uphill stretch,

so I decided to test my new handbrake.

Simply pop it off the back,
roll it out...

Watch this.

Roll back.

The wooden handbrake is holding me,
I simply set off.

Here we go.

Oh. yes!

So, there we are,

hill starting solved!

Sometimes my genius is...

It's almost frightening!

HAMMOND: Well, fair do's, that works.

You do have to tow a log about,
but it works.

I am a happy man today.

- HAMMOND: Chaps?
- MAY ON RADIO: Yes?

Are we likely to see a gorilla?

I hope we do see a gorilla.
I'd show them my bonnet

and say,
"Could you do a better job than that?"

But look on the bright side, James,
it's going to be a scorcher today.

[CRASHING]

[LOG RATTLES]

Oh. my God!

- [LAUGHS]
- Oh...

Did that...

[LAUGHS] Oh, dear!

The handbrake bounced up

and has broken
my hotel viewing platform.

You've got glass in your duvet!

CLARKSON: Stupidest idea in history!

- Jeremy...
- What?

...people walk around here barefoot.

- You've got to sweep all this stuff up.
- HAMMOND: We have.

But look, God gave us a tool
for just such a moment as this.

Would you not agree this is
the ideal tool, James, for this job?

MAY: Yes,
hammers do have their uses.

I can think of one right now.

CLARKSON: After cleaning up my mess,

we carried on through yet more
breathtaking countryside.

Look at the state of that view.
Wait a minute.

Does the world
get any prettier than this?

In fact; the only blot
on the landscape

was our hideous Ford Scorpio backup car.

I've just realised I forgot to eat
anything this morning. I'm starving.

CLARKSON ON RADIO: Well, Hammond
made me a lovely plate of beans.

MAY: Beans? What sort of beans?

Do you know, they were baked?

CLARKSON: Soon,
the dirt track gave way

to some perfect Chinese-built road's,

a blessed relief for our battered cars.

And after a simple 50-mile cruise,

we reached the border.

HAMMOND: Goodbye, Uganda,
and thank you.

That was an education.

And now Rwanda.

I don't know anything about Rwanda.

As it turned out;
James knew even less.

James?

What?

[ON RADIO] Apparently they drive on
the other side of the road in Rwanda.

Do they really?

HAMMOND: James, really,
we're not fooling you!

MAY: Yeah, yeah.

[HORN BLARES]

CLARKSON: Mercifully,
there was more Chinese tarmac,

so we were able to surge
through a country where, actually,

none of us had really known
what to expect.

In 1994,
this country witnessed

the worst genocide
in the history of humankind.

A million people died
in around about three months.

A million people in three months!

With machetes and garden tools.

And that was only 18 years ago,
and now look.

It's incredible how quickly things,

on the surface at least,

mend themselves.

CHILDREN: Hello!

CLARKSON: Hello! Hello, hello!

It's constant. All the roads,
even out here in the sticks,

are just absolutely
three deep in people,

and they all wave when you go by,
and you have to wave back.

CHILDREN: Hello!
HAMMOND: Hello, hello.

Hello. Hello.

Hello.

CLARKSON: After many more miles
of waving, smooth tarmac

and stunning scenery,

we arrived on the other side
of Rwanda at its border with Tanzania

That was a long drive,
but we've done it, all of Rwanda.

Now for an interminably long wait.

The paperwork did indeed
take an age,

but, happily, Jeremy and I found a way
to pass the time.

HAMMOND: Funny! Ha-ha-ha!

MAY: And then, finally,
we crossed over into Tanzania.

CLARKSON: Shall we make camp here,
gentlemen?

It's been a long drive with a long
border-crossing of 900 hours.

Despite the calm
stillness of the evening,

James plainly still had a bee
in his bonnet about his bonnet.

This evening,
I am going to need these.

And I'm going to need these

and this.

And I'm going to need
these tin snips,

which are like scissors
but much stronger.

I'm going to need those.

I'm going to need all these things
for this evening.

Right, I'm up to 18 million
pieces of glass.

Look in another fold, there you go,


Why do they call this stuff
safety glass?

I mean, it isn't! Why can't it just
break into four pieces?

Why does it have to
break into 19 million pieces?

And it goes everywhere!

You could be in bed
and it's outside your house

and it goes in your pyjamas!



No.

No.

No.

Yes.

No.

[HAMMOND BLOWS]

[BLOWS]

Good morning, viewers.

I'm afraid things may have got
a little out of hand in camp last night,

but it's good news!

I found another piece of scrap metal

and I managed to mend my bonnet!

I'll admit, I was furious when James
stole my bonnet scoop,

but then on Jeremy's car,

I found something
that does the job just as well.

I'm calling it the poop scoop.

I was a bit cross about losing
my lavatory, but then, staggeringly,

in the middle of a remote field
in Tanzania,

I found a rear window that fitted
into the back of my car!

I mean,
it looks like it's meant to be there!

It's uncanny!

Unfortunately, the modifications to
Hammond 3 now half-timbered Tudor-u

seem to have impaired his visibility.

- [CRASHING]
- Oh!

Oh, no!

Bad!

Anyway, we've woken up, slightly thick
heads. We're all mates again,

which is just as well, because we've got
an extremely long day...

Oh.

CLARKSON: That is an river.

HAMMOND: Yes, yes, it is.

Well, there must
be a bridge somewhere.

- Why must there be a bridge?
- Well, there must be.

Well, there isn't. Look!

MAY: Well, there isn't one there,
but there'll be a bridge.

But the only... I know what.
It's time to deploy the ARU.

What?

The ARU.
Aerial reconnaissance unit.

I knew this sort of thing would happen.

Where did that come from?

I've been working on it for the last
couple of weeks at home

for just such an eventuality.

MAY: Have you?
HAMMOND: Have you really?

- Did you build it?
- Yeah.

- HAMMOND: Really?
- Well, you've got a helicopter license.

- You fly it.
- Right.

- I operate the camera underneath.
- Yes.

- That swivels about...
- Yes.

...and you tell us what it's seeing,
James.

- Right, are we ready?
- Yes, I've got a picture.

- Hammond?
- Yes?

Begin!

[BEEPING AND WHIRRING]

CLARKSON: Yes! There she goes!

HAMMOND: There you go.
MAY: That's good.

Right, that height is good. Right, now,
head that way, down the river.

Point it down.
You're not pointing it at the river.

- Point it down.
- You want me to point it down?

No, you fly level.

- You point the camera down.
- HAMMOND: Yeah.

- Got it.
MAY: River turns left. That's good.

- There's no bridge, though.
- CLARKSON: Keep going.

Pivot right a bit.

Swivel left, camera.

- Oh, hang on a minute.
- What?

There's like a big weir thing.

It's not a weir, James!

That's the biggest waterfall
I've ever seen!

HAMMOND: Right, that's relevant.

- CLARKSON: Right, good.
- No bridge.

CLARKSON: And it was the same story
when we looked upstream.

Bring it back, Hammond.

With the ARU back at base,

we had to work out
how we could cross this river

that was full of k*ller waterfalls,
bilharzia and many teeth.

Why don't we build a car ferry?

HAMMOND:
What, with, like, a bar and everything?

No, no!
Like that thing we saw in Albania.

- Like a raft?
- HAMMOND: Why don't we build one?

Look, I used to build them when
I was a kid! I fell in a lot, but...

Wood...

- What else do you need? Rope.
- Oil drums.

You need to lash the rope together.
Maybe some nails and a hammer.

Probably a hammer, yeah.
Oil drums, oil drums underneath.

This sounds like the worst
business management course ever!

You know those Outward Bound courses

where you've got a chicken
and some rice?

Okay, then. Thanks to Hammond,
it's back to the studio.

All we need is a platform
big enough to take the car

and that'll take its weight
and that floats.

Then we pull it across on ropes
like the Albanian one.

We drove through a village,
did we not,

about just behind those banana trees?

Yes, but do you think
they sell rafts for ca rs?

They might sell car ferries.

MAY: No, but they've always got...

"Don't want a banana, don't want
a headscarf, I'd like a car ferry!"

- "Oh, we've got one in the back, sir."
- Look, I'm going to divide this up.

I'm going to find some rope.

You go and find some oil drums.

- You go...
MAY: I'll get some wood.

And some wood.

Right, off you go.

- Have you got the hammer and stake?
- Yeah.

Uh!

CLARKSON: Your rope's come off!

- You're getting nearer, James!
- I'm not!

Oh...

CLARKSON: Would you say you were nearer,
James?

No.

CLARKSON: With HMS Wobbly in the water,

Hammond and May decided that
my car should go first.

MAY: Good. A tiny, tiny bit left.
Straight, that's good.

Hold on.

You need to go... Oh, sh*t.
It's close. Tiny bit of right.

- Okay, your back wheels are on.
- I am now boarding our ferry.

MAY: That's good.

CLARKSON: As I inched forwards,
a hungry audience gathered

You'll feel when you're on
'cause you'll hit the chock.

- Two and a half feet.
- Feet?

Yeah.

Good. A bit more.
You're just about to go off.

There you go, you're on!
Put it in gear and turn off.

CLARKSON: These have got to come with us
for the other side.

With the ramps on board, we set off.

Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

- What did you just do?
MAY: Cast off.

- Are we now under way?
- Yes.

- Pull on the rope.
- I am. I'm Geoff Capes!

I am pulling a BMW 528i Touring
across a crocodile-infested river!

And the impressive thing is, you're not
making a fuss about it either.

No, I'm not showing off, but I am...

- James, wait! James, James, James!
- What?

Stay at the back!
Please stay at the back!

MAY: It doesn't make any difference.
- James, please stay at the back!

Stop being such an old woman.
It doesn't make any difference!

Oh, really? So that barrel's just come
back above the water again...

MAY: But it's not going to go
all the way down, is it?

CLARKSON: [WHISPERS]
I feel like an explorer now.

Right...

HAMMOND: So, if I get on the bank,
and James throws me a yellow rope...

CLARKSON: Good idea.
MAY: Can you get on the bank from there?

HAMMOND: These logs get really slippery!
CLARKSON: Yes.

MAY: Right, you're on the bank...

Good catch.

- The throw wasn't brilliant.
MAY: I'll go to the back. Wey-ey!

Well...

People are now turning over to watch
Red Or Black?, or something.

HAMMOND: I'm sorry we made it.

Nobody was expecting that.

Got it?

CLARKSON: Mind you, there was still
the small matter of disembarking...

Uh...

Not convinced.

Yes!

Well, you're nearly ashore.

Aren't I ashore?

- Not... Not entirely ashore, no.
- Yes, I'm ashore.

- Is that wheel ashore?
- Yes.

HAMMOND: We weren't convinced,
so we gave him a helping hand.

CLARKSON: Here we go! Yes!

MAY: Good.

Oh, yes! Oh, yes!

God, I'm a good driver.

[WHISPERS] Oh, God.

CLARKSON: Back on the other bank,

it was Hammond's turn,
and for some reason,

he decided to make life
difficult for himself I

Why are you backing on?

Because it is, as we saw,

quite difficult getting off
at the other side, yeah?

Yeah.

And your BMW is now there
so it could tow me off.

The only towing eye is at the back.

It does mean I'll have to reverse on.

Hold on, hold on!
Does that look right from there?

CLARKSON: What?

HAMMOND: Ohhh!

Ohhh!

No, no, no. Stop. Stop.
You're turning the wheel.

- I did not turn the wheel.
- You did. You turned it minutely.

I might have leant on it.

Ohhh...

MAY: You're miles off the end.
A little bit more. And stop.

Oh! I am so on board!

Right, James, you can pull this time.
You'll see how easy it is.

I shall be ballast, there.
That's the ticket!

MAY: We're all on the same side.
You can't come on this side.

What? I can't go on the other side.

HAMMOND: Look at the angle.

- Gentlemen...
- Climb through the car.

...It is impossible to stand there

because there are two ramps
piled on top of one another.

- Hammond, get in your sitting room!
- I can't.

- Get in your sitting room!
- No!

MAY: You need to be on the other side.
CLARKSON: Climb over the bloody car.

MAY: You've got heavier as...
HAMMOND: Oh!

That was tied on!

CLARKSON: No, I took the rope off.
MAY: We needed the rope.

CLARKSON: I took it off.

I can go on the other side
as it turns out.

MAY: Perfect. Right, let's go.
Forget the chair.

- CLARKSON: Are we there yet?
- Somebody's had me chair!

CLARKSON: That man's got your chair!

HAMMOND: Good for him. Enjoy it!

Ooh... Ah!

HAMMOND: On the other side,
I was determined to make

a better job of disembarking
than Jeremy had.

- CLARKSON: Power.
- Whoo!

CLARKSON: Some of you's on board.

Now... Whoa, we've got a problem.

No...

MAY: No. That's all completely hopeless
and you've sunk the raft

and your cat flap's terrible.

Go!

CLARKSON: I then pulled Hammond off...

[HAMMOND CHEERING]

...and that gave me an idea.

Why don't we use this
to pull the ferry across

with the Volvo on it?

Why would we not do that?

MAY: Rather sceptically, Hammond and I
went back to get my Volvo.

HAMMOND: Crack on.

Our Father, who art in heaven,

if You're there, make it go upside down,
please, please, please, please.

HAMMOND: Steady!

[BOTH GASP]

[WHISPERS] That looked a bit perilous.

- Shall I come back?
- A little tiny bit.

[HAMMOND WHIMPERS]

Stop making squeaking noises.

The thing is, the BMW has what we call
a 50-50 weight distribution,




which is why the raft was level.

With James's car, all of the weight...
Well, 70% of the weight

is over the front axle. That's why
the whole thing is tipping down.

MAY: Are we attached?

- Are we attached...
- Yes. Jeremy, we have begun!

Right,
so I pull you across the river?

MAY: Yeah, gently.
- Very, very slowly indeed!

If it goes under,
it'll probably go nose-in, won't it?

Yeah, I'll stand at the back.

Are you ready?

MAY: He's going already, look. Hang on.

This is Captain Hammond
ringing down to the engine room.

You've got the slacks.
That's plenty fast enough! Ooh!

Yes, gently.

Seriously, Jeremy.
We are going under.

That's plenty fast enough.
That's too fast, too fast!

Oh, yes! Oh, yes!

Gently, gently, seriously!
We're going in.

- [SHOUTS] Stop!
- Jeremy, absolutely stop

or you'll have deaths on your hands.

I've been shouted at so much.

Need a zesty drink.

Eventually, our third and final car
was ready to go ashore.

MAY: Forward.
HAMMOND: Oh, my God!

Well, credit where it's due.

Come on!

You've got to admit,
that is quite a finish...

- Come on!
- ...with a flourish!

MAY: It had been a fraught undertaking,

but the fact was that; against the odds,

all three of our cars were
on the other side of the river.

That's the first time,
I think, in 10 years,

we've ever done anything
ambitious and successful.

MAY: I think you're right.
And doesn't it feel good?

It feels weird, frankly.

Normally, there's one of us
in the water, in the jaws of a lion,

- going, "Oh, he's dead!"
- It was genuinely peculiar.

- CLARKSON: Oh, my God!
- We must now contemplate the journey...

- Um... Gentlemen...
MAY: Oh!

[ALL LAUGH]

HAMMOND: It's gone!
It's completely gone!

MAY: It's completely sunk!
CLARKSON: It's completely gone!

Well done!

You can see how difficult
our job is.

HAMMOND: Very good.
MAY: That's how deep it was!

- That could have happened to us.
- It could have done...

- But it didn't!
- But it didn't!

- Onwards!
- Onwards!

CLARKSON: Leaving the producers
to clear up their mess, we set off,

and soon discovered that Tanzania's
roads were not built by the Chinese.

Pothole, pothole, pothole, pothole.
Big one.

It is like driving through a minefield.

If you take your eye
off the road for a second,

you are into one,
and they are massive.

I don't know how James
is going to be able to cope with this

because he can only concentrate
on one thing at a time,

and when he's driving
that is normally an obscure poet.

[POSH VOICE] "Oh, yes,
Philip Larkin's done some very good...

"Oh, no, I've hit a pothole."

[NORMAL VOICE]
Soon, James hit a pothole---

"No!

...so hard,
it took out two of his tyres.

Um... Do you remember,

it seems like months ago,

but at the beginning of this voyage,
we looked at these tyres and said,

"There's no way
those tyres'll survive Africa"?

The signs are not good, are they?

- In that they're not.
- It's goodbye.

- You just wait here for the backup car.
- You know the code.

Oh, no! Wait, the backup car's at the
bottom of a crocodile-infested river.

MAY: I don't need the backup car,
I've got spare wheels.

You're not very useful to me,
or helpful.

Please continue. I'll see you later.

CLARKSON: See you, James. Bye.
MAY: Bye!

MAY: Once the Annoying Brothers
had left,

I discovered it was rather more
than just tyre damage.

[CHUCKLES]

Both wheels had shattered

Having raided the support truck
for more,

I set off and caught up with the others

in a swarm of lake flies.

[LOUD BUZZING]

CLARKSON: Blubble-blubble-blubble.

- [SPITS]
- [GASPS]

MAY: This told us
we were getting close to Lake Victoria.

At 750 miles across,

it was too wide for us to even think
about building a home-made ferry

so we decided to use one that
someone else had made earlier.

CLARKSON: Have you ever seen more flies
than that in one place, ever?

[HAMMOND GASPS]

I'll give you £1 million if you go
and stand out there naked for an hour.

[CLAIR DE LUNE PLAYING]

MAY: The voyage across Lake Victoria
took more than 76 hours,

but there was good news
on the other side.

The ferry would drop us
close to the River Grumetti,

the river that we believed
would take us

to the source of the Nile.

We're going to find
the mouth of the river,

track that back to its source, and we've
done it. Then we've got our place.



Keen to demonstrate
the advantage of four-wheel drive

to the bewildered crowd,

Hammond insisted on going first.

Right, here we go.

Uh!

-[SIGHS]

Okay.

I am ashore!

CLARKSON ON RADIO: You're letting
yourself down, the BBC

and the whole country
with your incompetence, Hammond.

Oh, come on!

- Sorry about that, Skipper!
- [LAUGHS]

- Leave him.
- We can leave him.

MAY: And so, we did.

- Bye, Hammond!
- Bye!

Hello. Hello.

MAY: As we disembarked a few
miles away on a proper landing jetty,

Hammond was being rescued by the locals.

[SHOUTING]

We're coming out.
We're coming out!

Yah!

Everybody needs money now,
and I don't have any money.

Um...

I've got biscuits.

I've got biscuits.

I've got more biscuits, more sweets.

- [CLAMOURING]
- One second.

Okay, this is becoming alarming.

Um... I've got crisps.

With my lunch all gone,
I rejoined my colleagues.

With hindsight,
offering up biscuits was a mistake.

[CHUCKLES]

Yes, when you've got


unless you're Jesus, starting with
two biscuits isn't brilliant.

MAY: Well, that arrival
was very happy and glorious,

and we're excellent
ambassadors for Britain

and her long tradition of exploration.

In other news, I've fitted a fan.

CLARKSON: We then broke out the map

and went off to find
the mouth of our river,

the beautiful and majestic Grumeti.

- [BEEPING]
- [ENGINES REV]

In my mind, it was prettier.

- Yes.
- At least it's quiet, though.

- No. No.
- It's not quiet.

I admit, it's not picturesque
and it's not peaceful,

but if we find the source of this...

We've done it.

...you can't argue with it,
we're in the history books.

It flows through Lake Victoria,
into the Nile,

along the Nile,

through the Med
and into the Atlantic.

And as far as I can work out,
it's there.

That's about 70 miles.

We've only got 70 miles to do.

The good news is, look, some of it,

you can follow the river
on that road.

But that bit, the last bit,

it's off-road.

- Yeah.
- No, I mean...

Look, there's no tracks or anything.

- MAY: Well...
- So, that's it.

It can only get prettier.

And it did, because soon,
we were in the Serengeti.

A vast plain teeming with animals,
all of which, as usual,

were way beyond the reach
of our camera teams.

Wildebeest! Wildebeest!

And a zebra.

I've seen more already here
on the Serengeti

than I saw in
Sir Richard Hammond-borough's

Planet Earth Live programme.

[ON RADIO] Why didn't you show us
all of these animals, Hammond,

in your Planet Earth Live programme?

There's millions of them
we could have looked at!

HAMMOND: Shut up!

CLARKSON: Soon, we stopped to check on
the course of our beautiful river,

and here we saw
the most amazing wildlife yet.

[WHISPERS] They are the funniest
creatures on Earth, aren't they?

Why are they so funny?

This one's been to the Daktari shop
in Florida, hasn't he, for his outfit?

HAMMOND: Every single piece of kit,
he's got the lot.

CLARKSON: Americans, I don't know why,
but American tourists,

and I know we're watched in America,
I'm not saying you're all like this,

but when you travel, you're hysterical.

[ALL CHUCKLE]

Sadly, the Americans departed,
leaving us with nothing to look at

except some hippos.

50 we got back on the road for
the last few miles of our epic journey.

Do you know, I'm going to put my hand
on my heart

and say that this is the best Top Gear
adventure we've ever had.

It's a noble quest in a truly
stunningly beautiful country

full of utterly hospitable people.

CLARKSON: And then, of course,
there were our cars,

a trio of 7, 500-quid high-milers.

All had been presumably sold

because their owners thought
they were on their last legs,

but they'd come here
and they'd taken on the worst

that Africa could throw at them,
and they'd survived.

But which had been the most impressive?

Well, at the next river check,
we had a chat about that.

Normally, we pick one car that's best.

- Hmm.
- I think, on this occasion,

I can't be convinced mine
isn't the best,

- and I'm sure you're in the same...
- Yep.

MAY: I wouldn't allow anybody to
convince me that mine isn't the best.

So, in other words, let's,
on this occasion, just agree to disagree

- and say they're all the best.
- Yes.

Like one of those primary school
sports days.

- Yes.
- MAY: Everybody gets a prize.

- They're all the best.
- You've all won.

There are no losers at St Barnabas's.

Let's go with that,
they are all the best.

- I think that's fair.
- They're all the best.

- They've all done well together.
- Gentlemen, let us now find

the source of this disgusting,
scummy river.

MAY: Okay.

Rubbish!

If this were a school sports day,
here's how it's worked out.

Everyone's got all excited
because the BMW, the fat kid,

and the Volvo, the geeky,
speccy, nerdy kid

have both finished
the cross-country course.

"Oh, well done,
we're so amazed you did it!

"We're so surprised.
And yet, well done them."

But let's not forget
the fact that the genuinely sporty kid,

the Subaru,
who's actually good at this stuff,

also finished, and finished well.

Because it's the best. Fact!

Ten minutes after this show's finished,

you won't be able to describe
what Jeremy was driving,

but you'll be able to describe this.

Because it's got personality, character,
something about it.

I'm going to miss it.

Now we're alone, viewers,
I can tell you that the Volvo

is the best car here
because, let's not forget,

this is a family estate.

It's a family estate pretending to be
a BTCC racing car,

so it's compromised, as well.

It shouldn't be here,
it shouldn't have got this far,

but it is and it has,

and that's why I love it!

It has the biggest heart.

How can May possibly say
that his Volvo's better than this?

It's been like a seal
on the entire journey

endlessly dragging its stomach
along the floor.

And it broke his back.

He'd have been better off doing
this journey on a space hopper.

Then we have Hammond's Two-baru,

which is as needlessly complicated

as those idiotic trousers
he insists on wearing,

with all their special pockets
and clips for mossie spray

and a hunting knife
and a special compass.

What's the point?

I've done the entire journey
in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt.

And that's what the 5 Series is,

it's the familiarity of home, here.

You're a car, you're a sitting room,
you're a bedroom, you're a fridge,

you're a power station that charges up
my phone every night,

but most of all what you are,
what you've become

is a mate.

And that is what makes a car special.

That's what makes a car great.

You start to think of it as a person.

You start to love it.

What our cars deserved now
was a relaxing cruise to the finish.

But that wasn't going to happen.

[JUDDERING]

Argh! Argh!

Argh! No!

Whoa. jeez!

CLARKSON:
The road was a ruffed nightmare,

and it was peppered with sharp stones.

It was a car k*ller.

This is absolute puncture alley, this.

Bloody Nora!

[BANGS]

CLARKSON: What the f*ck was that?

No, Jez has stopped by the side
of the road. Hang on, something's up.

Jezza's been hit, I think,
probably by a stone into his window.

Stone in through your window?

CLARKSON:
Something has just blown up in there.

What the f*ck was it?

HAMMOND: That.

CLARKSON: Is it an airbag?
Airbag's gone off?

Look, the smoke's still
pouring out of it.

- MAY: Is that the airbag?
- Yes, the airbag just went off.

There was a massive flash...

- That is really weird!
- My ear.

I was saying this road is so rough
it's going to set the air bags off.

- I said that just a few miles back.
- HAMMOND: Genuinely?

Yeah. Well, I have never seen that.

No, me neither.

[GRUNTS]

Now I'm worried about this one.

By now we'd had enough
and wanted to stop for the night,

but this was dusk on the Serengeti'.

Feeding time for the wildlife.

50 we had to reach a safe camp
that was 30 miles away,

30 miles that turned into a m*ssacre.

Oh, dear. Shot to bits.

CLARKSON: Have you got any more fronts?
MAY: Yes, I've got one more.

CLARKSON:
That was new three minutes ago.

Three minutes later,
I've got a flat on the front.

HAMMOND: We've lost another one.

CLARKSON: This road is beyond belief
for k*lling cars.

It was inevitable, really,

that eventually, one of us
would suffer some damage

that was slightly more serious
than a puncture.

Oh, my God. You are in big trouble.

That one is straight,
and if you come round the other side,

that's on full left.

- You've broken a track rod steering...
- HAMMOND: Oh, my God.

You can see the wishbone there.

If you look in there,
you'll see the end of it, where it's...

I mean, gone.

- CLARKSON: Is it sheared?
- Yeah.

CLARKSON: It's completely sheared off.

HAMMOND: That might have k*lled my car.

What's up?

- He's got a puncture.
- Right.

He's also got a sheared wishbone.

- You're kidding?
- I'm not.

That's the game over, isn't it?

The next morning, in our safe camp,
we counted up the toll from Death Road.

I had three punctures,
one of which I've still got.

Two air bags went off,

both of which deafened me
and gave me heart attacks.

Um... What else?

Oh, all four shock absorbers
are completely ruined.

Yours any better?

Well, I had two punctures,
the fuel line came off,

the front bumper collapsed,

I'm not even bothering
to look at my shocks,

'cause I know
they'll be absolutely shot,

shot absorbers,
but on the plus side,

all the bits that attach the wheels
to the car are intact.

- Speaking of which...
- [BOTH CHUCKLE]

Actually, where is he?

[BANGING]

These are the remnants of the point
at which the track control arm went,

and you can see it was just rotten
from the inside out.

It was going to go at some point,
and when it did collapse,

it took the anti-roll bar out
on the way past.

So, the only option is,
and it is quite a long shot,

this is all useless,

to use the remainder
of the track control arm

that's under there, attached to the hub,

and use this to fabricate and weld on
replacement bits for that.

CLARKSON: At times like this,
the procedure is clear.

We do leave a man behind.

But because we'd come so far together;

and because we hadn't had breakfast yet,

James and I decided to bend the rules.

We'll give him till 11 o'clock.

Fair enough.

- That's an hour and 10 minutes.
- Fair enough.

What time did we get in last night?
About 2:00?

Something like that.
It went on for ever.

Look at what I've just slept in,
look at it!

- I mean, look at the...
- Thank you.

CLARKSON: Al' exactly 77:03,

James and I were parked
on the main road by the camp,

waiting to see whether we would finish
this journey as a twosome,

or a threesome.

Hammond is making a bit of a habit
of this on these adventures now.

- Bolivia, his leg fell off.
- Oliver.

Oliv... Didn't it make it?
Can't remember.

- It did, but we had to wait for it...
- Oh, yes, for days and days.

...while he put it back together.

Oh, hang on!

- Can you hear that?
- I can, just. Yeah.

Is that the soundtrack of
an approaching moron,

or is it our support truck?

With his silly little face
at the wheel.

What is coming over the hill?

Please let it be a lorry,
please let it be a lorry, please let...

MAY: Oh!

[TH UMPS CAR BONNET]

- We can't be...
- No.

Pretend to be pleased,
pretend to be pleased! Pleased face!

Oh, great. We're all back together
as a team.

Oh, right, good, here we go.

Well done, mate.

- MAY: Yeah, well done!
- [HAMMOND CHUCKLES]

HAMMOND: Are you impressed?
MAY: Yeah.

We're impressed that you're impressed.
Yeah, great. Good!

That's tremendous. Anyway,
Hammond, while you've been gone,

James and I have made
a bit of a decision.

What?

The source of our river
is somewhere up there, okay?

Now, only one of us
can technically get there first.

They'll be the one who's remembered.

The other two will be forgotten, because
nobody remembers who comes second.

- So, we propose a race.
- Yeah.

Three, two, one, go!

And whoever finds the source first,

into the history books,
buried in Westminster Abbey.

They dig up Livingstone,
throw him away. You got it wrong.

You don't have to be buried immediately?

No, no, when you die.

So, are we ready? Hey, the producers
are on the other side of that river.

- You can shout "go"!
- I'll do it on my Tannoy system.

- Are we ready, gentlemen?
- MAY: I am ready.

This is for everything.

The greatest race in the history
of mankind is about to begin.

[ON MEGAPHONE] Three, two, one,

go!

Power, et cetera.

Where's Jeremy? What is he doing?

Have they learned nothing
from last night? Because I did!

Speed causes punctures.


that's what you need.

I don't want a puncture.
I want to win this,

because this is a race for glory.

The winner will go
in the history books,

the losers will be quietly forgotten.

They'll end up opening a shoe shop,
probably in Durham.

MAY: Top Gear's ARU had found an area
of hilly terrain 72 miles to the east

where we believed we'd find
the source of the Nile-

Getting there first mattered.

Richard Hammond hot on my tail

in the quest for the source of the Nile,
with his repaired suspension.

This is as fast as I dare go.

Ooh! Ow!

The car has just undergone
major surgery.

I've just closed a patient's chest,
and I'm forcing him to play rugby.

If Richard Hammond beats me
in this race,

he will be knighted by the Queen.

She will say, "Arise, Sir Richard...

"Oh, you already have."

Where the hell's Jeremy?

This James May Christian motoring isn't
working. They're not getting punctures.

I'm going to revert to type.

[SHOUTS] Power!

[HEAVY ROCK MUSIC]

I am a one-man dust machine.

Hammond's going for it,
he's making a move!

[CHUCKLES]

MAY: For the next few miles,
we jostled for the lead.

Ugh, it's neck and neck.

HAMMOND: Oh, no!

I'm going left, I'm going to do it.

[HAMMOND GROANS]

[CHUCKLES]

Ooh! Argh!

[EXCLAIMS]

There they are! I'm catching.

A warning light has come on
to say my car needs a service.

- [JUDDERING]
- Ohh! Ohh! This is just

k*lling my car.



MAY: We were now in the area
where the source should be,

so we needed to go off-road to find it.

We're going to have
to go right somewhere.

- Oh, hold on, hold on, what's this?
- There!

Come on!

Bugger Clarkson!

Yeah! What do you think of that?

Ha-ha!

Westminster Abbey is mine.

As the plain opened out;

we realised that in normal racing,

people tend to know
where the finish line is...

Which way? Which way?

But we had to rely on
intelligence and cunning.

Right, trees. Trees all growing
along a little valley,

that can only mean river.

That is a valley,
I'm not heading down into there.

The source of the Nile
isn't going to be in a valley.

[CHUCKLES] Uphill, you see.

Uphill is good.

I've totally lost my bearings here.
Totally lost.

Hang on a minute!

Uh!

This looks...

This looks like a stream.

It's going downhill that way.

So I follow it up

and the source is in those rocks.

It has to be. Oh, yeah!

Rocks.

Many rocks.
That is the sort of magical place

I anticipate finding
the source of the Nile.

There's a bit there moving,
so it's that way. Right, here we go.

It's got to be this way,
and Clarkson clearly has the same idea.

And so did Hammond.

Ow, ow! Ow, ow, ow!

CLARKSON: Can you imagine children of
the future learning in history lessons

about Sir Richard Hammond?

Nobody wants to think of that.

MAY: Because only one of us
could achieve immortality

in the history books,
things soon got a biz' ugly.

- Hammond's attacking him!
- [CRASHING]

Get off!

[CHUCKLES] I'm through.

Hammond is properly in my way now.
He really is annoying me.

I know how I can get Hammond
out of my way.



Oh, God! Not that.

I'm Genesis-ing him!

Argh!

Sadly, though, Genesis didn't work.

50 I rammed him.

- [CRASHING]
- What?

I'm in the lead again!

No! Whoa!

This Volvo is
so far out of its comfort zone.

I'm going to go down in history!

CLARKSON: Everything tells me this is...

It's the highest ground
for miles around.

It's got to be in there.

It's got to be in there

- [CLUNKS]
- ARGH!

But there can be no more than
a few hundred metres now.

We can afford to take a few knocks.

[THUDS]

Whoa!
James, your suspension has collapsed.

Your back wheel is coming off.
I'm not joking. [CHUCKLES]

My car's collapsed. I'm going on foot.

CLARKSON: As now were Richard and I.

End of the road for you, old friend.
I'll tell you what it's like. I'm off.

It's geology, Jeremy, geology.

What have we got here?
We've got bedrock,

we've got the ground has sunk down

indicating the presence of a spring,
in my mind.

MAY: Lizards.

Look at it. A stream has done this.

But where is the source?

This has been wet. Wait...

This is soggy-

This is soggy-

This could be a stream.
It is a stream I'm walking up.

It is.

f*cking Hammond is not having this!

It goes downhill,
that doesn't mean it starts at the top.

Wait!

Wait!

Is it...

No.

Here?

- That...
- Yes.

Yes!

Sorry, mate! That was close.

Hammond!

Well done.
That is the source of the River Nile.

MAY: I'm going to put my finger in it.
Excuse me.

That is the root of civilisation
that nourished the Ancient Egyptians.

- HAMMOND: What, your finger?
- No, not my finger, the water.

That's going to nourish
the Sudan, Egypt,

Greece, Italy, Spain, Morocco, Algeria.

- That water is the lifeblood...
- MAY: Of all of it.

...of all of it.

So, that is the undisputed
source of the River Nile,

that is the man who found it,

and somewhere way down there

is the ruined Volvo
that brought him here.

We now have to claim this little pond
for Top Gear,

so just bear with me, chaps,
while I...

Is the Top Gear flag slightly bigger
than the Union Flag?

- CLARKSON: Yes.
- That's correct.

Have we got this the right way up
this time, so we don't get...

So, here's what I'm suggesting,
chaps, we plant the flags

and then we do what all the great
Victorian explorers did,

is pose for a photograph
by our discovery. Yes?

MAN: Wait for the birdie!

Three, two, one.