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If you think the whole world
has been explored...think again.

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Travel north from the Amazon,
and you'll find another jungle -
a true wilderness.

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Its interior uncharted,
its animals uncatalogued.

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Guyana.

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Now an international team of
expert naturalists

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are coming to search for the species
hidden in this forgotten forest.

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We've come somewhere no-one's
ever been before,

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and it's one of the most
spectacular places on the planet.

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There are probably hundreds, if
not thousands, of species here
that haven't been seen by anybody,

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and we will find them first.

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Guyana's forest - unspoilt,
unprotected and under threat.

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Our job is to prove that these
forests have more value alive
than razed to the ground.

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Guyana.
It's the size of Great Britain,
with the population of Liverpool.

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Nearly everyone lives on the
narrow strip by the coast.

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But travel south

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and there's rainforest
for hundreds and hundreds of miles.

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The only way to
base camp is by boat.

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A ten-hour journey
from the nearest dirt road.

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I was amazed, you know,
when we were flying in,

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there was a few little houses.
Yeah, nothing. And that was it.

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The good stuff's in there, not here.

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George, you've got about six weeks
to get in there and find stuff,
don't be impatient! Calm down!

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Faster, let's get there!

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It's a land full of giants.

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Giant otters,
the biggest spiders in the world,

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enormous caiman,

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eight-metre anaconda,

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and the biggest cat in South
America - the mysterious jaguar.

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This forest is untouched.

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But in two years they could be
logging these trees.

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The team's destination - a base camp
built by the advance party.

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Each team member has
a different speciality.

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Gordon Buchanan will be
searching for the large mammals.

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My job on this expedition is
to try and find and film as many
different animals as I can.

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If I could pick only two animals,
the first would be giant otters,

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and the second, the most
difficult one, would be the jaguar.

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Justine Evans
is a canopy specialist.

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She documents life
at the top of giant trees.

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The forests have barely been
explored on the ground,
let alone in the canopy.

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I want to get up there and just see
what's going on.

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Absolutely stunning.

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Steve Backshall will
be exploring places
other naturalists cannot reach.

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In his search for animals,
he'll attempt a first ascent
up a remote mountain

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and a daring descent
down a giant waterfall.

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It feels like I'm completely
underneath it,
completely surrounded by it.

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And the last expedition member,
Dr George McGavin
from Oxford University.

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He's leading the science team
from a jungle laboratory
right in the heart of camp.

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If we're concerned about species
loss, which we all should be,

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we should be concerned about
keeping the forests intact.

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The expedition's aim -
to find what lives here,

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and to draw the
world's attention to this -

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the largest unspoilt rainforest
left on the planet.

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SHOUTING

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The team are still unpacking when
there's a shout from the riverbank.

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A very rare monkey's been spotted.

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There, there. See it? There, there.

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We've got a bearded saki, a monkey
on the tree over there.

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Can just see a bit of movement
in the foliage, but I can't
actually see the monkey yet.

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It's not easy to see him. Not
at all. Here we go, I've got one.

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They just wag their tail
back and forward, it's
quite typical behaviour in them.

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But it's... Oops! Got a bit of
movement up there.

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The bearded saki is on
the international list
of endangered species.

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It's the best start
they could hope for.

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And animals are even
coming into the camp itself.

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Steve Backshall takes a look.

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That's beautiful.

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One of the common names for it
is the Amazon forest dragon. Yes.

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What I love about these is,
to begin with they're skittish,

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but once they sense that you
mean them no harm,

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they'll quite happily sit in
your hand and barely move at all.

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He is absolutely beautiful.
That's definitely one
to add to our tick list.

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The expedition's working closely
with Guyanese trackers.

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They know these jungles
hide dangerous creatures.

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For the new arrivals,
there's a safety briefing.

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The jungle is an alien environment
for most of us and there's a
few things we need to bear in mind.

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We have had 9ft caiman down
on the landing just outside of camp
only a couple of days ago,

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so be conscious that there are caiman
and they are very dangerous.

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There are very big piranhas in the
water. Swimming far away from
the shore is probably not advised.

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Snakes that we need to be concerned
about are the viper family -

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rattlesnakes, pit vipers,
the infamous bushmaster,
and also the coral snakes.

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Scorpions are here.

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As a general rule, the ones
with the fat tails are the worst.

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There's some very large tarantulas
but the small things
are the worst things.

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Don't put your hands into holes
cos that's where you'll get stung.

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First light next morning,
the team split up to start
their specialist surveys.

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Gordon's on a recce of the river.

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This whole part of the world is
just riddled with waterways,

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and this is one of the major ones,

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but joining on to it,
these rivers are smaller rivers,
tiny little creeks,

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so it's on the little country lanes,
the little cul-de-sacs,
that you find interesting stuff.

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First on Gordon's list is to see if
he can find the rare giant otters.

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They're top predators. Perfect
indicators of a river's health.

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As you can imagine, something
the size of a giant otter is going
to leave one or two signs.

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Hey, look at this here, look.

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When you've got a bare bank,
like this, it's a very good place
to find otters.

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They're the biggest otters
in the world - three times larger
than any otter in Europe.

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Their favourite meal - piranhas.

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Wow, look at this. This is a
very clear sign that there's otters
in this area, and very recent.

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I wouldn't be surprised if this
wasn't this morning.

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Their toes are not that much
smaller than my fingers.

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If you think of an otter that has
hands almost the same size as mine,

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actually the otter itself
is almost the same size as me.

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They're big, big beasts.

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Just put a little bit of tension
on it, makes it quicker and easier.

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While Gordon's on the river,
Justine's high in the treetops
building an observation post,

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with the help of Steve
and the climbing team.

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Tree-climbing in the rainforest is
hot, sweaty, there's endless bugs,

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ants, wasps, bees, all of which hate
you invading their world,

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and...yeah, it's tough old work.

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It's good that you can see a
little bit through the under storey.

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If you look that way a bit,

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that's not bad,
actually, that direction.

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Steve hauls up her platform.

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Justine will spend ten hours
every day on a square of aluminium
the size of a card table.

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That's as far as it will go.
We're on the end of the pulley now.

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Sound as a pound,
that's not going anywhere.

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Yeah, it's a pretty good spot.
It's not got a brilliant view,

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but it's a good start.

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At 17, Gordon swapped his job
washing dishes on the Isle of Mull

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for an apprenticeship
filming wildlife in Brazil.

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Oh, look here, look.

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His years in the Amazon taught him
the skills of jungle tracking.

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Very easy to follow this.

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It's just a detective story, when
you're looking for wild animals,

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but with giant animals,
they leave giant traces.

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Watch out for snakes.

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The fact that there's
been a giant otter here,

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the chances are,
they've never been hunted,

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and I'll be interested to see
how they react when they see me.

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Justine's survey
relies on a vital piece of kit -
a high-definition camera.

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This lens can magnify
up to 80 times,

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perfect for capturing
canopy creatures.

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I can zoom in really, really
close with this,

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so I can see a monkey 200 metres away
and still be able
to get in close enough

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to actually see whether it's
a male or female,
anything that will identify it.

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And we're here to assess this place,
or me, particularly,
to see what's up in the canopy,

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so I've got to be up here
all daylight hours.

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The expedition's based in
a patch of forest

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that's been leased to
the organisation
Conservation International.

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The surrounding jungle
stretches for hundreds of miles.

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But now large swathes are soon to
be explored by logging companies.

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Guyana's at a dangerous crossroads.

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It can either exploit what it's got
and make a quick buck,

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or, if we can show what is here,
and the rarity
and the diversity of this area,

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and that's why I'm here, is just
to prevent the worst-case scenario.

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The team believe this could be
pristine rainforest -

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the animals never hunted,
the ancient trees still standing.

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In the 21st century,
that's rare indeed.

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In base camp,
the scientists are hard at work,
recording all their discoveries.

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Their report will be presented
to the President of Guyana.

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Finding any new or endangered
species will strengthen
the case for conservation.

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Hind legs are way back almost...
It's like a cricket.
..twice the size of the body.

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That is the weirdest thing
I've ever seen in my life.

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It's a fly, hasn't got any wings...

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George McGavin's great passion
is for insects.

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At first I thought it was a cricket,
a tiny cricket, but it's a bat fly.

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Insects make ecosystems work.

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Without bees, for instance,
you'd have no flowering plants,
no vegetables, no fruit.

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So without the insects, you simply
wouldn't have the big animals.

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From the tiniest bugs to the largest
birds, there's over a million
known species living in rainforests.

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George believes there could be
another 5 million
still waiting to be discovered.

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Oh, I say! Look at that.

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Fallen trees like this are
an amazing resource for
insects and bugs, and stuff.

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They're not always hollow enough
to crawl inside. Oh, that's...
Yeah, it looks rather nice.

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The worry is that there are snakes
up here, or scorpions, so I'll
take my ultraviolet scorpion torch.

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Oh, look at that.

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Oh! It is big, it is a biggie!

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This is going to be epic.

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Now, there's a bat.
Look, look, look over there. See it?

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There's about three of them.

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Is there anything else in there?
That's the worry.

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Let's go, let's see what's in here.

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It's like crawling into
a large peaty tube.

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It's an extreme habitat,
very rarely explored.

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And straight away, he's coming
up against new creatures.

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There are crickets everywhere, and
the interesting thing about them is,
I haven't seen these ones before,

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and I'm going to have to
try and collect some of these.

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Oh, there's a monster there!
Look at that!

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They've got these enormous antennae.

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These crickets are adapted to
very dark, wet places.

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There's a brown cricket as well,
and I'm not quite sure
if this is the same species.

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I'm just going to try and grab this,
and you really have to be
incredibly quick. Here goes...

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Ooh!

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Ah...

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Fallen giants litter these jungles.

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Every day, strong winds
and weak roots bring another
colossus crashing down.

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These jungle trees look solid on
the outside, but can be eaten
hollow by termites on the inside.

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30 metres up, fragile trees
are not something
Justine wants to worry about.

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Now, after two days of waiting,
she sights something moving.

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I finally got
a glimpse of a squirrel monkey.

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It's so difficult.

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They're so quick.

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Ah, there's one.

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It's gone.

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They seem to be mostly adults and
some larger young, but there's no
babies being carried by mothers.

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Big group, though.

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Squirrel monkeys.

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They're common
in South America's forests.

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They move through the canopy
in large groups.

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This one's searching for
caterpillars on new leaves.

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It's obviously feeding on insects.

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That's why they seem to be moving
so quickly. I think they're just
snatching at whatever they can find.

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Ah, there's a good view.

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Are they going up this branch?

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Must be a main travel route,
probably the only travel route
through this section.

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Jumping off into the other tree.

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The fruiting season's gone, and so
there are probably very few fruiting
trees in the forest at this moment.

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RUSTLING

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What was that?

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Probably just a tree falling down...

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George is now 25 metres
inside this fallen giant.

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This is amazing.

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Look what we've got here.
This is a whip spider.

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These long bits are
actually its front legs

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and because it lives in darkness...
You can see how it's
feeling my finger there.

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It uses these very long legs
to feel its prey,

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and its prey
are these cave crickets here.

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And, very sneakily,
sometimes the whip spiders
reach behind the cricket

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and just go tickle, tickle
on the back end,

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and the cricket jumps forward
into the jaws of the whip spider.

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It's a really clever trick.

222
00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:03,080
The further I go into this,

223
00:17:03,080 --> 00:17:06,720
there's bigger and bigger
whip spiders.

224
00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:08,720
Oh, there's an absolute monster
over here!

225
00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:11,120
There are now,
on this part of the roof,

226
00:17:11,120 --> 00:17:15,280
13 crickets and five whip spiders,

227
00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:17,240
who are just queuing up
to eat them.

228
00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:22,560
Little is known about the
biology of these weird predators.

229
00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:26,720
Somehow, George has to catch one
to take it back to the lab.

230
00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:29,880
One's just crawled across my face!

231
00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:40,080
Because it's now getting really,
really tight,

232
00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:42,920
I have a bit of a problem.

233
00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:45,240
HE WHEEZES

234
00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:49,000
It's as hot as a sauna,
and crawling with bugs.

235
00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:51,400
George is in his element.

236
00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:52,640
Ah!

237
00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:57,240
Just one sec.

238
00:17:57,240 --> 00:17:59,160
I can't...
I can't get out of this...

239
00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:01,000
This hole's too tight. Argh!

240
00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:10,680
I feel like a beetle grub
emerging from...

241
00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:14,760
from its long period
of metamorphosis!

242
00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:16,360
HE LAUGHS

243
00:18:16,360 --> 00:18:18,880
Actually, I think I am stuck!

244
00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:20,720
All I can say is,

245
00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:25,280
I don't think I've had as much fun
in a log for a long time!

246
00:18:26,360 --> 00:18:31,840
Usually, George only sees
these bizarre beasts
dead in a museum drawer.

247
00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:34,480
It's a rare chance
to examine them alive.

248
00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:36,880
Isn't that wonderful?

249
00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:40,480
That is the ultimate animal
for hunting for prey in the dark.

250
00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:46,200
It's flattened, it's fast, it's got
big, spiky palps at the front end,

251
00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:48,840
incredibly long legs
for just feeling its prey.

252
00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:54,320
If you designed an organism
for catching crickets in the dark,
this is it.

253
00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:58,760
And once the poor animal is trapped
in those spines at the front,

254
00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:02,560
that's it,
there is no escape from that.

255
00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:08,880
Dinner tonight - piranha.

256
00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:13,040
How is it? Looks good.
I'm absolutely famished.

257
00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:17,320
I'm hungry, yeah. Piranha teeth.
Is it piranha teeth? Look at that!

258
00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:20,800
They do have the most
extraordinary teeth. I'm a bit, er...

259
00:19:20,800 --> 00:19:26,080
Put some falsies in! Careful,
George, put that through your upper
lip and you'll know about it!

260
00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:29,360
They're swimming in the river?
Uh-huh.

261
00:19:29,360 --> 00:19:33,360
Can someone pass the
evil fire sauce down, please?

262
00:19:33,360 --> 00:19:36,840
That is far too much of that.
You're gonna die.

263
00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:39,000
He's beginning to regret that now!

264
00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:41,000
Yes! Yes!

265
00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:51,640
Although the expedition
starts in base camp,

266
00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:55,920
each team member will also explore
even more remote parts of Guyana.

267
00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:02,680
Today, Steve and the climbing team
are heading out.

268
00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:09,520
There are some areas that have
very different forest
to the stuff that we're in right now.

269
00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:11,800
Over in the west of the country,

270
00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:16,520
there are these exposed beds
of ancient, ancient rock,

271
00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:20,640
and one of the world's
most spectacular waterfalls.

272
00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:24,000
And that's where the next leg
of my journey's taking me.

273
00:20:29,320 --> 00:20:35,880
His destination - Guyana's
only National Park, hidden deep
in the heart of the forest.

274
00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:43,680
At its centre - Kaieteur Falls.

275
00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:48,720
Five times higher than Niagara.

276
00:20:48,720 --> 00:20:53,280
Each day, 60 million tonnes of water
flow over these falls.

277
00:20:55,520 --> 00:21:00,360
40 kilometres from the nearest road,
just a handful of tourists fly in

278
00:21:00,360 --> 00:21:03,440
to view this wonder of the world
from the top.

279
00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:09,400
But no-one has fully explored
the unique habitat
around the plunge pool.

280
00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:14,560
That's the task for Steve
and climbing supervisor, Tim Fogg.

281
00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:17,920
That is a very long way down.

282
00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:22,320
We're going to try a recce,
have a look for
the best place to descend,

283
00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:26,120
and I really want to get a feel
of the world behind the waterfall.

284
00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:40,360
At base camp, an eerie sound
echoes deep in the forest.

285
00:21:40,360 --> 00:21:43,000
DISTANT CRIES

286
00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:46,320
The ghostly call
of the howler monkey.

287
00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:54,480
Justine's on her way
to her treetop perch.

288
00:21:54,480 --> 00:21:56,880
It's the sound she's
been hoping to hear.

289
00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:02,800
I can hear distant howler calls,

290
00:22:02,800 --> 00:22:04,280
but it's quite a way.

291
00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:09,800
The thing is that there was a
group calling out in this direction

292
00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:12,960
but they could just be
sitting quietly in the treetops,

293
00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:15,960
and we wouldn't know they were there.

294
00:22:20,520 --> 00:22:23,040
CACOPHONY OF CRIES

295
00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:26,480
It's the most unearthly sound,
the sound of howler monkeys.

296
00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:29,000
It sounds like
a huge dragon in the distance.

297
00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:36,320
A healthy population
of howler monkeys would be a
great sign of an untouched forest.

298
00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:39,720
They're easy to hear,
but much harder to find and count.

299
00:22:39,720 --> 00:22:45,360
There's a chance that, in a while,
they might start moving around,
and hopefully come this way.

300
00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:50,400
Just a waiting a game,
we have to see.

301
00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:59,360
Down on the ground,
they're surveying species
on the forest floor.

302
00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:07,760
Guyanese scientist,
Doctor Raquel Thomas,
is an expert on rainforest trees.

303
00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:11,560
Some of these were growing before
Columbus came to the Americas.

304
00:23:11,560 --> 00:23:16,760
This tree here, I reckon would be
about 500 to 600 years.

305
00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:23,400
In the five days since they've
arrived, they've catalogued over a
hundred different types of animal.

306
00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:26,200
Every little hair has got
hairs on it,

307
00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:29,000
and on the end of the small hairs,
you've got tiny hairs.

308
00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:33,400
Gordon's had no luck
in his search for large mammals.

309
00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:38,480
They're particularly hard
to track down,
especially the elusive big cats.

310
00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:42,240
I spent two years in total
in another part of the Amazon,

311
00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:46,240
and I saw a wild jaguar
for 30 seconds,

312
00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:49,920
and that's two years straight,
so that's how difficult it is.

313
00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:54,200
Gordon's returned to the creek
with the otter tracks.

314
00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:58,280
He's setting a trap, a camera trap.

315
00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:01,920
It looks very complicated,
but the concept's very simple.

316
00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:07,080
It's an infrared beam.
When that gets broken,
the camera starts running.

317
00:24:09,280 --> 00:24:14,920
It's a huge amount of effort to put
this in. That's why I think we have
to leave it for at least a week.

318
00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:20,240
We don't even have to come every
day. We just leave it and come every
three days or so, keep an eye on it.

319
00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:25,520
Then it's back to the canoe
and on with the search for otters.

320
00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:37,280
At Kaieteur Falls, Steve
and the team have set the ropes.

321
00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:40,800
I wouldn't go straight over,
I'd step down now onto the ladder.

322
00:24:40,800 --> 00:24:46,000
Tomorrow, he will lead a team to
the bottom to search for animals,

323
00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:51,280
but today he must first
test the gear and take a look
at the route down.

324
00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:53,360
..So that rope goes into that.

325
00:24:53,360 --> 00:24:58,600
There's always that horrible fear
of stepping off
a perfectly good, solid surface,

326
00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:00,720
and just back into space,
isn't there?

327
00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:04,920
You can't go much further because
I've got to get this bag to you now.

328
00:25:04,920 --> 00:25:08,920
His helmet-camera
will record all he sees.

329
00:25:10,600 --> 00:25:14,400
This would have to be one of the most
dramatic places in the world.

330
00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:16,520
Totally unspoilt.

331
00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:18,000
There's nobody here but us.

332
00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:23,120
But it's very hard to enjoy it
when your heart is thumping.

333
00:25:23,120 --> 00:25:26,760
It's just this
boiling steam below us.

334
00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:29,800
Just push out.

335
00:25:32,360 --> 00:25:33,880
Oh, wow.

336
00:25:39,440 --> 00:25:42,240
Oh, my ropes
are rubbing over this rock,

337
00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:43,720
and it's sharp.

338
00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:48,480
The cliff has a severe overhang.

339
00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:54,880
It's only when Steve's on the ropes
that he can get a close look
at the rock face.

340
00:25:54,880 --> 00:26:00,600
Tim, I've dropped under the overhang
and it's absolutely
extraordinary down here.

341
00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:05,240
Directly beneath me, it's dropping
straight into the plunge pool
at its most turbulent.

342
00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:09,400
It'd be like dropping into
the world's worst whirlpool -
total suicide. Over.

343
00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:13,040
OVER RADIO: That's confirmed
everything that we suspected,

344
00:26:13,040 --> 00:26:16,400
but it was worth going down and
getting a better view of it. Over.

345
00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:20,280
Yeah. From this angle, I can see a
good line where we could come down.

346
00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:22,840
If we were to actually head
around to the base,

347
00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:26,720
there's a line that looks like it
drops down onto reasonable territory.

348
00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:29,640
Steve has dropped
as far as he safely can.

349
00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:33,400
Tomorrow, he'll descend to the very
bottom to start his survey.

350
00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:38,600
I'm actually swinging right
underneath the curtain of water.

351
00:26:59,880 --> 00:27:03,080
George is on his daily quest
for new insects.

352
00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:06,640
Oh, wow!

353
00:27:06,640 --> 00:27:09,840
This is one of the wonders
of the animal world.

354
00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:14,920
This is a trail of army ants,
and there are literally
tens of thousands of them.

355
00:27:17,120 --> 00:27:20,120
Army ants are swarm raiders.

356
00:27:20,120 --> 00:27:25,600
Their marauding column pushes
through the jungle, killing
anything too slow to escape.

357
00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:28,920
You'll see spiders and cockroaches
jumping out the way.

358
00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:33,960
He's trying to get away
but it's no good. They'll have him.

359
00:27:33,960 --> 00:27:38,000
Their prey are pulled to pieces and
carried back to feed their young,

360
00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:41,720
living deep
in the heart of this tree.

361
00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:46,440
What would be really great
is to come back really early,
about 4.30am, 5.00am,

362
00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:50,600
and have a look inside and actually
see what's happening in there.

363
00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:54,960
If we hit it at the right time,
when they're on the move,
wow, that'd be fantastic.

364
00:27:54,960 --> 00:28:01,240
30 metres above, Justine is
still patiently scanning the canopy
for howler monkeys.

365
00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:04,720
This afternoon,
the wind is picking up.

366
00:28:04,720 --> 00:28:08,320
I've come up a really great tree,
it's got a fantastic view,

367
00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:13,880
but it's more like a stalk
sticking about 45 metres
straight out from the under storey.

368
00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:18,600
It's also really windy today.
There's a big gust coming in now,

369
00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:21,880
and the whole tree
is just swaying around.

370
00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:27,320
I'm actually getting motion sickness,
coupled with the vertigo
I was experiencing earlier!

371
00:28:27,320 --> 00:28:30,280
It's quite an experience
being up here today.

372
00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:37,520
Gordon's been searching for otters
since first light,

373
00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:40,760
but it seems
everything is against him.

374
00:28:43,320 --> 00:28:46,680
Hang on.
This is getting a bit unpleasant.

375
00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:51,240
It's getting really hot
and kind of uncomfortable,
I've got ants crawling all over me

376
00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:55,600
and I just snared up the prop
in some weeds again.

377
00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:00,560
It's like wire, this stuff.

378
00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:03,880
Oh, and I've just broke my knife!

379
00:29:03,880 --> 00:29:06,000
Man, that's annoying!

380
00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:11,080
To make it all worse,

381
00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:16,560
I've got this
very painful blistering

382
00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:19,000
all over my chest.

383
00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:20,880
This is very uncomfortable.

384
00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:26,640
George is suffering too.

385
00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:30,880
He's covered in bites from his crawl
through the log.

386
00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:33,080
There's a definite reaction. Mm.

387
00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:38,680
I just want to keep an eye
on that one, George, whether
that one's getting infected.

388
00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:42,400
It's been a long day
for the whole team.

389
00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:46,000
Yeah.

390
00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:59,600
But one member of the team
is having rather more luck.

391
00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:04,320
While Steve hangs on the rope,

392
00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:08,400
a flock of swifts starts
heading straight towards him.

393
00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:10,800
Look at that!

394
00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:15,960
They nest behind the waterfall.

395
00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:23,600
They're coming in very
close to the overhang here to
keep away from the spray.

396
00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:28,600
As they come in, they're banking
and rolling just like fighter jets.

397
00:30:28,600 --> 00:30:29,600
Right past my ears.

398
00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:43,360
Whoa! Look at all those swifts!

399
00:30:43,360 --> 00:30:45,040
Wow!

400
00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:47,320
Oh, that is unbelievable!

401
00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:05,240
Next morning, well before dawn,
Justine is woken by a distant roar.

402
00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:12,600
It's the howler monkeys again,
and they're getting nearer.

403
00:31:12,600 --> 00:31:15,120
I don't know what time
it is, but it's very early.

404
00:31:15,120 --> 00:31:18,480
HOWLING IN DISTANCE

405
00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:24,600
Seems a bit weird putting
ski socks on in the tropics,

406
00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:30,600
but it's best to do this
to keep all the chiggers

407
00:31:30,600 --> 00:31:33,160
and nasty biting things off.

408
00:31:35,760 --> 00:31:41,040
The precious cameras
are the only objects in the camp
kept warm and dry.

409
00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:44,440
With all the gear on her back,

410
00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:47,960
Justine starts the long trek
through the last of the night.

411
00:31:56,440 --> 00:31:58,640
George is also up early.

412
00:31:58,640 --> 00:32:01,200
He's heading to the
army ant bivouac.

413
00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:04,960
He needs to arrive before
the column is on the march.

414
00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:07,200
Here it is.

415
00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:09,040
Here's the tree.

416
00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:13,520
We've got up at five o'clock
and they're not even up yet.

417
00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:16,000
Ah...

418
00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:21,360
What you've got is a camera
on the end of this little tip here,

419
00:32:21,360 --> 00:32:25,680
and a little light and I can push
that right up into the colony.

420
00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:26,880
Perfect. Perfect.

421
00:32:26,880 --> 00:32:29,480
His aim is to
probe deep inside the colony

422
00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:31,480
and perhaps even spy the queen.

423
00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:37,360
Ooh, there they are. There is the
outside of the main ball of ants.

424
00:32:37,360 --> 00:32:39,360
Ooh, yes.
They're not happy about that.

425
00:32:39,360 --> 00:32:42,520
There's a soldier, look at
the head of that thing.

426
00:32:42,520 --> 00:32:44,240
He's not happy about that.

427
00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:50,560
That squawking noise
was a macaw flying over.

428
00:32:50,560 --> 00:32:52,600
There he goes, in fact two of them.

429
00:32:55,120 --> 00:32:57,480
Oh, my God.

430
00:32:57,480 --> 00:33:00,480
Macaws, macaws, macaws.

431
00:33:00,480 --> 00:33:03,120
I've been hearing
lots of macaws calling.

432
00:33:03,120 --> 00:33:05,600
This is the first time I've
got a good shot.

433
00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:08,920
I'm just managing to film them
through this foreground tree,

434
00:33:08,920 --> 00:33:10,880
which is causing all sorts of blur.

435
00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:15,800
That's it, one of them's just
moved into a clearer position.

436
00:33:17,480 --> 00:33:19,680
Ridiculous red colour,

437
00:33:19,680 --> 00:33:22,680
almost unbelievable, really.

438
00:33:22,680 --> 00:33:25,840
But macaws are the
first thing to disappear

439
00:33:25,840 --> 00:33:29,360
when humans come into an area.

440
00:33:29,360 --> 00:33:33,480
They're taken by hunters for the
pet trade, also for meat.

441
00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:39,320
A single macaw can sell for more
than a year's wages in Guyana.

442
00:33:41,840 --> 00:33:45,760
The colony's out on the move and
they're now swarming all down here.

443
00:33:45,760 --> 00:33:47,640
That was very quick, actually.

444
00:33:47,640 --> 00:33:50,920
One of the great tricks about
army ants

445
00:33:50,920 --> 00:33:54,320
is that they've got
hooks on their feet,

446
00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:58,600
and they can join up their feet
and they can make a bridge.

447
00:33:58,600 --> 00:34:01,200
George still hasn't seen the queen,

448
00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:04,320
but first he has to get
past the soldiers.

449
00:34:04,320 --> 00:34:08,040
They're vicious and it's not only
their giant pincers -

450
00:34:08,040 --> 00:34:10,680
they also
inject a dose of formic acid.

451
00:34:10,680 --> 00:34:14,080
I'm just going to push this right
into the middle of the colony.

452
00:34:14,080 --> 00:34:17,600
Oh, it's big.
Oh, my goodness, look at that.

453
00:34:17,600 --> 00:34:19,840
It's a huge colony.

454
00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:23,480
It's massive! It's not often you
get to see

455
00:34:23,480 --> 00:34:27,280
right into the heart
of a colony of army ants.

456
00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:32,440
That is a very privileged view. Ooh!

457
00:34:32,440 --> 00:34:33,960
Ow, ah!

458
00:34:37,080 --> 00:34:39,160
Not going to see their queen,
not today. Agh!

459
00:34:39,160 --> 00:34:42,960
HE GROANS AND LAUGHS

460
00:34:42,960 --> 00:34:45,200
This is all very bizarre...
Ow! Ow!

461
00:34:45,200 --> 00:34:49,960
..sitting quietly up here,
waiting for my monkeys and...

462
00:34:49,960 --> 00:34:52,200
George has found an army ant colony.

463
00:34:52,200 --> 00:34:54,560
I guess that's what it is

464
00:34:54,560 --> 00:34:57,800
cos you can hear him howling
with pain in the background,

465
00:34:57,800 --> 00:34:59,240
down in the under storey.

466
00:34:59,240 --> 00:35:03,920
Entomologists 0, army ants 1.

467
00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:07,160
I think I'd rather be up here
actually, even if it is

468
00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:11,960
with mosquitoes and midges
than being mullered by army ants.

469
00:35:11,960 --> 00:35:16,160
They're a crazy lot, entomologists -
especially George.

470
00:35:19,720 --> 00:35:22,840
The rest of the scientists
are back in the jungle lab,

471
00:35:22,840 --> 00:35:26,440
where the checklist of animals is
increasing every day,

472
00:35:26,440 --> 00:35:28,960
including this horned frog,

473
00:35:28,960 --> 00:35:33,960
perfectly camouflaged
to ambush prey in the leaf litter.

474
00:35:33,960 --> 00:35:37,800
But this jungle
isn't just home for amazing animals.

475
00:35:40,080 --> 00:35:45,560
Keeping rainforests intact is vital
in the fight against climate change.

476
00:35:45,560 --> 00:35:48,440
This region's forests alone
locks away

477
00:35:48,440 --> 00:35:51,680
forty thousand million
tonnes of carbon.

478
00:35:51,680 --> 00:35:55,160
Forests are important for the
global welfare.

479
00:35:55,160 --> 00:35:57,440
Climate change depends on it.

480
00:35:57,440 --> 00:35:59,240
Biodiversity depends on it.

481
00:35:59,240 --> 00:36:01,400
People depend on it.

482
00:36:01,400 --> 00:36:03,920
Guyana's a very poor country.

483
00:36:03,920 --> 00:36:08,280
Logging these forests
would be a simple way to
raise much needed revenue.

484
00:36:08,280 --> 00:36:09,800
But Guyana's president

485
00:36:09,800 --> 00:36:13,400
recently approached Britain
with a green alternative,

486
00:36:13,400 --> 00:36:18,360
keeping the forests standing
in exchange for carbon credits.

487
00:36:18,360 --> 00:36:25,480
Guyana's forest is not only important
for Guyana but is also
important for the whole globe.

488
00:36:25,480 --> 00:36:28,640
The Stern Report has concluded
that keeping forests intact

489
00:36:28,640 --> 00:36:33,080
is a highly cost-effective
way to combat climate change.

490
00:36:33,080 --> 00:36:36,680
In Guyana, they're still
waiting for a decision.

491
00:36:47,840 --> 00:36:51,720
At Kaieteur Falls, there's
an air of quiet concentration.

492
00:36:51,720 --> 00:36:54,840
This time Steve aims to go all the
way to the bottom

493
00:36:54,840 --> 00:36:57,640
and spend 48
hours surveying this habitat.

494
00:36:57,640 --> 00:37:01,240
We've got no real information about
what kind of terrain is down there.

495
00:37:01,240 --> 00:37:04,880
We know for sure that it's gonna
be very slippery and very dangerous.

496
00:37:08,240 --> 00:37:12,080
You're gonna have to lean forward,
Steve. It's very, very tight.

497
00:37:12,080 --> 00:37:15,840
Go on, go on, go on. Yes, good
job - and move sideways now, Steve.

498
00:37:15,840 --> 00:37:21,680
That's great. Well done, mate. Woah.

499
00:37:26,080 --> 00:37:29,840
As Steve starts his descent,
the mist rolls in.

500
00:37:33,640 --> 00:37:35,800
Almost as soon as I
stepped over the edge,

501
00:37:35,800 --> 00:37:41,560
this thick fog just started to rise
up from the base of the waterfall,

502
00:37:41,560 --> 00:37:43,720
and I can't see where I'm going,

503
00:37:43,720 --> 00:37:48,200
where I'm heading to, and
no-one above can see me either.

504
00:37:56,840 --> 00:38:01,080
Justine's spotted
something moving in the trees.

505
00:38:01,080 --> 00:38:03,080
Saw a flash of red then,

506
00:38:03,080 --> 00:38:06,280
looks really like a howler monkey.

507
00:38:06,280 --> 00:38:07,920
Where is it?

508
00:38:10,280 --> 00:38:14,240
There, there, there.
Yes, yes, that's it. There's a male.

509
00:38:16,120 --> 00:38:17,960
God, they look grumpy, don't they?

510
00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:22,560
Don't think they are grumpy,

511
00:38:22,560 --> 00:38:25,320
it's just they have
that permanent expression

512
00:38:25,320 --> 00:38:27,840
of being very miserable with life.

513
00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:32,600
Fantastic. There he goes.

514
00:38:45,120 --> 00:38:48,280
You can really see the
use of the prehensile tail,

515
00:38:48,280 --> 00:38:50,600
just like a fifth limb.

516
00:38:50,600 --> 00:38:52,640
It's like a safety rope.

517
00:38:52,640 --> 00:38:55,840
It's the last thing that's released.

518
00:39:04,800 --> 00:39:08,240
They spend nine hours every day
chewing their way through

519
00:39:08,240 --> 00:39:10,120
the tough rainforest leaves.

520
00:39:10,120 --> 00:39:12,600
The other 15 hours,

521
00:39:12,600 --> 00:39:14,120
they sleep.

522
00:39:16,520 --> 00:39:20,000
There's two others in the tree,
there's a big male at the top there.

523
00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:22,600
He's coming down.

524
00:39:25,200 --> 00:39:27,800
Ooh, taking a good look at me.

525
00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:35,520
Amazing, he's probably nearly 200
metres away but he's really,
really staring at me.

526
00:39:43,320 --> 00:39:45,800
Well, things are looking up.

527
00:39:51,480 --> 00:39:53,680
It's the trickiest
part of Steve's descent.

528
00:39:53,680 --> 00:39:56,040
Overhanging rocks covered in slime.

529
00:39:59,040 --> 00:40:00,640
Oh, uh-ha-ha...!

530
00:40:02,800 --> 00:40:06,880
He's constantly
drenched in spray from the falls.

531
00:40:14,720 --> 00:40:17,280
This rock is the slippiest ground
I've ever been on in my life!

532
00:40:17,280 --> 00:40:18,760
I've never seen anything like it.

533
00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:31,440
If this is what it's like hundreds of
metres from the waterfall,

534
00:40:31,440 --> 00:40:34,520
I dread to think what it would've
been like at the bottom of it.

535
00:40:40,800 --> 00:40:45,160
I am down on solid ground
and off the main rope, over.

536
00:40:45,160 --> 00:40:48,400
'That's very good news.'

537
00:40:48,400 --> 00:40:51,760
Tim, this place is every bit as steep
and slippery

538
00:40:51,760 --> 00:40:55,440
and dangerous as we
thought it would be, but it's much,

539
00:40:55,440 --> 00:40:59,920
much wetter and it's very windy
down here and it's pretty miserable.

540
00:40:59,920 --> 00:41:02,160
I want to get out of
this as soon as I can, over.

541
00:41:02,160 --> 00:41:05,440
Let's get you somewhere a bit
more protected and warmer.

542
00:41:05,440 --> 00:41:07,280
Understood. Out.

543
00:41:10,640 --> 00:41:13,840
With Steve safely down, he's joined
by the cameraman

544
00:41:13,840 --> 00:41:15,560
and a dripping wet Tim Fogg.

545
00:41:17,080 --> 00:41:19,040
You all right, mate?

546
00:41:19,040 --> 00:41:23,480
Bad weather down here,
it's a bit damp.
THEY LAUGH

547
00:41:24,520 --> 00:41:25,920
They must find shelter,

548
00:41:25,920 --> 00:41:29,400
but also keep their eyes skinned
for any animals they can see.

549
00:41:32,960 --> 00:41:35,200
There's loads of little...

550
00:41:35,200 --> 00:41:38,600
freshwater crabs
just running around here.

551
00:41:38,600 --> 00:41:42,360
Because it's wet the whole time,
they're completely comfortable.

552
00:41:42,360 --> 00:41:44,440
They're just feeding on the algae

553
00:41:44,440 --> 00:41:46,920
which they're picking
off these rocks,

554
00:41:46,920 --> 00:41:50,680
and because this place is
drenched in water the whole time,

555
00:41:50,680 --> 00:41:52,840
they're absolutely everywhere.

556
00:41:52,840 --> 00:41:55,800
This is just the
perfect place for crabs.

557
00:41:55,800 --> 00:41:58,040
It really is like
being on the bottom of the sea.

558
00:42:03,920 --> 00:42:05,480
There's been a sighting -

559
00:42:05,480 --> 00:42:09,000
a family of giant otters
glimpsed heading down-river.

560
00:42:10,760 --> 00:42:16,040
We really have to keep our
eyes open because they're big,

561
00:42:16,040 --> 00:42:18,800
but still tricky to see.

562
00:42:18,800 --> 00:42:21,600
Right bank, right bank.

563
00:42:24,320 --> 00:42:28,200
A head's popped up. I don't know
whether they've gone into the shrub.

564
00:42:28,200 --> 00:42:29,760
After a week of searching,

565
00:42:29,760 --> 00:42:33,800
at last this is Gordon's chance to
start observing these shy animals.

566
00:42:33,800 --> 00:42:36,960
Dan, do you think they're still in
front of us? I can't see them.

567
00:42:39,360 --> 00:42:41,320
They're in the undergrowth.

568
00:42:41,320 --> 00:42:43,600
Everyone just keep
their eyes wide open.

569
00:42:53,880 --> 00:42:58,120
The otters let out warning snorts.

570
00:42:58,120 --> 00:43:02,480
Oh, beautiful, just
coming straight towards us.

571
00:43:02,480 --> 00:43:06,960
They're interested, not in
fishing, they're interested in us.

572
00:43:09,880 --> 00:43:12,040
Oh, man, that's so nice.

573
00:43:12,040 --> 00:43:14,960
OTTER SNORTS

574
00:43:14,960 --> 00:43:18,200
Sun just glistening off their heads.

575
00:43:18,200 --> 00:43:21,760
Oh, there's four of them! Man alive!

576
00:43:21,760 --> 00:43:25,000
Sorry, guys. Oh, jeepers.

577
00:43:25,000 --> 00:43:26,480
What?

578
00:43:28,320 --> 00:43:30,880
Oh, man.

579
00:43:30,880 --> 00:43:32,520
That was unreal.

580
00:43:32,520 --> 00:43:34,480
That was something else.

581
00:43:34,480 --> 00:43:39,360
What I love is when an animal, and a
wild animal interacts with you,

582
00:43:39,360 --> 00:43:40,920
they're not scared,

583
00:43:40,920 --> 00:43:42,600
they just want to check us out,

584
00:43:42,600 --> 00:43:46,360
find out what we are and they've
given us an opportunity to see them.

585
00:43:46,360 --> 00:43:48,520
Woah! Close, man.

586
00:43:52,680 --> 00:43:54,840
Look at this!

587
00:43:54,840 --> 00:43:56,920
Ha!

588
00:43:56,920 --> 00:43:59,120
That's exactly what I was hoping
to find.

589
00:43:59,120 --> 00:44:00,960
It's a tree frog, for sure.

590
00:44:00,960 --> 00:44:03,920
You just look at the
big suction cups on each toe.

591
00:44:03,920 --> 00:44:06,840
Look at the way that he's moving
across my hands there.

592
00:44:06,840 --> 00:44:10,640
He is a frog that is
absolutely designed for climbing.

593
00:44:10,640 --> 00:44:13,640
He looks a little bit actually like

594
00:44:13,640 --> 00:44:19,240
the gladiator tree frog and he also
has on the thumb of each hand,

595
00:44:19,240 --> 00:44:24,080
this little protuberance here, which
is used for boxing with other frogs.

596
00:44:24,080 --> 00:44:27,080
Let's put him back.

597
00:44:27,080 --> 00:44:30,040
You're a very lucky frog.

598
00:44:30,040 --> 00:44:31,760
You live in frog paradise.

599
00:44:38,920 --> 00:44:43,880
Gordon has now followed the otters
for two miles up the jungle creek.

600
00:44:43,880 --> 00:44:49,240
Softly, softly, he's getting closer
and closer.

601
00:44:52,160 --> 00:44:56,320
Just creeping down the creek,
with Gerry paddling.

602
00:44:56,320 --> 00:44:59,440
I just don't want the otters
to go overland.

603
00:44:59,440 --> 00:45:01,640
As soon as they go overland,
we've lost them.

604
00:45:04,200 --> 00:45:09,800
Otters right here,
can't see them yet. Just hear them.

605
00:45:13,600 --> 00:45:15,400
Beauty, they are so beautiful.

606
00:45:18,920 --> 00:45:20,400
They've seen us.

607
00:45:26,840 --> 00:45:29,520
OTTERS SNORT

608
00:45:31,680 --> 00:45:34,280
Their beautiful fur was
almost their undoing.

609
00:45:34,280 --> 00:45:39,680
A century of persecution drove
them to the verge of extinction.

610
00:45:39,680 --> 00:45:44,560
This group is so at ease,
it's clear there's no hunting here.

611
00:45:44,560 --> 00:45:47,600
OK, there's one coming
right towards us now.

612
00:45:50,400 --> 00:45:52,280
OK, and he's got a fish.

613
00:45:52,280 --> 00:45:55,680
Feeding. OK, nice and gently.

614
00:45:55,680 --> 00:45:58,360
Stay very still.

615
00:45:58,360 --> 00:46:01,840
Giant appetites need giant portions.

616
00:46:01,840 --> 00:46:05,640
Plate-sized piranha - bones and all.

617
00:46:05,640 --> 00:46:09,320
What's he caught? Piranha.

618
00:46:09,320 --> 00:46:13,120
And they always eat them tail first

619
00:46:13,120 --> 00:46:16,160
for obvious reasons. The youngster.

620
00:46:19,120 --> 00:46:25,840
Oh, lovely. This is just exactly
what I've been wanting to see.

621
00:46:25,840 --> 00:46:28,440
Giant otters

622
00:46:28,440 --> 00:46:29,960
completely naturally.

623
00:46:35,440 --> 00:46:38,720
Oh, that's what
happens when somebody's got a fish

624
00:46:38,720 --> 00:46:40,680
and somebody else wants it.

625
00:46:45,920 --> 00:46:49,920
That's not going to last long,
they have a voracious appetite.

626
00:46:49,920 --> 00:46:51,840
Oops.

627
00:46:51,840 --> 00:46:57,120
And off he goes, off to
catch another one - awesome.

628
00:47:02,200 --> 00:47:05,520
At the waterfall, Steve
and Tim have a desperate struggle

629
00:47:05,520 --> 00:47:08,000
to bring the
kit down in the freezing spray.

630
00:47:08,000 --> 00:47:14,000
I've never been this cold right
slap bang on the equator before.

631
00:47:14,000 --> 00:47:17,400
They need to get dry
as quick as they can.

632
00:47:19,280 --> 00:47:21,840
HE COUGHS

633
00:47:21,840 --> 00:47:24,880
We don't want to go that
way, we want to go lower.

634
00:47:24,880 --> 00:47:26,400
Let's head down this way.

635
00:47:26,400 --> 00:47:30,040
They must find a spot to
pitch camp before night sets in...

636
00:47:32,960 --> 00:47:36,640
but in this boulder field,
there's little chance.

637
00:47:46,920 --> 00:47:49,040
At base camp, the mood is up.

638
00:47:49,040 --> 00:47:53,800
The team have fallen under the
spell of this enchanting forest.

639
00:47:53,800 --> 00:47:55,880
This is pristine, this is intact,

640
00:47:55,880 --> 00:48:00,000
this is as pure as it's ever going
to be. Let's just keep it that way.

641
00:48:00,000 --> 00:48:03,480
It's clearly not been hunted,
it's just really untouched

642
00:48:03,480 --> 00:48:07,320
and to preserve that in its
pristine state would be fantastic.

643
00:48:07,320 --> 00:48:11,800
WATER RUSHES
Tim, you in there, mate?

644
00:48:11,800 --> 00:48:15,400
It's almost dark
when Tim discovers a tiny cave.

645
00:48:17,640 --> 00:48:21,680
Yeah, this is good.
A sleeping place here.

646
00:48:21,680 --> 00:48:23,400
We'll get at least
one of us in here.

647
00:48:23,400 --> 00:48:25,000
Oh, let's get a brew on.

648
00:48:32,120 --> 00:48:34,080
Oh, the luxury. Mm, brilliant.

649
00:48:36,880 --> 00:48:40,400
The cave floor is just
a jumble of rough rocks.

650
00:48:40,400 --> 00:48:42,080
It's going to be a long night.

651
00:48:52,440 --> 00:48:58,080
At first light, Justine,
as ever, is up her tree.

652
00:48:58,080 --> 00:49:02,160
Now, the family of howler
monkeys have totally accepted her.

653
00:49:02,160 --> 00:49:04,560
She's even found a new
addition to the family.

654
00:49:04,560 --> 00:49:06,560
It's a female, wow.

655
00:49:06,560 --> 00:49:10,680
She's got a baby on her back.
Fantastic.

656
00:49:12,560 --> 00:49:15,280
The haunting calls of these
cautious animals

657
00:49:15,280 --> 00:49:18,360
embody the spirit of
the South American rainforest.

658
00:49:18,360 --> 00:49:21,280
To know there's a healthy
breeding population here

659
00:49:21,280 --> 00:49:24,640
is a great lift for the team.

660
00:49:24,640 --> 00:49:26,360
Ah, there's the big male there.

661
00:49:26,360 --> 00:49:28,440
This is the big alpha boss.

662
00:49:31,320 --> 00:49:33,720
So, there are two males.

663
00:49:33,720 --> 00:49:37,320
This big one, the smaller one and
there are two females,

664
00:49:37,320 --> 00:49:39,840
the one with the baby
and the other one.

665
00:49:41,360 --> 00:49:43,960
Another piece in the puzzle.

666
00:49:55,760 --> 00:49:57,840
Beautiful animals.

667
00:49:57,840 --> 00:50:00,600
They're absolutely stunning.

668
00:50:03,200 --> 00:50:06,480
After a big breakfast
of green leaves,

669
00:50:06,480 --> 00:50:11,520
the whole family settles
down for a long morning snooze.

670
00:50:16,640 --> 00:50:17,920
For Steve and the team,

671
00:50:17,920 --> 00:50:21,280
it has been a really miserable
night without a wink of sleep -

672
00:50:21,280 --> 00:50:23,280
and they weren't alone.

673
00:50:23,280 --> 00:50:25,240
We had visitors last night.

674
00:50:25,240 --> 00:50:29,000
I got up, turned on my
head torch and hundreds

675
00:50:29,000 --> 00:50:32,960
of cockroaches and cave crickets just
scampered for the shadows,

676
00:50:32,960 --> 00:50:35,320
and they'd been having a go
at our food.

677
00:50:35,320 --> 00:50:40,600
There's just
holes in absolutely everything.

678
00:50:40,600 --> 00:50:44,920
Mind you, I left my mug full of
sticky hot chocolate last night

679
00:50:44,920 --> 00:50:48,960
and they've cleaned it out completely
so I don't have to do the washing up.

680
00:50:48,960 --> 00:50:50,520
Fantastic!

681
00:50:53,080 --> 00:50:56,360
It's not just cockroaches
and the crickets

682
00:50:56,360 --> 00:50:58,320
that we're sharing our cave with,

683
00:50:58,320 --> 00:51:01,400
it's absolutely alive
with these rocket frogs

684
00:51:01,400 --> 00:51:05,120
and this one here actually has really

685
00:51:05,120 --> 00:51:09,200
well-developed eggs on its back.

686
00:51:09,200 --> 00:51:13,280
It's carrying around its
tadpoles inside the eggs.

687
00:51:13,280 --> 00:51:18,280
You can even see little bubbles
of air coming out of each egg.

688
00:51:18,280 --> 00:51:20,000
This species doesn't actually

689
00:51:20,000 --> 00:51:22,800
go through the free-swimming
tadpole stage at all.

690
00:51:22,800 --> 00:51:25,920
The eggs will develop
on their mother's back right through

691
00:51:25,920 --> 00:51:30,400
until they're froglets, and they'll
hatch out ready to hop about.

692
00:51:34,960 --> 00:51:37,040
It's just enormous.

693
00:51:40,720 --> 00:51:42,160
Yeah.

694
00:51:42,160 --> 00:51:45,080
Finally, Steve can begin his
real challenge -

695
00:51:45,080 --> 00:51:48,320
to survey the
plants and animals down here. Woah!

696
00:51:48,320 --> 00:51:51,840
The slippery vegetation
conceals deep pitfalls.

697
00:51:51,840 --> 00:51:53,040
No ground there.

698
00:51:53,040 --> 00:51:55,880
It would be a
terrible place to break a leg.

699
00:52:02,600 --> 00:52:07,280
The pools of water that gather in the
leaves made by these bromeliads

700
00:52:07,280 --> 00:52:10,360
are a really challenging
place to make a home.

701
00:52:10,360 --> 00:52:13,880
But there's plenty of creatures
down here that manage it.

702
00:52:13,880 --> 00:52:19,760
Possibly the most appealing of all
of them though is this little guy.

703
00:52:19,760 --> 00:52:21,440
There, look at that.

704
00:52:23,040 --> 00:52:25,760
Isn't he gorgeous?
Oh, look, on the leaf.

705
00:52:25,760 --> 00:52:29,560
It's a golden rocket frog
and the only place in

706
00:52:29,560 --> 00:52:32,480
the world you find these is in
the Kaieteur National Park.

707
00:52:34,280 --> 00:52:36,640
From egg to tadpole to frog,

708
00:52:36,640 --> 00:52:40,560
this single plant can be
their home for life.

709
00:52:40,560 --> 00:52:43,800
These really are the most
exquisite little jewels

710
00:52:43,800 --> 00:52:49,560
and every other bromeliad around here
has one or a pair living in it.

711
00:52:51,920 --> 00:52:54,840
It's not just the animals
that are exotic down here.

712
00:52:56,800 --> 00:53:02,000
There are wonderful plants absolutely
everywhere around here,

713
00:53:02,000 --> 00:53:04,760
but nothing as exquisite as this.

714
00:53:04,760 --> 00:53:07,360
This is a slipper orchid

715
00:53:07,360 --> 00:53:10,600
and it's very aptly named.

716
00:53:10,600 --> 00:53:13,920
You can almost imagine
some dainty Cinderella

717
00:53:13,920 --> 00:53:16,080
slipping her toes into that.

718
00:53:16,080 --> 00:53:19,720
This'd be worth an absolute fortune
to orchid collectors back home.

719
00:53:19,720 --> 00:53:23,240
But here,
they are just about everywhere.

720
00:53:23,240 --> 00:53:26,640
It's a bit like strolling around the
Chelsea Flower Show,

721
00:53:26,640 --> 00:53:29,320
except that
you've got that in the background.

722
00:53:32,320 --> 00:53:36,800
I think this really brings home just
quite how unspoilt Guyana is.

723
00:53:36,800 --> 00:53:40,160
The Kaieteur is the country's only
real tourist attraction,

724
00:53:40,160 --> 00:53:43,760
but we were up on top for three days
and didn't see a single person

725
00:53:43,760 --> 00:53:50,520
and down here, well, you could count
on one hand the amount of people who
have seen what we're looking at now,

726
00:53:50,520 --> 00:53:53,600
and, you know, it's five
times the height of Niagara.

727
00:53:53,600 --> 00:53:57,080
You're just standing here with this
water in your face -

728
00:53:57,080 --> 00:53:59,160
it's completely overpowering.

729
00:54:07,000 --> 00:54:10,440
Gordon is checking whether
his camera trap has worked.

730
00:54:10,440 --> 00:54:13,920
It's been lying in
wait for a week now.

731
00:54:13,920 --> 00:54:18,840
Hard to say whether anything's
been up here because of the rain.

732
00:54:18,840 --> 00:54:23,160
With any luck, it will have filmed
the otter family out of the water.

733
00:54:23,160 --> 00:54:26,360
Ah, the tape has reached the end.

734
00:54:26,360 --> 00:54:30,720
So we have one hour of stuff.

735
00:54:30,720 --> 00:54:34,320
OK, we've reached
the beginning of the tape.

736
00:54:34,320 --> 00:54:36,720
Play.

737
00:54:36,720 --> 00:54:39,640
Oh, curassow!

738
00:54:39,640 --> 00:54:41,960
I actually saw...

739
00:54:41,960 --> 00:54:46,440
curassow the other day quite
close to here, three of them,

740
00:54:46,440 --> 00:54:49,360
so I wonder if it's the
same ones. Two.

741
00:54:49,360 --> 00:54:52,040
He's camera-shy, this one.

742
00:54:52,040 --> 00:54:53,560
That's very nice.

743
00:54:57,560 --> 00:54:59,040
Oh, hang on,

744
00:54:59,040 --> 00:55:01,360
hang on.

745
00:55:01,360 --> 00:55:05,440
On the top of the log
there's something, sort of,
spotty, like a cat.

746
00:55:05,440 --> 00:55:07,600
I mean, it might
have been an ocelot.

747
00:55:09,600 --> 00:55:12,040
It's a jaguar!

748
00:55:12,040 --> 00:55:14,040
I cannot believe that.

749
00:55:20,400 --> 00:55:24,640
One of the most difficult
animals in South America to see

750
00:55:24,640 --> 00:55:27,200
was right here, literally.

751
00:55:27,200 --> 00:55:29,320
It walked along this path.

752
00:55:31,800 --> 00:55:34,120
The mysterious jaguar.

753
00:55:34,120 --> 00:55:37,840
Beautifully camouflaged,
extremely rare,

754
00:55:37,840 --> 00:55:42,560
these solitary beasts
roam huge areas of this vast jungle.

755
00:55:42,560 --> 00:55:46,600
It's a fantastic stroke of
fortune to find one here.

756
00:55:46,600 --> 00:55:48,960
That is unreal.

757
00:55:53,080 --> 00:55:54,960
I do not believe that.

758
00:55:56,880 --> 00:56:00,640
I think I said, if we get jaguar,
it's going to be by luck,

759
00:56:00,640 --> 00:56:03,480
not by judgement,
and this is just by sheer luck.

760
00:56:03,480 --> 00:56:07,520
We put this out for otters
and we've got a jaguar.

761
00:56:07,520 --> 00:56:09,040
Unbelievable.

762
00:56:11,600 --> 00:56:13,560
That is incredible.

763
00:56:16,440 --> 00:56:21,840
At the waterfall, Steve is
desperate for some decent rest.

764
00:56:21,840 --> 00:56:25,800
After the discomfort of last night,
I've decided to

765
00:56:25,800 --> 00:56:30,000
set up a basher and sleep outside
in the elements tonight.

766
00:56:30,000 --> 00:56:36,600
I think we've done really well to
have spent two days down here so far
and for no-one to have got hurt.

767
00:56:36,600 --> 00:56:40,400
This place is an absolute death trap,

768
00:56:40,400 --> 00:56:45,200
so fingers crossed everyone
gets through alive and well.

769
00:56:48,280 --> 00:56:52,880
Back at base camp, the rest of
the team have cause to celebrate.

770
00:56:52,880 --> 00:56:55,840
That's the biggest cat
that you'll find in South America.

771
00:56:55,840 --> 00:57:01,560
After just ten days, they've
found howler monkeys, giant otters

772
00:57:01,560 --> 00:57:05,240
and the scientists have
catalogued over 200 animal species.

773
00:57:05,240 --> 00:57:09,880
All evidence of the value of
this virgin rainforest.

774
00:57:09,880 --> 00:57:12,920
And the best news of all,
concrete proof

775
00:57:12,920 --> 00:57:17,920
that South America's legendary
big cat is living and hunting here.

776
00:57:17,920 --> 00:57:19,400
Wow, wow!

777
00:57:28,760 --> 00:57:31,640
But not every member of
the team is celebrating.

778
00:57:31,640 --> 00:57:38,120
All of a sudden a really, really
heavy electrical storm's come in

779
00:57:38,120 --> 00:57:41,640
and the rain is unbelievably heavy.

780
00:57:41,640 --> 00:57:46,320
I have to keep throwing up this tarp
to get all the water off it.

781
00:57:48,440 --> 00:57:53,040
But the most worrying thing really
is that this storm is getting
closer and closer.

782
00:57:53,040 --> 00:57:57,560
It's right overhead and we're
pretty much the only feature in a
landscape at the moment.

783
00:58:01,240 --> 00:58:04,080
This is turning into the most
miserable night of my life.

784
00:58:10,680 --> 00:58:14,400
In the second phase of the
expedition, the team push deeper
into the jungle.

785
00:58:16,280 --> 00:58:18,920
The number of animals they're
discovering goes up and up.

786
00:58:19,800 --> 00:58:23,280
Oh!
This would go right through my hand.

787
00:58:23,280 --> 00:58:28,520
And they climb a remote mountain to
explore a strange new world.

788
00:58:34,880 --> 00:58:37,920
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

789
00:58:37,920 --> 00:58:41,080
E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk