My name is Levison Wood.
Woo!
In 2014, I walked the Nile.
And in 2015, I walked the Himalayas.
Now, I'm about to trek between two continents
on what could be my toughest journey yet.
You don't get that if you rub sticks together!
LAUGHTER
My plan is to walk from the point where Europeans first made landfall
in Mexico, all the way to Colombia, along the length of Central America.
My route will take me through eight countries, across volcanic plains,
drug smuggling routes and cloud forests,
but before I can cross into South America,
I'll have to make it through
one of the last great wildernesses on earth -
the lawless jungle of the Darien Gap.
'I'll take four million steps, over remote...
'..unpredictable...'
I've never seen anything quite like this before.
'..and beautiful landscapes.'
You can see everything. This is absolutely incredible.
'I'll see Central America...
'..through the eyes of the people that live here.'
Bullet holes. Dangerous business being a pastor around these parts,
isn't it?
'So far, I've trekked 900 miles across exotic coastlines,
'jungles and gangland territories.'
It's really not safe around here.
'..to reach country number five...'
Hola chicos!
'Nicaragua.
'Now I'm about to navigate volcanic plains...'
It's not called the mouth of hell for no reason.
'..meet migrants on a perilous journey to the US.'
There's a lot of people dead, a lot of people dying.
'And set out for the highest point on my trek.'
This is brutal.
'I'm walking the Americas with my friend and guide, Alberto.'
Hola.
'We're approaching Nicaragua's volcanic heartland.'
Wow, it's sweltering down here.
All of this part of western Nicaragua
is one long string of volcanoes.
There's, I think, 21 in Nicaragua in a big long line and this is all part
of the Pacific Ring of Fire.
So far this has been my favourite country.
The people are really nice and it's so different to what I expected.
Very, very, very beautiful and peaceful.
Can you hear the howler monkeys, Alberto?
MONKEYS HOWL
Yeah.
Amazing.
Over the next 300 miles,
we'll walk across volcanic plains
towards the largest lake in Central America, Lake Nicaragua,
before crossing into country number six, Costa Rica.
Here, we must navigate cloud forests and deadly highways
before attempting to climb to the highest mountain on our journey,
the mighty Cerro Chirripo.
The majority of Nicaragua's six million people live in this region.
And we are entering one of its major cities, Masaya.
It seems as if the whole town is out on the streets.
What's the party for today?
The Saint Jeronimo festival attracts cowboys and girls
from across the country. Today, 1,000 horses will parade
late into the night along the six-mile route
through the centre of Masaya.
We arrived, I think, on the best day of the year to this town.
You're right there.
That was close.
This is just crazy.
It's times like this that you regret wearing flip-flops!
As darkness falls, we reach the front of the parade route
where it seems every horse must dance for the crowds.
Literally, there are thousands of pissed cowboys on horses,
all drunk, all dancing.
You're the best cowboy here? Yeah.
Where's your horse?
Gone? You've lost your horse?
Ha-ha!
He lost his horse.
The streets are a little quieter this morning
but we're not leaving town without visiting Masaya's volcano.
It's one of Nicaragua's most active and is known locally
as the Boca del Infierno, the mouth of hell.
You can actually see the smoke coming out of it.
It's, um, it's incredibly active.
It's about three miles away
and yet, all of this is a big lava field from an eruption...
..a couple of centuries ago.
In June 2016, a column of gas and steam exploded from Masaya's crater.
If a major eruption happens,
villages like Salgado which surround the volcano would be engulfed
in less than 30 seconds.
I've worked quite a lot with natural disasters with the Army,
looking at earthquakes in particular
and I know just how serious it can be
and the force of nature in a place like this is overwhelming.
But for people like Maria Morales and her young family, this is home.
Aren't you scared to live here?
But do you think it will erupt again?
Has there been one recently?
Two weeks ago? Wow.
Why don't you move away?
Cute little doggie.
'At the end of the day,
'the people that live here don't really have a choice.'
This is where they've grown up,
this is where their friends and families are
and even though the government has recommended moving,
where are they going to go?
You know, you're putting your life in the hands of God, I suppose.
Since the recent eruptions, security here has been stepped up.
If Alberto and I want to see the volcano,
we have to hitch a lift to the rim like the other visitors here.
Just the nature of the beast here,
there's lots of rules and regulations
when it comes to visiting Masaya volcano.
We've got 15 minutes exactly to have a look
and then get back in the car and come back down.
Very excited. It's my first experience with a volcano.
Yeah? Yeah.
So, it's completely pitch-black now.
You can see the lightning in the background,
but it's what's up ahead is what excites me. Check this out!
What do you think of that?
It's not called the "mouth of hell" for no reason.
That there
is the middle of a volcano.
And I bloody hope it doesn't go off right now.
This churning mass of superheated magma, known as a lava lake,
started developing inside Masaya's crater just eight months ago.
It's an incredibly rare phenomenon
and one of only a handful in the world.
What do you think?
Wow, it's my first contact with a volcano and it's amazing.
I think it's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen,
this lava.
Just down there and you can hear the noise.
I love it.
That is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen.
Looking right down there
into the crater of a volcano.
Wow!
Nicaraguans call Masaya the burning mountain.
The Spanish thought it possessed by the devil.
And in the '70s,
the country's dictator is said to have thrown enemies
out of a helicopter into its crater.
WHISTLE
So, the whistle's been blown and that's it.
No more volcano.
Volcano watching time is over.
Let's go.
Hola, chicos.
Hola.
This morning, we're pushing deeper into Nicaragua's agricultural
heartland, where the fertile soils produce an abundance of maize,
bananas and sugar.
Hola.
MAN SPEAKS LOCAL LANGUAGE
Wow, I'm pretty sure that's not Spanish.
You've almost got it, mate, you've almost got it!
THEY LAUGH
Take it easy.
Boom!
It's good, I don't need translation for this one because he speaks
English, so you understood everything very well!
Brilliant! You meet some characters, don't you?
Yeah, that was a great one.
'This region is dotted with 21 volcanoes
'and we're approaching the dormant crater lake of Laguna de Apoyo.'
Wow!
Once upon a time, thousands of years ago,
this would have been an active volcano full of lava.
It's 200 metres deep and four miles wide and was formed by an eruption
over 23,000 years ago.
It's a huge lake. It looks like the ocean.
Up ahead lies one of the oldest inhabited cities in Central America.
You can just about make out the town of Granada
and that's where we're going now.
All right, vamos!
We're entering the oldest inhabited city in Nicaragua - Granada.
Founded in 1524 by the Spanish,
Granada became a hub for rich traders.
They adorned the city with colonial treasures,
christening it "The Great Pearl".
It's so pretty. The whole town is like
it's straight out of a film set, almost.
But Granada's also home to something just as impressive
as its architecture - Lake Nicaragua,
the largest lake in central America.
This was once part of the Pacific Ocean,
before a volcanic eruption reshaped it to form an inland basin.
A river still connects it to the sea,
and it's home to some pretty unusual inhabitants.
This is the only place in the world that you can actually find
freshwater sharks. So, believe it or not, out there
you've got both crocodiles and sharks in the same water.
I've been invited by local fisherman Alex Canales
to visit the island where his family have survived
for more than 150 years.
What about the sharks that are here? Are they dangerous?
Has there ever been any shark attacks here?
The lake's 400 islands have traditionally been home
to fishing communities.
But today, they're being bought up by rich Nicaraguans and foreigners.
How much does one of these islands cost to buy?
And how much does it cost to build a house here?
So, for, you know, $100,000,
you can have yourself a really nice modern house
on your own private island...
in Nicaragua, in the tropical lake,
surrounded by crocodiles and sharks.
How about that?
LAUGHTER
Wow.
LAUGHTER
Greedy things, aren't they?
After 30 minutes, Alex's family home comes into view.
This 15m by 20m island has been their home for five generations.
So, this is your mum? Your mother?
And how many people live on this island?
And how many grandchildren do you have?
40 grandchildren?!
You've got 14 children? Wow.
HE LAUGHS
You've been busy, haven't you?
LAUGHTER She lives on an island.
You live on a... Do you ever leave the island?
Once a month?
Wow, so you spend your whole life on this...
15 metres.
Wow.
That's a nice way to come back from school.
I used to take a bus.
They take a boat.
You know, I guess if you live on an island,
that's the only way to get back from school, isn't it?
Get on the boat and paddle.
Hola, chicos. Hola.
Each day, the family catch their dinner from the edge of the island,
using nets that they make themselves.
Alex and his cousins, Louis and Axel, want to show me how it's done.
Oh, wow. There we go. That was easy.
Actually, it's a lot simpler than I thought.
I'm going to give it a go now.
So I've got that, yeah.
This is when I'll lose a tooth.
OK.
LAUGHTER
They're laughing at me.
Ahh! Nothing.
I think this one will give you a demonstration. Come on, then.
This is going to be embarrassing.
OK, so a seven years old kid is going to teach you.
That's more like it.
It's definitely not my proudest moment.
But before we leave the island,
Alex wants me to meet his 90-year-old grandfather.
Levison Wood.
Simon has lived and worked on these waters his whole life.
I'm hoping he can tell me more about Lake Nicaragua's bull sharks.
What was the biggest shark you've ever seen?
Wow.
And have you ever heard of anyone being eaten
by a shark in Lake Nicaragua?
Wow. I hope you don't do that with me.
Muchas gracias, senor. Muchas gracias.
OK. Well, let's try not to fall into the water, then.
Muchas gracias!
Adios!
It must be awe-inspiring to be able to wake up in the morning...
and look up at that.
So the boys have just dropped us off on this empty beach.
And this is where we're going to make camp for the night.
We're right on the shores of Lake Nicaragua
with nothing but palm trees
and a smoking volcano for company.
I can't resist trying to get a couple of coconuts for our tea.
Ahh! LAUGHTER
Yeah! Four coconuts. Coconuts!
There we go.
Oooh!
Robinson Crusoe, eat your heart out.
It seems a few locals witnessed my attempt at climbing,
and want to show me how it's done.
Bloody hell. I've never...
I think I've seen this on TV before. Wow.
LAUGHTER
HE LAUGHS
That's pretty impressive.
Ah! LAUGHTER
Arrgh! Sand everywhere!
There's no way I'm trying that. HE LAUGHS
On the menu tonight are a couple of fish
that Alex caught for us earlier
and two cans of beans.
Yeah, it's not bad. Not bad at all.
Are you sure this is a fish?
You're such a princess.
I have to do everything.
You are like a Neanderthal.
ALBERTO LAUGHS
We are now gonna walk along the edge of this beautiful beach
on the shores of Lake Nicaragua.
I'm eight weeks into my journey
to walk the length of Central America...
..and I've still got 850 miles to go.
As far as walks go,
today's is gonna be a good one, I think.
We have 30 miles to country number six - Costa Rica...
..a tiny nation that's home to 5% of the world's species.
We'll step off the tourist trail
across evergreen forests and
fertile plains before attempting to reach the highest mountain
in our journey - the mighty Cerro Chirripo.
Before we enter Costa Rica,
we pass the Nicaraguan army guarding the border.
So Costa Rica is allegedly one of
the happiest countries in the world.
It's got a pretty decent economy
for Central America, and it's very much at peace -
doesn't even have an army.
But the part of Costa Rica that most people don't see
is the fact that it is also home to
one of the biggest migrant crises in the whole region.
This is Penas Blancas,
home to almost 2,000 people trying to reach the United States.
100 migrants arrive every day,
many by a surprisingly torturous route.
But after Nicaragua closed its borders eight months ago,
they've got nowhere else to go.
Hey, guys, how you doing?
Very good, thanks.
So what's your name? My name is Nicky. Nicky?
Nicky. Good to meet you, Nicky.
And how is the situation here?
It's very bad. So where are you from?
You're from the Congo? OK. Yeah. Wow.
Why did you leave Congo in the first place?
Yeah.
How many kilometres have you travelled so far?
Yeah?
And how did you get from Colombia into Panama?
Because it's very difficult there, isn't it? It's just jungle.
Really? HE GROANS
What - just in the jungle?
Wow.
Yeah.
Wow.
Is it worth it to get the United States?
Wow.
Can you show us around the camp?
'Nicky's one of nearly 25,000 African,
'Asian and Caribbean migrants
'who've tried to reach the United States
'through Central America this year.'
With our own migrant crisis in Europe,
it's a story that's barely hit the news in the UK.
Despite building makeshift shelters,
the Costa Rican government is struggling to cope with the numbers.
15 dollars? Wow.
And you've got...? How much money do you have left?
Nothing? Nothing at all? No.
Yeah.
So now you're stuck here?
Yeah.
It costs $1,000 to cross the border illegally.
Few can afford it,
Like Nicky's friend, Marie Josette.
And are you travelling on your own, or are you travelling with friends?
NICKY TRANSLATES No.
He's gone?
Wow.
And where are you trying to get to? Where do you want to get to?
NICKY TRANSLATES
NICKY: Everybody here's going.
Wow. Very difficult.
Well, I wish you the very best of luck,
and thank you for telling me your story.
Families here are pushed to breaking point.
LEVISON: Is this your daughter?
No? Whose is the girl?
Hello. How are you?
How old is she?
Three years old.
And what is your name? Francisca.
BOTH: Francisca.
And your name? Wow.
But you're looking after her?
You're giving her some food and helping her?
LAUGHTER
It's you.
SHE LAUGHS
Bye-bye. Bye.
LEVISON LAUGHS
I can't imagine...
..how difficult it should be for these people.
When you see on TV,
it's nothing with the reality.
On TV, you cannot see...
You cannot feel the smell,
you cannot see everything.
You cannot hear every story of people here.
And it's really, really, really tough.
And it's really shocking.
Wow.
Although Costa Rica offers asylum,
the migrants here are in search of the American dream.
But even if they make it 1,700 miles to the US,
there's no guarantee they'll be allowed in.
Well, good luck. Good luck.
Thank you so much. Thank you.
Well, I've been to more refugee and
displaced persons camps in the world
than I care to remember, and I have to say that
the whole place is just a complete mess.
I can only imagine what it's like in there if it rains.
But... Oh, just awful.
There's no easy answer to any of this,
but when you see these conditions,
you can't help but be utterly humbled and shocked.
Nearly 3.5 million years ago,
Costa Rica emerged from the ocean, joining North and South America.
Plants and animals flourished in this jungle paradise
that's now home to 5% of the world's species.
Here in Costa Rica,
everything seems to have taken on a far more wilder appearance.
The trees are bigger,
there's a lot more jungle around,
and there's a hell of a lot
more monkeys in the trees.
GUTTURAL CHATTER
Can you do a howler monkey noise, Alberto?
ALBERTO: Show me.
HE MAKES GUTTURAL SOUND
GUTTURAL CHATTER
CHATTER CONTINUES
The monkey whisperer - that's what they call me.
CHATTER CONTINUES
Howler monkeys are the loudest animals in the Costa Rican jungle.
CHATTER CONTINUES
'They vocalise to protect their territory,
'and this male's clearly not happy
'that I've strayed onto his turf.'
CHATTER CONTINUES
I agree with everything he's saying. Yeah.
Over the next few days,
we head off the beaten track
and buy horses to help carry our bags.
It's a good idea in theory.
It's gonna be a lot of fun.
A good experience.
My first horse in my life.
LEVISON: I'm gonna call him Pegasus.
What's yours called, Alberto?
Mine's Pancho. Why?
It's a male, it has big balls,
it's Mexican.
Once we hit the road,
I realise pretty quickly that, whilst I might have got to grips
with the local howler monkeys,
horses are a very different challenge.
HORSE WHINNIES Whoa!
Phew, that was close.
Bloody hell.
These horses are so fidgety, it's unbelievable.
BLEEP.
LEVISON LAUGHS
Can you help me, please?
'We normally cover 25 miles a day...'
Come on, Pegasus. Hurry up.
'..but at the moment, we're barely covering five.'
Trust me on this one - horses are not a good idea for an expedition.
HORSE WHINNIES
THEY LAUGH
I'm done.
Thankfully, a local farmer agrees to buy our horses,
leaving Alberto and I free to push into Costa Rica's highlands.
But the weather has turned against us.
LEVISON LAUGHS
What do you think, Alberto?
A beautiful picture(!)
So, basically, that's what it should look like.
But the reality, as you can see, is a lot different.
The rainy season really has
started good and proper now.
And we've got a long way to go.
'We're up in Costa Rica's Central Valley,
'heading for the highest point in our journey, Cerro Chirripo.'
This is probably the first time on the entire expedition
that I've actually felt cold.
'To climb Mount Chirripo, we need the help of an expert guide.
'Marie Jimenez is 24, and she's been trekking here since she was three.'
So, how do you call this road?
The part that we're going to end is Dos Amigos.
It's called like that, because in the past,
some people found two guys hugging each other, dead.
Because it was so cold?
I know what they mean!
HE SNIFFLES
Me and you Alberto, Dos Amigos!
THEY LAUGH
Hugging.
Hugging, like this?
Now I'm warm! Why don't you get off me?
ALBERTO LAUGHS
'After a few miles, we enter the world of Costa Rica's Cloud Forest.'
It's like being on a completely alien planet.
I feel like I'm breathing in clouds right now.
Right, into the mist. Into the mist.
'Costa Rica's home to 10,000 plant species.
'Many thrive in these humid woodlands,
'but walking them won't be so easy.
'Over 30 miles, we must climb to 3,800 metres,
'across highways and dirt tracks, to reach the top of Chirripo.'
Physically, after all these months walking everyday, and now climbing,
I start feeling very exhausted.
And...
I cannot worry what is coming next.
It's this huge mountain, Chirripo.
I must say that it's going to be the biggest challenge physically,
for me, of my life.
'A day later, we're on a main highway, in thick fog.'
CARS WHOOSH PAST
Marie, what's this road?
It's Cerro de la Muerte.
What does that mean?
The Road of Death.
CAR HORN TOOTS
There is a lot of car crash around here, and in some parts,
you can have a very steep, um, I don't know how to call it...
Cliffs? Cliffs, yeah.
I know what they're like. Look down there - it's just a sheer drop.
'I've had my brushes with mountain roads in the past.
'It's a year since I crashed off a cliff in the Himalayas.
'The best place for us right now is out of this fog.'
Pictures of lorries all over the walls.
It's all these accidents.
Oh, is it?
Oh, wow.
This bus. Wow, look at these ones.
Do you think they're all from here?
Yeah, all from here.
Here's one that looks like a really bad accident.
There's a shudder down my spine, just thinking about that.
It scares or worries me - a lot.
'While we've been on this terrifying road for just half a day,
'others have spent a lifetime working here.'
Jair? Hi. Jair.
We heard this is a very dangerous road.
Why is it so dangerous?
Have you ever seen any accidents here?
Have you got any advice for us when we're walking?
'Jair's hardly filled me with confidence.
'Especially as we have eight more miles to walk,
'on the so-called Road of Death.'
HORN BLARES
Wherever we can, I'm just going to try and get off the main road,
and onto the little tracks,
where there's less danger of getting smashed into by a lorry.
'Finally, we make it off the highway.'
Vamos!
'We now face a 2,000-metre climb, up rugged dirt tracks,
'to reach a mountain refuge, before pushing on for the summit tomorrow.'
We've been walking for about 45 minutes,
and I'm already drenched in sweat.
We've got VERY, very lucky with the weather.
It's not raining, for the first time in a fortnight, which is good.
Let's hope it stays like this for the top!
I never hear my heart so loud.
I can hear it very well.
It's pumping...like never before.
'But as the air becomes thinner...
'..Chirripo itself seems to come to life.'
'Indigenous Costa Ricans considered this mountain so sacred,
'that only tribal chiefs and shamans were allowed to climb it.'
Marie, why do you love these mountains so much?
SHE SIGHS
You know, it's a lot of nature around,
a lot of animals to see every day.
It's a monkey.
Spider monkeys, OK.
Look at this.
It has some...esporas inside?
Spores, yeah.
Yeah.
'Eight miles on, and we make it above the tree line.'
'This is the Paramo, a high altitude region of grass and shrubland,
'renowned by scientists
'as one of the fastest-evolving places on earth.'
I was not expecting to find so many flowers and colour up here.
'But with no trees for shade, we're now exposed to the elements.'
This is BRUTAL.
The sun is beating down, and it's totally relentless.
And now, we're on the steepest part of the mountain.
HE GASPS
'11 hours after we left base camp,
'a welcome sight finally comes into view.'
So, just down there, we've got first sight of the mountain refuge.
There it is, Alberto! The refuge.
I'm so happy to see it, you can't imagine.
It's not very far away.
We can climb up there tonight!
There's no way I'm trying that!
'We have a 400-metre climb left to the top of Chirripo.
'But with 35% less oxygen than at sea level, the going will be slow.
'We have to set off at dawn to be at the summit by sunrise.'
So, it's three o'clock in the morning,
and we're just setting off now to go and climb up Mount Chirripo.
It's only about three miles to the top,
but it could take anywhere between two and three hours,
it's completely pitch-black,
so we'll have to be careful, watching our step.
We might just get a good view
over both the Pacific and the Caribbean.
Let's go.
Everything is so slippery.
It's very easy here to...
..break your ankle.
With every step we get, the higher we go,
the air gets thinner, and the tougher it gets.
HE EXHALES SHARPLY
I can feel the effects of altitude.
LABOURED BREATHING
We're almost there.
This is the final stretch.
'We've been hiking for two hours.
'Now, all that stands between us and the summit is a 200-metre scramble.'
Come on, Alberto.
I see the flag.
Ten metres.
Ah! Let's do it.
Come on. Come on, let's do this together.
Give me your hand.
Ah!
ALL: Whoo!
We made it!
This is the highest point in Costa Rica, Mount Chirripo.
What an amazing view.
That is spectacular.
Whoo!
Marie, thank you very much everything.
You're very welcome.
How does it feel to climb your first mountain, Alberto?
Unbelievable.
Have you ever been this high before?
Just in an aeroplane.
HE CHUCKLES
We can't quite see it, but somewhere down there beneath the clouds...
..we're heading that way, down into Panama.
'Next time...
RUMBLING
Come on!
'..on the final leg of my journey, I cross the Panama Canal.'
One of the marvels of the modern world.
'I meet the Embera tribe...
'..before entering the formidable Darien Gap...'
This is going to be the hardest part of the entire expedition.
..as I try to reach South America, and the end of my journey.
Subtitles by Ericsson