The Deep South • 2012 • episode "S1E4" • Brazil with Michael Palin

Category: Travel

On the last leg of his journey across the South American country, Michael explores the Brazilian south, where he is surprised by the rich diversity of European and Asian influences. Along the way he meets Dom Joao de Orleans e Braganca, second in line of succession to Brazil's defunct throne, goes flying with a man who has made a fortune out of rubbish and meets rap star Criolo, who believes social equality is a distant dream for most of his countrymen. Travelling farther south to Blumenau, the former Python's views on what makes a typical Brazilian are challenged when he finds German speakers and Bavarian dancers, before he catches piranha for sushi and helps cowboys treat a calf attacked by a jaguar

Make a donation

Buy a brother a hot coffee? Or a cold beer?

Hope you're finding these documentaries fascinating and eye-opening. It's just me, working hard behind the scenes to bring you this enriching content.

Running and maintaining a website like this takes time and resources. That's why I'm reaching out to you. If you appreciate what I do and would like to support my efforts, would you consider "buying me a coffee"?

Donation addresses

BTC: bc1q8ldskxh4x9qnddhcrgcun8rtvddeldm2a07r2v

ETH: 0x5CCAAA1afc5c5D814129d99277dDb5A979672116

With your donation through , you can show your appreciation and help me keep this project going. Every contribution, no matter how small, makes a significant impact. It goes directly towards covering server costs.

Brazil with Michael Palin • 2012 • 4 episodes •

Out of Africa

The seasoned traveller explores the South American country, beginning in the north-east - where Europeans first landed and grew rich on the profits from sugar and tobacco plantations run with slave labour. In Sao Luis, Michael finds out about a ceremony based on a 200-year-old tale before heading to the coastal lagoons of the Lencois Maranhenses National Park. Journeying inland, he gets a glimpse of the fast-disappearing world of old-style cowboys known as vaqueiros, has his fortune read by a Candomble priest and learns to drum with the Olodum cultural collective.

2012 • Travel

Into Amazonia

The Python star continues his first visit to Brazil by travelling by river from the northern border with Venezuela to the capital of Brasilia. Along the way he visits indigenous tribe the Yanomami, learning about the threat to their hunter-gatherer way of life, before watching a rehearsal by the Amazon Philharmonic Orchestra and searching for the remains of Henry Ford's unsuccessful attempt to build a vast rubber plantation in the middle of the rainforest. In Belem, music producer Priscilla explains why Amazonian women are such powerful forces, then he moves southwards, meeting rock star and political activist Dinho Ouro Preto, who believes that despite its social and environmental problems, the country is on the brink of becoming a superpower.

2012 • Travel

The Road to Rio

The Road to Rio

Michael begins the third leg of his journey in the mineral-rich state of Minas Gerais, where he learns about the Brazilian mining industry and meets some of the people dedicated to overturning the environmental damage it causes. He then heads to Rio de Janeiro, focus of the next World Cup and Olympics, where the authorities are ridding the streets of violent drug gangs that have controlled the city's shanty towns. On a lighter note, the globe-trotting broadcaster also learns to celebrate a goal like a well-known radio commentator and visits a `love hotel'.

2012 • Travel

The Deep South

On the last leg of his journey across the South American country, Michael explores the Brazilian south, where he is surprised by the rich diversity of European and Asian influences. Along the way he meets Dom Joao de Orleans e Braganca, second in line of succession to Brazil's defunct throne, goes flying with a man who has made a fortune out of rubbish and meets rap star Criolo, who believes social equality is a distant dream for most of his countrymen. Travelling farther south to Blumenau, the former Python's views on what makes a typical Brazilian are challenged when he finds German speakers and Bavarian dancers, before he catches piranha for sushi and helps cowboys treat a calf attacked by a jaguar

2012 • Travel

You might also like

Bucovina

Famed for its painted churches, this is a region that's replete with ancient monuments.

S1E9 • Flavours of Romania • 2018 • Travel

Episode 3

Bettany visits the west bank of the Nile opposite Luxor where, for 500 years, the Ancient Egyptians buried their pharaohs in the Valley of the Kings, among them the boy-king Tutankhamun. However, the historian crosses the local hills to the Workers' Village, where generations of skilled royal tomb-builders lived. As it turns out, they also dumped masses of domestic rubbish, which is now giving some insight into the highs, lows and preoccupations of ancient Egyptians. Bettany then heads south on the Nile's oldest steam ship SS Sudan, which inspired Agatha Christie to write Death on the Nile.

S1E3 • The Nile: Egypt's Great River with Bettany Hughes • 2019 • Travel

Central America

Central America

Simon travels across Central America, from the Caribbean to the Pacific. Along the way, he goes diving on a coral reef on the coast of Belize, and witnesses a gun battle between park rangers and intruders in Chiquibul National Park. He also discovers how climate change has left Guatemala devastated by famine and drought, reports on measures to curb gang violence in El Salvador, and learns how Costa Rica aims to become the world's first carbon neutral country by 2021.

S1E5 • The Americas with Simon Reeve • 2019 • Travel

Flying High with Phil Keoghan

Flying High with Phil Keoghan

World traveler and Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan invites you on a one-of-a-kind tour of his homeland, New Zealand. On this cross-country tour at the edge of the world, Keoghan visits eccentric and fascinating places and people who epitomize the spirit of Kiwi innovation. From "The Lord of the Rings" film director Peter Jackson to a revolutionary farmer who uses drones to herd sheep, Keoghan brings you captivating and humorous stories you just won't find in a travel guide.

2017 • Travel

Puerto Rico

Martin visits the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico, which was devastated by Hurricane Maria in 2017. Martin sees how the Puerto Ricans have begun to recover from the disaster.

S1E3 • Martin Clunes: Islands of America • 2019 • Travel

Central Heartland

Central Heartland

In central Thailand's forests, fertile plains and even city streets, nature finds a way of living alongside people. Spirituality can be found in human and animal relationships, both likely and unlikely. This bustling region is known as the nation's rice bowl - but even here, there are magical places to be found.

S1E2 • Thailand: Earth's Tropical Paradise • 2017 • Travel