Simon sets off on a journey through the continent, beginning in the remote and little-visited north-east. In Venezuela, Simon meets some of the thousands of migrants fleeing the economic collapse of their country, while he learns that neighbouring Guyana could be on the verge of its own oil boom. He also meets a gun-toting former warlord who is now one of Suriname's most successful businessmen, and ends his journey in French Guiana, where he goes to the launch site of the European Space Agency.
Simon sets off on a journey through the continent, beginning in the remote and little-visited north-east. In Venezuela, Simon meets some of the thousands of migrants fleeing the economic collapse of their country, while he learns that neighbouring Guyana could be on the verge of its own oil boom. He also meets a gun-toting former warlord who is now one of Suriname's most successful businessmen, and ends his journey in French Guiana, where he goes to the launch site of the European Space Agency.
2022 • Travel
Simon starts his travels through Brazil in one of the remotest regions of the Amazon with the Waiapi people, who cling on to their traditional way of life, which is under threat from logging and mining interests. In Manaus, the city at the heart of the Amazon, he visits a neglected indigenous neighbourhood and meets a nurse who was the only source of healthcare during the pandemic. Simon ends this leg of his journey on the west coast in the city of Rio de Janeiro, where the government has built a hi-tech control room to monitor all parts of the city for potential disasters such as floods.
2022 • Travel
Simon travels through the Andes mountains from Peru to Bolivia, beginning at the world-famous ruins of Machu Pichu. He then visits a remote valley where the mostly indigenous population farms coca leaves. the primary ingredient of cocaine. Heading across the border into Bolivia, Simon discovers how the indigenous women known as cholas have battled for increasing have battled for increasing influence and representation.
2022 • Travel
Simon travels through three of the world's most extreme environments as he takes in the salt flats of Bolivia, Brazil's Pantanal wetland region and Paraguay's Chaco Forest. In Bolivia, he meets a family making a living carving salt from the vast white expanse of the Uyuni flats, while in Brazil he has a close encounter with South America's apex predator, the jaguar. In Paraguay, Simon visits a Mennonites school, where traditionally clothed children are drilled in Bible texts and there are no smartphones to be seen.
2022 • Travel
The last leg of Simon's journey through South America takes him from Chile's Atacama Desert right down to Tierra Del Fuego, the most southerly inhabited place on Earth. In the Atacama, one of the driest places on the planet with is as little as 1mm of rain per year, Simon discovers shocking evidence of human pollution.
2022 • Travel
Episode 3 takes us to Northern Romania and the Maramures - one of the most picturesque regions in Romania. Here we experience festivals and weddings and learn about the evolution of traditional folk music with renowned singer Grigore Lese and pop idol Loredana Groza. We visit historic wooden churches and villages, which have been preserved, despite the march to modernise. Charlie Ottley explores the wilderness by steam train and on foot through Caliman National Park and the mysterious Twelve Apostles. Further east we drop in on a scheme to rewild Buffalo and visit the incredible painted monasteries of Bucovina before heading south to see what's being done to protect the ancient forests of Transylvania. En route Charlie meets a number of local and internationally acclaimed characters and looks at ways tourism is helping to preserve natural habitats. Wild Carpathia 3 finishes with some enlightened words from HRH The Prince of Wales who once again describes his passion for Romania and the urgent need to protect its rural heritage.
3/3 • Wild Carpathia • 2013 • Travel
Ray follows in the footsteps of an unsung British hero who helped put modern Canada on the map. John Rae from Scotland was the first great Arctic explorer and came to be regarded as the foremost authority on First Nation methods of Arctic survival and travel. Ray Mears follows the story of how John Rae found the Northwest Passage - the Holy Grail of 19th-century exploration. Yet this man, who should have been a hero of his day, was vilified by the British establishment. Ray believes it's time to put the record straight.
4/6 • Ray Mears's Northern Wilderness • 2009 • Travel
Levison experiences breath-taking landscapes, bizarre ruins, and a sufi ceremony and crosses Chechnya - now ruled by a terrifying strongman - into Dagestan, where terrorists hide out in the mountains.
S1E1 • From Russia to Iran: Crossing the Wild Frontier with Levison Wood • 2017 • Travel
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.
1/4 • Brazil with Michael Palin • 2012 • Travel
Burma and Buddhism are intertwined, thanks to centuries of ancient mythology and thousands of golden monuments of worship. It all began with the Pagan Kingdom about 1,000 years ago, when Anawrahta, a great king, and Shin Arahan, a Buddhist monk, together incited one of the greatest religious reformations in Asian history. Join us as we explore this spiritual revolution and how it triggered a wave of temple-building in honor of the Buddha.
2/2 • Wonders of Burma • 2015 • Travel
Five months into his journey, Levison Wood faces a 1,300-mile walk across the Sahara, one of the most inhospitable places on Earth, to reach the Egyptian border. He's joined by a Sudanese guide, two nomads and three badly behaved camels. Together they encounter some of the most spectacular sights of the mission, camping among the ancient Meroe Pyramids. The explorer then tackles his toughest physical challenge - crossing the Bayuda volcanic field - where temperatures can reach 55C. Trekking 20 miles a day through blinding sandstorms, Lev soon starts to run out of water.
S1E3 • Walking the Nile with Levison Wood • 2015 • Travel