Episode 1 Down the Mighty River with Steve Backshall


Episode 1

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This programme contains some strong language

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Look at this place! Simply breathtaking.

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Welcome to New Guinea -

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the world's largest jungle island.

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One of the most remote and unexplored parts of our world.

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It's very intimidating, potentially very dangerous,

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but also one of the most exciting places on the planet.

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Running from its mountainous heart over 500km,

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through pristine wilderness,

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wild gorges and tropical jungle out to the sea...

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..is the mighty Baliem River.

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I was expecting it to be big...

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..but I wasn't expecting that.

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No-one has ever travelled the full length of this untamed river before.

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We've managed to turn a simple side trip into an absolute epic.

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I'm Steve Backshall, I'm a naturalist and adventurer.

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It just looks like there should be dinosaurs everywhere.

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I want to explore the river and discover more about the remarkable

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variety of worlds through which it travels.

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Ow, shoot!

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It is home to ancient tribes.

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I want to see how they are coping with the modern world.

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When they are in mourning they will cut off their own fingers as a sign of grief.

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I will be searching for some of the world's scariest animals...

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'It was basically eating its way through the village.'

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..and exploring a vast, uncharted underground world.

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Now that is impressive.

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But the Baliem is so inaccessible, that the only way to uncover

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its secrets is to travel its length from source to sea...

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We are committed now.

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..by any means possible.

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It could give us a unique insight into one of the last truly

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wild places on Earth. Where the hell are you taking us?

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Or it could be a journey...

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..too far.

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SCREAMING

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Oh, wow, look at that!

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That is just gorgeous.

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It is the first day of our five-week expedition in New Guinea to travel

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the length of the Baliem River.

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It is located in the province of Papua,

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the western half of the island of New Guinea.

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It was once a Dutch colony but now it is part of Indonesia.

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Just knowing that there are huge areas here that are

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still unexplored, undiscovered, even now in the 21st century,

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just sets the hairs up on the back of my neck -

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that kind of sense of expectation of what might be ahead.

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Our journey begins 3,500 metres above sea level

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in the central highlands.

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Running for over 1,600km,

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this mountain range is longer than the Alps,

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and is one of the wettest places on the planet.

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There it is!

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That is my first sight of Lake Habbema.

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This 5km-long lake is where the Baliem River begins its life.

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Below us now are incredible, high-altitude montane forests

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and there is nothing there apart from the odd river kind of twisting

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and turning in between them.

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Our 500km journey will start in the wild

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central highlands and end at the Pacific Ocean.

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In this first part of the expedition we are aiming to kayak through

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deep, dark gorges, and explore giant caves,

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before reaching the Baliem Grand Valley,

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a land inhabited by the ancient Dani people.

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We've landed a few kilometres from Lake Habbema,

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where the water is just deep enough to launch our kayaks.

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I don't think any of us expected it to be this special.

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It is beautiful, it's absolutely stunning.

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It is beautiful, it's pristine and the river is clear.

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But what lies ahead is unknown.

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So there are no decent maps of where we are right now.

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All of the sort of research that we have done about this area

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has been from satellite imagery.

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All of a sudden, it's real.

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All we do know is that for the next 15km,

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we will be heading into a series of uninhabited, steep-sided gorges.

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Ex-marine commando Aldo Kane is our safety expert.

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This gives a bit of a wrong impression of what is probably

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going to be coming up as well with the amount of drop and descent

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that we've got between here and the bottom of that gorge.

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To stand a chance of pulling off this daring adventure,

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I've put together a team of some of the world's top expedition kayakers

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and rafters led by New Zealander Jordy Searle.

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This is going to be a challenge.

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You know, anywhere that has never been charted before and that we

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know nothing about, there is always challenges.

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The film crew and support team are following in an inflatable raft.

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I do believe in my heart that this is one of the greatest expeditions

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there is left to do on the planet.

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You know, it has everything.

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Finally, we're on the Baliem River.

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Yeah, boys.

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Heading downstream...

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..500km to the sea.

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Around us, the plants and trees are adapted to living at altitude.

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And for the moment it is just running nice and easy,

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nice and gentle, just a lovely way to get started.

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The peace and tranquillity up here is just extraordinary.

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And all of the trees are covered in moss which kind of deadens

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all the sound.

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It is just silent.

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Ahead of us we're just starting to get the landscapes steepening

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and this could well be the beginning of that gorge.

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This upper section of the river winds its way over glacial deposits...

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..but when it hits the limestone bedrock,

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it changes character abruptly.

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Over millions of years, water has percolated through cracks

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in the limestone, forming caves and passages.

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When these collapse, they leave behind debris-strewn gorges

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like this one.

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Wow!

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We are kayaking through what could have once been an underground

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cave system.

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So we are in the gorge

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and it is utterly spectacular.

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Very, very steep-sided.

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We are committed now.

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As the river enters the gorge, the narrowing of the cliff walls

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forces the water to flow faster,

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and we hit our first rapid.

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I started kayaking when I was 12...

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..and I paddle some big rivers,

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but this will push me to my limits.

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-Sharp rocks to the underside of the raft, you know.

-Yeah.

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The erosion is ongoing,

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so fresh rock falls keep filling the riverbed with more jagged rocks.

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Stay here.

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'It is bad news for us.'

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This is our first big rapid.

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'Especially our boats.'

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The boys are going to go ahead and scout.

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Let's see if we can bring the raft down.

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Our plan for running rapids is to send safety kayaker Barney Young

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ahead, so he can scout a line through the white water.

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Then I will follow with Jordy and David Bain.

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OK, Steve. Go.

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-All good?

-Yeah, all good.

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I've got to try and follow the fast flow line down the left-hand side.

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But it is taking me close to the jagged limestone cliff.

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Too close.

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I've nearly torn the bottom out my boat already.

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Up, up, up here.

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Up, up, up.

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Nice, mate.

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We are through our first rapid.

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But there's a lot worse to come.

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-Yeah, that's good paddling.

-Thank you.

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And you know that compliment's real, cos I don't compliment poms easily.

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HE LAUGHS

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Now it is the turn of the support crew in the raft.

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One, two, three.

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Our worry is that the sharp rocks could damage the inflatable raft...

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..so the boat has to be guided down.

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The rock is impossibly spiky.

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It is like daggers. And that could...

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Well, it could pretty much rip the bottom out of our high-impact plastic boat.

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The raft is, well, very, very vulnerable.

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This is the first set of rapids and they're nothing in comparison to

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what we think is going to be further down and it is already hard work.

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With the raft over the worst of the sharp limestone...

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-I'm ready.

-Three, two, one, go.

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..we all head on.

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-Nice, Steve.

-Gorgeous.

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No kayaker has ever entered this impenetrable highland gorge before.

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It is even possible we could be the first people ever to come here.

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So all we need now is for the perfect campsite to open up for us.

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Good luck, bro.

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Finally we emerge from the steep-sided gorge.

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Oh, chaps, I think we have got something.

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Ahead, a small grassy island...

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..in the middle of the Baliem.

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You beauty!

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All the faff aside, mate...

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..it's a pleasure.

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Well, we cut it pretty thin, but we have found paradise.

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We have got the most extraordinary campsite here.

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It is a raised, sandy island in the middle of the river.

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That is going to be perfect to camp on.

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While the river team prepare camp...

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It is going to get cold, bro.

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..I am off to find some of the life

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that calls this high-altitude world home.

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This place is a botanist's dream.

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Everything has something else living off it, like this.

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This is the ant plant.

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You've got this bizarre kind of big bulb sat here on top of this rotting

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tree, and this is a remarkable plant because it is also a home for ants.

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It is the perfect example of symbiosis -

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two organisms living side-by-side with mutual benefit.

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The ants gain a house because inside here are little compartments where

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they live, and the plant gets protection because anything that

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tries to get stuck into it and eat it gets a mouthful of ants.

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If I cut this open

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then what you will see inside...

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..is all of those chambers

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where the ants live, and down the bottom there is where they have

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their eggs and their larvae.

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This one is only tiny, about the size of my fist,

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but they get to be the size of basketballs.

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Huge. And I'm getting eaten alive now.

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Think I'll take the message.

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You know, this is what I wanted to do when I was knee-high,

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but I never thought it would actually happen.

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And, you know, moments like this are unbelievably precious.

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I've got some good tinder and kindling here.

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The force of not knowing what is ahead and being the first people

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to see something is a really powerful one.

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I don't take it for granted for a second.

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Morning.

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I slept great.

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Really well.

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This grass is nice and soft and it's a lovely bed.

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How are we doing?

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Woke up about three, I think, for a couple of hours

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and me and Barnes had a few little words to one another.

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A little pillow talk.

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Honestly, I've never felt so old in my entire life as I do on this trip.

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All of a sudden surrounded by, like, 22-year-old rafters,

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giggling away and talking in a language I don't even understand.

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What's worse is that I've actually started picking all of it up

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and all of a sudden I'm kind of going,

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"Oh, yeah, that last rapid was sick,

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"and I'm, like, totally stoked."

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There is nothing more undignified than a 43-year-old man talking in

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20-year-old surfer language.

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It's day two.

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Yesterday was a terrific start, but we did not get very far.

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Today we are hoping to make up for lost ground,

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kayak through the next gorge, and get within striking distance

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of the Baliem Grand Valley.

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I was just checking out my boat this morning,

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which is brand-new, it has never been paddled before.

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And look at all these gouges in the bottom of it.

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So these are all from those really sharp limestone rocks.

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This isn't going to make much difference to me.

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I mean, you would have to be really going some to tear through

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the bottom of one of these boats, but the problem is the raft -

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it is just going to tear it apart.

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And if we couldn't fix it then the expedition would effectively be over.

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With the worry of the jagged rocks fresh in our minds...

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Steve, in behind me, bro.

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..we head off.

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I can feel some good gouges in the bottom of my boat.

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I've got some big ones in mine too.

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It couldn't be much more calm though, beautiful.

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It's incredible, it's just silent.

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We paddle on, hoping to cover some good distance.

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But then the river starts to narrow again.

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Here we go. We're going back into it again.

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You can hear the white water already.

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As we are the first people to kayak this river, we just don't know

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what lies ahead. It could be easy, it could be impossible.

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What do you think? Should we get out to the left?

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After only 2km, we come across a major obstacle.

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Holy shit!

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-This is going to be difficult with the raft.

-Yeah.

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Basically none of this is runnable.

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It is a big drop with churning white water...

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..logjams and yet more jagged limestone boulders.

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It could shred the raft and trap and drown any one of us.

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Our first instinct is to portage, or carry, the kit over the obstacle.

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Maybe the raft could handle one portage on this sort of stuff,

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but if this is going to indicate what is downstream, it's something we need to consider very seriously.

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We have two other options.

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One is to carry on without the raft, leaving the crew behind,

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meeting up with them further downstream.

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The other is to pull out.

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So we've got to think quite seriously about this.

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Very seriously. This could be something else if we get

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locked into a gorge, you know.

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Jordy is concerned that, if we commit to the gorge,

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we will be trapped or locked in.

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No joke. It is very dangerous.

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I for one definitely don't want to call for helicopter help.

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Obviously to be thinking about leaving the river this soon

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would be fairly crushing.

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You know, we wanted to be doing a lot of white water before we had to take that option.

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To add to our problems, two of the river crew,

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David Bain and Nate Klema, are both feeling ill.

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They are both suffering with severe headaches,

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high temperatures and racing pulses.

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Last night I got some pretty bad fever chills.

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Definitely not 100%.

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If it got much worse, I think I'd be struggling.

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I've started coughing a little bit more and I'm feeling

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a little bit hot, so I'm just concerned that, dropping

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into the gorge in this state, if it did get worse, it might lead us into a little bit of trouble.

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As lead kayaker, it is Jordy's decision whether or not to push on

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with a depleted and debilitated team.

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Kind of out of options, but just the exposure of Steve in there, you know.

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If Steve loses the boat, if Steve gets injured...

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When shit gets real, Steve may not be able to contribute as much

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as someone like Nate or Adrian or David.

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We can't really head downstream with just Steve, me and Barney.

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Jordy thinks it is too risky,

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so after only two days on the river,

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he's called in the helicopter.

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'I am absolutely furious.

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'It feels like he is giving up way too easily.'

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So I've just taken myself away just to have a little bit of a think.

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It's a real shame.

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I know that I'm kind of capable of taking on the stuff that is

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downstream of here.

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And that is...

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..really, really frustrating.

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I'm not loving life right now.

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Once they have recovered, the river crew will seek out

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the next place we can put back onto the river to continue our journey.

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But for me, this expedition isn't just about the first descent

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of the Baliem, it's also about exploring the extraordinary worlds

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the river has created.

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I am flying east over the highlands to a tributary of the Baliem

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called the Wollo.

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Because the rivers here are not just on the surface,

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they also run underground.

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I'm keen to get into that subterranean world to see how it

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has been shaped by the waters of the Baliem Valley.

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The mountains that form the central spine of New Guinea are composed of

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limestone, which originally was created on the bed of a shallow sea.

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But as the Pacific and Australian plates have come together,

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they have squeezed the land up into these huge, towering mountains.

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As the rock was pushed up over the past five million years,

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so rivers carved out this stunning landscape.

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But the water also started to seep through the rock and create

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a whole new underground world,

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almost all of which is totally unexplored.

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And this is exactly what we're looking for.

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It is a gigantic sinkhole or doline,

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so originally that would have been a massive cave

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and the roof's collapsed, leaving this enormous open hole.

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Look at this cliff - that is insane!

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It must be 250 metres high, completely vertical drop.

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The caves we are hoping to explore are owned by several local villages.

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THEY SPEAK LOCAL LANGUAGE

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Our plan is to abseil down this precipice and to explore the caves

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that we hope lead off it.

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Because of the contours of the rock...

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For that, I need a caving team.

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..we're going to have to have a few belays in different positions.

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Cave leader Steve Jones and his team of experts...

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Do you want 10mm?

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..are rigging hundreds of metres of rope for us to descend

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into the cavern.

0:24:590:25:00

According to the locals, no-one has ever been down this way before.

0:25:020:25:08

We are abseiling into a 200 metre sinkhole

0:25:080:25:12

from the jungle, rigged off trees in the middle of Papua.

0:25:120:25:17

I don't think it gets any more epic than this.

0:25:170:25:20

While the caving team carry on,

0:25:230:25:25

I've found something that is just as exciting for me as a naturalist.

0:25:250:25:29

Somewhere in this small stand of trees in front of me

0:25:310:25:34

is a very special bird indeed.

0:25:340:25:37

It is a bird with a very big voice and every once in a while,

0:25:370:25:41

it is kind of letting rip, the male, with a sound that kind of goes...

0:25:410:25:46

HE IMITATES WHOOSHING

0:25:460:25:48

BIRD CALLS

0:25:480:25:51

That is the call. That is the call there.

0:25:510:25:54

There is one nearby. Let's go. Let's go this way.

0:25:540:25:57

It is the sound of the superb bird of paradise, and these

0:25:590:26:03

central highlands are the only place on Earth that you'll find them.

0:26:030:26:07

It is as unique to this part of the world as the Baliem is.

0:26:070:26:12

He is there, in the tree just ahead of us.

0:26:120:26:14

Absolutely magnificent.

0:26:250:26:27

It's the most incredible, glossy black colour,

0:26:290:26:33

except for that just ridiculous patch of blue over the breast.

0:26:330:26:38

He really is screaming to all the females around here to say,

0:26:430:26:47

"I am the biggest, most beautiful boy on the block."

0:26:470:26:50

He's gorgeous.

0:26:520:26:54

When I was a kid I had an encyclopaedia of birds of the world,

0:26:580:27:01

and the pages dedicated to the birds of paradise were pretty much

0:27:010:27:04

worn through from reading.

0:27:040:27:07

I was obsessed with them.

0:27:070:27:09

And, you know, they just seemed to be so impossibly glamorous,

0:27:090:27:12

from a place that was so exotic,

0:27:120:27:14

that I just never thought I would ever get a chance to go there,

0:27:140:27:18

to stand here and see one for real.

0:27:180:27:21

Our plan is to camp the night at the bottom of the sinkhole,

0:27:230:27:27

but then we get word that there is more trouble.

0:27:270:27:30

We have very real problems up top.

0:27:300:27:34

A person turned up and pretty much just said, "Get out of here."

0:27:340:27:40

'Jordy has been hauling kit from the nearby road,

0:27:400:27:43

'but this time instead of rope, he has brought bad news.'

0:27:430:27:47

We don't have the permissions.

0:27:470:27:50

Basically they are like, "You cannot stay here."

0:27:500:27:54

It turns out that not all the villages who claim ownership of

0:27:540:27:56

the caves are happy with our plans.

0:27:560:27:59

One of the real challenges of this part of the world and one of the

0:28:000:28:03

reasons why it's still so unexplored is that the people, you know,

0:28:030:28:09

they are distrustful of outsiders,

0:28:090:28:13

they have, you know, the deep pride in their land and the belief

0:28:130:28:18

that many parts of it are sacred,

0:28:180:28:20

and they have little or no value

0:28:200:28:24

of money so, you know, you can't necessarily bargain for things.

0:28:240:28:29

-Which is very frustrating.

-Let's get back up there now.

0:28:290:28:32

Our only option is to put the caving on hold

0:28:320:28:36

while we negotiate with the other village chiefs.

0:28:360:28:39

THEY SPEAK LOCAL LANGUAGE

0:28:390:28:42

The cave sits on the border of several villages

0:28:470:28:50

and while some of them are delighted to welcome us,

0:28:500:28:53

others are not.

0:28:530:28:54

I've been coming to this part of the world for 20 years,

0:29:000:29:03

so at least I can try and persuade them in their own language.

0:29:030:29:06

But it is not looking good.

0:29:160:29:18

What was "promise" again?

0:29:250:29:27

So...

0:30:110:30:13

..we're done, we're finished.

0:30:140:30:16

I just don't ever want to come to a place and leave bad feeling behind.

0:30:170:30:22

You know, I would be lying as well if I didn't say that I am devastated

0:30:220:30:28

not to be dropping down into that cave.

0:30:280:30:31

I stood on the lip and looked down into that cavern

0:30:310:30:35

and I could taste it.

0:30:350:30:36

After several days of searching, we finally find another cave.

0:30:440:30:48

This time the permissions are all in place.

0:30:480:30:53

-We have a hole.

-And big spider webs.

0:30:530:30:56

Just as well you're going first then, Steve.

0:30:560:30:59

We are hoping to push beyond the known portions of the cave

0:31:010:31:04

to find new passages and uncharted caverns.

0:31:040:31:06

It is good to be underground.

0:31:110:31:13

I am keen to find out how these caves are being formed,

0:31:130:31:18

to understand just how vast and extensive they are.

0:31:180:31:21

The constant temperature and protection from the elements

0:31:290:31:32

mean that the early sections of these caves

0:31:320:31:34

are a perfect hideaway for wildlife.

0:31:340:31:37

These shapes are swifts or swiftlets.

0:31:390:31:43

They hunt outside during the daylight and then come in here

0:31:430:31:47

to roost here at night.

0:31:470:31:49

But the most incredible thing is the sound they are making...

0:31:490:31:53

RAPID CLICKING

0:31:530:31:54

Like that, that little burst of clicks there.

0:31:540:31:57

So the swifts can't see in total darkness. Instead, what they are

0:31:570:32:00

doing is a kind of echolocating. They are making these sounds...

0:32:000:32:05

And it bounces back off the cave walls,

0:32:050:32:07

and they hear it and they can perceive in three dimensions.

0:32:070:32:10

They are flying blind but they can still find their way

0:32:100:32:13

into these caves where they are safe to roost,

0:32:130:32:17

as they are doing up above me.

0:32:170:32:19

Amazing.

0:32:190:32:20

Papua is one of the wettest parts of the world,

0:32:230:32:26

with an average 12 metres of rainfall a year up in the highlands,

0:32:260:32:30

compared to just one metre in the UK.

0:32:300:32:32

Over the past five billion years, as these mountains have been lifted up

0:32:340:32:38

out of the sea, so the endless rain has percolated

0:32:380:32:41

into the limestone bedrock.

0:32:410:32:44

That helps explain how these caves are forming.

0:32:440:32:47

Rainwater, which is very slightly acidic, seeps through thin cracks.

0:32:470:32:52

It slowly dissolves the rock,

0:32:520:32:54

eventually creating passages in caves like this one.

0:32:540:32:57

Wet mud underfoot suggests another process is also at work.

0:33:030:33:07

It shows that water often flows through these passages,

0:33:070:33:11

eroding them like a river erodes its channel.

0:33:110:33:13

Careful of this edge, cos that's a big drop-off,

0:33:190:33:24

and it seems to carry on going.

0:33:240:33:26

I'm going to scramble down and see what I can see.

0:33:260:33:29

We're over 3km into the cave system.

0:33:350:33:37

It has taken four hours to get this far.

0:33:370:33:41

-What was that?

-It's all right.

0:33:410:33:45

-Are we all good?

-Yes.

0:33:450:33:48

You have to be careful not to touch anything.

0:33:480:33:50

But it has been worth it.

0:33:520:33:54

Now that is impressive.

0:33:540:33:56

That is incredible.

0:33:590:34:02

In front of us is a vast cavern measuring over 100,000 cubic metres,

0:34:020:34:08

rather bigger than the Albert Hall.

0:34:080:34:12

There must be very, very little air movement

0:34:120:34:15

in this cave to allow all of this to form.

0:34:150:34:17

And it is big as well.

0:34:200:34:22

HE WHOOPS

0:34:220:34:23

Echo goes on forever.

0:34:250:34:26

That is a spectacular chamber.

0:34:270:34:30

You can see where the bedding planes in the cracks are,

0:34:330:34:37

the water's seeped through and that's where

0:34:370:34:42

all of those straws and stalactites form in lines.

0:34:420:34:46

Over the millennia, as mineral-laden water seeps through the limestone,

0:34:460:34:52

the steady drips create stalagmites...

0:34:520:34:54

..stalactites...

0:34:560:34:58

..and curtains cascading down the walls.

0:34:590:35:02

It's incredible that there are hidden places,

0:35:060:35:11

darkness that, you know, has never been illuminated before.

0:35:110:35:15

And that it can be so intensely beautiful.

0:35:180:35:20

Some of these formations are thousands,

0:35:240:35:26

if not millions of years old.

0:35:260:35:28

This truly is a lost world.

0:35:300:35:33

The thing that totally blows my mind

0:35:390:35:42

is that all those miles and miles of mountains that we've

0:35:420:35:46

flown over have all got this kind of thing below them, haven't they?

0:35:460:35:50

And there are so many infinite miles of caverns like this that have

0:35:500:35:57

definitely never been seen and possibly never will be seen.

0:35:570:36:00

Possibly never.

0:36:010:36:03

But I would put a big bet on Papua having more unexplored cave

0:36:030:36:10

than anywhere else in the world.

0:36:100:36:12

Water has created a whole new landscape inside these mountains.

0:36:120:36:16

And with the challenges we faced,

0:36:190:36:21

it is likely these subterranean wonders will remain hidden

0:36:210:36:25

for generations.

0:36:250:36:26

The river team are recovered and we're relaunching our Baliem descent

0:36:400:36:43

at the first available place downstream.

0:36:430:36:46

We're re-joining the river 10km as the crow flies

0:36:490:36:52

from where we left it, to start off the next phase of our journey

0:36:520:36:56

heading down to the Baliem Grand Valley.

0:36:560:36:59

Our plan is to kayak over 80km downstream,

0:36:590:37:03

through what we expect to be extreme white water,

0:37:030:37:05

until we reach the end of the Grand Valley.

0:37:050:37:09

Hold it there, Steve.

0:37:090:37:12

This is a land of small settlements and cultivation.

0:37:120:37:15

The main tribe are known as the Dani.

0:37:170:37:20

I'm hoping to find out more about them,

0:37:200:37:23

their relationship with the river,

0:37:230:37:26

and to see what impact the modern world is having

0:37:260:37:29

on their ancient way of life.

0:37:290:37:30

At the base of this gigantic cliff face we have here,

0:37:330:37:37

there are two tributaries coming together in a fork,

0:37:370:37:40

so that means there is a lot more water here and we're going to have

0:37:400:37:44

much less problems with sharp rocks tearing the bottoms

0:37:440:37:48

out of our boats.

0:37:480:37:49

So hopefully the paddling is about to begin, finally.

0:37:500:37:55

The river's increased flow means we're less likely to tear the raft,

0:37:570:38:01

but makes it faster and more dangerous.

0:38:010:38:03

Final checks done, we are off.

0:38:070:38:10

It looks epic from here, doesn't it?

0:38:140:38:16

It feels so good just to be on the water.

0:38:160:38:18

Although many of the Dani now wear modern clothes...

0:38:270:38:30

HE CALLS IN LOCAL LANGUAGE

0:38:300:38:32

..some of the older generation still use the traditional penis gourd,

0:38:320:38:36

with maybe a woollen beanie as the only concession to the 21st century.

0:38:360:38:40

People have been farming here in the Baliem Valley for a very long time.

0:38:410:38:46

Some suggest 32,000 years,

0:38:460:38:50

which would make it the longest consistent communities found

0:38:500:38:53

anywhere on Earth.

0:38:530:38:56

Much of this success is down to the rich alluvial soil.

0:38:560:39:00

Early visitors thought this valley was a Shangri-La,

0:39:000:39:04

a fertile place of plenty.

0:39:040:39:05

Evidence shows the Dani and many of the other 311 Papuan tribes

0:39:120:39:17

share genetic links to the aboriginals of Australia.

0:39:170:39:20

Come, come.

0:39:330:39:35

Until now, the river has been quite manageable

0:39:460:39:50

but we know it is bound to speed up.

0:39:500:39:52

Steve, it's starting to get a bit steeper now

0:39:520:39:56

and we want to catch that eddy where Barney is.

0:39:560:39:58

-See where Barney is downstream?

-Yes.

-Sweet.

0:39:580:40:02

Suddenly the river drops into a kilometre-long rapid.

0:40:020:40:06

It is bigger than anything I have tackled before.

0:40:070:40:10

Aldo is scouting ahead.

0:40:100:40:12

His massive problem here is that if he is not powerful enough coming

0:40:120:40:15

through here, he is going to get sucked into that hole.

0:40:150:40:18

If he ends up in that hole he's pretty much on his own.

0:40:180:40:21

Scary stuff.

0:40:230:40:24

This may sound funny, but you can paddle this rapid, OK?

0:40:260:40:30

-You can paddle it.

-Yep.

0:40:300:40:31

I need to prove to the team...

0:40:350:40:36

..and to myself, that I am up to it.

0:40:370:40:39

I only just miss hitting the rocks...

0:40:570:40:59

..but it is not over yet.

0:41:000:41:01

I'm getting sucked into the hole Aldo was worried about.

0:41:240:41:26

If I can't paddle my way out, I am in trouble.

0:41:340:41:38

Paddle! Paddle!

0:41:380:41:40

Paddle!

0:41:410:41:43

Yes! Yes!

0:41:440:41:46

-Yes!

-Yes! Yes!

0:41:500:41:52

Good boy.

0:41:520:41:54

That was amazing. That was amazing.

0:41:540:41:58

Tenacity is the key, bro.

0:41:580:42:00

-Tenacity.

-Oh, my God.

0:42:000:42:02

I've just got the biggest adrenaline hit ever.

0:42:020:42:06

It's going to be hard work making you swim on this trip, mate.

0:42:060:42:09

Wow.

0:42:100:42:11

Feeling like I can conquer anything, we paddle on.

0:42:160:42:18

Look at this.

0:42:200:42:21

Sensational!

0:42:220:42:24

Beautiful.

0:42:300:42:31

We meet more and more Dani along the river's edge,

0:42:350:42:37

many as keen to find out about us as we are about them.

0:42:370:42:40

It was only in 1938 that outsiders first visited the valley.

0:42:430:42:46

So they're saying that this man here is the kepala desa,

0:42:530:42:56

which is the head of the village,

0:42:560:42:58

and all my other new friends here are from a village

0:42:580:43:03

that is just up here.

0:43:030:43:04

HE SPEAKS THEIR LANGUAGE

0:43:040:43:06

It is close. Their village is very, very close to the river.

0:43:080:43:11

That is a sobering thing to hear.

0:43:230:43:26

The head of the village has just said that they had, just yesterday,

0:43:270:43:30

a woman fell into the river here and they have not found her body.

0:43:300:43:34

The river has a phenomenal amount of power and while it, you know,

0:43:340:43:38

brings life to these people, it gives them water for their agriculture,

0:43:380:43:42

to drink, to wash in, it can also take life away as well.

0:43:420:43:46

So we promised to look for the body downstream but, you know,

0:43:460:43:50

I doubt we will find it.

0:43:500:43:52

As we head on, the story of the lost woman still echoing in our minds...

0:43:560:44:00

..the river starts to build again

0:44:020:44:04

as we hit yet another rapid.

0:44:040:44:06

I'm sticking close to Jordy, with Barney providing safety cover

0:44:120:44:15

further downstream as usual.

0:44:150:44:17

But then, out of nowhere, my boat gets sucked into yet another hole.

0:44:290:44:32

The water is being churned into a swirling back-current

0:44:340:44:36

and it spins me around.

0:44:360:44:37

It is sucking me in, rolling me over and over.

0:44:410:44:44

And then...

0:44:540:44:56

YELLING

0:45:020:45:04

I'm out of my boat, on my own,

0:45:040:45:07

being swept downstream by the river in full flood.

0:45:070:45:10

Swim, bro, swim!

0:45:140:45:16

Barney throws me a safety line.

0:45:170:45:18

Which I just manage to grab.

0:45:230:45:24

And I haul myself back into the bank.

0:45:340:45:35

Steve, are you all right?

0:45:370:45:39

-I'm good.

-Wait there, Steve.

0:45:390:45:42

I will come to you. Wait there.

0:45:420:45:44

Luckily, Jordy saved my boat.

0:45:460:45:49

Could someone grab that?

0:45:490:45:51

And Barney saved me.

0:45:510:45:53

Thank you, mate.

0:45:530:45:55

It had to happen,

0:45:560:45:59

sooner or later.

0:45:590:46:00

I got sucked into a hole...

0:46:030:46:06

..and flipped, I don't know, maybe five or six times.

0:46:090:46:12

It was scary. I mean, I knew the second I went into that hole,

0:46:140:46:19

I knew that I was history, really.

0:46:190:46:21

I kind of hit it wrong and it sucked me back in and, yeah,

0:46:210:46:26

it was time to pull the ripcord.

0:46:260:46:29

We paddle on.

0:46:310:46:32

Playing it safe...

0:46:340:46:35

..taking it steady...

0:46:380:46:39

..as the river slows down and the valley broadens out.

0:46:410:46:45

We're coming towards the end of a long day, at least 40km,

0:46:580:47:04

possibly even 50, and we're losing light and it's starting to rain,

0:47:040:47:09

so it's time for us to try and find camp.

0:47:090:47:11

There is a small settlement here, just a few huts

0:47:150:47:17

up beyond the river bank.

0:47:170:47:19

And the youngsters certainly seem friendly.

0:47:200:47:23

We have lucked out. These Dani villagers seem more than happy

0:47:480:47:51

to let us stay the night.

0:47:510:47:53

It is also a wonderful opportunity to find out more

0:47:590:48:03

about these remarkable people.

0:48:030:48:05

This is great.

0:48:110:48:13

So we have... There is one more modern building to the side here,

0:48:150:48:19

which has an aluminium roof,

0:48:190:48:20

but the rest of them are all old-fashioned, beehive-style huts.

0:48:200:48:25

They are called honai, and are the traditional Dani homes

0:48:250:48:29

with thatched roofs and wooden walls.

0:48:290:48:31

THEY SPEAK LOCAL LANGUAGE

0:48:330:48:36

All the generations live in this compound together,

0:48:500:48:53

including the 70-year-old village elder.

0:48:530:48:57

40-year-old chief Eli Mabel and his brother Martin

0:49:180:49:22

are the 11th generation to live in this small settlement of Pumo.

0:49:220:49:26

Outside, the extended family are cooking dinner.

0:50:480:50:51

It is traditional for group meals or special occasions to be cooked

0:50:510:50:55

in a big fire pit with hot stones to slow-bake the food.

0:50:550:50:59

Eli's mother is in charge.

0:50:590:51:01

OK, OK.

0:51:120:51:14

But it is a different tradition that has grabbed my attention.

0:51:170:51:20

This is something that is practised by the Dani women.

0:51:200:51:24

When they lose someone, when they are in mourning,

0:51:240:51:26

they will cut off their own fingers as a sign of grief.

0:51:260:51:29

Sometimes the only kind of anaesthetic they will have

0:51:410:51:43

before these digits are removed is that someone will punch them

0:51:430:51:47

really hard in the arm, and give them a dead arm and then, bam,

0:51:470:51:50

off it comes with an axe, believe it or not.

0:51:500:51:53

It sits quite uncomfortably, I guess,

0:51:580:52:01

with our whole Western idea of equality between the sexes,

0:52:010:52:04

but you see so much of that here in Papuan culture,

0:52:040:52:08

the women really do all the work,

0:52:080:52:10

all the hard work and a lot of time the guys just kind of sit around

0:52:100:52:14

smoking and laughing.

0:52:140:52:15

The Dani men also spend a lot of time chewing a mild narcotic

0:52:170:52:21

called betel nut.

0:52:210:52:22

All of it? He's saying, take all of it.

0:52:240:52:26

The whole nut?

0:52:260:52:28

-Yeah, the inside.

-It is the fruit of the areca palm

0:52:280:52:31

that is found in much of the tropics and Aldo is keen to give it a go.

0:52:310:52:36

Do you swallow?

0:52:360:52:37

No, no, no, never swallow.

0:52:370:52:41

Make that a rule for life.

0:52:410:52:43

It tastes really, really bitter.

0:52:450:52:47

And you say not to swallow, but my mouth is full and dribbling.

0:52:470:52:50

The betel makes Aldo dribble, turns his spit blood-red in colour,

0:52:520:52:56

and makes him sweat.

0:52:560:52:58

Yeah, come on, Barney. It can also make you feel a little tipsy.

0:52:580:53:02

I'm very hot.

0:53:040:53:05

It's remarkable. It's almost instantaneous, you're sweating.

0:53:070:53:12

And you've now got bright red lipstick on as well.

0:53:120:53:15

And your massive sweaty face!

0:53:190:53:22

The Dani have a communal spirit we are sadly losing.

0:53:300:53:33

It is all about sharing and spending as much time together as possible.

0:53:370:53:41

And there is no sense of privacy.

0:53:430:53:46

In fact, the word in this language

0:53:460:53:50

for being solo is the same as the word for being lonely.

0:53:500:53:54

People should want to be together,

0:53:560:53:57

that is very much a part of the culture here.

0:53:570:54:02

There is a great respect for the elders,

0:54:030:54:06

and that extends beyond the grave.

0:54:060:54:08

Come and have a little look.

0:54:080:54:11

In the men's honai, village chief Eli shows me a family heirloom.

0:54:110:54:17

Oh, that is extraordinary.

0:54:200:54:22

It was commonplace for the Dani to keep a respected ancestor

0:54:220:54:26

as a mummy, but as a practice, it is now in decline.

0:54:260:54:30

The mummy's kept in the men's hut and it is considered an honour

0:54:300:54:33

to sleep in the same space as him.

0:54:330:54:35

He was killed in a battle with a nearby village and having him

0:55:040:55:09

made into a mummy is a kind of way of honouring him.

0:55:090:55:14

After he died, his body was cleaned and prepared and he was then smoked

0:55:150:55:20

over the fire in the men's hut for six months.

0:55:200:55:23

He provides a powerful physical connection to their past.

0:55:450:55:48

It is now two o'clock in the morning

0:56:010:56:03

and the guys have finally stopped talking.

0:56:030:56:06

It's kind of weird looking around and seeing behind me...

0:56:080:56:11

..the one guy who kind of seems to be sat up in a weird position.

0:56:130:56:17

I know it is a great honour and a privilege to sleep here

0:56:190:56:23

in the men's house alongside this ancient mummy,

0:56:230:56:27

and they have told me that this will bring me prosperity,

0:56:270:56:30

and a blessing for the rest of my life and I will be able to have

0:56:300:56:33

lots and lots of wives.

0:56:330:56:34

I'm not sure what Helen will think of that.

0:56:360:56:38

It gives me great joy to find communities like this

0:57:050:57:08

where the Dani's vibrant culture is still treasured.

0:57:080:57:11

This is one of the world's most ancient cultures.

0:57:160:57:19

It is a rare case of tradition surviving in a fast-changing world.

0:57:190:57:23

Young and old still value their heritage, what it means to be Dani.

0:57:230:57:28

We were welcomed here like long lost friends and returned to the river

0:57:280:57:32

full of optimism and hope for the rest of our journey.

0:57:320:57:34

Next time...

0:57:420:57:43

This is the first settlement we've actually seen marked on a map

0:57:430:57:47

for about 10 days.

0:57:470:57:49

When it is in full flood, it has the power to move along boulders

0:57:490:57:53

that are the size of cars.

0:57:530:57:54

Paddle, paddle, paddle!

0:57:570:57:59

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