Episode 1 Serious Explorers: Livingstone

Eight young explorers are about to take on

the biggest challenge of their lives -

an epic adventure in the heart of Africa.

It'll take them far from civilisation, encountering endangered wildlife...

-Such an adrenaline rush!

-..witnessing unique tribal ceremony...

-Oh, wow!

And trekking where none have been before.

-So amazing.

-They'll be following in the legendary footsteps

of the great Scottish explorer Dr David Livingstone.

And the demanding expedition will push them to the very limit.

It is a wake-up call.

-Horrible.

-I hate it.

Deep in the British countryside, an exceptional group of children

compete in a gruelling boot camp, each determined to earn their place on the Serious Explorers team.

They're the last 16 out of more than 12,000 who applied,

and their fate is in the hands of the expedition leaders.

Go, go, go!

Ben Major, a former army officer,

and Polly Murray, the first Scottish woman to climb Mount Everest.

All are desperate to be one of the eight chosen to go to Africa.

I really, really want to go on this expedition!

To get this far and be knocked out would just be horrible.

At stake is a life-changing trip to Tanzania,

full of astounding adventures that few will ever experience.

The 16 finalists gather for the moment of truth.

They know only half of them will be going.

I'm going to split you into two groups. David, X.

Jo, Y.

-The finalists head into two separate rooms.

-Beth, Y.

Sian, X.

Neither group know if they're in or out. Emotions are running high.

Guys, it's been a fantastic weekend.

It's been like an expedition in itself and I hope you've enjoyed it.

-Cos you're going to experience some more! You're our Serious Explorers!

-ALL SCREAM AND CHEER

I just can't believe it! I'm so excited!

So happy!

-Oh, it feels great!

-I can't...

I don't know what to say.

I'm pretty speechless.

The team will retrace some of the greatest adventures of Dr David Livingstone in the 1800s.

The legendary Victorian explored and mapped vast areas of Africa,

and was the first to trek thousands of miles from coast to coast.

Wherever he went, he kept a diary of his unique experiences.

"No one can imagine the beauty of this splendid country from anything witnessed in England."

On his final expedition in Tanzania, a very sick Livingstone disappeared

for years, leading to one of the best known encounters in history.

He was found by an adventurer called Henry Stanley,

who greeted him with the famous line, "Dr Livingstone, I presume".

The Serious Explorers team are heading to remote parts of Tanzania to follow in his footsteps.

But there's an early blow. Sadly, one of the eight will not be joining them.

Abbey has just heard she needs an emergency tonsil operation.

I'm gutted that I can't go.

My condition's just deteriorated.

So going on the expedition is completely out of the question.

It means there'll be just three girls on the trip.

I was really distraught, because me and Abbey were the closest,

and I was looking forward to spending a month with her.

The remaining seven explorers have a nine-hour flight through the night,

heading south from Britain over the equator to Dar es Salaam, in Tanzania.

From there, it's a short hop to the island of Mafia,

very close to where Livingstone started his expedition.

To get to Mafia, the explorers transfer to a 12-seater light aircraft,

far smaller than any of them are used to.

The take off...

for the plane, I was really nervous because in other planes,

they just say, "Your exits are here, here, here..."

You feel really safe. But then, if you're on this little plane,

you kind of feel, "Oh, gosh, what if I fall out of the sky?"

They soon get a first glimpse of their amazing tropical destination.

Looking out, you can see coral reefs, like a change in the water

from light blue to dark blue. It's just awesome.

But so close to the equator, they'll have to acclimatise to some extremely high temperatures.

It's really, really hot.

I'm not used to the sun at all, cos I'm from Scotland.

The final leg of their marathon journey

takes them into a world hardly changed since Livingstone's time.

Till at last, they arrive at a completely deserted beach.

Wow. Oh, my God!

Welcome to paradise!

It's the first time they've seen leaders Ben and Polly in three months.

It's not bad, is it?

This is where they'll do their tropical training, to prepare for the Livingstone expedition.

OK. This is home for the next two nights.

-Two nights?

-Yeah.

Oh, wow, look at that.

-We're going to wake up to that every morning!

-Luxury camp, or what?

Unlike many camps later in the trip, it comes complete with a shower...

James, are you going to go for a bucket of water over the head?

..and a toilet.

-How does that feel?

-Awkward!

-Awkward?

-Yeah, it's like digging into the sides.

That is probably going to be the most luxurious loo you will get.

Enjoy it.

As they try out the local coconuts, Sian is still struggling most with the tropical conditions.

It's been a lot more tiring than I expected.

Especially the walking down to here.

I know that's not even anything, but I still need to get acclimatised.

They cool down with a sunset dip in the ocean.

I doubt it can get much better than it has been.

To go swimming in the Indian Sea,

with the sun setting behind you, is just amazing.

I don't... I can't describe it.

It's a hundred times better than anything you can imagine.

Every minute you can pick something that could be on a postcard.

Getting here, acclimatising and stuff, was kind of hard.

But now we're in paradise, it definitely lives up to expectations.

The tired team are looking forward to an early night.

They'll be sleeping in hammocks...

if they can actually stay in them.

Whoa!

I'm so confused!

I wouldn't rock around, if I was you.

I'll just lie and wait till I'm balanced!

Can't wait to hear the thuds in the night as people fall out of their hammocks!

Ashley's scared that if she moves, she's going to fall out.

-I feel itchy.

-No, you'll be fine. My sleeping bag is slipping on me.

I just fell out!

Comfortable bunk!

I've just embarrassed myself!

This is going to be a fun night!

-See you in the morning, sleep well.

-Sleep well, everyone.

-Nighty-night.

-Do you mind us waking you up every ten minutes?!

Bye!

I'm stuck.

I'm uncomfortable.

In the end, they're so exhausted they get through the night without further problems.

I'll just try and get out. Oh, boy!

I nearly fell out a few times, but it wasn't bad, actually. Really quite comfortable.

James isn't even awake.

Oh, don't rock it, don't!

I can't roll, I'll fall!

David Livingstone's last expedition began just north of Mafia.

He loaded up traditional Arab dhows for an expedition which

he knew could last many years, as he explored parts of Tanzania unknown to the outside world.

He travelled down the coast from Zanzibar to the village of Pemba, before heading inland

a journey the young explorers will begin to retrace from Mafia, starting tomorrow.

So there's a huge amount to learn.

They head out in two small dhows to get to grips with traditional sailing skills.

-That's it. OK.

-That's amazing!

All the way up, all the way up.

That's good. Fantastic.

Don't they just look wonderful?

It's just the shape of the sail, you know, that's so unique.

The local sailors don't speak English, so the Explorers also get a lesson in Swahili.

THEY REPEAT WORDS IN SWAHILI

It's so confusing, learning all the different poles and ropes and stuff.

I'm just quite confused.

I don't even know them in English, let alone in Swahili!

Steering, OK? You understand the steering, yeah?

There's a lot to remember.

It's really weird, cos as soon as you feel the surge of power and wind,

you have to tug it straight away just so the boat doesn't tip.

Like that!

The design of the dhow has hardly changed in more than 1,000 years,

and the boats are still used all down the coast of Africa.

It's incredible. You seem really at one with the sea, almost.

And there's no noise, apart from the ripples.

It's so peaceful and quiet.

It's really cool, nice and cold because of the wind and everything. It's really good.

Manoeuvring the sail to change the dhow's direction needs everyone to pull together.

I think it's difficult. There hasn't necessarily been

the team work that we're going to have to show tomorrow.

Everyone is beginning to learn the individual tasks. We've got to bring it together, later today.

A final row into shore in the noonday sun leaves the team exhausted, but exhilarated.

Good stuff.

That was amazing. I really enjoyed it.

It was definitely an experience of a lifetime, seriously. It was so good.

As Dr Livingstone travelled away from civilisation,

the only way he could get fresh meat or fish was to hunt for it.

His local guides were experts with spears, able to kill animals with one deadly throw.

And two of the explorers, Cassie and David, are taking part

in a traditional hunt for an unusual supper.

They're joining local fishermen, who use spears to catch octopus.

David has never been snorkelling before.

Snorkelling's actually quite easy. I'd recommend it to anyone.

It's really fun.

The tropical undersea world is full of life, from spiky urchins to colourful starfish.

Oh, my goodness!

How beautiful is that?

Whoa! Awesome!

But so far, there's absolutely no sign of their octopus supper.

We haven't seen an octopus at all yet, which is a little bit disappointing.

But then we've seen so many other things,

you forget about the fact that we're looking for an octopus.

While the search goes on, the rest of the team are out for

a late afternoon sail, sharpening up their team working skills.

Bring it all the way to the back of the boat. Straight to the back.

Now get ready to receive it. That's it, you've got it.

Pull it back tight.

Oh! Help him, that's it.

They practise their sail changes over and over,

till they finally begin to learn the ropes.

The more times we do it, the better it's going to be.

Meanwhile, David and Cassie have found a beautiful parrot fish to go on the supper menu.

Look at the colours on that. That's pretty sensational.

And that's a big one!

But three hours in, they're still struggling to find their octopus.

The octopus hunt isn't going very well.

We've been swimming around for quite a while now, and we haven't seen any.

Time is running out, but suddenly, one of the fishermen spots something.

I think we've just found an octopus!

The creature is hiding in the rocks.

A GIRL SCREAMS He got it! He got it!

Wow!

That's a beaut!

'When it was captured, the octopus let out an inky cloud

'to try and defend itself.'

-Did you see all the ink?

-It went everywhere!

-It's a big octopus.

-It's really strong.

-I know.

That is really sticky.

When you touch it, it just wraps itself around you.

It's so sticky.

It really is.

'As they return with their catch,

'the other explorers have been given full control of the dhow for the first time.

'Ashleigh takes the helm to sail into the sunset.'

You're doing all right,

it's fine. Just keep along like that.

-Worrying, isn't it, having everyone depending on you?

-Don't say that!

-I'll just show you what we've got.

-Wow, that's huge.

-OK, so this is the octopus. So, do you fancy eating this?

-Yes.

-Perfect.

-No, but when you touch the tentacles they all stick to you.

You can't get it off, it's so difficult.

Do this. A little bit of battering.

'Before cooking, the octopus needs to be made less rubbery.

'Cassie and Ashleigh volunteer for the job.'

It goes all brown when you hit it.

I'll try anything, but it just looks so unappetising. It's disgusting.

'Sian is more hesitant about gutting the parrot fish.'

Next bit, stick your hands right in there and pull it all out.

-You really don't like that.

-But it's not coming...urgh!

Oh! I felt like I was going to be sick.

Oh!

'I really don't want everybody to think I'm a big drama queen but I did make quite a fuss.'

My fingernails will never be the same again.

That sounds quite shallow but...

ugh!

-That looks gorgeous.

-It's going to be good.

Right, it is very nice.

-'So how will the freshly grilled octopus go down?'

-It's a bit chewy.

-That is truly disgusting.

-Not good, Ali?

-That was not nice.

It tastes like chicken.

-Does anybody want a big bit?

-I like the octopus.

I mean, I've had other people's scraps

that they don't actually want.

I'm really enjoying it.

The octopus had such a weird texture.

You get loads of, like, suckers in your mouth.

The fish is really nice.

'It's their last night in training camp before they head off in Livingstone's footsteps.'

We're going to start going mobile tomorrow and start our expedition, proper.

To that end, we'll be getting up at about five o'clock.

Yeah, you've had a nice lie-in this morning. You don't need more than that.

I'm a bit worried now because everyone is saying this is when the expedition really begins.

I'm really looking forward to it. I think it's going to be

a really hard, physical and mental challenge for me.

The expedition

is going to be hard now.

It's been quite easy.

We thought it was hard, but it's really not.

-HE PRETENDS TO SNORE

-You can hear some snores.

Time to wake up. OK? It's just gone five.

Ali. Are you awake?

Are you all right?

Oh, look at that grumpy face.

-I can't open my eyes.

-HE LAUGHS

'Everything has to be packed up in time to sail at high tide at 7am.'

This isn't such a great invention as the sleeping bag.

This thing is oversized.

'Ashleigh's so tired she's trying to pack her mosquito net in her hammock bag.'

-Read the label.

-Tropical hammock?

-And what are you putting into it?

-A hammock?

-No, what is it?

-Oh, yeah!

-SHE LAUGHS

That took so much work as well.

Livingstone's Tanzania expedition was to last five years,

and would include incredible hardship.

But he was a true explorer and loved setting out on a new adventure.

"I feel quite exhilarated.

"The pleasure of travelling into a wild, unexplored country is very great."

The Serious Explorers will spend a month recreating key parts of Livingstone's journey.

A little bit more, good stuff.

The expedition is ready to relive the legend.

They'll spend four days sailing down the coast and today's goal is to reach a tiny island 30 miles away,

where they'll transfer from two small dhows to one much larger boat.

They're hoping to be there well before sunset.

Little do they know it's going to be one of the longest days they've ever experienced.

And a few hours in, there's the first hint that it may not be a breeze.

We've basically just slowed down at the moment because the wind's just died.

Hopefully it'll pick up again in a minute and we'll be going off quicker again.

'With no toilet on board, the traditional way to go is straight off the back of the boat.

'But James finds it's easier said than done.'

-OK?

-Yes, that wasn't working.

I didn't actually need to go for what I did.

-You can't pee?

-No.

I was sitting there for ages.

-It's like, no.

-Did you get stage fright?

No, I didn't actually!

'Ali fares no better.'

Ali, Ali... No-one's watching.

All you've got to do is pop it out and go for a wee.

-All right?

-I can't!

'It takes David to show them the way to go.'

Oh, yeah, it's quite easy.

Aim and fire.

As they slowly sail down the coast, some of the team think they spot something swimming in the distance.

Halfway between us and the horizon. Are we there?

Something just sort of came over the water.

'They decide to try to head after it.'

We're getting closer to the spot where we last saw it

but we can't seem to see anything popping up at the moment.

There it is, just came up and down.

-Oh, my God, I can see it.

-Look, there it is.

-That's a whale!

That is massive!

'In a stroke of unbelievable luck, they've come across a humpback whale playing in the water.'

Oh, look at that.

THEY EXCLAIM AND LAUGH

It's just going mad out there.

I've never seen anything like that in my life.

You can see it moving right next to us.

Wow!

'Even more amazingly, there's a small calf alongside the adult.'

Can you see him breathing?

It's just so incredible.

I've never seen anything like it in my life.

They're such show-offs, though.

They're breeding here.

-Yeah.

-Then, when they have their calves, they head south.

So these guys will probably go down to Antarctica and then they'll feed down there.

All that way, just for a bit of food.

-Wow!

-Yeah, wow.

I just can't believe that we're seeing this right now.

Whales dancing around, putting on a show.

It's just absolutely incredible.

To see it at ease in its natural environment.

I've never seen anything like it before.

It's just beautiful.

It's been a unique experience but has left them well behind schedule

and just when they need it most, the wind drops completely.

We've stopped.

At the moment, we're pretty much stationary in the middle of nowhere.

They're becalmed in 35 degree heat.

So far, few have braved going to the toilet,

but the call of nature is getting hard to ignore.

-Has no-one gone to the loo yet?

-No!

Some girls on board need the toilet, but...

it's a bit tricky. We want to go for a quick swim.

With the boats going nowhere, the leaders agree to a relieving dip in the ocean.

It's just so refreshing.

The Explorers are only half way down Mafia in their quest

to reach the small island of Jibondo by the end of the day.

It's going to be a close-run thing.

At last, the wind gets up again.

It's blowing hard, but not in the ideal direction,

so the teams have to constantly change the sail position.

Suddenly, one of the boats develops a problem.

Can you see the sail's got caught? We're just going to the top of the mast to release that.

The boat's captain has to free up the jammed sail.

Yeah, it's coming round. Right...

That's it, the block's moving, it's freed it.

Now you're going to take it in. Quick, quick, quick. All the way to the back.

The explorers have been sailing for 11 hours.

But despite their hard work, they begin to realise they're not going to make it by nightfall.

I think sailing in the dark should be fine. It'll be quite interesting.

I think there'll be a lot of confusion

and tripping up and hopefully no-one will go overboard.

I've only got the hang of doing it in the day.

I don't know how we're going to get on doing it at night.

At the moment, we're all working well as a team.

Unfortunately, Ashleigh quickly falls victim in the growing gloom.

During a sail change, she gets whacked in the eye by a rope.

-Can you see how many fingers I've got up?

-Three.

'She's examined by Fiona, one of the expedition medics, who confirms it's not too serious.'

It might be just as well for the next ten minutes or so

-if we just keep the eye closed.

-It's just tears and blurry.

-That's to be expected.

In an era well before cars and planes,

Livingstone travelled by boat whenever he could.

But it wasn't always plain sailing.

On many occasions his expeditions hit unexpected obstacles, from huge rapids to dried up rivers.

And on Ben's boat, the young explorers get their first real taste of the hazards of sailing.

They're so much later than planned that the tide has gone out and they've got stuck on a sandbank.

Obviously we have run aground. I know that sounds really ominous and really scary that we've crashed.

We haven't, we've just run out of water.

All we're going to do is sit here for the tide to change,

so that's going to take maybe two to two-and-a-half hours.

Will we be eating when we get there?

Yeah, definitely. Don't worry.

We have to wait it out, it's fine.

My main concern is tomorrow -

getting up and not having enough sleep. That'll have an effect.

I'm feeling quite tired just now.

So everything seems worse than it is.

It'll be all right. I suppose.

Doesn't sound too confident!

Yeah, you don't sound very confident!

Expeditions are full of surprises, ups and downs

and there's the old saying, "Boats have destinations - they don't have times of arrival."

We're a classic example of that.

On the other boat, Polly's group have fared a little better,

making it in by 10pm for a late supper.

I'm just so happy that we're back on dry land, though I can feel myself shaking as if I'm on a boat.

It is so good to have some food.

I think the others are still at sea. I feel kind of sorry for them.

To be out for even longer must be horrible.

We're going to need people hoisting the boom and we're going to need people trimming it.

'After three hours on the sandbank, Ben's dhow is back afloat and they can finally sail into Jibondo.

'It's nearly 2am when they get in, giving the exhausted explorers just a few hours' sleep,

before they have to continue their epic voyage in the wake of Livingstone.

It's been the longest day of my life.

I'm hungry, tired and my eye hurts.

I didn't expect that on the first day to have that kind of mixed luck,

but overall it was an amazing experience, especially to see those whales, it was awe-inspiring.

I'm sure I will look back on this day and think, "Wow, the experience was incredible."

I just don't feel like that now because I'm very, very tired.

Next time on Serious Explorers, life at sea hits a new low.

I can't stop throwing up.

A VIP welcome, African style.

It's like we're celebrities!

And guests of honour at a unique show.

I've never seen anything like it.

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