Episode 6 Serious Explorers: Livingstone

Seven young explorers have taken 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 adrenalin rush.

-..witnessing unique tribal ceremony...

-Ah! A rifle!

-..and trekking where none have been before.

-It's so amazing.

They're 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.

Have they got what it takes to be Serious Explorers?

Coming up., Darting endangered lions...

-The record trek takes its toll...

-Ben, I'm staying here.

And living with an African tribe...

I'm going to come back soaking!

As the adventure reaches a climax, three of the strongest explorers,

Matt, James and Cassie, have won places on a gruelling record attempt,

aiming to be the first expedition to cross Tanzania's remote Mbarika mountains.

Under leader Ben Major, an ex-army officer,

they've got to trek over 100 miles in 11 days, and Matt is finding it a daunting challenge.

There's a million hills, that are all steeper than the one we've just climbed.

While outdoor enthusiast James is suffering from terrible blisters.

It is ridiculous, I'll give you that!

Early in their route, the three had to scale an unclimbed 4,000 foot peak, a huge achievement in itself.

Everyone back home will be so proud of me.

As the other four explorers flew out of the area with assistant leader, Polly, they spotted their team mates

-at the summit.

-There they are!

I'm so proud of them.

THEY CHEER

The Serious Explorers are travelling in the spirit of David Livingstone's last marathon African expedition.

The famous explorer trekked into unknown territory as he headed across Tanzania in the 1860s.

Ben's team have now reached almost half way in their quest to conquer the uncharted Mbarika mountains.

Record attempt, day six, 5am.

And while the three are still on schedule, the long days of trekking are catching up on them.

Wakey wakey, rise and shine.

Waking up at four o'clock in the morning for a week is pretty tough.

Especially as we're doing all that walking.

So yeah, it's starting to wear us all down a bit.

-Cassie, you're dead, aren't you?

-I can't see anything.

Why? Is what I think of it all.

Supposed to be in bed when it's dark and up when it's light.

Waking up, it's not good, because you realise that you've got whole days ahead of walking.

And you've got another 24 hours until you have to wake up again!

It's just a never-ending circle.

I'd love a lie-in about half six, that'd be nice!

Meanwhile, Polly's party have flown north to Tarangire National Park,

to take part in projects to help endangered lions.

The explorers are teaming up with local lion researcher, Bernard.

There'll be a lot of hard work to come, but first, something very special.

They're going to help him dart a lion.

We are going to go out now,

find some lions that we could potentially dart and attach a collar on.

I've never been up close and personal with a lion,

and I can't wait now.

Just really ecstatic about being able to be so close to a lion.

I didn't expect to be able to see one, but not really to touch it.

I'm a wee bit worried it's going to eat me!

As they head off in search of a suitable lion, they find Tarangire teeming with animals.

-Oh, look at the tiny, tiny one!

-They're so cute.

Oh! Look at its arms.

It's eating poo!

After an hour of searching, they locate a pride of lions.

Can you see the male there?

-They're going to eat us.

-There's also a female there.

Oh! I see!

It's the female they want to put a radio collar on, to track her movements.

And she also has a wound they'd like to treat.

A dart is prepared to put her to sleep for a while.

They have to wait for the perfect moment, when she's completely settled.

It's a direct hit.

And the drug should take full effect in under ten minutes.

They hope the huge male lion will soon leave the area,

otherwise it'll be too dangerous to get out of the car.

But he turns and heads for the groggy lioness to see what's wrong.

The lion researchers urgently need to act, before he hurts her.

They move in and force him away.

And with the male off the scene, they stand guard and wait till the female is completely asleep.

Through all this, the Mbarika party just keep clocking up the miles.

And James's blistered feet are worse than ever.

I think I've got about 12 blisters altogether, so far.

Two big ones and then the others are reasonably small.

To make matters worse, they've hit some really wet and boggy terrain.

You try and avoid the wet areas but nine times out of ten, you can't.

And therefore it's just straight through.

No!

There's no hope for me, really, is there?

And James fares even worse than Cassie.

Oh no! Oh!

Oooh, no! Someone help me!

Ooooh!

What?

It's absolutely disgusting. Everything's squelching.

I've got all this mud all over me, it's horrible.

In Tarangire, the lioness is now fast asleep

and her face is covered to help stop her waking up too soon.

Ashleigh and Ali come in to help fit the collar.

Usually we have to make sure it's not too tight.

The radio collar will help researcher, Bernard, track exactly where the lioness goes.

This collar can last up to five years.

I didn't ever think I'd get this close to a lion but she's so adorable.

A lot of ticks but really soft!

She's absolutely huge when you get close to her.

Her paw is so heavy.

Just imagine having one of them crashing into you!

The explorers help treat the lioness's wound, which she probably got while hunting.

I think she had a punctured wound here from a buffalo or something.

Then all too soon, as the sleeping drug wears off, they have to return to the vehicle.

Oh, my God. Today was so good. A few weeks ago, we were just sitting

in school, and then today we've been stroking a lion!

Oh, up close and personal with a lion. It's been absolutely amazing.

In the mountains, the serious trekkers

are still on course to be the first expedition to cross the Mbarikas.

They've now completed more than 60 miles of the epic 100-mile journey.

There's a lot of tired bodies this morning.

But with just five days left, they're getting very jaded,

and James's blisters remain a real worry.

I don't think I'm holding up the group and I can take the pain.

But I've just got to be sensible, because my feet are in tatters, really.

I don't know if they're going to last the journey.

That's the biggest worry.

As they set off on yet another tough eight-hour trek, Polly's group are heading

to one of the tribal villages bordering Tarangire National Park,

to work on another lion project.

The Maasai tribes people live a simple life, which has hardly changed in hundreds of years,

and the explorers are going to spend three days living and working with them.

-Home is a hut, which they'll share with Maasai children.

-Whoa...

They're made out of ash, termite nests and cow dung.

Not bad! It's so nice in here. It's really cool, as well, getting away from the sun.

It actually has rooms.

Not what I expected at all, this is really nice.

The village has no electricity or running water,

and their most prized possessions are their farm animals, which they rely on for food and milk.

Unfortunately, lions have been coming in and killing many of the cattle.

It's a problem that has changed little since Livingstone's time,

and the explorer helped local tribes in the only way he knew.

"The next time the herds were attacked, I went with the people,

"in order to rid them of the annoyance by destroying one of the marauders."

Even now, local Maasai kill around 30 lions each year to try to protect their cattle.

So, starting tomorrow, the explorers will help them build

a new, lion-proof animal enclosure, in the hope it will stop the need to slaughter endangered lions.

But as they don't speak each other's language,

communication is going to be tricky.

We tried our best!

In the Mbarikas, the trekkers have once again hit difficult terrain, and they're falling behind schedule.

We've done about a mile-and-a-half, in an hour-and-a-half, which is not a problem.

-But come this evening, we want to be off the side of this map.

-Yeah.

And to do that, we're going to need to put the hammer down.

It's a big ask, to cover a further 12 miles through thick bush.

It's just horrible terrain.

You can't get a rhythm or anything, it's just horrible.

The experience is testing them to the very limit. Morale is sinking fast.

Anything other than this really would cheer me up, to be honest!

Some nice food, a bed...

A hug off my mum.

Ah!

All the water the Maasai village needs has to be brought from a nearby reservoir.

And the explorers find the traditional way of carrying it far harder than it looks.

I'm going to come back soaking!

My head and my neck hurt a lot.

I don't know how they do this, like every time.

I had it on my head but then I spilled it like all.

So I've gone to the tactics of carrying the bucket.

The Maasai boys learn to throw deadly spears from a very early age

and Ali finds it hard to compete.

Oh, they were all laughing. That's all right, good effort!

It's really quite difficult to get the hang of.

But David does the Brits proud.

Very good. See you got a clap there!

It's pretty cool. I mean, these guys are amazing at it.

Wooh! God, that was miles.

With a superhuman effort, the trekkers have clocked up their

day's 14 miles, and they've found a stunning waterfall for their camp.

It's not bad, though.

Even so, spirits are at a low.

-I'm really tired.

-Don't worry, that was a long day.

That was a long day, seriously.

I feel awful at the moment. I'm just so tired, and my shoulders are killing me.

This has probably just been the longest day.

Just gets you down, really.

Now I'm crying, I said I wouldn't cry again!

We had to put in the hard effort, all right? And I know everyone's

exhausted, and got sore feet, but it's worth it.

Waterfalls and a plunge pool, what more could you want?

And the waterfall quickly washes away their blues.

This is better than my shower at home! I love it!

It even helps soothe James's blisters.

My feet feel so good, it's so nice to get clean.

And that waterfall was just like a massage, it was brilliant.

In the evening, the two groups are hoping to get a first chance to talk to each other since they split.

A satellite link-up has been set up between the two remote areas.

-Yes!

-Hi!

-Hello.

-What are you wearing round your neck?

-My tribal jewellery.

-Oh, they've got all Maasai gear.

Yeah, they're all behind us.

Hello, locals.

How many more miles have you got to go?

60 berzillion!

-About 30.

-OK, that's cool, that's brilliant.

-I can't stand it.

-Every step is agony.

-I have 12 blisters.

-Oh, James!

-Poor you!

-Man up, James, man up.

I'm more manly than James now, I'm the strongest in the group.

Hurray, you go, Cassie!

-Good luck over the next few days, guys.

-Yeah, you, too.

We miss you so much.

-Bye! See you guys! Bye!

-Take care!

-That was brilliant.

-It was lovely.

We haven't seen them in ages.

I kind of feel a bit jealous, just because they've got all this

Maasai jewellery and seen lions, while we're just walking every day.

But I suppose at the end, our triumph will be a lot bigger than theirs.

The first day at the Maasai village has been a meeting of two very different cultures.

It's like we're so far from civilisation at the moment.

Such a different way of life. They're all crowding round me.

I feel slightly intimidated!

The Maasai children have never seen anything like the British children's cameras and computers.

-Here we go...

-And in Victorian times, local people

were also amazed by Livingstone's strange devices, none more so than his magic lantern,

which used an oil lamp to project painted slides while he told Bible stories.

The ladies listened with silent awe.

But when I moved the slide, mother, mother!

They all shouted at once and off they rushed, helter skelter!

Oh, it's OK, come back!

The Maasai are so fascinated by the video camera that Ali can't continue.

This isn't working very well.

So instead, the tribal children get their first ever chance

to see themselves on camera.

As the explorers prepare for bed, it's not just Maasai children they're sharing the hut with.

If these chickens take my flip-flops, I'm not going to be impressed.

Leave your flip-flops in here.

I am going to come and wake you guys at 5:30,

ready for a long day of building.

Whoo-hoo!

Sleep well.

Early next morning, David goes into the girls' hut to check out the chickens.

But he spots something very scary under the bed.

A large snake has slithered in during the night.

It looks black, and it looks kind of like the black mamba but I'm not totally sure.

That's not good, actually.

-It's very big.

-Let's get out of here.

Everybody vacates the hut urgently.

I want that snake out of my house.

In the mountains, the trekkers have their own problems with dangerous creatures.

Oh, my God.

Oh!

-That's quite big.

-Have a look at that puppy.

-Wow!

-Would it be poisonous?

-He's got some fangs on him.

While not as deadly as some snakes, the spider has a nasty bite.

Ben coolly removes it from the tent area.

Meanwhile, the Maasai villagers have killed the snake with a spear.

-Cobra.

-It's a highly dangerous spitting cobra.

-That's an egg?

-Yes.

-Remarkably, they retrieve a chicken egg that it's eaten whole.

-Oh, my God!

-That's gross.

A very uneasy feeling, knowing that that's just been under your bed while we've been sleeping.

After all the distractions, the team urgently need to begin their huge building project.

Working with four Maasai children, they have just two days to build the lion-proof cattle enclosure.

It's going to be 10 metres by 11 metres

and all these dots represent holes.

The enclosure will be made up of more than 80 big poles

covered in mesh and each one has to go in a deep hole.

The aim at the end of today is to have 84 holes dug.

Quite scary. The project looks really big.

It will be long and hard, yes.

Working in 35-degree heat, they need to average 18 holes an hour.

And they begin really well.

They've been going just over an hour, and they have almost dug 20 holes.

The thing is, it's now starting to get pretty warm.

It is hard work now the sun's come out but it will be worthwhile.

We are doing all right but we have slowed down in the last hour.

We're tired, it's difficult but we're just hopefully going to get it done before dark.

In contrast, the trekking team are so tired

they've fallen asleep during a break.

Love it!

Exhaustion.

-Cassie...

-No!

I'm staying here.

Matty, James...

Just getting nice then.

I didn't want to fall asleep as well, I wanted to stay awake.

Neither did I, because then I'll get more tired, and now I'm really tired.

Yeah, but you got what you wanted.

After lunch, the building party find surprising reserves of strength to get ahead on the hole-digging.

I started off really tired and then I seemed to get like a burst of energy. I'm not sure what happened.

I've got my first blister, which obviously shows I've been working!

We've just absolutely nailed it, so, yeah, it's brilliant.

Even the Maasai building team can't take the pace.

And by four o'clock, the last of the 84 holes is completed.

Whe-hey!

-Good effort, team.

-Well done, everyone.

Brilliant.

In the Mbarikas, trackers and an armed guide always walk well ahead

of the main party for safety, and they make a rare sighting.

We've just discovered that an elephant's in front,

so we'll all keep quiet, and hopefully we'll get a glimpse of one of them.

For the first time on the trek, the wind is blowing directly

towards the group, so the elephants hopefully can't hear or smell them.

Isn't that amazing?

It's a family group of five elephants, grazing peacefully in the forest.

You never actually think that you'd see them up close

and so natural, not even knowing that we're there.

It's incredible because I've never been this close to any animal, really,

so, yeah, it's amazing.

It's the most magical encounter of the whole expedition.

Never think in a million years that you'd get that close

to seeing an elephant just out in the wild minding its own business!

It definitely numbs the pain of having walked for eight days without seeing anything.

It's just made my day.

As the day's building draws to a close, the team have done a

remarkable job, putting in 11 poles to get well ahead on the project.

Right, team, finish your poles and then knock it on the head for the day.

-Have some food and maybe have a little bit of a wash.

-You think we need a wash?

Yes. They're incredible, they've done a really, really good job. Well done, everyone! Whey!

Good effort.

Next morning, there's positive news for Ben's team too.

The first hint at last that the end of the marathon trek may be in sight.

Smiles, because you can see, for once, that we're nearly on the same map sheet as our end destination.

The most important thing to focus on is getting to the Matisi River,

because that is a big goal in itself today.

In total, they've now walked over 90 miles,

and if they can trek a further 11 miles to the Matisi River today,

they'll be out of the mountains, and the Mbarikas will have been crossed

by an expedition for the first time.

We're really nailing the miles.

It looks like we've got a long way to go but it's definitely doable.

It's the final day of the building project and after yesterday's impressive efforts, the British

and Maasai children are well on track to finish the lion-proof enclosure.

But after three days in the village, living without any modern luxuries,

the explorers have decided the tough tribal lifestyle is not for them.

I feel bad saying that I don't like it, because they have to live like it.

But it's definitely not idyllic.

People might think it's a nice way to live, more simple, but it's poverty, basically.

You kind of realise how spoilt and lucky we are,

to live the way we live at home.

It's nice to be able to experience living like them

but I don't think I'd ever be able to live like them.

I like my way of life.

By early afternoon, several hours ahead of schedule,

the explorers and the Maasai complete the building project.

Well, finito! Fantastic!

It's an amazing achievement - working in the tropical heat,

they've built the whole enclosure in less than two days.

And at last, the Maasai's valuable cattle will be protected from lion attacks.

The tribal leader says it will make a great difference to their lives.

He says this is very, very big for him and his family.

So he's very, very thankful to everybody who participated here.

It feels good, because like not only are we protecting the people's

cattle, which is essentially their money, but we're also protecting the lions from being killed.

It's a really good feeling to know that it's going to contribute a lot to the whole community.

It was totally worth all the work.

Ben's team are piling on the miles in their quest to complete

the record-breaking crossing of the mountains.

And as they take a break, they're confident they've broken the back of the journey.

Starting to feel slightly better, it's just every step is just a step closer to the end.

But they're destined not to make it.

Just hours from conquering the Mbarikas, the expedition is hit by a rare and terrible tragedy.

Ahead of the main group, an armed guide is involved

in a fatal accident, attacked and killed by an elephant.

Leader Ben immediately calls off the trek, and the explorers are airlifted out by helicopter.

As an expedition leader, when you have a tragic accident like this, you have to literally just call

it off, end it then and there, and that's what we did.

Having said all of that, and having had to cut the expedition short, one can't take away

from what those three young explorers actually achieved, because we were coming out

of the mountains, we were heading down to the river, we'd kind of done it.

Those three achieved so much, and for me, they've crossed the Mbarikas.

Towards the end of his expedition, David Livingstone was in very poor health.

People back in Britain didn't hear from him for several years,

and had no idea what had happened to their national hero.

Eventually, an American newspaper sent a reporter, the adventurer Henry Stanley, to try and find him,

and after nearly eight months, he traced the great explorer to a village by Lake Tanganyika.

Stanley wrote later of his famous encounter...

I would have run to him, would have embraced him,

only he being British, I did not know how he would receive me.

So I did what cowardice suggested was the best thing -

walked deliberately to him and said, "Dr Livingstone, I presume?"

"Yes," said he, with a kind smile, lifting his cap slightly.

Reliving the legend of Livingstone has given the seven young explorers

a fresh respect for the Victorian adventurer.

It makes me understand why he's such a great explorer, because it was

so tough for me, and I know it would have been a lot harder for him.

He's just awe-inspiring in what he did.

The Serious Explorers' month-long expedition has been a rollercoaster

ride of extreme highs and lows, and it's left a lasting impression.

That was really tough, definitely the hardest thing I've done,

but at the end of it, to get that amazing achievement was just fantastic.

I don't think anything could really top it. It's just opened my mind

to different experiences that I might want to try later on in life.

Every night you see a sunset that could be on a postcard, you meet all these different

people from different cultures. It just adds up to being the best thing you could possibly imagine.

Looking back on it, I've just been so inspired

with what I've done myself, and that I didn't appreciate at the time, and I wish I'd cried less.

I'm glad that it was that tough, because at the end of it,

I always felt that I'd really achieved something, something special.

When I'm older, I'll find something hard, but then I can think back,

this is definitely easier than what I did in Africa.

If I can climb an unclimbed mountain, anything's possible, really.

You're so proud of yourself for what you've done, and you realise

that it's something that's going to define you and make you what you are.

I think it's a 10 out of a 10, definitely.

It's probably the best thing... It is the best thing I've ever done, and I think I ever will do.