Costa Rica to Panama Dara and Ed's Great Big Adventure


Costa Rica to Panama

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Transcript


LineFromTo

Whoa, hey!

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DARA LAUGHS

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'My fellow comedian, Ed Byrne, and I are on an epic road trip.'

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We have been in this car for nearly a month.

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'We're travelling 4,000 miles down the longest road in the world -

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'the Pan-American Highway.'

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Wow, look at that!

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'We'll be passing through some of the most spectacular...

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'..and volatile countries on the planet.'

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Look at that over there - over there.

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Oh, my God.

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'Today, this great road is the main artery through the Americas...

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'..but 75 years ago,

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'it was little more than a cart track.

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'Then, three adventurers from Detroit

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'set out to drive all the way from North to South America.'

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It was an expedition to attempt what no-one has ever done.

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'Crossing jungles, fording rivers and conquering mountains,

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'they forged a route for what would eventually become

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'the Pan-American Highway.

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'Using their journal as a guide,

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'we'll follow their path from the USA all the way to Panama.'

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-That's impressive, isn't it?

-It's incredibly impressive.

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'This time, we'll be riding with Costa Rican cowboys...'

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Ed, stop showboating.

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Dirty cow protest, is that what it is?

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'..crewing on the Panama Canal...'

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Bingo!

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'..and deep in the jungle, Dara puts his foot in it.'

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Ooh!

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I recommend a dry rot expert to come in and spray this place.

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'We'll discover how this highway

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'has changed the lives of the people who live on its route,

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'on our very own Pan-American road trip of a lifetime.'

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'After nearly three weeks,

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'Ed and I are into the final leg of our epic journey

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'through Central America.

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'And now, we're heading further south, into Costa Rica.'

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This is a wildlife paradise.

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-There are more animals...

-Stop introducing me to Costa Rica.

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-I'm sorry...

-I can see it! It's all around us.

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-I know, but it's full of animals...

-Stop showing me YOUR Costa Rica.

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It's not MY Costa Rica, I've never been in this part of Costa Rica.

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I'm on holiday somewhere, in a different part of the same country.

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-Also, if this doesn't offend you...

-Mmm-hmm?

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..it's one of the only countries in the world which has an ironic name.

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This better be ironic.

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Do you know what the name means - "Costa Rica"?

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-"Costa" is "coast".

-Yeah.

-"Rica"...

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-"Rich"?

-Yes, they called it "Costa Rica" because they presumed

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it was going to be rich with minerals - and it has nothing.

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It's got no mineral worth at all, I think.

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It's still called "Rich Coast", ironically.

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Then again, that's probably no more ironic than the West Indies.

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It is beautiful though, isn't it?

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Armed with the original expedition journal, Adventure South,

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our last chapter in the Pan-American Highway

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takes us through the mountains of Costa Rica

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to Panama and its world-famous canal.

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Finally, we head into

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the mysterious wilderness of the Darien Gap,

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which separates North from South America.

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But first, we're following the Pan-Am along the exact same trail

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blazed by the three adventurers -

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Sullivan Richardson, Ken Van Hee and Arnold Whitaker,

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over 70 years ago.

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When finally we entered Costa Rica,

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our first surprise was to see these trees of yellow golden flowers,

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standing out above the jungles.

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Across the hills,

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they appear like huge nuggets of gold in a grey-green setting.

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Up close, they're as lovely and as delicate as any flowers we've seen.

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But the flowers soon turned to mud,

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as the intrepid explorers became bogged down in jungle paths.

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They were rescued more than once by local sabaneros,

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Costa Rica's legendary cowboys.

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Hi, how are you?

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Modern-day sabanero Gonzalo Sanchez is the owner of the El Cojito Ranch.

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How long have your family been on this farm?

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This farm was bought by my great-grandfather in 1916.

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-1916?

-Yes.

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So your family would have been here when the men we're following...

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-Yes...

-..went through here in the '40s?

-Yes.

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And in the past, old farm was a cattle farm,

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but now the cattle business is in a bad situation,

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so we prefer to produce sugar cane.

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Right. Sugar cane doesn't need cowboys, does it?

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No, that is a big problem, because the sabanero is going to disappear.

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Gonzalo still keeps several hundred head of cattle on the ranch

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and needs to round them up.

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Luckily, two of Ireland's finest horsemen have volunteered to help.

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How do you make it start? Where does the key go?

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-You have to push your legs like this...

-Like what?

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I'm looking at your legs. I'm not seeing what it is

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that my legs aren't doing that your legs are doing.

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GONZALO WHISTLES

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Come on, I know you're slow.

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Ed, stop showboating.

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Back to the rest of the class, come on!

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Oh, yeah. Drop a load on me, I know.

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Dirty cow protest, is that what it is?

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COW MOOS

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You're kind of a "stop and smell the roses" kind of horse, aren't you?

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You do things when you want to do them.

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I have literally one gear on this horse.

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You have to be firm with them, that's the thing.

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Cattle ranching was first brought to Costa Rica

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by the Spanish, 500 years ago.

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Now, the free-spirited sabaneros are revered throughout Costa Rica

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for their horsemanship and cattle-wrangling skills.

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-Vamanos!

-Andale!

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Ed seems to have found his inner sabanero.

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I am still looking for mine.

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Do you have any openings? Do you think we could get a job here?

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Yes, of course. If you want, I can...

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I think we can separate this out.

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One of us seems to be quite good at this -

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and the other one couldn't get a second speed on his horse.

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COW MOOS

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'But there's one more thing we need to master

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'before we can become true cowboys.'

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Norbert is going to tell you how to use the rope.

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'The sabaneros still rely on their well-honed rope tricks

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'to manage the feisty calves.'

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There, perfect.

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-Do you like the sneaking I'm doing, as well?

-Yeah, I can see you.

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He's not going to hear you coming.

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CHEERING

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-Quick, Ed - double it up!

-There you go! Come on!

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We've hooked ourselves a big one!

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'Lassoing a tree is relatively easy.

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'But now, it's time for a fast-moving cow.'

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DARA LAUGHS

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How eager are you?

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Just go in and put it on his head.

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I don't want to be doing this! I don't want to be doing this!

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I don't want to be doing this!

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Yeah, but you let go of your rope.

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That is a small technical problem.

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Now I need my rope back.

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Don't poo on my rope!

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Despite our best efforts,

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the skills of the sabaneros may soon be gone for ever.

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Since the late 1980s,

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crops have become more profitable than beef

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and many cattle farms have closed.

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El Cojito is one of the last ranches in the area

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keeping the cowboy traditions alive.

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-So, did you like the experience?

-BOTH: Oh, it was fantastic!

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-It was wonderful.

-You look like real cowboys.

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You feel like a cowboy, when you're sitting on a horse. It's just...

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It naturally gives you a certain stature.

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Straightens your back, it lends you an air of dignity and...gravitas.

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Come on, let's go. Come on.

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No, I mean, this is "let's go". There you go.

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By March 1941,

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the expedition had been on the road for four months.

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With Sullivan as navigator, Ken as cook and Arnold the mechanic,

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they had coaxed their battered Plymouth as far as the River Sapoa -

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an area rich in wildlife.

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This chap's older brother had captured this little anteater

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a day or two before we came along, and now the boy plays with it,

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as your little son or brother

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would play with a pet kitten around the house.

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A year after the expedition passed this way, the US kick-started

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the construction of the Pan-American Highway in Costa Rica,

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with a donation of 40 million.

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'Today, it looks like the engineers are back.'

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Look at this for a road-widening programme.

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"It's currently two lanes, so should we make it three,

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"should we make it four? No, six - let's go straight to six."

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That's right! How many roads are they planning to build?

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Are they trying to build three parallel Pan-American Highways?

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'The expanding highway now cuts through

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'two of Costa Rica's most important national parks.

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'Dara and I have come to the Rescate Las Pumas animal rescue centre,

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'which deals with the devastating consequences of the road

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'on local wildlife.

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'Whilst Dara goes in search of the big cats,

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'I'm meeting Dr Martha Sanchez,

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'to find out about the most vulnerable animals.'

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-Do you want to feed him?

-Oh, God, yes!

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-Poco...

-Right, just a little squeeze.

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There we go.

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'This three-month-old baby anteater

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'was found by the roadside, two weeks ago.'

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The orphans come here, because their mothers die in the road.

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You can see in one week,

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four or five anteaters die in the street.

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And it's very expensive to take care of these animals.

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No-one's done anything?

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So, the people building the roads don't throw you...

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No, nobody gives money.

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'Costa Rica now depends on its wildlife to generate tourist dollars.

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'Sanctuaries like this one,

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'which rescue a wide range of animals from the Pan-American Highway,

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'are key to protecting not just the country's diversity,

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'but also its income.'

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Will you ever be able to release her back into the wild,

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or does she have to stay here, now?

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Yes, she needs to stay here maybe six, seven months.

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-Six or seven months?

-Uh-huh.

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'Whilst the centre rehabilitates many of the animals,

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'some, like the jaguar Rafael, live here permanently.'

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Rafael came three months old.

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He was a baby, the mum was killed.

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'Esther Pomerada is the centre's chief biologist

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'and she's asked me to help prepare Rafa's morning entertainment.'

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-That's cowhide, is it?

-Yeah, it's cow - and inside is a coconut.

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'Toys like the cowhide pina colada are designed

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'to stop Rafael getting bored in captivity.

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'He also gets to play with a perfumed log.'

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That's actually... That is genuinely Chanel No 5?

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-Yeah.

-What does the perfume make him do?

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Will Rafael nuzzle against it and...?

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-Yes.

-Does Rafael have some fun with the log?

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The perfume has pheromones that motivate him

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and you will see the response to that.

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Grab your little tree, my friend.

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-Oh, yes.

-He knows.

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-It's not mean to get him all excited like this, is it?

-No.

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Oh, he's found a toy.

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What effect do the roads have on jaguars?

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The first effect is that the roads fragmentate

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the habitat of the jaguars,

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because they tried to move to get new territories to hunt,

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because they have the cubs on one side and they need to move,

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so they can be killed on the road.

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Time for conservation efforts for this kind of animal

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can be quite critical, aren't they? What's the population in Costa Rica?

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Well, right now we don't have exact numbers,

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but I don't believe that we have more than 200.

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-200 in the entire country?

-In the entire country.

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But if they start getting isolated into small groups...

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They will probably be extinct in a few years.

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This is the largest big cat in America...

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and we could be within one generation of losing jaguars completely?

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Yeah, that's right.

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'It's a sobering thought -

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'these great cats, on the brink of extinction.'

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And what sort of things could they do while building the road,

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to make it more friendly to the animals?

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First, research where the animals are crossing,

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to make underpasses, so the animals can go down,

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or put fences to guide the animals to go to these underpasses.

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And for the arboreal animals, they could build bridges

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that connect from one tree to another tree over...

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-Over the road?

-..over the road.

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He's a noisy little thing. We're trying to do an interview here!

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-Do you mind?

-It's not all about you, is it?

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JAGUAR GROWLS MONKEY SHRIEKS

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'There are problems with the road,

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'but 25% of Costa Rica is protected national park.

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'They work hard to protect the wildlife.'

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It's a very... not just verdant place,

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but they're just tripping over life.

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This is a country the size of Ireland

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that has like five different types of big cat.

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Yeah, but I bet they haven't got as many different ways of cooking potatoes as we do.

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No, they don't. They hardly have any potatoes at all, to be honest.

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After nearly five months on the road,

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the expedition finally reached the Costa Rican capital, San Jose,

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in April 1941.

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They'd driven over 5,000 miles south -

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a feat which no-one had ever achieved before.

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Sullivan's mission to drum up support

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for the building of the Pan-American Highway

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was becoming front-page news.

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It's only taken us three weeks to get to San Jose

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and by chance, we've arrived on election day, in a country that,

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unlike many we've driven through,

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has a proud, long history of democracy.

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Costa Ricans refer to themselves as "ticos"

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and to find out what makes them tick, Ed and I are meeting

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fellow comedian, Waleska Oporta, in the city's Central Park.

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-Waleska.

-Hey, you guys.

-Ed, nice to meet you.

-How are you?

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-Excellent choice of place to meet, by the way.

-I know, right?

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-It's a dense use of park.

-Exactly.

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The last few countries we've been through, like Guatemala

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El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua...

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We've kind of characterised them as being mainly volcanoes

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and civil strife. That's kind of a lot of what's going on.

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-Costa Rica is completely different to those.

-I think so.

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-It's not on the same level of civil war as...

-We don't have any.

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We haven't had an army since 1948,

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so we're very pacifistic.

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All the money that was supposed to be invested in that

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has been invested in education, mostly.

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Because you have a 98% literacy rate - the highest in the area.

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Yes, we do.

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You're like a strange oasis, to a certain extent,

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within this part of the world.

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Exactly, we're a unique kind, within our neighbours, I would say.

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That sounds super arrogant, but...

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Yeah, do they regard you as a bit smug and arrogant?

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We have a good relationship with Panamanians, because Panamanians,

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we think of as a party people -

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good, neighbourly and they have money.

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-So it's all good!

-OK.

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But Nicaraguans fight. They've had wars, so...

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So we don't like confrontation, or the chance of getting beat up.

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I think I might be part Costa Rican.

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LAUGHTER

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Tell me about the relationship that ticos have with the United States.

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Well, before, we used to admire them like gods

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and going to the States was a sign of status.

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But as time went on, I guess we kind of fell out of love with them

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and right now, we're a little bit disenchanted, I would say.

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The development of transport links, like the Pan-American Highway,

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coupled with cheap labour costs and tax breaks

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have seen a flood of US companies arriving in Costa Rica

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over recent years.

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We see all these big companies and they promise a million jobs

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and then only 500 people get hired.

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Now, we want to actually ask for our rights.

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If you're going to come into our country,

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we want your companies to pay the taxes that they should pay

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and not just be here because

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you're friends with a certain person in power.

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You're a small, highly educated,

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traditionally-valued country

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that has a lot of multinational American corporations coming here,

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exploiting the tax laws.

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-Yes.

-You're Ireland, basically.

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LAUGHTER

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You're Ireland, with some more sunshine

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and tiny, cute furry animals...

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-SOME more sunshine?

-There's significantly...

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If we could take the heat, we'd move here in the morning.

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LAUGHTER

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'There's one more thing I wanted to ask Waleska -

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'what's the craic in Costa Rica?'

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"Craic" is a very Irish phrase, meaning "fun", or "good feeling".

0:18:050:18:09

Is there a particular phrase in Costa Rica

0:18:090:18:11

-that you have for that kind of...?

-Yes, definitely - "pura vida".

0:18:110:18:14

-Pura vida?

-What does it literally translate as?

0:18:140:18:16

-Pure life.

-Pure life?

0:18:160:18:18

Which actually means nothing to us at all!

0:18:180:18:21

It's like, "Yeah, man - pure life!"

0:18:210:18:22

So it summarises a lot of good feelings, I would say.

0:18:220:18:25

Pura vida, indeed.

0:18:270:18:29

Of all the countries we've driven through so far,

0:18:290:18:31

this is definitely one of our favourites -

0:18:310:18:34

and it's not just us.

0:18:340:18:35

According to the wonderfully-named Happy Planet Index,

0:18:370:18:40

Costa Rica now generates 90% of its electricity

0:18:400:18:44

from renewable sources

0:18:440:18:46

and is officially the happiest country in the world.

0:18:460:18:50

MUSIC: Mr Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra

0:18:500:18:53

# Sun is shining in the sky

0:18:560:18:59

# There ain't a cloud in sight

0:18:590:19:02

# It's stopped raining

0:19:020:19:04

# Everybody's in a play and don't you know

0:19:040:19:07

# It's a beautiful new day

0:19:070:19:10

# Hey hey hey

0:19:100:19:12

# Hey, you with the pretty face

0:19:120:19:15

# Welcome to the human race

0:19:150:19:18

# A celebration

0:19:180:19:20

# Mr Blue Sky's up there waiting

0:19:200:19:22

# And today

0:19:220:19:24

# Is the day we've waited for

0:19:240:19:26

# Oh-oh!

0:19:260:19:29

# Mr Blue Sky Please tell us why... #

0:19:290:19:32

We're making good time, but south of San Jose,

0:19:320:19:35

the original expedition quickly ground to a halt.

0:19:350:19:38

Across the southern section of Costa Rica,

0:19:400:19:43

we find it utterly impossible to travel by car.

0:19:430:19:45

We estimate that it would take us four months, with 150 men,

0:19:470:19:50

to get our car through

0:19:500:19:52

and then, it's only a fair chance we'd succeed,

0:19:520:19:54

because the rains have started.

0:19:540:19:56

In their way stood the Cerro de la Muerte -

0:19:570:20:00

the Mountain of Death -

0:20:000:20:02

which regularly claimed the lives of those who tried to cross it on foot.

0:20:020:20:05

No motor vehicle had ever made it over the top.

0:20:060:20:09

And so, for the first time since they had left Detroit,

0:20:120:20:15

the expedition was forced to take the Plymouth off the road

0:20:150:20:18

and transport it south by train.

0:20:180:20:20

But a year later, with the Second World War raging,

0:20:230:20:26

a road link from the USA to the Panama Canal

0:20:260:20:29

was becoming a matter of national security.

0:20:290:20:32

In July 1942,

0:20:340:20:35

US military engineers arrived to blast a route for the Pan-Am Highway

0:20:350:20:39

through this notorious mountain.

0:20:390:20:41

Where are we, Ed?

0:20:490:20:50

I don't want you to get upset. I don't want you to get worried.

0:20:520:20:55

We are on La Passa de la Muerta...

0:20:560:20:59

DARA GASPS

0:20:590:21:01

..the Pass of Death.

0:21:030:21:05

Dun-dun-dunnn!

0:21:050:21:06

Did the Costa Rican tourist board ever consider

0:21:100:21:12

changing the name of the road?

0:21:120:21:14

"Why aren't more people coming...

0:21:140:21:16

"to the Pass of Death?"

0:21:160:21:17

"I must call my friend - he's on holiday in Cape Fear.

0:21:180:21:22

"I'll just ask him what he reckons we're doing wrong."

0:21:220:21:25

But it turns out this section of road lives up to its fearsome reputation.

0:21:270:21:31

-Watch out.

-Oh, hello...

0:21:330:21:35

Somebody just left a red triangle in the road.

0:21:350:21:38

Well, there must be an erotic movie...

0:21:380:21:40

-Oh, because there's a crash.

-Oh, my God, there's a crash.

0:21:400:21:42

Doesn't look like anybody's injured, but they've...

0:21:450:21:48

-It's obviously mashed it up pretty bad.

-Oh, dear. That's written off.

0:21:480:21:52

You die on this road,

0:21:540:21:55

it's a shorter trip to heaven than it would be otherwise.

0:21:550:21:59

After failing to get over the Mountain of Death,

0:22:020:22:05

the original expedition struggled on

0:22:050:22:07

towards the uncharted jungles of southern Costa Rica...

0:22:070:22:10

..hacking a trail along dirt tracks and across rivers.

0:22:110:22:15

When the Pan-American Highway system is finally completed,

0:22:180:22:21

there will of course be a paved road.

0:22:210:22:23

Then there will be bridges over these rivers.

0:22:230:22:25

But just now, there are no bridges

0:22:250:22:27

and we get across them as best we can.

0:22:270:22:29

We seem to be off the road, unless you're going to convince me

0:22:360:22:39

-this is the Pan-American Highway.

-This is not the Pan-American Highway.

0:22:390:22:42

-So what do we do?

-I thought we'd just take a little bit of a detour,

0:22:420:22:45

to get a bit more of a flavour of what the three damn fools did.

0:22:450:22:49

What, we're going swimming?

0:22:490:22:51

No...

0:22:510:22:53

You're kidding me. Really?

0:22:530:22:55

-Does this actually link up to anything in particular?

-Er...

0:22:550:22:58

It links up to another road,

0:22:580:22:59

which eventually will lead us back to the highway.

0:22:590:23:01

We've taken somewhat of a detour, I have to admit.

0:23:010:23:04

I'm going to go to the leisure deck.

0:23:040:23:06

Are you going to try one of the buffets?

0:23:060:23:08

-I think I'm going to go and hit the slot machines.

-Oh, fantastic.

0:23:080:23:11

I like this operation.

0:23:110:23:13

It's just that guy and that engine.

0:23:130:23:15

-That's it? That's all that's moving us?

-Yeah.

0:23:150:23:17

The Pan-American Highway in Costa Rica

0:23:190:23:22

wasn't completed until the early 1960s

0:23:220:23:24

and in many places,

0:23:240:23:26

you still have to travel as Sullivan, Ken and Arnold did

0:23:260:23:29

over 70 years ago.

0:23:290:23:31

Back then, the dirt tracks finally petered out into impenetrable forest.

0:23:320:23:37

The three adventurers were forced to admit defeat

0:23:370:23:40

and sail the Plymouth around the coast to Panama.

0:23:400:23:43

Very good, well done, well done.

0:23:460:23:49

Careful, careful, careful!

0:23:490:23:51

I know you had to put some oomph into it...just in case.

0:23:520:23:56

-Very good, top work.

-Thank you. Lovely.

0:23:560:23:58

-Let's find the highway again, shall we?

-It'll be along here, somewhere.

0:23:580:24:02

Do you have more of these plans?

0:24:020:24:04

I feel we've got a sense of them now.

0:24:040:24:06

Actually, no. Tonight, we're staying in a hut.

0:24:060:24:08

LAUGHTER

0:24:080:24:09

-Only joking, only joking.

-Keep your eye on the road.

0:24:110:24:14

-Have you got the tickles? Have you got the tickles?

-Stop it!

0:24:140:24:17

You actually revved up the car by accident,

0:24:170:24:19

-while trying to tickle me...

-Tickle-tickle!

-Stop it!

0:24:190:24:22

It's less dangerous, tickling you while I am driving,

0:24:220:24:24

than tickling you while you're driving.

0:24:240:24:26

Oh, well, then! You should go ahead - fill your boots!

0:24:260:24:29

While the Pan-American Highway now carves through

0:24:350:24:37

the dense Costa Rican rainforest,

0:24:370:24:39

it's still a long drive to the border with Panama -

0:24:390:24:43

the last one we'll cross on our trip.

0:24:430:24:44

Ed, what would you say your hopes and dreams and fears are

0:24:460:24:48

for the border?

0:24:480:24:50

My hope is that we'll get through in a couple of hours.

0:24:500:24:54

-Current record is two hours.

-Yep.

-Two hours...

0:24:540:24:56

And we can maybe repeat that.

0:24:560:24:58

Things are looking good here at the Paso Canoas border post

0:25:040:25:08

and it's definitely less busy than the others we've crossed.

0:25:080:25:12

-Got your passport?

-Got it.

-Got the money?

0:25:150:25:18

This is always the easy bit, anyway.

0:25:180:25:21

First, we just need to pay our 7 Costa Rican departure tax.

0:25:220:25:27

-I pay this guy - do we pay here?

-Oh, is it this one?

0:25:270:25:29

Or maybe you pay there...?

0:25:300:25:32

Where to? Which window?

0:25:350:25:37

I go to two?

0:25:370:25:38

Hola. Panama.

0:25:390:25:41

I have to pay seven dollars?

0:25:420:25:44

I thought I'd pay that here, no?

0:25:440:25:46

Did you not just pay the taxes?

0:25:480:25:50

Fine, no problem at all, I have to pay, I have to go to another window.

0:25:500:25:53

You couldn't have told me? You couldn't have told me?

0:25:530:25:56

So, window four sent me to window two and window two sent me...

0:25:560:26:01

to here? Hola.

0:26:010:26:02

Did you find it? Is this it?

0:26:050:26:07

I think this might be it.

0:26:070:26:09

Pay the departure tax?

0:26:090:26:10

-Just through there.

-We have the money, but we're...

0:26:130:26:16

OK, slide it in and put it in.

0:26:170:26:20

'Just days before we arrive,

0:26:200:26:21

'Costa Rica automated their border payment system...'

0:26:210:26:24

The arrow is saying that it goes in that direction.

0:26:240:26:27

'..and it's already broken.'

0:26:270:26:29

No.

0:26:310:26:33

Jesus wept.

0:26:330:26:34

Let's go back to the gate.

0:26:370:26:39

OK, that machine...

0:26:390:26:41

That machine doesn't work.

0:26:410:26:42

So what can we do?

0:26:420:26:44

I have to wait till 8 o'clock in the morning

0:26:480:26:50

to give you 7 to get into Panama?

0:26:500:26:52

-Why?

-Because your machine is not working?

0:26:530:26:55

Because your machine won't work -

0:26:550:26:56

and there's no-one in there who can take the money off us?

0:26:560:26:59

That's madness, that's absolutely madness.

0:27:010:27:04

'And right now, Costa Rica has slipped down a notch

0:27:040:27:07

'in our personal Happy Planet Index.'

0:27:070:27:09

Wow, we have a winner.

0:27:100:27:13

Yeah, it'll be...

0:27:130:27:15

13 hours minimum, it's going to take us to cross this border.

0:27:150:27:18

Before we can even leave Costa Rica and start trying to get into Panama.

0:27:180:27:22

I would like to officially retract

0:27:220:27:24

every nice thing I've said about Costa Rica.

0:27:240:27:26

Costa Rica...can bite me.

0:27:260:27:29

I like... I like the slogan - I like the slogan.

0:27:290:27:32

"Costa Rica - we'll never let you leave."

0:27:320:27:35

Pura vida, my friend, pura vida.

0:27:350:27:37

'A night in a local motel later

0:27:470:27:50

'and we're back to pay our departure tax to a real-life person,

0:27:500:27:54

'but unfortunately, so is everyone else.'

0:27:540:27:56

So, do you think potential travellers watching this in Britain

0:27:580:28:02

will be thinking, "Oh, there's some good queuing going on."

0:28:020:28:05

-That'll be quite the taste of home.

-Yeah.

0:28:050:28:09

Even if the queue's not moving,

0:28:090:28:11

if you go from being at the end of the queue

0:28:110:28:13

to being in the middle of the queue,

0:28:130:28:14

just by virtue of the people who have joined it behind you,

0:28:140:28:17

it still makes you feel better.

0:28:170:28:19

'And after another two hours,

0:28:190:28:22

'we finally got permission to leave Costa Rica.'

0:28:220:28:24

It's a very small sum,

0:28:260:28:27

given that we had to spend a night in a hotel for it.

0:28:270:28:30

That is a hard-won stamp right there - a hard-won stamp.

0:28:300:28:33

'And now, we just have to wait four hours to get into Panama.'

0:28:340:28:37

PANPIPE MUSIC PLAYS

0:28:390:28:42

'At least there's some local talent to help us pass the time...

0:28:430:28:46

'..until Ed makes a show of us again.'

0:28:480:28:50

You were caught twerking there.

0:29:000:29:02

'Eventually, I manage to drag him back to the car

0:29:050:29:07

'and we're out of here.'

0:29:070:29:09

Are we leaving? Are we finally leaving?

0:29:090:29:13

And it is now, unbelievably...

0:29:130:29:15

-Half past two.

-..half past two.

0:29:150:29:17

Well, I think we're somewhere in the region of 20 hours,

0:29:170:29:20

trying to get through there.

0:29:200:29:22

Out of the way, out of the way, out of the way -

0:29:220:29:24

I'm impatient to get going and see Panama!

0:29:240:29:27

MUSIC: Panama by Van Halen

0:29:280:29:32

# Panama! #

0:29:430:29:45

But Ed's dancing has angered the rain gods.

0:29:470:29:50

Hello. Wow, it's bucketing down here.

0:29:550:29:58

There isn't, like there's not a... Did you see that?

0:30:000:30:03

I saw it, I can see the lightning - I have eyes and it's right there.

0:30:030:30:06

I'm excited by lightning!

0:30:060:30:07

What really rubs it in...

0:30:070:30:09

about the pain and suffering of that almost 20-hour border crossing...

0:30:090:30:12

Yeah?

0:30:120:30:14

..is the first line of chapter 29 of the book Adventure South is...

0:30:140:30:21

"Our entry into Panama was simple."

0:30:210:30:24

In Panama, the original expedition

0:30:260:30:28

were guests of the all-powerful US-owned United Fruit Company -

0:30:280:30:32

keen supporters of the need for a Pan-American Highway

0:30:320:30:35

and the largest producer of bananas in the world.

0:30:350:30:39

We decide to go out into the plantation,

0:30:390:30:41

to see what a banana split looks like in its natural habitat.

0:30:410:30:45

The tree is cut about 15 feet above the ground

0:30:450:30:48

with this long-handled knife, while one fellow waits underneath

0:30:480:30:51

to catch the stem of fruit on his shoulder.

0:30:510:30:53

With a single knife jab, it is cut free of the tree.

0:30:530:30:56

Marketed as a health food for children in the US,

0:30:580:31:01

demand for bananas boomed in the 1930s.

0:31:010:31:04

United Fruits soon controlled a huge empire of farms

0:31:050:31:08

across Central America.

0:31:080:31:10

In this one plantation, there are 26,000 acres of producing trees,

0:31:110:31:16

furnishing some six million stems of fruit per year

0:31:160:31:18

for American breakfast tables.

0:31:180:31:20

Down here, I bought a whole stem of fruit the size of this one

0:31:200:31:23

for 26 cents.

0:31:230:31:25

The United Fruit and other banana companies

0:31:260:31:28

were so economically powerful in countries like Panama,

0:31:280:31:32

they gave rise to the damning phrase, "Banana Republic".

0:31:320:31:35

And whilst they often built roads and schools,

0:31:370:31:39

they weren't always the best of employers.

0:31:390:31:43

The United Fruit Company just took the piss.

0:31:430:31:45

They were paying their workers in tokens

0:31:450:31:48

that they could only use at shops

0:31:480:31:49

also owned by the United Fruit Company.

0:31:490:31:52

So there's no money bleeding into the economy at all? OK.

0:31:520:31:54

Yeah, so there's no trickle down.

0:31:540:31:56

They were using insecticides and pesticides

0:31:560:31:58

that were making the banana growers sick,

0:31:580:32:00

making the banana growers infertile.

0:32:000:32:02

And the Chiquita banana lady

0:32:040:32:06

was like the smiling face of a hideous company.

0:32:060:32:09

# I am Chiquita Banana and I've come to say

0:32:090:32:12

# Bananas have to ripen in a certain way

0:32:120:32:14

# And when they're flecked with brown and have a golden hue

0:32:140:32:18

# Bananas taste the best and are the best for you

0:32:180:32:21

# You can put them in a salad... #

0:32:210:32:23

It's like having Gunny the Squirrel

0:32:230:32:25

representing the arms manufacturers -

0:32:250:32:28

"Hey, kids, don't point it at your foot!"

0:32:280:32:32

"Didn't you used to be the Cadbury's Caramel bunny?"

0:32:320:32:35

"Yes, but I do fags now."

0:32:350:32:37

# Si, si, si, si. #

0:32:380:32:40

But in the 1990s,

0:32:440:32:46

a worldwide slump in the price of bananas

0:32:460:32:48

forced most of the plantations on Panama's Pacific coast to close.

0:32:480:32:52

The few bananas still produced here are sold on the roadside,

0:32:560:32:59

to hungry travellers like us.

0:32:590:33:01

How many do we want?

0:33:040:33:06

Take those, then.

0:33:060:33:07

Gracias, senor.

0:33:090:33:10

Three bananas for like...50 cents.

0:33:110:33:15

-That's not a bad deal.

-That's good...

0:33:150:33:17

No wonder there's no money in growing them any more!

0:33:170:33:20

From the Costa Rican border, it's an eight-hour drive to Panama City.

0:33:230:33:27

The expedition arrived here in the spring of '41

0:33:270:33:30

to find a thriving capital of 125,000 people...

0:33:300:33:34

..and it still appears to be thriving today.

0:33:350:33:37

Would you look at that city? That is... Isn't it bizarre?

0:33:410:33:44

It is, it's like Dubai or Chicago, or something, yeah.

0:33:440:33:47

That is like no city we have passed through on this entire journey...

0:33:470:33:50

-Since Mexico.

-..since Mexico - but even Mexico was...

0:33:500:33:53

That looks so shiny and new and gleaming.

0:33:530:33:57

-Where do they get the money from?

-I don't know.

0:33:570:33:59

Maybe it's because Panama City sits next to the Panama Canal -

0:34:000:34:04

the world's busiest trade route

0:34:040:34:06

and one of the largest man-made waterways ever constructed.

0:34:060:34:10

Amazing.

0:34:100:34:12

They've just gone, "There's a continent in the way.

0:34:120:34:14

"Let's just bore a hole right through it."

0:34:160:34:19

Ah, it's impressive, isn't it?

0:34:190:34:21

It's incredibly impressive.

0:34:210:34:22

I actually didn't know what to expect, in terms of it

0:34:230:34:26

being impressive, like, because it's a canal.

0:34:260:34:29

This extraordinary channel

0:34:290:34:31

cuts through Panama at its narrowest point,

0:34:310:34:33

connecting the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean

0:34:330:34:36

and saving shipping a perilous 5,000 mile journey around Cape Horn.

0:34:360:34:41

Excavation began under the French in the 1880s,

0:34:430:34:47

but ended in disaster,

0:34:470:34:48

with the deaths of over 22,000 workers.

0:34:480:34:51

In 1904, the US took over what had become

0:34:530:34:56

the most challenging engineering project in history

0:34:560:34:59

and after a decade more digging,

0:34:590:35:01

the canal finally opened for business in 1914.

0:35:010:35:04

On the centenary of that opening,

0:35:070:35:09

we've joined Captain Adrian Estrada aboard a canal authority tug boat.

0:35:090:35:14

OK, come with me.

0:35:140:35:15

-Thank you very much for letting us...

-TOOT TOOT

0:35:160:35:19

Thank you very much for letting us sail on your boat

0:35:190:35:21

and have a little pleasure trip down the...

0:35:210:35:23

Yes, yes, it's great.

0:35:230:35:25

Well, sadly, I'm not a tourist guide, so let's get to work.

0:35:250:35:29

-Are we working our passage?

-Do you really trust us?

-Yes, yes.

0:35:290:35:31

Do you really trust us not to drive the boat into a wall?

0:35:310:35:34

Yeah, you look strong - and you too.

0:35:340:35:35

Do these feel like working hands to you?

0:35:350:35:37

-He's soft.

-I don't know, but we're going to find out.

0:35:370:35:40

Over 30 large ships a day use the Panama Canal

0:35:430:35:47

and are guided through its massive locks by powerful tug boats.

0:35:470:35:51

As it enters the lock, the tug must be securely tied to the lock wall,

0:35:520:35:56

to stop it from smashing into the huge cargo ship

0:35:560:35:59

as the lock fills up.

0:35:590:36:00

Timing is critical,

0:36:030:36:05

which is why they don't usually give the job to two cack-handed Irishmen.

0:36:050:36:09

There is personnel on the locks.

0:36:110:36:13

-They're going to throw us a messenger line...

-OK.

0:36:130:36:16

..so we secure this line and then follow to the wall.

0:36:160:36:20

When they throw down the messenger rope,

0:36:200:36:23

how quickly must this be done?

0:36:230:36:25

Very quickly.

0:36:250:36:27

'The rope securing the tug requires a simple knot called a "bowline",

0:36:270:36:31

'which even the novice sailor should be able to master.'

0:36:310:36:34

-Through the hole...

-Rabbit goes through the hole.

-Yeah.

0:36:350:36:37

-Behind the...

-Behind the tree.

0:36:370:36:39

-..and back to the...

-Back in the hole.

-Back to the hole.

0:36:390:36:41

OK, let's practise that 300 or 400 more times, shall we?

0:36:410:36:45

Up the bottom of this.

0:36:450:36:47

-No, no, no, no.

-What?

0:36:470:36:48

-You have changed this.

-No!

0:36:480:36:50

You literally change this from time to time.

0:36:500:36:52

-You are the worst knot teacher I have ever had.

-Yes!

0:36:520:36:54

Do it like Ghost - like he's making a pot.

0:36:560:36:58

Right, OK... No, seriously - direct my hands, right? OK, there we go.

0:36:580:37:01

-You're a big guy.

-Yeah, sorry, I'll crouch.

0:37:010:37:04

# Oh

0:37:040:37:06

# My darling

0:37:060:37:09

-# I've hungered for your touch... #

-But wait, wait...

0:37:090:37:12

This actually isn't helping at all.

0:37:120:37:14

# Time goes by... #

0:37:140:37:17

-Back in, through this, like this?

-Yes.

0:37:170:37:20

Bingo! Oh, wait...

0:37:200:37:21

'As Dara struggles with his knots,

0:37:230:37:26

'we are fast approaching the Miraflores Lock,

0:37:260:37:29

'which our huge cargo ship, the Ikan Sagai, is already entering.'

0:37:290:37:33

This distance, people chip at the walls.

0:37:390:37:42

Yeah, it is, that is tight.

0:37:420:37:44

-Really tight, right?

-Yeah.

0:37:440:37:46

Getting nervous, actually. Wow, that's incredibly tight.

0:37:460:37:49

Looks really simple, but it's really dangerous, what we've got to do.

0:37:520:37:55

-Here we go.

-Are you ready? No joke.

0:37:590:38:01

-No, I'm not, I'm really nervous.

-Don't joke.

0:38:010:38:04

'Dara needs to tie the knot within the next minute,

0:38:050:38:09

'or as the lock fills,

0:38:090:38:11

'the turbulent water could crush us against the 60,000 tonne cargo ship.'

0:38:110:38:15

-Pressure, pressure gate.

-Shut up! Jesus, come on.

0:38:170:38:20

'Luckily, I'm here, to offer vocal support.'

0:38:200:38:24

We're all depending on you.

0:38:250:38:27

All souls aboard this vessel are depending on you.

0:38:280:38:30

There you go, there you go.

0:38:350:38:37

Here we go, take it away, take it away.

0:38:370:38:39

APPLAUSE

0:38:390:38:40

It was a thinner rope.

0:38:400:38:42

It was a much thinner rope - that was a string.

0:38:420:38:44

Look at that go! Oh, my God!

0:38:440:38:45

This is really nerv... I'm really nervous.

0:38:480:38:50

-I mean, part of me does want that...

-To break?

0:38:500:38:52

..not to just slip out and the rope to just drop, literally.

0:38:520:38:55

We're in, we're in, we're in, we're in, we're in! Lovely!

0:38:550:38:59

'Dara's feat of tying a piece of string to a rope

0:38:590:39:01

'has not gone unnoticed.'

0:39:010:39:03

Yes! My rope, people - my rope!

0:39:030:39:06

'Now Dara has secured our tug,

0:39:070:39:09

'the locks can fill with water,

0:39:090:39:12

'raising us and our cargo ship

0:39:120:39:14

'up onto the next stage of the 48-mile canal.

0:39:140:39:17

'We have to get a move on too,

0:39:180:39:20

'as there's a queue of ships waiting to take our place.'

0:39:200:39:23

It's really all about feeding this, isn't it?

0:39:240:39:26

I mean, the Pan-American Highway is really just

0:39:260:39:28

a tributary of the Panama Canal, really.

0:39:280:39:31

Yeah, absolutely.

0:39:310:39:32

The heart of Pan-Americanism, my friend.

0:39:330:39:36

That's incredible, isn't it?

0:39:370:39:40

'Over 10% of all US shipping passes through the Panama Canal

0:39:400:39:44

'and it remains as crucial to US interests now

0:39:440:39:47

'as it was when the original expedition arrived here.'

0:39:470:39:51

You can see why Sully got so excited by this.

0:39:510:39:53

Just sitting there with the typewriter clacking away,

0:39:530:39:56

describing the water bubbling up and the men on the side.

0:39:560:40:00

"Lazily throwing ropes" is the phrase he used,

0:40:000:40:02

which I think is a little unfair.

0:40:020:40:04

You know, rope people like me -

0:40:040:40:06

we've been sullied with that brush for years.

0:40:060:40:09

For Sullivan, Ken and Arnold,

0:40:100:40:12

reaching the Panama Canal marked a huge milestone

0:40:120:40:15

in their Adventure South.

0:40:150:40:17

It has been five months since we left home,

0:40:180:40:21

so we decide to celebrate it in proper fashion.

0:40:210:40:23

With a world famous ditch as a backdrop,

0:40:230:40:25

Kenneth goes down, dips up a can full of water, brings it back

0:40:250:40:30

and with boisterous shouts of laughter,

0:40:300:40:32

we douse it over the car -

0:40:320:40:34

the first automobile ever

0:40:340:40:36

to cover so much of Mexico and Central America on the ground.

0:40:360:40:39

Here you go.

0:40:400:40:42

Thank you for many fine hours.

0:40:420:40:44

Make it to the end of our journey, that's all we ask.

0:40:440:40:47

'Not content to let me christen the car,

0:40:470:40:50

'Ed insists on having a go as well,

0:40:500:40:53

'but as ever, he cannot resist taking things a little too far.'

0:40:530:40:56

-Euch.

-Well, I hope you get some sort of...

0:40:560:40:59

..parasitic disease, Ed.

0:41:010:41:03

That is an old floor cleaner bottle...

0:41:040:41:07

Off, off, off!

0:41:070:41:08

I'm not having any part of this.

0:41:090:41:11

Sadly, this is where we must part company

0:41:150:41:17

with Sullivan, Ken and Arnold.

0:41:170:41:19

Having reached the canal,

0:41:200:41:22

the three adventurers could go no further overland.

0:41:220:41:25

Their way was blocked by the much-feared Darien Gap -

0:41:250:41:28

the remote wilderness that separates North and South America.

0:41:280:41:32

They were forced to sail around the coast to Colombia

0:41:320:41:35

to continue their journey south.

0:41:350:41:37

But our plan is to follow the modern Pan-Am Highway

0:41:370:41:40

as far as we can go.

0:41:400:41:42

So we venture forth, Ed - the last bit.

0:41:450:41:48

-To the Darien Gap!

-Yeah.

0:41:480:41:50

-To the Gap... BOTH:

-Del Muerte!

0:41:500:41:52

We're heading for Yaviza - the last town on the map.

0:41:580:42:02

It's a long drive, but at least to keep us company,

0:42:020:42:04

we've got Joe Cuba and his orchestra.

0:42:040:42:07

MUSIC: Bang Bang by Joe Cuba

0:42:080:42:10

'By now, the Pan-Am Highway has become a single carriageway

0:42:280:42:32

'and the large trucks that use it

0:42:320:42:34

'aren't too bothered about which side of the road they drive on.'

0:42:340:42:38

-Really, you're going for it, are you?

-Yeah.

-Yeah? He's going for it.

0:42:380:42:41

Oh, you are pulling out. Oh, let's all stop, then wait for you to go and do your thing.

0:42:410:42:44

Great, let's...

0:42:440:42:47

Yeah, no, no, you just do whatever you want.

0:42:470:42:49

I couldn't help noticing...

0:42:500:42:53

that the trucks which come so close to ploughing into us and killing us

0:42:530:42:56

seem to have logs on the back.

0:42:560:42:58

I guess if you're part of an industry

0:43:000:43:02

that's completely destroying an ancient way of life,

0:43:020:43:06

you're not going to be the most courteous driver in the world, are you?

0:43:060:43:10

'50 years ago, there were no roads here at all,

0:43:100:43:13

'but the building of the Pan-Am has led to

0:43:130:43:15

'widespread and unregulated logging,

0:43:150:43:18

'which has cleared vast areas of primary rainforest.'

0:43:180:43:21

Jesus, look at this.

0:43:230:43:24

It's been completely denuded.

0:43:250:43:27

Yeah, I mean, that would all have been jungle.

0:43:270:43:29

Wow, that is amazing, how destructive that work is.

0:43:340:43:37

The deforestation here has been felt most acutely

0:43:400:43:43

by the indigenous communities of the Darien, like the Wounaan tribe.

0:43:430:43:47

Before we reach the end of the road,

0:43:490:43:51

we're stopping to visit one of their villages.

0:43:510:43:54

It's only accessible by river -

0:43:550:43:56

and local guide Michel Puech is taking us there.

0:43:560:43:59

Hi. Yes, I am Michel. How are you?

0:44:060:44:09

-Michel, comment ca va?

-Hi.

0:44:090:44:10

It's a pleasure, yeah, pleasure thing,

0:44:100:44:12

mucho gusto for the first time in a month.

0:44:120:44:14

I am ready. We go to the village?

0:44:140:44:16

-Yes, please.

-That'd be great.

0:44:160:44:17

It's a little village, the name is La Playita.

0:44:170:44:20

-La Playita?

-Yeah.

-Absolutely, great.

-Shall we go?

0:44:200:44:23

-Fabulous, lovely.

-Let's go.

0:44:230:44:24

Be nice to be on a boat, for a change.

0:44:240:44:26

Before the road came,

0:44:340:44:35

these rivers were the only way to travel through the Darien

0:44:350:44:38

and the Wounaan have used them for hundreds of years

0:44:380:44:41

to move freely between Panama and Colombia.

0:44:410:44:43

There's often been talk of extending the highway through the Darien Gap

0:44:470:44:51

to connect Central and South America.

0:44:510:44:53

It will inevitably bring more loggers

0:44:540:44:57

and Ed and I want to find out what this means for the Wounaan.

0:44:570:45:00

We couldn't have got here by road, could we not?

0:45:050:45:07

-No, no, no, only by boat.

-There's no road.

0:45:070:45:09

Michel, I can't help noticing your strong French accent.

0:45:090:45:12

-You're not a local.

-I'm born in France.

0:45:120:45:14

How long have you been here, then?

0:45:140:45:15

-40 years.

-DARA AND ED:

-40 years?

0:45:150:45:17

I know these people this many, many years, so...

0:45:170:45:21

They are like a friend, no?

0:45:210:45:22

And you see all the family here.

0:45:220:45:24

'Francisco, a young fisherman,

0:45:280:45:30

'has agreed to talk to us about the impact of the road.'

0:45:300:45:32

Are you not worried that that's what's going to happen?

0:45:560:45:58

They're going to take all the trees away?

0:45:580:46:00

The plight of indigenous people all over, really, isn't it?

0:46:070:46:10

He say, little - too little, is...

0:46:100:46:12

-Just shrinking it down.

-Narrow, narrow, yes.

0:46:120:46:14

Presumably, as well, if the road builds through the Darien,

0:46:140:46:18

there'll be a border post

0:46:180:46:20

-between Panama and Colombia...

-Yes.

0:46:200:46:23

..which there hasn't been, till now. They move up and down these rivers

0:46:230:46:26

between the two countries very, very freely.

0:46:260:46:28

Are they worried that if the road comes through,

0:46:280:46:31

their life will change in that way as well?

0:46:310:46:33

So, for him, he prefer the road through the Darien,

0:46:460:46:50

because it's more easy for him to go to see his family.

0:46:500:46:52

-Fine, fair enough.

-Yeah.

0:46:520:46:55

So it's a mixed message, to a huge extent.

0:46:550:46:58

So they can see the good points and the bad points, both?

0:47:180:47:22

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

0:47:220:47:23

He has every right to the same facilities and things -

0:47:230:47:26

we can't expect them not to want ambulances arriving,

0:47:260:47:30

or schooling, or cheap gasoline, or market for their fish.

0:47:300:47:34

Viva El Pan-Americanismo.

0:47:340:47:35

Yes, exactly, yeah!

0:47:350:47:37

'Before we leave the village,

0:47:380:47:40

'we've been invited to have ceremonial Wounaan tattoos,

0:47:400:47:43

'made out of the grated fruit of the jaguar plant.

0:47:430:47:46

'The body painting takes place in a traditional Wounaan hut,

0:47:480:47:52

'which has clearly seen better days.'

0:47:520:47:55

-CRASH

-Oh, God! Ooh!

0:47:550:47:57

That's not a particularly strong beam.

0:47:570:48:00

Wow, that was dramatic.

0:48:000:48:01

-Might have to spread your weight a little bit.

-I will, actually, yeah.

0:48:010:48:04

But actually, to be fair to me, that is, that's really...

0:48:040:48:08

That's not the strongest beam you ever had in the world, OK?

0:48:080:48:11

-That is...

-I'm going to sit here on this slightly more...

0:48:110:48:14

-Look at that, that's how strong that is.

-..more recently replaced beam.

0:48:140:48:18

-Mind yourself, there.

-Yeah.

0:48:180:48:20

Do you know, I recommend a dry rot expert

0:48:200:48:24

to come in and spray this place,

0:48:240:48:26

because frankly, it's riddled.

0:48:260:48:29

Something very small,

0:48:290:48:30

to mark my almost falling through the floor of the house.

0:48:300:48:34

Can you get a small one? Is it possible to just to...

0:48:340:48:37

Poquito?

0:48:370:48:38

Si, OK, grand.

0:48:380:48:40

'The jaguar tattoos are temporary,

0:48:400:48:43

'with the pigment fading after about ten days -

0:48:430:48:46

'or at least, that's what these women have told us.'

0:48:460:48:48

This is to signify your rank

0:48:490:48:52

as the village galoot.

0:48:520:48:54

-Oh, that's fantastic.

-That is, that's nice.

0:48:580:49:00

That's lovely, yeah.

0:49:000:49:02

I am fearsome, now.

0:49:020:49:04

'While Dara's opted for the macho bicep design,

0:49:040:49:08

'I'm going the whole hog and having my back done.'

0:49:080:49:10

I have been a bit foolish to myself, haven't I,

0:49:120:49:14

in that I've got myself a tattoo in the one place that I can't see it?

0:49:140:49:17

-Doesn't hurt, neither.

-No, it doesn't hurt enough.

0:49:190:49:22

I suppose it does though, when you put your foot through the floorboards.

0:49:220:49:25

Yeah, I suppose in that regard, this has been the most painful tattoo I could have ever got.

0:49:250:49:29

That's coming up very well.

0:49:290:49:32

That really is... I'm very proud of that.

0:49:320:49:34

It's actually looking quite Celtic on you.

0:49:350:49:38

When you're this pasty, everything looks Celtic.

0:49:380:49:41

-Yeah. Muchas gracias.

-Gracias.

-Muchas gracias. You're very kind.

0:49:410:49:45

I'd get that floor sorted out.

0:49:450:49:48

You know, it's just getting a bit of dry rot.

0:49:480:49:51

God knows you've enough trees around here, right?

0:49:510:49:53

Now, listen -

0:49:530:49:54

I will have an estimate here by the end of the week.

0:49:540:49:56

We'll get the whole job done in four, four to six days, tops.

0:49:560:49:59

Will you be in on Monday, between nine and three?

0:49:590:50:01

There you are, we can be there. Right, don't laugh at me!

0:50:010:50:04

I know, she said, couple of cowboys.

0:50:060:50:08

LAUGHTER

0:50:080:50:10

Thank you very much, pet. Thank you very, very much, pet.

0:50:100:50:12

You're a killer, but you're a delight.

0:50:120:50:14

Graaar! CHILDREN LAUGH

0:50:140:50:17

They fear me. They fear me now.

0:50:190:50:22

To be honest, the children always find you a bit strange.

0:50:220:50:25

CHILDREN GIGGLE

0:50:250:50:28

Turn round, it looks great.

0:50:280:50:30

It looks fantastic, it looks as if you could just

0:50:300:50:32

put your hands between the two and pick you up and carry you off.

0:50:320:50:35

That's what it looks like.

0:50:350:50:36

-Probably could, couldn't you?

-Yeah, it, it looks like you're...

0:50:360:50:39

wearing a rucksack on your front...

0:50:390:50:41

or a BabyBjorn -

0:50:410:50:43

it looks like you're carrying a child in a pouch!

0:50:430:50:45

While it's very tempting to try and protect tribal life from change,

0:50:500:50:55

the Pan-American Highway is already having an impact

0:50:550:50:58

on indigenous communities like the Wounaan,

0:50:580:51:01

whose way of life will inevitably be transformed.

0:51:010:51:04

'We're back on the road, heading deeper into the Darien Gap.

0:51:100:51:14

'It's an area the expedition never visited,

0:51:140:51:17

'as they travelled on to South America by boat.'

0:51:170:51:19

-Ed, the last part of our journey.

-This is it.

0:51:210:51:24

The last 30, 40 miles of a nearly 4,000 mile journey.

0:51:240:51:29

Of course,

0:51:300:51:32

Sully and Ken and Arnold didn't get to come this far.

0:51:320:51:36

Well, hang on - I charge different rates for breaking my own trail

0:51:360:51:40

than I do for following the journey of a 1941 adventurer.

0:51:400:51:43

-Really? I just give a flat trail rate...

-Oh, no.

0:51:430:51:46

You know, whether I'm breaking or following.

0:51:460:51:48

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

0:51:480:51:49

No, you know, you've got to look into that.

0:51:490:51:51

'In less than an hour, we should reach our final destination -

0:51:530:51:56

'Yaviza, which sits at the end of the highway in Panama.

0:51:560:52:00

'That's if we can get past the potholes.'

0:52:020:52:04

Oh!

0:52:040:52:06

Oh, Jesus...

0:52:060:52:07

We're all right, we're all right.

0:52:070:52:09

You're so busy avoiding the little ones, you drove us into a big one.

0:52:090:52:12

'This stretch of the Pan-Am Highway was only built in 2009

0:52:160:52:19

'and it could already do with a bit of resurfacing.'

0:52:190:52:23

Hang on, a big-big-big-big... Whoa!

0:52:230:52:26

See that? I got right between them.

0:52:270:52:28

'With the end in sight, Ed turns all profound.'

0:52:320:52:35

How would you sum up the road, Dara?

0:52:370:52:39

-How do you...

-It's difficult to know.

0:52:390:52:40

I mean, I've struggled with how best to express it.

0:52:400:52:44

In a way, the road...

0:52:440:52:46

is like love.

0:52:460:52:47

How is the road like love?

0:52:490:52:50

In that, you know...

0:52:500:52:52

people need it,

0:52:520:52:54

but it can also bring much misery and disease.

0:52:540:52:58

I think the road is like a jaguar.

0:53:020:53:04

Elusive, hidden...

0:53:050:53:07

..but deadly.

0:53:080:53:10

No, it's not like that at all.

0:53:100:53:12

No, it's not. I found it quite easy to find.

0:53:120:53:14

-Yes.

-It's on a map.

0:53:140:53:15

In many ways, the road is like this conversation...

0:53:170:53:20

Yes.

0:53:200:53:21

..it will just eventually peter out.

0:53:210:53:24

-There better be a big sign saying, "The End".

-End!

0:53:260:53:30

This is Yaviza -

0:53:420:53:45

and it's no longer a highway, is it?

0:53:450:53:46

No, it's very much...

0:53:460:53:48

a cement path, right now.

0:53:480:53:51

Yeah. This could be the end of it.

0:53:510:53:53

That's it.

0:53:580:54:00

That's a nice smooth end, there.

0:54:040:54:06

Came off the end of the road.

0:54:060:54:08

I mean, I wasn't expecting bunting...

0:54:090:54:12

..or there to be some huge, bronze map with an arrow in it and stuff...

0:54:130:54:19

but it just kind of peters out.

0:54:190:54:21

'The Pan-American Highway begins again

0:54:220:54:25

'about 100 miles away in Colombia,

0:54:250:54:27

'but for North and Central America - and for us -

0:54:270:54:30

'it ends here,

0:54:300:54:32

'in this small, dusty jungle town,

0:54:320:54:34

'in the middle of the Darien Gap.'

0:54:340:54:36

That was fun, but the ending was sort of unsatisfying.

0:54:380:54:42

I don't know, I think there's some sort of poetry

0:54:420:54:44

in the fact that it just sort of stops.

0:54:440:54:46

I don't know, I think I want there to be a skeleton, just like...

0:54:460:54:49

lying and pointing back the other way, like,

0:54:490:54:52

"You can go no further."

0:54:520:54:53

Do you know what I wanted?

0:54:530:54:55

One old man, sitting here and as we turn away, we go...

0:54:550:54:57

"Sullivan?"

0:55:000:55:01

Now that, my friend, would be an ending.

0:55:030:55:05

"How did you find me here?"

0:55:050:55:06

-I'm picking the music, OK?

-All right.

0:55:090:55:11

Nothing too high-energy or dancey, please.

0:55:120:55:15

After almost four weeks of driving

0:55:180:55:20

from Arizona through Central America,

0:55:200:55:23

we've reached the end of the road.

0:55:230:55:25

But for Sullivan, Ken and Arnold,

0:55:270:55:29

Panama wasn't even the halfway point of their Adventure South.

0:55:290:55:34

After sailing from the Panama Canal,

0:55:340:55:36

they picked up the trail again in Colombia,

0:55:360:55:38

forging a route through South America...

0:55:380:55:40

..and four months later, they reached its southernmost tip -

0:55:420:55:45

Cape Horn.

0:55:450:55:47

Their extraordinary journey took almost a year to complete

0:55:470:55:50

and helped to inspire

0:55:500:55:51

the building of the 48,000-mile Pan-American Highway.

0:55:510:55:55

You've done this without roads?

0:55:580:56:00

That's insane - what were they thinking?

0:56:000:56:03

But, undying admiration for what they did -

0:56:030:56:06

and how they did it, with that car.

0:56:060:56:08

I think they did it with the noblest of intentions,

0:56:090:56:12

when they came down here, first blazing the trail.

0:56:120:56:15

They wanted the road built,

0:56:150:56:16

because they believed in the idea of making all of America more unified.

0:56:160:56:21

And what was a hugely ambitious idea back then

0:56:220:56:25

can easily be taken for granted today -

0:56:250:56:28

the nations of two great continents,

0:56:280:56:30

connected by the longest road in the world.

0:56:300:56:33

The bit that absolutely blows my mind about this is,

0:56:330:56:36

we have done this epic journey of ours...

0:56:360:56:40

and then if you pan out,

0:56:400:56:42

we are just the smallest section of a road

0:56:420:56:45

that goes from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego.

0:56:450:56:49

We haven't even scratched the surface of this road.

0:56:490:56:52

Oh, God!

0:56:530:56:55

The interesting thing about this journey, Dara,

0:57:020:57:05

is that it's not just been merely us travelling from one place to another.

0:57:050:57:08

In a way, it's been an emotional journey.

0:57:080:57:11

But more than that, it's also been...an actual journey.

0:57:110:57:15

But it's also been...

0:57:160:57:18

a journey of discovery.

0:57:180:57:20

But also, we've literally just gone from one place

0:57:200:57:24

to another place.

0:57:240:57:25

WE are in the same place.

0:57:250:57:27

-No, we're...

-We - you and I.

0:57:270:57:28

Right, look, we're going to pull up and I'll step out

0:57:280:57:31

and I'll show you it's a different place.

0:57:310:57:33

On my phone, I've got pictures of the place we started the journey.

0:57:330:57:35

OK, but in a way, we'll end up in the same place we began. Yes?

0:57:350:57:39

-BOTH:

-Yes.

0:57:390:57:40

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