Episode 1 Birds of Paradise: The Ultimate Quest

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner has a little-known passion.

It's beautiful. It's really lovely.

I've been a keen bird-watcher now for probably more than 20 years.

Whenever I go to somewhere really unusual,

I'll always bring binoculars.

This is very geeky, but I have...

Actually, I've kept a record of how many different species I've seen.

1,358.

But there's one group of birds that's so far eluded him.

The ultimate, the Holy Grail of exotic birds,

has always been birds of paradise.

I've wanted to see birds of paradise

since I was eight years old.

And I want to see them in the wild.

Almost all birds of paradise are found in Papua New Guinea,

one of the most spectacular and remote places on Earth.

But events in 2004 ended Frank's chances of getting there.

The reason I'm in a wheelchair

is because we were filming on a BBC trip in Saudi Arabia

and we got ambushed by terrorists, by Al-Qaeda.

They were armed with pistols and they surrounded us.

They shot my cameraman, Simon Cumbers, dead,

and they put six bullets into me and left me for dead.

I knew that I was extremely seriously injured.

I lay in hospital, thinking,

"This is one of the things I wish I'd done.

"Go and look for the birds of paradise."

HE SNAPS HIS FINGERS

"Why didn't I go to Papua New Guinea?

"Why didn't I go and see these things

"when I could trek through the forests?

"I've missed the chance to see this great..."

HE SIGHS

"..pot of gold at the end of the avian rainbow."

A chance meeting with explorer Benedict Allen five years ago

gave Frank new hope.

When he told me his story, I said, "Ah-ha! I'm your man,

"because I used to live there 30 years ago."

I settled down with these people called the Niowra

on the Sepik River.

We would do anything for each other. We were a family, actually.

This is a genuine personal mission for both Benedict and me.

It's something, you know, we've cooked up between us,

so if it's a disaster, the blame lies with us.

HE SPEAKS IN HIS OWN LANGUAGE

It's a three-week expedition

that will test both men mentally and physically.

-Today, we're not going anywhere.

-Yeah.

-At all.

-There are crocodiles here, Johnny?

-Yes!

It's got swamps, it's got mountains, it's incredibly ethnically diverse.

It sends a shiver down my spine when I hear that noise.

It's got everything that you could possibly dream of and dread

in a tropical environment.

That is disgusting.

That's my survival kit.

-Sharp knife.

-Ooh, careful.

-Dangerous.

-Very dangerous!

For Benedict, I think he's going to be quite torn

because it's going to be a reminder to him,

"Wow, I very nearly lived the rest of my life in that way.

"Instead of which, I've moved back to Europe

"and met a lovely wife and raised children."

So this is going to be huge for him.

I feel guilty that I've been away all this time.

I just don't know if they're going to welcome me

or going to resent that I've been away for three decades.

Frank will look after me, sweetie.

No, you're looking after Frank.

-That's true.

-It's most dangerous because he can't walk or run away.

I know. That's true, sweetie.

The idea of taking anyone in a wheelchair through Papua New Guinea

is absolutely crazy.

This is a really central bit of kit.

It goes at the front of the wheelchair

and allows me to get over muddy bits in rough tracks.

But I can see that Frank is a survivor.

He's not a quitter and he's someone who relishes a challenge.

Bird book. Pretty essential.

I realise I'm going to have to go through a fair degree

of discomfort and hardship to get to see them,

and that'll make it all the more worthwhile.

You know, this is so much more than just going to see a bird.

This is, in a way, a form of closure to my injuries.

Frank and Benedict must fly 9,000 miles to Papua New Guinea

to begin their adventure.

-Which way?

-Where to go?

Papua New Guinea is one of the least explored countries in the world,

and Frank and Benedict will be travelling

into some of its most remote landscape.

-Oh, look at this.

-Yeah.

-Oh, fantastic.

-Yeah.

-Look at that.

-Look at that forest.

That's what excites me,

because that's what we'll be going through.

I'd love to get in there.

I can always give you a push.

-It's not far, is it?

-It's quite a drop.

It won't take you long to get down there!

-Do you want to have a look through the binos?

-Oh, don't mind if I do.

Look at that.

The route that we're taking is working our way slowly south

from the northern coastline of Papua New Guinea,

into the Sepik River Valley.

We're going to retrace part of the journey that Benedict made.

We're going to go to the tribe that he lived with 30 years ago.

It's in the Central Range, where mountains reach over 4,000 metres,

that many of the birds of paradise can be found.

It's crisscrossed with swamps and massive rivers

and impenetrable jungles and mountains and ravines,

and I've got to get over some of that.

I have to say, when you think about all the places on the planet

that I could go to with a wheelchair,

probably Papua New Guinea is going to be about the most difficult one.

So, a long day today.

-Yes, long day. It will take eight hours, nine hours.

-Yeah.

-We will stop on the way.

-Yeah.

The first leg should be the simplest part of the three-week expedition.

We've only just set off, and already we've got a flat tyre.

We haven't even reached the canoes yet.

This is not a good start.

I'd rather it all blow now,

so we can sort it out in the early morning,

so we've got time to catch up.

We need to get to our first location before dark.

Ah, see, there we go. You see, there he is.

-That's Frank in action.

-Yep.

It's a pigeon.

It's the lesser-spotted mattress thrasher.

Ooh! We've got a bit of parrot action.

So, this is brilliant.

Going uphill's going to be a bit harder, but we'll manage.

He is a man of missions, Frank.

It's a joy just to see him head off.

He seems to be very good at... finding ways to break free.

-I'll definitely go for a push here.

-Yeah.

OK, the parrot's coming back.

I'm just incredibly happy to be out here in this environment.

I'm loving this. This is really brilliant.

We've had a puncture, you know, carpe diem, seize the day.

Caspar, have you fixed everything?

Everything is done, but we have another eight hours more to go.

So... Well...

-That's adventure.

-Yeah, yeah, that's adventure.

Last time Benedict was here, there was no tarmac, very few vehicles,

and he was travelling alone.

It's very, very tantalising.

We're winding now down into the river valley.

Up there is the river. There is the Sepik.

Whoa.

After 30 years, here I am.

The river is the main way into the swamp communities

and onto the Central Range.

What do you think of the Sepik?

It's much bigger than I thought it was going to be.

-It's a quiet river, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Slinking by.

Oh, you've spotted a bird.

-It's a buzzard of some sort.

-Oh...!

-BENEDICT LAUGHS

Now, that doesn't bode well, does it,

buzzards circling overhead?

The challenge for me, I think,

is going to be getting onto one of these little tiny boats.

We do need a lot of equipment.

We've to get ourselves and Frank, of course,

through all this terrain.

We can't do it on our own.

As well as a support team and an expedition medic for Frank...

..Felix has been employed to assist Frank throughout the journey.

Felix, you're fit and strong, you'll be able to get me on the boat?

-Yeah.

-Good.

I don't want him to get injury again.

I must make him safe, look after him proper.

He must feel like, "I'm with my family."

So, Felix, what we need to do... OK?

You plus three others, so four people, OK?

Two at the front, two here at the back,

and you lift me up and put me in the chair in the middle.

What am I afraid of? Being tipped out of the chair.

Up!

'My bones are more brittle than normal people

'cos I'm not walking on them.

'You know, I've got to make sure I don't smash anything up.'

-Well done.

-Strong.

-And then just walk it back.

Fantastic.

But, you know, these are risks worth taking to see birds of paradise.

Have faith. Brilliant!

Well done. Very good, excellent.

-You're in.

-Good stuff, thank you.

-Oh, look at this. Isn't this brilliant?

-Yeah.

We're getting quite wet here, but that's all right.

It's a dry wet.

There's not enough daylight to reach Benedict's former home of Kandengi,

so the group will overnight in the village of Yenijimangua.

Benedict's been here before.

There we are, Frank. There's your accommodation for the night.

It hasn't changed.

These buildings seem like the very buildings I saw 30 years ago.

And every house is raised off the ground.

That's partly to stop flooding, but also because of the belief

that spirits inhabit the water and they'll get to you,

so you've got to be raised above the water.

-Oh, this is nice, look.

-Oh!

We're going through a sort of... a kind of mud arch here.

-Welcome.

-Thank you.

-This is welcome.

-Oh, that's beautiful.

Oh, I'm loving this.

This is brilliant. Felix, well done, thank you.

Very good. Excellent.

Let's entertain the troops.

Raagh! Raaaaagh!

-Hello!

-WOMAN:

-Hello!

Oh, this is just brilliant.

The reception we've had has been amazing.

They've prepared this beautiful wooden hut for us.

They've carried me up the steps with no fuss at all.

And this really feels like a kind of journey upriver.

I mean, for Benedict, this is huge. But for me, it's exciting, too.

There's such a mystique about this place,

and it's a real honour to be amongst these people.

Did you make all of this?

-Yes.

-You made all of this to make us welcome?

-Yes.

-Thank you so much. Tenkyu tru. Tru tru.

-Yeah.

They speak a local language here,

but also, there's the pidgin English thing.

If I want to say, "My name is Frank" - "Name belong me Frank."

FRANK SPEAKS PIDGIN ENGLISH

..Be here. Very happy to be here.

I'm overwhelmed here.

They've given up their house so that we can sleep,

and there's this wonderful kind of dusk, smoky thing.

Yes, the mosquitos are just starting to appear.

There are dugout canoes still going up and down the river,

and it's just lovely.

One by one, people have been coming up here

just to sort of shake my hand, so this is lovely.

I've got a hot coffee, I've got my binoculars,

the birds are going up and down the river

and there's that lovely village early evening feel.

I'm happy.

Frank's settling in, but that's not the case for Benedict.

Tomorrow, he must face the Niowra people

who he abandoned 30 years ago.

The idea was simply to come to New Guinea, meet up with my old mates,

and they would help me through the swamps, through the trees,

up into the mountains, and we'd find birds of paradise.

Job done, nice and simple.

I'm a jungle man, I've lived for years in rainforests,

I know how to survive.

I thought I could get Frank up there easily.

But it's not as simple as that, it turns out,

because New Guinea is the place that made me, I suppose, the person I am.

Yeah, very profound memories here,

and I've disturbed them now coming back.

Here it all is.

When Benedict was last in Papua New Guinea, this man, Johnny Gawi,

adopted him as a son, creating a lifelong bond.

But to become a son of the village,

Benedict had to go through an initiation so secret

that these photographs have been altered

to protect the Niowra people's sensitivities.

I was still a boy, really.

I was 23, 24, I think.

No-one in the entire world, except these people,

had seen what that ceremony involved,

and certainly no-one had gone through it

and I was going to be the first.

It was a total nightmare.

Maybe that time in Kandengi did do damage.

Maybe I've spent a life trying to unpick it all.

I'd expected Benedict to be jumping round

like a catfish on a hook, excited here.

In a way he is, but also,

I think it's quite emotional for him coming back here

and I can totally understand that.

So he has retired to sort of gather his own thoughts.

I left so many friends behind in Kandengi village.

Johnny, my adopted father. Martin, my best friend.

I promised Martin to give him this watch. I've got it here.

I never fulfilled that promise, and I'm hoping...

I'm hoping, hoping it'll go well and they'll invite me in

and they'll take to Frank

and they'll help us on our way through the swamps,

through the forests, up into the mountains.

But I don't know what's going to happen.

I don't know how I'm going to react.

I don't know, really, how they're going to receive me.

I'm not sure I'll get much sleep tonight.

Some people look really good with a few days' stubble.

I'm not one of them.

-Good morning.

-Ooh, Caspar, good morning.

-Ah, yes.

-Mm.

-I remember it.

BENEDICT SAYS A WORD, CASPAR REPEATS

Are those mine?!

Them belong me.

Thank you! Oh, well, someone's got to give them a go.

Mm.

Johnny Gawi.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

He will come...

Come here?!

Today?

Ohh!

Caspar! Oh! That is something. That's lovely news.

And a surprise, actually.

The Niowra say "ai-ee", which sort of means "see you around".

There's no word for "goodbye".

They don't say goodbye, cos no-one ever leaves, and I left.

Thank goodness he's still alive.

-Is he quite a bit older than you?

-Only ten years or so.

-But it has to be said...

-In local terms.

-Yeah.

I realise I left them, I left this relationship...

..open. There's unfinished business.

I can't wait to see how they're going to receive you.

Yeah, we shall see what happens next.

Along the Sepik River,

the role of an adoptive father is taken extremely seriously.

I don't care about anything at the moment, I just want to see him.

Johnny Gawi.

It's thanks to Johnny's patronage

that Benedict could be accepted as one of the Niowra people.

There's a green canoe.

I'm scared I won't recognise him. It's a terr...!

Surely I will. But it's one of those scary moments.

One of those special moments that you know you want to keep special.

Ohh!

BENEDICT EXCLAIMS JOYFULLY

-I can't believe it. 30 years.

-Yeah.

Christmas.

I can't believe you're here.

You're here, you're here. I'm here, I'm here!

Yeah!

I'm so excited, you know?

I can't believe it.

You're really here.

-It's so good. You're looking well.

-Yeah, OK.

I was trying to imagine what the village is like now,

whether it's got...electricity...

-The village is getting bigger.

-Is it?

-Yeah.

Frank, I want you to meet someone very special.

-Hello.

-Johnny.

Name belong me Frank.

-Frank.

-Hello, Johnny. You were his father.

-Yes.

-Wow!

I was his father.

-Was he a good boy?

-Yes. He's a good boy.

-I was a good boy.

-I heard he...

-He respect me.

I'm so happy that somebody who was so close to Benedict,

who was there sheltering him, that you're here.

-This is a happy day.

-It's very happy.

Johnny, you know, there is another hope that we have,

to try and find birds of paradise.

-Yeah.

-Yeah. That's what we're going to try and do.

-Yeah.

-I'll be with you on this journey.

-Yeah?

-Great.

-Are you serious?

-Yes.

-You'll come with us?

-What, up to the highlands?

-I'm serious. I'll come with you.

-Oh, fantastic!

-Will you really?

-Oh, Johnny, brilliant.

-That would mean a lot to me if you did that.

Johnny, you're a marvellous man.

-Thanks.

-It's great to meet you.

-Yes, yes.

It's a big gesture from Johnny.

The Niowra rarely move beyond their tribal boundaries.

It is fiercely hot, isn't it?

Benedict's real father was an adventurer in his own way.

My dad was a hero. He was a test pilot.

Amazing, amazing man.

He was very quiet and humble, but did these extraordinary things.

I think, as a little boy, I thought, "I want to be like my dad."

Johnny, you tell me if you see a crocodile, OK?

I'll tell you.

Not only was my dad taking risks, but he was away a lot,

and so he was absent for a lot of my childhood.

Perhaps I was looking for a father, and Johnny was that father.

-Is this Niowra territory here?

-Niowra.

All of this. All of this.

Johnny took me in, made me welcome in his home with his family,

and looked after me.

It is opening up into a big lake.

-Is this Chambri Lake?

-Yes, it would be.

Ah! Beautiful.

Now they've hit Chambri Lake,

one of the largest lakes in Papua New Guinea,

the home of the birds of paradise can be seen on the horizon.

Those are the highlands, where we should see birds of paradise.

The distant one that's covered in cloud?

That's where we're heading, yeah?

I'll be quite happy to be up in the hills, actually.

I'm a mountain person, myself.

He says, knowing full well I'm going to have to be pushed, pulled,

carried and generally shoved around to get up those hills.

But I think it'll be great.

At night there are crocodiles here, Johnny?

-Yes!

-Where do they...?

There's many crocodiles.

But by day, where are they?

Now, they are under there.

Narrow channels through the swamp lead on to Kandengi,

the isolated village that Benedict once called home.

I'm a stranger now. I don't know what's going to happen.

It will be very strange and disorientating to be back there.

DISTANT CHANTING AND DRUMMING

Oh, wow.

Oh, wow!

What a sight. What a welcome.

-Amazing.

-To see such a thing!

I did not expect this.

Benedict's old village is celebrating the return

of a lost family member.

Just fantastic, this.

This is the most amazing sight.

These are Benedict's Niowra brothers.

30 years ago, as young men,

they undertook a brutal initiation ceremony together,

bonding them for life.

BENEDICT SPEAKS IN OTHER LANGUAGE

These are people I went through everything with.

There could not be any greater honour.

I am going home, as it were, with them.

This is very moving.

It is such a privilege to share in this return.

I am blown away. I really am.

What can I say?

BENEDICT SPEAKS THEIR LANGUAGE

-Big fellow man.

-I love you.

Welcome back home to see

your father and mother, your brothers and sisters.

Benedict is the only outsider ever known to have joined the Niowra.

The whole village are welcoming him back with full honours.

SINGING

It sends a shiver down my spine when I hear that noise,

and to see this place, this sacred house.

This is the crocodile dance,

and now my fellow initiates are honouring me by conjuring up

that time when we were all made into men together.

Incredible. My heart is like this...

Look out for your head.

-Did you know I would get a welcome like this?

-No.

Yeah.

Yes, I thought that I'd be lucky to get a welcome at all.

My fellow initiates surrounding me, escorting me.

Wow.

What a day.

This is a day I will never see again.

And perhaps no-one will ever see again.

Name belong me Frank. Me amamas.

Amamas to be here.

How many times in my life am I going to see anything like this?

You know, this is incredible.

I am in a wheelchair.

This is an insight into a world which I could not imagine when I was

lying in hospital that I would ever get to see.

Robin, good to meet you.

It absolutely blew my mind, seeing the reception that Benedict got.

They just opened up and welcomed him back.

THEY TALK AND LAUGH

You know, he came close to living with these remote people,

but he turned his back on that.

He is quite conflicted, I think.

What a day. What a day...

These people are actually, after 30 years,

extending their arms, as it were, to me.

Welcoming me back to a home.

They have been waiting for me all this time.

And I'm trying to think why I left these people.

It's only a few days into the three-week expedition,

and Frank is already feeling the effects.

I hardly slept last night.

One of the joys of being shot through the centre of the body

is that I have still got nerve endings jangled around,

and so I had this terrible pain in the middle of the night that went on

all night. About every 60 seconds,

it felt like someone was taking a hammer and gone bang, like that,

to the inside of my knee, here.

I had to dig my nails in to my legs

to kind of distract from the pain of that.

-When we take you up and down these steps...

-Oh, it's fine.

-You're not in pain then?

-No, not at all. No, it's absolutely fine.

I'm good with this, honestly, it's fine.

I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to be.

The expedition was due to leave this morning,

but Benedict has called for a day of complete rest.

Frank is the one that I'm scared about.

Is he going to be able to cope with the heat, the humidity,

day after day?

Heading out there, through the water, through the swamps,

through the forest. I'm worried for him.

Frank's having none of it.

I certainly don't want to come to a place like this,

that is a very communal, gregarious atmosphere,

and be shut away in some hut by myself.

I think that defeats the whole purpose of travel.

The rains have only just stopped.

Even yesterday, it was almost impassable for me in a wheelchair.

It's a bit of a struggle, but it is worth it to get around and see your

-village, Johnny.

-Yes, thank you.

-Right.

I've had to get used to the lack of independence.

It's just something that comes with a wheelchair.

I'm lucky that I've got this freewheel thing out the front,

which is allowing me to at least push myself along a level path here.

Evening.

I couldn't do this on my own.

I would love to be able to pretend I could.

Of course I couldn't. It's frustrating, but, you know what?

What's the alternative?

To stay at home and say, "I could have gone to Papua New Guinea..."

You know, adventure travel doesn't have to stop

when you're in a wheelchair.

So, where is Avila?

She's here. She's here.

I'm going to come all the way around.

Frank wants to find out what life is like for people with disability.

He has arranged to meet a young woman called Avila,

who's cared for by her dad, Stanley.

Hello. Name belong me Frank.

-How old is Avila?

-She is 23.

-23.

-Yes.

And has she...?

What is her disability, do you know?

Um...

She has a problem with her leg since she was a baby.

Right. Did you get any help from the government?

-No.

-So they don't do anything for disabled people?

-No.

-Wow. So she has no wheelchair?

-Right.

-Yes.

-So now she has no wheelchair?

-No wheelchair.

-So you have to carry her everywhere?

-Yes.

That is the wheelchair?

That is just shocking.

That is totally shocking.

It looks very uncomfortable.

You have to put padding, cushions, things like that.

Wow. OK.

How does the village cope?

Because, I mean, does the village help you?

-No.

-You are on your own?

-Yes.

-Wow, that's tough.

Um... Wow.

Does she have friends here?

And so she does the maths with the shop?

She does the accounting?

Could I buy something from the shop?

Yeah? OK.

So, er...

Seven of these, please.

OK.

It just makes me think how incredibly lucky I am.

I mean, I'm obviously not lucky to be in a wheelchair, it sucks,

but it's just a real body blow as a reminder of what it's like

for people in other countries to be disabled.

And for the people having to look after them.

Thank you.

Oh, thank you. That's great.

It's really good what you're doing.

She's very lucky to have you as her father.

-Thank you.

-This is a tough burden on your shoulders.

-You are a good man.

-Thank you, Frank.

She seems happy. She seems a happy girl.

-That's right.

-But that's because you're looking after her.

She is lucky to have you. Thank you.

Amamas. Name belong me Frank.

I want to see birds of paradise.

I've always wanted to see them.

-Is this your family?

-Yes.

But what I really hope is that people will see this and think,

"If that bloke in a wheelchair can do it, then I can, too."

OK, so I'm going to keep moving. Thank you very much.

Because, what am I? I'm in my 50s, and I am still doing this stuff.

BIRD CHIRPS

Oooh, hang on.

That's a lovely rainbow bee-eater.

That's a beautiful bird.

OK, as you were.

Oh, they're building a canoe here.

Making a canoe.

Yeah.

I've never seen one being made.

BENEDICT SPEAKS IN OTHER LANGUAGE

Morning.

On the other side of the village,

Benedict is looking for his Niowra brother Martin,

with whom he went through the initiation ceremony,

to give him the watch.

Good morning.

Hello.

Oh... Oh, dear.

How did he die?

It falls to Martin's son, Michael, to show Benedict the grave.

How long ago was it that he died?

2003.

-2003?

-2003.

I'm 13 years too late.

Oh... Oh, dear.

Oh, dear, dear.

He was a good friend to me. Good friend.

Martin looked after me in the worst moments of the initiation ceremony,

as I looked after him.

There was a wonderful brotherly love there.

We were in it together, and I will never have that privilege again.

And there's more news.

Seven of all the initiates, that is seven out of 30, have died.

Already.

People don't live long out here.

This looks like paradise, but...

..it isn't.

There are a lot of unanswered questions, really, about my past.

There was a lot that I hadn't gone through in my head,

maybe because I was too scared to.

I had sort of put a lid on that in order to keep on moving.

So I hadn't looked back to the initiation ceremony.

Maybe I should've.

This is, on the surface, a lovely, idyllic place to live,

but I'm sure there's a lot of things that I'm not seeing.

I am hoping to learn a bit more about this initiation ceremony

that boys undergo here every few years.

The ceremony takes place around the spirit house

in the heart of the village.

Benedict, what did you volunteer to have done to you?

I didn't know what was ahead of me. It was shrouded in secrecy.

It's about boys becoming men, who are sort of crocodile men.

A huge fence of bamboo was erected around the spirit house.

That was the entrance, we marched in through here into this arena,

and the contrast couldn't have been more vivid to us.

All the women were outside crying for their children,

who are now disappearing to be made into men, telling us to be brave.

You know something is going to happen, and it did happen.

We were rained on by clubs and sticks.

And around this grassy area were upside down turned canoes,

and we thought, "What are THEY doing here?"

But then our...

..godfathers lay on these canoes,

and we were placed on those canoes and they held us.

That's when the cutting began.

The cutting of our skin.

And that was such a shock,

to be taken from this world of women and love,

to one of utter male brutality.

I'll never forget that moment.

Benedict had consented to take part

in one of the world's most brutal initiation ceremonies.

The initiates' bodies are carved up with bamboo blades.

HE MOANS

Sometimes they die from blood loss.

There was so much blood. I remember someone slipping over.

I was in shock. I was actually shivering,

having lost all that blood.

When the scars heal,

the patterns look like the eyes and scales of a crocodile,

invoking the spirit of the creature most feared in their world,

to defend their community from attack by another village.

And just when you think, "I've done it," you know,

then again, again, we were summoned outside and beaten.

This is where I used to be, on this floor,

and this was the sort of thing we were beaten with the first day.

It was like a sort of cat-of-20-tails.

Yeah.

Imagine that on your sores.

Give me a go on the back, let me see what it feels like.

They were beaten for six weeks, four times a day.

You don't have to go full pressure on it.

I can't do this to you, Frank.

Well, do it with the shirt on. I want to see what it's like.

-I'm not going to do it as hard as they did.

-No.

OK, that hurts.

-Fair enough.

-OK, now imagine me doing...

Yeah, that'll do!

THEY LAUGH

Knowing that so much pain and suffering has happened here,

there's a sinister air to it.

Looking back now, I could see...

I came away, knowing myself so, so well.

That was incredibly empowering.

It meant I could leave here and be a better explorer.

I was fearless.

I could do whatever I wanted, and so I did big journeys,

and it was all because of this place.

I think our lives have been defined by violence.

I think that's...

partly why we have this affinity.

For me it was a voluntary act,

I suppose, and that is a crucial difference.

That act of going through the ceremony,

launched me out into the world.

And Frank's world, by contrast, was suddenly shrunk.

I think it's pretty strange to travel to the other side of

the world and volunteer to be sliced up in 200 places,

but I do understand why he did it.

The people doing this to you, there was no malice in it.

There is no malice, but...

I did sometimes think there's no compassion.

Where is the compassion? People beating their own sons.

I also admire him hugely for his honesty in thinking,

"Right, I need to be accepted by these people and, to do that,

"this is what I've got to do."

A recent initiate, Eli, is proud to show off his crocodile marks.

Wow. This is quite... This is recent, yeah?

-Two years ago?

-Yes, two years ago.

When I first turned up,

I think I didn't allow myself to think of the reality.

Just glossed over the fact that boys were beaten and scarred.

Are you pleased, Eli?

Yes.

Coming back, and as a father,

I realise, well, there's a lot about that culture

that I found difficult to cope with.

-So, one day, he will go through the ceremony?

-Yeah.

But he doesn't know about it yet.

I've got to say, I have mixed feelings about it because,

on the one hand, it's really impressive that this tradition,

that is so ingrained in their culture,

has survived into the 21st century.

And I can understand it, that it makes them strong.

They've got to deal with this harsh life out here,

the idea that you've got to make the village strong,

and the boys strong, I get that.

Theoretically, it's voluntary.

But you know that it isn't, really,

because, you know, if somebody says no, he's not going to...

You know, the peer pressure on him is going to be enormous to do it.

And you know, it's slightly unnecessary, in a way,

to go through this horrendous pain and scarring.

So I've got mixed feelings about it.

I think I know the answer, why I left these people.

This place is actually the worst place for anyone who's a traveller,

a sort of nomad, an adventurer, like me.

Because you're confined.

You're defined and confined by the rituals,

by the expectations of a very, very tight community.

In the end,

I can have fleeting glimpses of this life...

but I can never really be a Niowra.

The expedition will move on later today.

It's my last day. I'm leaving Kandengi.

The Kandengi villagers welcomed me back as a son.

But in the end, however kind they have been to me,

it's not where I belong.

My home is on the other side of the planet, back with my family.

I'm just going through the book of birds of Papua New Guinea.

We haven't come near seeing any birds of paradise,

but I'm really hoping that we're going to get a sighting soon.

Birds of paradise are the ultimate prize for many bird-watchers.

Their rarity, combined with the male's striking plumage

and courtship dances, make them unrivalled in the avian world.

My mum got me into bird-watching when I was very young,

when I was about ten. I remember mocking my mother, saying,

"Oh, gosh, look, you're bird-watching again.

"Off you go with your binoculars, what a waste of time."

She said, "Well, you know, don't knock it. Here, have a look."

And I thought, "Wow, these are really beautiful.

"These are stunning creatures."

-Gosh, it's very peaceful, isn't it?

-Yes.

Before he leaves, the women have promised to take Frank

for a morning of bird-watching on the lake.

It's very restful, bird-watching.

It's quite therapeutic, actually. It's lovely.

It gets me out into wild places.

Go on, let me do it. Let me have my moment of glory.

Or shame. There we go.

The Niowra are a fishing community

and the women dominate the workplace.

They catch the fish, feed their families, and trade the surplus.

Oh, here we go!

No.

Did it take it? It did, didn't it?

OK, what am I doing wrong here?

-Talk me through this.

-You're too slow.

I can't be any quicker than that.

I am not too slow, it's the fish that are too fast.

If the women are out working, doing the fishing and preparing it,

what do the men do?

-The men do nothing.

-The men do nothing.

-Do these fish have teeth?

-Yes.

Are these the ones that come and bite you round the knackers?

-Yes.

-OK.

I had read about this.

These fish that we're catching, they're known as "the ball cutter".

Nice. They, erm...have a habit, apparently,

of swimming up to your groin and taking a bit of a chunk out of you.

I get a restfulness, I think, from looking at nature.

I do this job in news, and you're dealing with horrible things,

like the bombing of Aleppo and suicide bombers,

and it's a nice escape to be amongst nature,

and to observe the beauty of it.

-Is she helping?

-Yes.

Oh, that's so lovely.

How old will she be when she can fish?

When can she start fishing?

-Like me.

-Yeah.

-Yes.

-My age.

-17.

-Yes.

Right.

Yay!

-He shoots, he scores!

-Yes.

It is a giant! It is a whopper.

Will you stop laughing there?

And do you know what the joy of it is?

We've got the fish and the bait - he hasn't taken the bait.

Yes. That's a big one.

I'm going to hand that to you, Selma.

You will need both hands because it's huge.

The women are also taking a lead back in the village.

They want to see if Benedict really is a crocodile man.

I am being inspected by everyone.

OK, I'll take it off.

THEY LAUGH AND SHOUT

OK, nice.

There we are, a fine body of a man.

-Nice!

-Nice.

Down by the river, the support team has been hard at work.

So, here it is. The Emperor's chair.

This looks the height of comfort.

Um...

How do I get into it, with these...?

-Backwards. You can go backwards.

-I can't go backwards.

Slightly embarrassingly, they have rigged up

this sort of Victorian sedan chair thing that I've got to be carried in

like some Chinese emperor through the forest,

so I'm going to try this.

-I'm going to sit on the bits.

-Yes.

No complaints there.

Yeah, I think this is brilliant.

Wow, it's brilliant.

This is really good. I mean, it's embarrassingly comfortable.

I mean, I was expecting... I'll be very happy with this.

This is great.

Being a wheelchair user

just means I'm dependent on other people to get me to places.

But it doesn't stop me having to go there.

I mean, let's go a decent distance, see what it's like.

I survived a near-death experience,

and that definitely kind of colours your view on the rest of life.

You just think, "Wow, OK, life's there for living".

I tell you what, there's a bit of a breeze up here!

This is brilliant, up at this height, up at this altitude.

I love the beauty of nature,

and sometimes I'll stop on the way to work, pull over,

and take a photograph of something in London.

You know, the light on a bridge or on a lamppost or something like that

which is particularly beautiful.

Is there room for two up there?

Well, you can go in coach. You can go in economy.

As usual.

I think I probably notice things that, to me, are beautiful,

much more than when I was able-bodied.

There's lots to be happy about.

Can we get them some cushions for their shoulders

-because that's going to be really hard for them?

-OK.

Fine now, but after 15 minutes, that's going to start to hurt.

How does it feel?

-It's OK.

-It's heavy.

It is heavy, but it's OK.

Brilliant, I think this works.

It's very, very comfortable. It's really good.

-Well done, good job.

-OK, we have transport.

I enjoy Frank's almost feverish appreciation of things around him.

He's sucking in life.

He's making the most of what he's got, and I hugely admire that.

The village chief is throwing a feast

in honour of Kandengi's departing guests.

Your traditions are very strong,

and it's wonderful for me to see your welcome back here.

This is the best trip for me, ever.

So, thank you straight.

APPLAUSE

Now the food is going to be distributed

amongst all the different clans of the village.

The food is eaten by the villagers, but still the symbol is there.

That they're offering up this for the good luck of our journey.

So it's with the blessing that we now leave.

This is our send-off.

They're wishing me and Frank the best of luck on our quest.

The expedition's heading to the mountains,

where Frank hopes to find his birds of paradise.

Johnny knows where they might see

one lower altitude species along the way.

So we're now setting off in canoes, yes,

to look for birds of paradise, at last!

Frank's just over there, and I don't really want him to hear this.

But I am worried. He's already found it tough,

and we've hardly been anywhere.

Out there, it's going to be relentless.

Under the sun, out on the lake, through the swamps,

through that thick forest in this sort of humidity.

It's going to be so tough.

And I of course want him to fulfil his dream,

but I also have a duty to make sure

he gets safely back home out of here.

Right, stop, stop, stop.

Let's go up.

Up and in. Gently.

Gently.

The great part is, you can feel this community is willing us on.

They want this to succeed.

They want Frank to see those birds of paradise.

-Are you all right, Frank?

-Yeah, yeah, I'm good.

We're all in this together.

Do you think Benedict's up to it? I'm worried, actually.

To be honest, I'm not sure.

-I don't know.

-He's getting on a bit.

I would just, I don't know, hang up his trekking boots, really.

Yeah. What, and become an accountant in Reading?

Yeah. Or find himself a nice, gentle expedition.

He could be a tour guide around Prague.

I am more of a swamp man, I think.

All right, are you comfy?

-Good man.

-We'd better go.

Felix, I have to stop you calling me sir.

I'm not knighted yet. When I become Sir Frank, you can call me sir.

But for the moment, Frank.

Just because I respect you.

I know, but I respect you too, Felix, and I don't call you sir.

THEY LAUGH

Faster, Benedict, faster!

We can save on fuel this way.

BENEDICT LAUGHS

It's a final farewell to the Kandengi people.

And to the tranquillity of the River Sepik.

The next stage of the journey will take Frank and Benedict

into dense rainforest on foot.

I have just noticed something terribly poignant.

The sight of Frank's big boots.

Because they are totally spotless.

Because he hasn't taken a single stride in them.

My boots are covered in mud because I am able to go where I want.

This is Wagyu community.

Arriving in style.

-Very good.

-Stage one successful.

We're going to make our way out through the forest.

Very good. Well done.

Now I'm just nervous. Are we going to see them, or not?

Or am I just going to catch a glimpse of a tail feather through

some distant canopy? There you go, that's your bird of paradise.

I just never imagined that I would go bird-watching like this.

This is so weird.

I tell you what my fear is that we are in a column of 15 people.

You know, if I was a shy bird of paradise,

I would not be hanging around.

If Johnny is right,

this could be Frank's first sighting

of one of the most elusive birds in the world.

BIRD SINGS

(Hey.)

(Hey, shhh!)

That's the one. That's a bird of paradise.

That's the bird of paradise.

Listen to that.

That's a kind of mysterious call.

I'm not going to imitate it.

Actually, I am. Woo-woo-woo-woo-woo.

And it's just... I've never heard this call before.

It's kind of almost otherworldly.

BIRD CALLS

It sounds to me like there's three.

There's one there, there's another one up there,

and one further in the forest.

But seeing them is going to be really hard.

They're up in the tree canopy.

Yeah. Are you excited, or are you just...?

Frustrated. I want to see them!

I can hear the bloody things, I just want to see them now.

BIRDS SING LOUDLY

Can you put it down because I can't...?

We're moving so much.

Thanks.

I can see that...

-Gold, gold.

-I can't see, where is it?

The gold... Shhh.

Guys...

Like a flash of gold.

You can see a white tail hanging down.

-Yes.

-Yeah, it's gold, like a sort of flame.

-And I can't see it.

-No!

This is really...

Shhh! Guys, will you please keep your voices down!

-Sorry, sorry.

-Thanks.

So within reach, aren't they? And yet not.

I'm loving their calls, though.

There's only one thing worse than not being able to see

the bird you really want to see - is when every other bugger has seen

them around you, and I can't see it because I am trapped down here.

Argh!

This is immensely frustrating.

Maybe it's not a bird of paradise, it's a mockingbird.

That's what it is.

Look, look. Do you see it?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Can you see it? It's moving about.

-It's going up, up, up.

-Yes.

Yes!

Wow!

OK.

He's gone! I saw it for a split second.

It's this guy here.

Look at this.

This is the lesser bird of paradise.

But what a stunning bird!

We're very lucky, actually, because look, the light's going fast.

You know, the sun's well off the tree canopy now.

Night's starting to fall.

They're still calling, but we're lucky to get those views.

God, it's a tantalising business,

looking for these birds of paradise, isn't it?

Guys, well done. Well done for bringing us here.

With night drawing in,

that one glimpse is all Frank's going to see today.

To have gone up there in the forest,

through all of those jungle vines

and heard those amazing raucous calls,

melodic, mysterious,

and tantalising, and then at first not being able to see them...

You know, I was really like a spoilt child

because I was desperate to see these things.

Of course now there are 39 different birds of paradise

and I want to see more.

So the quest isn't over yet.

Next time...

Frank, Frank, Frank.

..Frank's search for birds of paradise intensifies,

heading high into Papua's remote mountains.

This is bird of paradise country.

I want to see proper displays of the males in all their finery.

The more diverse ones are higher up in the forest.

The terrain gets tougher...

We have to keep this chair absolutely stable.

If I fall, there's a fair chance I'm going to break something.

And Frank's past catches up with him...

-Today we're not going anywhere.

-Yep.

-At all.

It is a big wound, and that will take you down fast.

Do you know, I hate the way that the curse of my injuries

comes up to dog me 12 years on.

Maybe paradise, in the end, is just simply unobtainable.