Jungle Expedition Deadly on a Mission: Pole to Pole

My name's Steve Backshall.

And I'm on a mission searching for...

..deadly places,

deadly adventures

and deadly animals.

And you're coming with me every step of the way!

I'm continuing my search for all things deadly

as my journey reaches South America

A continent of extremes, with the world's largest river

the longest mountain range, the Andes

and the largest rainforest, the mighty Amazon.

This is Guyana. Just north of the equator, it is to my mind

the best nation on Earth for unspoilt tropical rainforest.

There is no excitement that quite beats flying over Guyana,

knowing that below you there are hundreds of miles

of rainforest where no human being has ever been.

Knowing that there are thousands, possibly tens of thousands,

of species of animals that are completely unknown to science.

For explorers it's a true paradise.

Were in search of Guyana's jungle giants.

I'm a little bit scared about handling this one.

We'll camp out in the canopy

to film the world's most powerful eagle.

(I can see him.)

And attempt to dive with a super-charged shocker.

That is one of the most ghoulish sights I have ever seen!

Ah. Here we are.

Big, big adventures ahead.

Our search begins in the #pristine jungles.

It's an endlessly exciting place to search for wildlife.

As you never quite know what you're going to get.

Although you can guarantee getting wet.

THUNDER RUMBLES

These jungles are pretty much defined by rain.

Sometimes it seems like the heavens just open.

It's like standing under a shower.

But through the rain we spot a disappearing serpent shape.

Oh, yeah, I see it. Oh, cribo, cribo, cribo! Amazing.

Now that is an incredibly impressive snake.

I have to be really careful, because it's not especially venomous

but it has one of the strongest bites of any snake,

if not THE strongest bite.

What a find.

This is a yellow-tailed cribo.

Although it's not a great danger to human beings,

it would have a call to being one of the most deadly snakes

in this part of the world.

OK.

That is because it hunts and eats other snakes,

including the most venomous snakes in South America.

The way it catches them and kills them

is not through constriction, it's not through venom.

It's through an incredibly powerful bite.

The jaw muscles are said to be

one of the strongest of any snake on Earth,

and once it's got a hold of its snake prey,

it'll thrash around, smashing it on nearby tree trunks and roots

until it simply knocks it senseless.

What an unbelievable animal.

It's well over two metres in length

and as thick around as my wrist.

With the cribo out hunting the forest floor,

no other snake is safe.

Right there, is why I love the rainforest.

Our search is taking us away from the damp earth

and ascending into the heavens.

High above our heads is a silent bird of prey of legendary power

whose victims never heard them coming.

the majestic harpy eagle.

With comparatively short wings

they manoeuvre at speed through the treetops

in search of warm-blooded prey.

Sloths and monkeys are run through with stout talons,

adapted for punching through mammal fur and skin.

They are the ghosts of the rainforests.

It is an extraordinarily challenging animal to find and film.

Some people will spend their entire lives in these jungles

and never catch sight of them.

This is going to be one of our greatest ever Deadly challenges.

Local trackers know of a tree where a pair of harpies have their nest.

They've been spotted coming and going,

bringing in monkeys for their chick to fatten up on.

Away up in the top of that is the nest of our harpy eagle.

The only way we'll be able to film this

is by getting up above the canopy ourselves.

So we're going to have to climb one of these trees -

To do that...

You need the world's best catapult.

First I fire a thin line over a branch

that looks strong enough to hold my weight.

Pretty good!

And then attach the climbing ropes and haul them up.

The only tree that's suitable is closer than I'd chose to the nest,

which means we'll need constant caution.

Adult harpy eagles will defend their nest from intruders.

A few years ago, this BBC wildlife team was chased off

by a protective parent.

We'll have to ascend as quickly and quietly as possible, then do all we can to blend in to the background.

35 meters up and I finally get my first look into the nest.

'But it's empty.

'The chick has already fledged and flown away.

'But there is still a chance.

'Harpy eagle chicks rely on their parents

'to hunt and bring food back to the nest for well over a year,

'but it can be many days between visits.

'I'll have to dig in for a long stakeout.'

If the chick does come back,

it's going to be within a stone's throw of me,

we should have a fantastic shot from here.

It is an incredible experience to be up here in the harpy eagle's world.

But it's going to be a very uncomfortable place

to spend a few days.

'All I have is a tiny plank to sit on,

'with nothing but thin air to the forest floor.

'It's a precarious perch...

'..cramped and sweltering hot.

'After six hours, there's no sign of the harpy eagle.

Oh, I so hope this happens.

'But, for today at least, it looks like we've run out of luck.'

The sun's just about to drop

and the light's pretty much gone, it's almost dark.

so our only plan of action now is to head down

and come back in the morning.

At first light, I'm back in position.

It's 7:30 in the morning, we've been up for three and a half hours

and still no sign of a harpy eagle.

But I do have a trick up my sleeve.

This little machine here has on it a harpy eagle call.

So I'm going to play it

and, hopefully, we'll get some kind of reaction from the bird.

EAGLE CALL PLAYS

'The harpy eagle's piercing call

'will travel right out across the canopy.

'If the chick or adult are in earshot,

'they may come in to investigate.'

EAGLE CALL CONTINUES

But I get no response.

Another day passes, I'm about to head back down when

suddenly, I spot movement in the nest tree.

A pale shape with a feathered crest.

He's there, I see him! I can see the chick!

Really difficult to get a shot.

It is a stunning, stunning bird.

It's somewhat lighter than the adults,

has this incredible shock of white feathers over the top of the head.

I'm pretty sure it knows I'm here.

It's continually moving the head around

from side to side and up and down.

We human beings have one focal point in the back our eyes,

but eagles have two,

so they're continually moving the eyes around

to engage first one focal point and then the other.

It gives them greatly improved depth perception.

'They helps harpies target and home in on their prey

'while dodging between trees.'

The biggest harpy eagle ever measured was nine kilos in weight -

that's almost as much as a sack of potatoes.

Imagine something that big, that heavy, on the wing

and you can get a sense of how powerful this bird is.

What a beautiful bird.

And sitting here, right up in his world -

a place where very, very few people ever get to go -

what an experience!

He just ruffled or roused his feathers,

and had a poo, went to the toilet, lightened the load -

that's a sign that he could be about to fly.

Well, he's off now and I don't know if or when he'll be back.

I've sat up in this tree top for two days,

and it's been thoroughly uncomfortable, eaten alive by bugs,

but worth every single second.

Harpy eagles.

Deadly!

For the next stage of the expedition we're striking south by mud road.

Then, where the road stops, we're continuing by boat.

Pushing deep into the remote reaches of Guyana's forests.

It is a day's journey up the Rupununi River

which offers a watery high road into the wild heart of Guyana.

The entire team is heading upriver for about four or five hours

way into the jungle. What we find there, we have no idea.

But trust me, it's gonna be deadly!

Rivers are the arteries of the jungle.

Giving life and an easy way of getting around

both for us and for the wildlife.

This remote camp will be our home

as we continue our quest to find all things deadly.

This looks...

like it doesn't get any better, this is perfect.

And much of the wildlife will probably be living right amongst us.

This is the bathroom.

We call it a longdrop.

So essentially it's just a big pit and then you park yourself on there

and hope to goodness that the logs don't break

and pitch you down inside.

But that's far from the worst hazard in our bathroom.

Just here...

at the base of this tree...

is a little hole.

It's a nest of bullet ants,

known as the insect with the planet's most painful sting.

Local people call these "24-hour ants"

because if you get stung by one

then you can't think about anything else but the pain

for 24 hours.

This is the largest species of ant on the planet.

And it's the main reason why

both animals and people in this part of the world

fear ants more than spiders, scorpions, snakes or anything else.

Though they have this formidable weapon in the form of their sting

when they are hunting they much more often use those massive mandibles.

The sting is really kept for defence.

And it's a very, very effective one.

They are absolutely fascinating.

But treat them with immense respect.

As the sun sets on our first day at base camp

we are heading out to explore the forest close by.

Under the cover of darkness,

a whole new set of animals come out to hunt.

These forests are home to many giants.

One in particular is the very largest of its kind

and for many people, it would be their worst nightmare.

It's another of Guyana's wild record-breakers.

There's a burrow just down underneath this tree root

and I think I can see her just inside it.

This innocuous-looking hole is home to an ambush assassin.

The vibrations made by tapping my twig at the entrance

are similar to those made by an insect walking past

and, with luck, the predator inside will pounce.

Whoa!

That...would be one very dead cricket or cockroach.

It's a Goliath bird-eating spider,

the largest spider in the world.

It's coming up my lure. Look at this. This is amazing.

Oh, my goodness. I have never seen fangs that size before.

Her method of retreat is to go back into her burrow,

so if I simply blank that off with my machete,

she'll have to stay out in the open, for now at least.

Just got in there in time.

Her fangs are absolutely vast.

Ooh!

Come on, man up, Backshall.

No.

There she is.

The Goliath bird-eating spider - what an absolute beauty.

Arachnophobia is the most common fear on Earth, the fear of spiders.

For me, that is utterly unjustified,

and this animal sums up why.

It is an absolute miracle of nature.

This big, carefully moving, docile spider,

everything I've done, she hasn't tried to bite me even once.

Early explorers to this part of the world

told of giant spiders the size of dinner plates

that catch, kill and eat birds.

Now, these animals are certainly capable of killing birds,

and on occasion it has happened,

but it's not a major part of their diet.

Most of what they feed on are lizards, frogs,

things like crickets and cockroaches.

They've even been seen feeding on some of the most venomous snakes

found in this part of the world.

And the way they do it is with their fangs.

Despite their fearsome appearance, they can be quite fragile,

so need to be handled with care.

Look at those. Those fangs are as long,

sharp and curved as a cat's claw

and though the venom might not be that toxic,

certainly to us as human beings,

the force of that bite would be extraordinarily painful.

The Goliath bird-eating spider,

the largest and heaviest spider found on Earth,

with THE longest fangs.

They're of no danger to human beings,

but to pretty much anything else that wanders around

on the forest floor,

they are an eight-legged nightmare, and for that reason they're deadly.

We wake to the sounds of the river running cool and clear below us,

and the location of our next target.

The rivers that thread their way through these trees

are the lifeblood of the forest,

and they are absolutely bursting with life.

Some of it is bizarre, beautiful and utterly fearsome.

So to find it, we're going fishing.

A fish that lives here is notorious in these parts.

Locals tell tales of them attacking dogs, and even people.

But catching one won't be easy,

because I am not much of a fisherman.

Luckily, my friend Kevin has spent his whole life on these rivers.

For him, fishing is as natural as breathing.

If that's what it's feeding on,

what we're going to catch is going to be enormous.

Well, that doesn't look too hard!

Let's have a go.

Er...

'Let's try again.'

STEVE LAUGHS LOUDLY

Oh, dear!

It's just as well I'm not trying to feed a family of 10, isn't it?

'And again...'

Oh, no!

Now I'm stuck on a rock.

'..and again.'

Oh, hang on! I've got something.

Yeah, I've got one! I've got one.

You take that, Kevin.

'And it's exactly what we wanted.'

Yes! Got it, got it, got it, got it.

Wow! Look at that!

It's the predatory wolf fish.

So you call this a wolf fish as well, Kevin, yeah?

Aargh! No, no, no!

I don't believe it!

That was my fault. That was totally my fault. I did that.

'Perhaps best to leave it to Kevin.'

Nice throw.

'But even with his expertise, we're in for a long wait.'

'Four hours later, everyone is silently cursing me.

'But then...'

I don't believe it!

Yes, we have one!

No way!

Right.

Now, this time,

I'm going to keep it above the net...

..because as you can see, they are real fighters.

So, this is the wolf fish,

also known in these waters as the aimara.

It is a wonderful-looking beast.

The mouth's laden with needle-like teeth

which point back towards the gullet, so they work like fish-hooks.

It does look like the faceful of teeth

you'd expect to see in a wolf's mouth.

This is one of the most dynamic predators of these rivers.

They are ambush attackers,

so they'll lie in wait, using this dark coloration

to blend in with the murky waters

in those slow-moving ponds and pools at the side of the river.

It's...

Argh!

It's built for explosive speed over short distances,

and you wouldn't want to be a small fish in these streams,

because that mouth would be the most frightening thing out there.

The fish-feeding predatory wolf fish,

a good find,

but just a taster of the terrors in these waters.

My next target is a high-powered shock-fest.

And to film one, I'm going to immerse myself in its world.

OK...here goes nothing.

The crocs and piranhas that haunt these streams

have nothing on a beast that can stop a human heart dead.

These pools are the domain of the electric eel.

A true wonder of evolution,

the electric eel can make, store and discharge electricity -

over 600 volts in a single shock.

A big blast could bring down a horse.

It's a creature I've encountered many times before,

and have developed immense respect for.

In Venezuela, I got a minor shock,

even though wearing protective rubber gloves.

It was a bit like grabbing an electrified cow fence.

So, getting into conductive water may seem like a death wish.

But I'm counting on the fact

that they only use these high-voltage jolts

to attack or defend themselves.

If I keep my distance and my cool, they'll have no cause to shock me.

But I do need to be careful.

They could be anywhere.

-MUFFLED:

-Oh, my goodness!

No way! No way!

I got one! And it's big, as well.

It's probably as thick around as my lower leg.

Maybe a metre and a half long.

Just inches away from the glass. I can see it even above the water.

Right.

I have to go very, very easy here.

Last thing I want to do is to make it feel cornered

and make it give off a shock.

This is kind of exactly what I didn't want.

It's a really big electric eel.

The bigger the eel, the bigger the potential shock.

This one here could without doubt stun an animal as large as me.

It's possible here that my presence could be blocking the eel in,

making it feel threatened.

Far better to back off and move on.

Downriver, there are some deeper pools

where they might be swimming out in the open.

To get there, there's just the small matter of some rapids.

Aargh!

Almost immediately,

I spy the undulating form of a swimming eel.

He's sensed me, and is coming in.

He won't be able to see much through this gloom.

Instead, he's sensing me and his environment

by sending out tiny electric pulses, like an eel radar.

Holy moly!

Holy moly!

Oh, my goodness.

I've just had an electric eel swimming alongside me.

But no sooner have I found one...

..than other eel shapes start to emerge.

These rivers support a phenomenal amount of predators...

..including these electrifying, awe-inspiring miracles of nature.

Swimming alongside the most powerful electrical animal on the planet

in their natural habitat, like I've never seen them before.

That was so beautiful!

It came right up and investigated me.

It came right up into the lens.

Wow!

What an experience. It is one of the most

ghoulish-looking animals you'll ever see.

Even if it didn't have that phenomenal electrical power,

it would still be special.

With it, it is one of the wonders in the natural world.

The electric eel. Shocking and deadly.

'My expedition into Guyana's jungle heart

'has taken me from the bottom of the rivers...'

Wow! Look at that!

'..to the tops of the trees...'

(I can see him!)

'..and delivered deadly every step of the way.'

I'm a little bit scared about handling this one!

'Join me next time as I cross the border into Brazil...'

My heart is just going bam-bam-bam-bam-bam!

'..and continue my mission south to the coast of Patagonia.'

Oh, that was so close!