Indonesia Equator

We're right on the Equator, according to my handy little gadget here,

and we're in western Indonesia - we think this island is the first bit of land

between here and Africa that way, and now we are going to begin our journey across Indonesia.

My equatorial journey across Indonesia will take me

through some of the most beautiful but endangered parts of the planet,

as well as areas of violent conflict.

My first stop, the Batu Islands, are 60 miles away from their neighbour, Sumatra.

Very few ferries make the journey here,

leaving the people here isolated from the outside world.

My guide Amalia explained they don't get many visitors here.

Hello, hello!

They're very excited.

Very excited, the first time maybe they see foreigners.

-The first time?

-Think so.

Really? It's quite surprising in a way, because it really is so stunningly beautiful here!

At first glance, the islands are a palm-covered tropical paradise, surrounded by coral lagoons.

It would be perfect for tourists, if only they could get here!

With little contact with the outside world, the people here live a subsistence lifestyle.

One of their main sources of food is fish, and the men took me out to find dinner.

THEY SHOUT

THEY SING

We were off to do some fitabo, the local method of fishing.

You fitabo, I will fitabo,

we will fitabo together.

Come on! We've got to catch up! Can we join you here?

You're just deliberately soaking us now. Stop that!

Fitabo involves all the men from the village surrounding a lagoon

and then herding the fish towards the shore in an ever-decreasing circle.

A fish! A fish! A fish!

It actually worked.

Our main catch were the brightly coloured parrot fish, whose colours match the coral they graze.

They may have caught enough fish for the evening meal,

but there was no escaping the isolation and poverty.

Many of the children will leave the island to find work when they're old enough.

In the evening, the men gather and sing

of how those who leave must never forget the islands they come from.

We woke to news of a tragedy in the village.

A child. A small child, I think, Amalia?

Has died in the village.

Nobody was sure what illness the young boy had died from.

There was no doctor in the village and there would be no coroner's report.

In this hot and humid climate, burials take place at once.

Obviously, there is a much higher rate of infant mortality here

than there is in the West.

Do you think it's more accepted that children will die before they become

-young adults in this sort of area of Indonesia?

-Yeah.

The health system doesn't work here.

They accept, for example, like the child now die because they don't know what kind of sickness he got,

so they said that maybe he got curse, a curse in the way that they don't know what kind of sickness,

so they just say that, but in medical term, maybe the child got a fever.

The islands may look like paradise, but life here is hard and can be desperately short.

The nearest medical help is a long boat trip away from the village.

Indonesia is the most populous Muslim nation on the planet,

but the villagers here are Christians, like 8% of the 240-million-strong population.

The mother of the boy was a young widow who had lost her husband just a year before.

That night, we had to say goodbye to the villagers,

to rendezvous with a small cargo boat that would take us east to the Batus' giant neighbour, Sumatra.

It doesn't look very big.

We're supposed to go right across to Sumatra on this,

which is going to be a journey between 15 and 17 hours.

It was a traditional wooden boat which usually carries fish, fruit and livestock.

There were no cabins.

We were to spend our night under the stars sleeping on a wooden deck.

A bit achey - not great, not horrendous,

just a bit rough.

The crew seemed to have had a better night's sleep than I did,

judging by the beating they gave me at dominoes.

Oh, no!

Yet again, I lose!

Have we been playing for money?

No? Phew.

I had a horrible feeling I had just spent all our budget.

We landed in Sumatra at Padang,

a port just south of the Equator.

Indonesia is made up of more than 17,000 islands, and hundreds of ethnic groups.

Since independence from the Dutch, the country has endured decades of dictatorship.

But for the last eight years,

it's been a fragile democracy,

as the government struggles to keep this disparate nation together.

We headed north by road towards Bukittinggi and the Equator.

The scenery becomes increasingly dramatic as the road climbs through

the hills of west Sumatra, with jungle-covered mountains and volcanoes.

Bukittinggi is more than 900 metres above sea level.

Its name means "high hills".

The town's hub is the market.

Indonesians live much of their lives outside -

they shop at street markets and eat at street stalls called warungs.

Amalia took me to one to try a local delicacy.

Really quick,

looks good.

This is satay padang.

-This is intestine, try it. Very nice.

-Hang on.

-It's what?

-Intestine.

-Intestine.

-Of beef.

And this is a delicacy? OK...

Still hot? How is it?

It's still hot.

It's not that bad -

it could grow on me.

I'm not sure what the slightly jelly-like substance in the middle is, though. What would that be?

The contents of the intestine?

-Yes, maybe.

-Oh, no!

Go on, finish it, you got three intestine!

Meat in the market is so fresh, it's still clucking.

You wouldn't know it walking round here,

but Indonesia has been badly hit by bird flu,

with one of the highest number of cases in the world.

We've got one in here that's being... Ooh, chopped to pieces by the look of it...

Seven members of one family died elsewhere in Sumatra.

We were assured Bukittinggi hadn't been affected.

Have you noticed your sales being affected at all,

any of the shoppers concerned about the bird flu?

AMALIA TRANSLATES

I'm not worried about bird flu,

I'm not worried about bird flu, but it affected my chicken sales.

-It has affected my chicken sales...

-In the past, not so much now.

-Yes, not so much now.

Are people getting maybe a little bit complacent about it, then,

-as it's still a threat, isn't it?

-Yes, it's still a threat.

Have you been given any advice by the government about how to prevent bird flu?

Yes, the government give, er...precaution training to them, how to give a vaccine, etc.

He says that people might be afraid, but we are here from 6am until 6pm

-dealing with chicken.

-And they're OK so far.

-And they're OK so far.

Amalia, what are we doing now?

Well, she's checking which chicken that has an egg,

so after that once they've found it and then they have to try it.

Put your finger in the chicken bum.

-Put my finger in the what?

-In the chicken bum.

-In the chicken's bum?

And why would I want to do that?

So you can know whether there's an egg or not in the chicken.

-It's fun, isn't it?

-Oh, it's fun, that sounds fun,

a fun day for me consists of putting my finger up a chicken's arse, for sure.

Come on, try it!

Is anything there?

-There's nothing there, no!

-Nothing there in the chicken bum.

-Smell it.

-I don't want to smell it!

-Smell it, Simon, smell it!

I was keen to get on and see some of Indonesia's slightly more exciting wildlife.

So I took a flight east to see one of the world's largest populations of orang-utans,

on Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo.

Borneo's the next major island along the Equator.

I knew the rainforest on the Equator, a home to the orang-utans,

is under threat from loggers.

To be certain of meeting orang-utans I needed to take a detour south of the Equator,

and headed towards a national park considered one of the island's great treasures.

-Zacky?

-Yeah.

-Hello.

-I'm Zacky.

-Simon.

-Zacky.

-Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you too.

We meet up with Zacky, a zoologist from Orang-utan Foundation International,

an organisation dedicated to protecting the primates from extinction.

He was taking us to Tanjung Puting National Park,

where hundreds of orang-utans have found sanctuary.

The last count,

6,000 individuals there.

6,000 orang-utans in the park, so we'll definitely see one at least?

Yeah, I guarantee that!

More and more of the Borneo forest is being chopped down every year.

It's estimated that Indonesia as a whole has lost three quarters of its native woodland.

And as loggers chop down the trees, orang-utan numbers are collapsing.

The park is one of the few remaining protected areas of this extraordinary island.

To give you some idea, the UK has just over 30 native species of trees.

Borneo as a whole has more than 5,000.

But the current rate of forest loss in this country is the worst in the world.

Are we arrived?

Yeah, we are here now at Camp Leakey.

Fantastic, it really does look like paradise.

Look, there's somebody coming to meet us.

-Can we go?

-Yes, sure, sure.

Is it OK for us to have food in our pockets, or water?

Yeah, they're looking for water or something, but I can handle him and you go.

I just run off and leave you to look after him?

Oh...

Well, he managed to get that from me quite quickly.

Yeah, he makes sure it's food or water.

-So have you got to try to recover all the water now?

-Yeah.

-Are you just gonna take it off him?

-Give him one and then make sure....

He doesn't want to have the plastic bag.

Shall we get the plastic bag back?

You can get the plastic bag.

No, you can get it back!

-It's OK.

-Can we have that back? Thank you very much.

You are absolutely incredible.

Can we take the top off for you, at least, so you can have a drink?

No, he's done that, he doesn't need our help.

Give us the plastic back.

You don't want the plastic. Go on, spit it out, spit it out!

Thank you, you make me feel like Dr Doolittle!

The reception was a reminder that we were now in their territory.

The literal translation of "orang-utan" is "man of the forest".

This is an area where you feed them.

HE CALLS

Presumably they're calling them down now.

And here they come.

Many of these apes have been rehabilitated into the wild,

but there's not enough forest and wild fruit to support them,

so the Foundation puts out food to help them survive.

Orang-utans used to be spread across south Asia.

Now they're only found on Sumatra and here on Borneo.

Oh, this is really quite breathtaking...

Somebody has got a weapon.

We'd made the cardinal mistake of guests, and outstayed our welcome.

-OK, now she's getting really cross with us.

-Yeah.

Our cameraman, Fred, bore the brunt of the attack.

Now she's getting really cross with us. She's had enough!

It's getting almost tempting to throw something back.

Ooh!

I think it's time for us to go!

The Foundation also looks after around 120 orang-utan orphans.

How old are these little ones?

About nine months.

And what are their names?

Leah and Lesley.

Leah and Lesley.

You poor thing! Most of these orphans have the same story.

The dwindling forests are no longer big enough to feed the orang-utan population.

Their mothers were forced into the open, leaving them vulnerable to hunters and loggers.

Baby orang-utans are spared because they're valuable as pets.

These are the lucky ones who've been rescued.

Look at all of them! They can't wait!

Simon, you can take one.

OK, do they want me?

Beautiful, pretty.

Yes, thank you very much.

And who's this?

-Osborne.

-Osborne.

So, Zacky, why are we taking the orang-utans on a group outing?

This forest is like a practice for them to the real forest,

to the real jungle,

like this...forest they can practise for climb, for...

So you want to reintroduce them into the wild?

Yep, yep.

Oh, this is what she wants.

Here we go.

Off you go!

Many are ready to go back to the wild,

but the Foundation is running out of safe forest where it can release them.

So where have all of them come from?

Well, most from central Kalimantan,

from logging concession, from palm-oil plantation -

the big, big problem, the big, big threat,

that destruction area from palm-oil plantation.

That's number one.

The government has clamped down on illegal logging for lumber,

but now the great problem is the destruction of the forest

to make way for palm oil, a new supercrop.

Conservationists claim this huge plantation, with its smoking factory,

has been partially built on land which is inside the boundaries of the National Park.

Stephen Brend is another zoologist working for the Orang-utan Foundation,

who's campaigning to stop more park forest being cut down

to make way for massive palm-oil plantations.

So what exactly is it?

Palm oil's this miracle crop,

vegetable oil, it's in 10% of all UK supermarket products.

10%?!

Often when you see something that says "fried in vegetable oil", they'll mean it's palm oil.

It's in biscuits, it's even in ice cream, it's in cosmetics

and it could end up in your petrol tank if the demand for bio-diesel booms.

This is... This is the fruit.

This is palm oil.

This very thing is what the problem is all about. But it's not that.

What the problem is that the return per tree is so small,

to make it economical, they grow palm oil in multi-thousand-hectare plantations,

and where the palm-oil trees go used to be rainforest.

It is a wonder crop, and it's incredibly useful,

and we've got to use it, but it's where we grow it and how we grow it.

Indonesia has every right to the money that can be got from harvesting this fruit,

but it shouldn't be done at the expense of the National Park.

Government officials are currently reviewing the boundaries of the park.

It could mean the loss of a further 300 sq kilometres to palm oil,

an area nearly the size of the Isle of Wight.

Stephen thinks it could mean a further 500 orang-utans losing their habitat.

But while the battle over the future of the Park continues, small-scale logging still goes on.

So Stephen, what's going on here?

Well, this is a logging rail -

this is how people move logs out of the National Park.

-Legally, or illegally?

-It's in the National Park - it's illegal.

This is the area that's in dispute of the National Park -

and so we're getting the sense that local people are saying,

"Look, this is going to become a palm-oil plantation anyway, let us get the wood out."

It's a very difficult situation to try and control.

-I can hear the...

-You can hear it in the background.

-..the chainsaws.

You think we can get to it this way, Zacky?

Yeah, a little bit far, but we can try.

We decided to follow the noise.

Let's hope they're friendly.

Have you had a hard day today?

How many trees have you managed to cut down today?

-TRANSLATION:

-We have cut down two trees today.

Two trees today?

Do you think these trees belong to your village or do they belong to the National Park?

-TRANSLATION:

-This here - the trees belong to the village.

The men, who claimed they didn't know they were doing anything wrong,

say they supply the wood to local businesses.

Do you think there will be any trees left when your kids grow up?

-TRANSLATION:

-We don't know.

We'll have to see.

If companies keep cutting down trees, obviously all the trees will go.

It's just the same message - palm oil robs us of the forest - it's the same thing.

He didn't use the word "rob", he just said the trees go, I'm using the word "rob".

The Equator cuts right across Borneo,

and the road taking us east was bordered by what's left of the once mighty rainforests.

The ravaged landscape was a stark reminder of what the future may hold for the National Park.

But man hasn't just been destroying the native habitat and species here.

In recent years, the people in Borneo have been turning on each other.

The main ethnic group here are the Dayak head-hunters.

There's eight million here on this equatorial island,

some living primitively in the forest, others in towns and villages.

I was heading east from the National Park to the town of Palangkaraya,

in the centre of Borneo.

The Dayaks here confirmed their fearsome reputation a few years ago when they went on the rampage,

attacking another ethnic group, the Madurese, immigrants to the island.

Jihan, who worked as a journalist in the town during the attacks,

wanted to bring me here and show me around.

This is the first road I took, and the first body that I found

was located right in that side of the road.

-First body?

-Yes,

and...

it was quite terrifying, quite shocking for me,

cos it's kind of hard to comprehend, seeing a body without a head.

Did you feel personally threatened?

Somehow, I didn't, I didn't really care what my ethnicity at the time,

until later on, I realised I still had a little bit of Madurese blood,

when someone, one of the Dayak leaders kind of like identified me and saying,

basically, like giving me a notification,

or sort of like a warning saying, "You're not one of our targets,

"but, at the same time, we cannot guarantee your safety."

The Madurese came to Borneo as part of the Indonesian government's policy of transmigration -

a system of moving people from the overcrowded islands of the south

to less-populated land in the north.

The policy led to clashes over land and culture, particularly between the Dayaks and the Madurese.

A mob of Dayaks came down here and hunt down the Madurese

and try to demolish anything that belongs to Madurese,

just to make sure that no more identity of the Madurese left in this one particular place.

For the Madurese who managed to take shelter and seek refuge at the military base,

or the police stations, the most important in their mind - just leave this place.

-Get out.

-Just get out, definitely.

Between 1997 and 2003, the Dayaks killed thousands of Madurese.

Nobody knows the true number.

Eyewitnesses said many were cannibalised after their deaths.

We were invited to a Dayak village to meet some of those involved in the fighting.

We found them in a celebratory mood.

They were holding a Tiwah, a religious ceremony dedicated to the dead.

We were welcomed as honoured guests and asked to take part in the dancing.

Something curious is about to happen, I can see.

After the dance, one of the elders, Robert, agreed to tell us about the attacks on the Madurese.

What is the problem the Dayaks have with the Madurese? What was the cause of the conflict?

TRANSLATION: The Madurese behave as they pleased, gambling, cock fighting.

That was the start of it.

They always carried their weapons and used them in arguments.

What happened during the conflict,

can you explain a little bit more about it, what was the conflict about?

TRANSLATION: They attacked us first, killing two people from our village.

If you are good to us, then we will be very good to you.

If you treat us badly, then we will treat you worse.

Was my sword here involved in the fighting at all, would this have been used?

TRANSLATION: This is the Dayak traditional weapon, which we have used for a long time.

When we had our fight with the Madurese, we used it.

Many Madurese were beheaded with these swords.

We chopped off their heads with these swords.

So were you actually involved in the fighting?

Not directly, but I was giving out orders.

My son was involved in the fighting.

And what was your son's involvement, what did your son do?

What I did at the time, I forbade my son to join.

The Madurese had killed his best friend.

If they were Madurese, my son did not hesitate to kill them.

Off with their heads.

If they were Madurese, he had to kill them.

It was payback time.

We destroyed everything, including their livestock.

You've already prepared breakfast for us! You are being too kind!

Robert wanted to show us the other side of Dayak culture,

the great hospitality given to strangers who aren't seen as a threat.

I thought it was just going to be a meal,

but he'd decided he wanted to make me a Dayak by adopting me into his family.

They consider us as family, that's why they want us to take part here.

I was anointed with chicken's blood, which is meant to bring me good health and good luck.

Rice was placed on my head, representing power and food for the community.

Thank you, thank you!

What are my responsibilities now as your adopted son?

TRANSLATION: Your responsibility is just to remember us here -

we want you to remember us - your father and mother.

I did have 11 children, now 12 with this one.

I had mixed feelings leaving the Dayaks. They had been fantastically welcoming to me,

but they also weren't ashamed to admit they'd killed settlers on Borneo who they'd fallen out with.

Borneo isn't the only island where conflict is destroying lives.

I was leaving from the port of Balikpapan on Borneo's east coast, just south of the Equator.

I think our boat is this way.

It looks huge!

The ferry is one of the craft which knits together this nation

of different islands, races and religions.

Conditions look a bit rudimentary inside.

Hello!

Having spent a night on deck during our last sea trip,

I wasn't looking forward to the overcrowded sleeping arrangements on this one.

I'm not sure if we're supposed to be sleeping in here.

Upstairs?

It's like a cross-channel ferry.

-Whoa!

-Look at this!

-Do we have a bit of luxury travel?

Not bad. Look at it.

Much nicer than I expected! Oh!

What a relief!

It turned out my cheap ticket entitled me to a luxury cabin for the night!

This is really quite nice!

The ferry was taking us to Palu,

a town just off the Equator on the island of Sulawesi.

It's an island of dramatic mountains, and a striking coastline.

But its beauty contrasts with bloody religious conflict.

PEOPLE CHANT PRAYERS

Like the rest of Indonesia, the vast majority of people living on Sulawesi are Muslims.

But it also contains significant numbers of Christians and other religious minorities.

In recent years, clashes between Muslims and Christians have claimed more than 1,000 lives.

There have been recent bombings in Palu and, as I drove into town, the atmosphere was still tense.

The problems started in 1998, when the national government had collapsed

and Indonesia was in chaos.

Local political rivalries split along religious lines.

Street fights over political power escalated until entire communities were being massacred.

Elias, a university lecturer, agreed to show us about.

He's Muslim, but a large part of his family is Christian.

Elias has got this truncheon.

Are you carrying this because of security?

Yes, for protecting myself.

Before, I am not afraid anything here because I have many family here,

-but, since the things...

-Since the attacks?

-..since the attack, I am afraid.

This is one of the churches.

Was... Someone put the bomb here.

Oh, there's a police point just over here.

-The police are guarding the churches now, are they?

-Yes.

-Right.

Elias took us to the pork market,

a place where only Christians would shop.

A bomb attack here a few months before had killed nine people, including Elias's Christian uncle.

Is the policeman coming with us as well?

-The bomb was right here?

-Yes.

Can you explain what happened that day?

TRANSLATION: Shoppers had started pouring into the market.

When the bomb went off, I was standing over there.

It was all so sudden, I was so shocked.

I did not know what had happened.

I couldn't hear anything. I went deaf.

Were you injured at all?

Yes, I was injured on the leg.

The police were now guarding the market.

Who do you think was responsible for the attack and what was the motive?

TRANSLATION: I think Muslim and Christian communities live here in harmony,

but there are people who don't like to see that,

and those people want to start a conflict between Muslims and Christians.

Killings have been carried out by both sides.

We were taken to an area for Muslim refugees from the fighting.

-So where are we going now?

-We are going to Sophia's house.

Sophia, who is she?

She is a victim of...also conflict -

she lost her husband and her extended family, so it's around maybe 50 family members.

-50?!

-50 people in the family.

Sophia, can you explain to me what happened during the conflict?

-TRANSLATION:

-They tied our men like animals, so when one fell, they all fell.

We watched our husbands while they were beaten. I asked, "What are you going to do with my husband?"

"Shut up," one man said. Then they kicked him.

All of the males, including boys, were targeted.

Many were never seen again.

Sophia thought her son would be killed if discovered.

When I was trying to escape, I put girls' clothes on my son, so they didn't know he's a boy.

The Christian militia stopped us and asked if they were boys or girls.

I replied, "I have two children, and both are girls."

I have no idea why they killed my husband.

We saw lots of bodies floating in the river.

My children said, "Let's wait here. Who knows, we may find Dad's body."

But all the bodies were naked and headless - you couldn't tell who was who.

How do you feel about Christians, after what you've gone through?

After the fighting, after we lost everything we had,

I do think there's a gap between us now.

Now when I see Christians, I feel very deep hatred.

Peace deals have been brokered, but none so far has fully held.

In a nearby town, three Christian girls were attacked and beheaded

as they walked to school.

We left the mainland and headed for a more peaceful part of Sulawesi.

We sailed north, back towards the Equator and the Togians,

a group of coral and volcanic islands.

The seas here are rich with marine life, and some of it came to welcome us.

Come on. Watch the dolphins.

They're just riding in front of the boat.

Amazing little things.

We were staying with the Bajo people,

one of several ethnic groups known as sea gypsies who live on the waters around Indonesia.

As most of the country strives to modernise,

they do their best to live apart and cling to their traditional way of life.

PEOPLE WHOOP, DRUMS BEAT

We're being welcomed in the pouring rain,

and they're doing a sort of martial arts demonstration that I'm told

is meant to prove they can protect us -

it's not meant to frighten us away, as I originally thought.

The culture and economy of the Bajo people is derived from the water around them.

We left the village, and set out in their small traditional wooden boats

to go and see them where they excel - in the sea.

Their livelihood is derived from fishing and scavenging the seabed.

With us were the younger members of the community.

The children must learn to become divers if the Bajo are to have a future.

I think it's time for a swimming lesson.

Mine, not theirs.

These children are already expert swimmers.

Bajo tradition is that newborn babies, just a few days old, are dropped into the sea

by their fathers, to introduce them to the environment which plays a crucial part in their lives.

The kids here are a little bit too good in the water. They keep using us as a climbing frame.

I've been kicked in the face twice by small urchins.

All of this play means that by the time they're adults, the children will be highly skilled divers.

The men hold their breath underwater for up to five minutes at a time.

They go to the bottom to harvest a slug-shaped creature called a sea cucumber,

which is closely related to anemones.

Fish are caught with homemade spear guns.

It's really quite a sight, just beneath the boat

because the divers are just hanging motionless in the water with their spears

waiting for a fish to swim by in front of them.

It's just amazing, just watching them just waiting there -

it's a totally inhuman thing to do really,

just hanging around underneath the water without requiring air.

I decided to follow the men under and try and stay with them, as they hunted for fish.

But a city lad like me was never going to last long with men who grew up in these waters.

The exotic fish they catch mainly go to Japan and China.

Export firms have encouraged the Bajo to use hoses carrying pressurised air

to allow them to stay underwater for longer to increase their catch,

but this has led to deaths from the bends

and there are now dozens of men in this community who are permanently disabled.

Oyster, big oyster.

A huge one.

Anything inside?

It's really picked up suddenly.

Suddenly it's got choppier so...

We don't want to risk the boat sinking with the camera.

Whoa! I think I weigh a bit too much.

Quite a lot of water is sloshing into the boat.

It's going into their sago, and in here...

Is there a danger of the boat sinking?

-Yes?

-It's nearly sinking.

-You think we're sinking now?!

We decided to try and outrun the coming storm.

-For

-BLEEP

-sake!

I thought these boats were supposed to be stable!

There's quite a bit of water coming in now, guys.

We made it to calmer waters, but the small boats weren't built

to carry my heavy western frame, and it was still going down.

There's a boat coming to rescue us,

but they still think we're too overloaded, so I'm going to get out. Goodbye! Agh!

A more reliable passenger vessel calls daily at one of the neighbouring islands.

If we'd carried on east,

the journey would have taken us through the Moluccas Islands,

the last bit of Indonesian land on the Equator.

But there was a problem.

Christian-Muslim clashes, and a militant independence struggle

meant we were forbidden by the government from going there.

So the ferry took me north across the Equator to the town of Gorontalo.

I thought our Indonesian adventure was over... but I was wrong.

We arrived right in the middle of a major flood.

Heavy rain had been falling all night.

The river is right up, just underneath the bridge now.

The water is absolutely raging underneath here.

You see the power lines just here, that are hanging into the water?

The houses by the side of the river on the riverbank

are clearly over the first-floor window there.

This doesn't feel a very stable or safe place to be at the moment, so we're going to go across.

The flooding had ripped through the town, and the only way for us to get out was to wade.

It's just an utterly bizarre situation,

where we really are walking past all these houses which are completely flooded.

Really, this country,

it's been through...

they had floods here a week ago,

there's a huge volcano that's about to erupt in Indonesia,

they had mud landslides.

The current is very strong here.

What are you talking about? Football?

Soccer?

-Italy?

-England.

THEY CHEER

Very popular!

David Beckham yes, I've heard of him. Michael Owen, yes.

An excellent footballer.

England, England!

Don't you worry about the flood, just concentrate on the football!

Everything will be OK!

Whoa!

I can really, really feel it.

No, you have a cigarette! That's OK.

It's really, really strong, just to warn you!

The flooding across Sulawesi had claimed more than 200 lives,

and 4,500 people were evacuated from Gorontalo.

Well, we've made it out of the flood waters,

now we need to get to the airport

and then this should really be the end of our journey across Indonesia.

We had wanted to go further east and visit other places on the Equator,

but the Indonesian government said we couldn't - we weren't allowed - too much conflict,

and so this is really where our journey across Indonesia ends.

I'd had an incredible journey through idyllic islands,

threatened rainforests, and met some amazing people.

From Indonesia, the Equator crosses 11,000 miles of Pacific Ocean before it hits land again.

So my next destination, as I follow the Equator around the world,

is the Galapagos Islands.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd - 2006

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