0:00:07 > 0:00:09The Indian Ocean,
0:00:09 > 0:00:12home to the world's most exotic islands...
0:00:14 > 0:00:16..and beautiful and rare wildlife.
0:00:19 > 0:00:23I'm travelling through 16 countries around the edge of this vast ocean
0:00:23 > 0:00:28that stretches 6,000 miles from Africa to Australia.
0:00:28 > 0:00:34Steeped in history, the Indian Ocean is vital to world trade.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40It's a journey of extremes, from stunning islands
0:00:40 > 0:00:47across pirate-infested seas, to remote villages...
0:00:49 > 0:00:52..and war-torn lands.
0:00:52 > 0:00:54What was that?
0:01:06 > 0:01:09This is a journey about much more than just what's under the waves.
0:01:09 > 0:01:13It's about the lives of the millions of people
0:01:13 > 0:01:17who live around this, one of our greatest oceans.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25I start my journey at the tip of Africa,
0:01:25 > 0:01:28and travel up the east coast of the continent to the island of Zanzibar.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33'I discover what threatens the ocean's mightiest predator.'
0:01:33 > 0:01:35I think they've got something.
0:01:36 > 0:01:41'And I confront my own fears on my first ocean dive.'
0:01:41 > 0:01:44You got me to swim with sharks.
0:01:45 > 0:01:47We're stuck in the sand.
0:01:49 > 0:01:53On this first part of my journey, I travel by land, sea and air...
0:01:56 > 0:01:59..through a country ravaged by civil war.
0:01:59 > 0:02:043,500 people live here now?
0:02:04 > 0:02:07And ending on the exotic island of Zanzibar,
0:02:07 > 0:02:11with its stunning coral beaches.
0:02:11 > 0:02:13My goodness look at this!
0:02:37 > 0:02:39I'm at the bottom of Africa.
0:02:39 > 0:02:44Somewhere out there, two of the world's mightiest oceans collide.
0:02:44 > 0:02:48Over there is the Atlantic, but I'm heading this way.
0:02:48 > 0:02:53This is the start of my journey around the glorious Indian Ocean.
0:02:53 > 0:02:54It's a huge trip.
0:02:54 > 0:03:00It's an enormous challenge, and it begins right here, right now,
0:03:00 > 0:03:02on the rugged coast of South Africa.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12The Indian Ocean might be better known for tropical beaches
0:03:12 > 0:03:16and palm trees, but down here, near the Cape of Good Hope,
0:03:16 > 0:03:18the sea churns with life,
0:03:18 > 0:03:20and the coastline is dramatic.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32There's no neat dividing line between two great seas.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36And the water here is fed by currents from both the Atlantic
0:03:36 > 0:03:39and the Indian Ocean. As a result, the water temperature
0:03:39 > 0:03:43can fluctuate wildly, and there's a huge diversity of marine life.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45This area is a breeding ground
0:03:45 > 0:03:48for vast stocks of fish, sea birds and mammals.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57Oh, dolphins, porpoises, just off to the left!
0:04:00 > 0:04:04Across the Indian Ocean, this spectacular wildlife
0:04:04 > 0:04:07is in desperate need of protection.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10I hitched a ride on a South African fisheries patrol boat,
0:04:10 > 0:04:13whose job it is to police these waters.
0:04:13 > 0:04:15This pearly beach area,
0:04:15 > 0:04:18there's a group of poachers that live out here, OK?
0:04:18 > 0:04:20And they actually swim from the shoreline
0:04:20 > 0:04:22all the way through to the island.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27Keith Govender and his team are targeting poachers
0:04:27 > 0:04:31who are after a little known, but valuable, sea creature.
0:04:34 > 0:04:36Part of what we're going to do today is basically looking
0:04:36 > 0:04:39and protecting a resource called abalone.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43- Abalone.- Abalone in layman's terms you could describe as a shellfish.
0:04:43 > 0:04:47It's become a commodity now that is wanted in the Far East.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49As a food?
0:04:49 > 0:04:51- As a food, or as a delicacy. - Delicacy is the word, yeah.
0:04:51 > 0:04:55And it's become so wanted that people in South Africa now
0:04:55 > 0:04:57are actually poaching it more and more
0:04:57 > 0:05:00to sell off to syndicates, basically.
0:05:00 > 0:05:02- What, crime gangs? - Crime gangs itself.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06And that stuff gets smuggled onto the black market into the Far East.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09And people will poach from the shoreline,
0:05:09 > 0:05:12where divers would walk into the water and poach off a reef
0:05:12 > 0:05:14and you also have one where it's sea-based,
0:05:14 > 0:05:16where people use rubber ducks.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18When you say a rubber duck, you mean something like this?
0:05:18 > 0:05:20Yeah, something like this.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23- This one's specially designed for enforcement.- And it's super fast.
0:05:23 > 0:05:24It's super fast.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28The patrol received a tip-off that poachers had been spotted.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31They were hunting for rare abalone,
0:05:31 > 0:05:34which is protected in South African waters.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36It was time to launch the rubber duck.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39If we tell you to hang on, drop whatever you're doing
0:05:39 > 0:05:40- and you hang on, OK?- OK.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44No matter what's happening, just hang on. OK, let's go!
0:05:44 > 0:05:46Hold on!
0:05:49 > 0:05:52There's something there!
0:05:52 > 0:05:54Right-hand side. See?
0:05:54 > 0:05:59Right on the starboard bow, dead ahead!
0:05:59 > 0:06:04Coming very fast, so they won't be able to get away.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08Keep this course.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10'It looked like we were going to catch
0:06:10 > 0:06:12'a group of poachers red-handed.'
0:06:12 > 0:06:15Now you see there the divers are busy on the rock there
0:06:15 > 0:06:17- at the moment, as you can see. - 'But just a few hundred feet
0:06:17 > 0:06:20'from the coast, we ran into a floating natural barrier
0:06:20 > 0:06:22'that could entangle the boat propeller.'
0:06:22 > 0:06:26I mean, and if you look at the kelp here, you can see how thick it is.
0:06:26 > 0:06:30My God, look at it, it's like a tangle of knots!
0:06:32 > 0:06:35I can see, yeah, a guy, he's just sort of crouching down,
0:06:35 > 0:06:37trying to stay out of sight. There was a third guy.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39He's just gone into the water.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42So, there's poaching going on right here, right now.
0:06:42 > 0:06:43It's very frustrating.
0:06:43 > 0:06:47It's very frustrating. You can see them. You want to grab them.
0:06:47 > 0:06:51You see now they're just getting equipment and walking away.
0:06:51 > 0:06:52And run away.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56Now this is Whiskey Bravo, over.
0:06:56 > 0:06:58Keith alerted the local police, who tracked
0:06:58 > 0:07:00and caught the poachers.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06'The trade in abalone has become a multi-million pound business.'
0:07:06 > 0:07:08My goodness!
0:07:09 > 0:07:13'This was abalone they'd confiscated from other poachers.'
0:07:14 > 0:07:16It's basically a shellfish.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18It doesn't look like very much, let's be honest.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20It's slimy and not particularly pleasant.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23'But a plate of abalone can sell
0:07:23 > 0:07:26'for more than £100 in a restaurant in China.'
0:07:28 > 0:07:30There's abalone here worth,
0:07:30 > 0:07:33- I would guess, tens of thousands of pounds.- Yep.
0:07:35 > 0:07:39'And, bizarrely, the black market trade in abalone is linked
0:07:39 > 0:07:40'to serious organised crime.'
0:07:40 > 0:07:45But the problem is it opens up a whole lot of things, such as drugs,
0:07:45 > 0:07:46illegal weapons, those type of things.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49It's connected with all these other...
0:07:49 > 0:07:51- It's connected, yeah. - ..crime activities.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53It's a spider's web, basically.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01This is such a weird situation.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03Weird story, but it gets even odder,
0:08:03 > 0:08:05because what we've been told is that
0:08:05 > 0:08:09while abalone's being smuggled out of the country by criminal gangs,
0:08:09 > 0:08:12the same people are then involved in smuggling back in
0:08:12 > 0:08:15a methamphetamine drug called tik,
0:08:15 > 0:08:20which is apparently causing all sorts of chaos here in South Africa.
0:08:23 > 0:08:27This two-way trade is centred on nearby Cape Town,
0:08:27 > 0:08:31where use of the drug, tik, has reached epidemic proportions.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36Abalone is smuggled out of the country to China,
0:08:36 > 0:08:39and the same gangs use the profits to trade in tik.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43Police here have even found large quantities of abalone,
0:08:43 > 0:08:46together with tik, while carrying out drugs raids.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51I headed to Manenberg, an area notorious for poverty,
0:08:51 > 0:08:53drugs and violent crime.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55I met up with William Williams,
0:08:55 > 0:09:00who runs a local charity that works with people addicted to tik.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04How has tik affected the community in recent years?
0:09:04 > 0:09:08It's almost like people have lost this whole thing
0:09:08 > 0:09:12of caring about other people and only caring about themselves,
0:09:12 > 0:09:16and that the biggest thing for them is getting the drug,
0:09:16 > 0:09:21so if they have to rob their neighbour, steal from the neighbour,
0:09:21 > 0:09:25do anything against their neighbour to be able to get this drug.
0:09:25 > 0:09:30This was a side of South Africa few visitors get to see.
0:09:30 > 0:09:34It was the poaching of an ocean mollusc that had brought me here,
0:09:34 > 0:09:36but almost everyone I met had a story about the damage
0:09:36 > 0:09:41the methamphetamine drug, tik, is now doing to the community.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43It can hurt families,
0:09:43 > 0:09:45like just parents and children,
0:09:45 > 0:09:48like kids today when they've used drugs,
0:09:48 > 0:09:51then like mothers, fathers, kids,
0:09:51 > 0:09:52they use it together.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54Almost like meals they use it.
0:09:54 > 0:09:58- I use it for eight years. - Eight years?- I'm 24 years old now.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00And what does it do to the mind?
0:10:00 > 0:10:05Make you end up like suicidal.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08But some of my friends that use it, they are mad today.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13Readily available and highly addictive,
0:10:13 > 0:10:16tik has become a massive problem in Cape Town.
0:10:19 > 0:10:23William took me down the street to meet a local addict.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26But as we walked into his house, it became clear
0:10:26 > 0:10:29it was the neighbourhood drug den, and the man wasn't alone.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37Hello! Is it OK to come in?
0:10:37 > 0:10:41- Thank you, gentlemen. Can I sit down?- Sit down.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44- Is that a real gun?- Yeah.- Oh, dear!
0:10:52 > 0:10:54Ah, OK.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58'Suddenly the mood changed.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01'The men started jostling us and demanding money.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05'It was time to make a quick exit.'
0:11:07 > 0:11:10That last situation, that surprised me.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14Suddenly you're into a situation which is so dark.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18You're witnessing people who've fallen so far down,
0:11:18 > 0:11:22and I can't quite believe how far
0:11:22 > 0:11:24this situation develops
0:11:24 > 0:11:28from something that appears so simple as poaching abalone.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31There is a desperation for the drugs.
0:11:31 > 0:11:37People will go out and get the abalone, OK, to pay for the drugs.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42It's desperate, eh? Absolutely desperate.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48The weird connection between abalone poaching
0:11:48 > 0:11:50and the drug trade in Cape Town...
0:11:52 > 0:11:54..was proof that even in big coastal cities
0:11:54 > 0:11:56life is still linked to the sea.
0:12:01 > 0:12:03From the Cape,
0:12:03 > 0:12:06my journey around the Indian Ocean was now really beginning.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09A commuter train, through the southern suburbs,
0:12:09 > 0:12:11showed me a more affluent side of South Africa.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18But I wasn't travelling far,
0:12:18 > 0:12:21as I headed to meet some friendlier local residents.
0:12:23 > 0:12:25I think this is our stop.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36I was a bit surprised to find penguins in Africa,
0:12:36 > 0:12:40but there used to be millions living along the coast here.
0:12:40 > 0:12:42I'd arrived during the moulting season,
0:12:42 > 0:12:46when the penguins were waiting patiently for their new set
0:12:46 > 0:12:47of clothes.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54So this is quite a boring time for them.
0:12:54 > 0:12:56They have to just wait by the coast
0:12:56 > 0:12:58for their new coat.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01You can say it's a boring time, but I see it as time out.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04I mean we also need that as humans, you know,
0:13:04 > 0:13:07you need to take time out at some point, and this is their time out.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10Conservationist Tributin Bueni
0:13:10 > 0:13:12spent two years studying these penguins,
0:13:12 > 0:13:15living alone with them on a remote island.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17Not surprisingly, her nickname is Birdie,
0:13:17 > 0:13:21and she feels that penguins have plenty to teach us.
0:13:21 > 0:13:23We could learn quite a bit from them.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26What would be the key lessons that we should learn?
0:13:26 > 0:13:29Both the male and the female take care of the chicks.
0:13:29 > 0:13:30It's a teamwork,
0:13:30 > 0:13:34it's not just a woman's duty to take care of the chicks.
0:13:34 > 0:13:35Oh, I see. I see.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39- You think there's an equality in the penguin household.- Yeah, there is.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41That we humans could learn... perhaps we boys could learn from.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43Mmm, I wonder.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45THEY LAUGH
0:13:47 > 0:13:50But like many species that rely on the ocean,
0:13:50 > 0:13:53the African penguin is struggling to survive.
0:13:53 > 0:13:56The birds are simply not getting enough to eat.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00Scientists believe that fish stocks, which penguins rely on,
0:14:00 > 0:14:04are taking a hammering in this area because of the changing environment
0:14:04 > 0:14:06and humans overfishing.
0:14:09 > 0:14:10So the day we're here
0:14:10 > 0:14:14is quite an important day for the colony here,
0:14:14 > 0:14:17because they're going to round up, or catch,
0:14:17 > 0:14:22and collect some of the really underweight young chicks.
0:14:22 > 0:14:24And they're going to take them to a facility
0:14:24 > 0:14:26where they're going to feed them up,
0:14:26 > 0:14:28so that they actually have a chance of surviving
0:14:28 > 0:14:30when they're in the water.
0:14:30 > 0:14:32In the last few decades,
0:14:32 > 0:14:35the penguin population along the coast has suffered a dramatic fall.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38Penguin numbers have dropped by 80%.
0:14:38 > 0:14:40They've got one!
0:14:40 > 0:14:44They've got a baby penguin just over here. It's a little chick.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48It's actually quite sad to think, ten years after this,
0:14:48 > 0:14:51are they still going to be there or not?
0:14:51 > 0:14:54You know, and it's quite sad just thinking about it, you know.
0:14:54 > 0:14:58You're genuinely concerned these could be extinct in ten years?
0:14:58 > 0:15:00In ten years' time.
0:15:00 > 0:15:04Looking at how the numbers are going down now, it's totally possible.
0:15:11 > 0:15:13Volunteers from SANCCOB,
0:15:13 > 0:15:15a sea bird rescue group,
0:15:15 > 0:15:19had set up a local centre to feed the underweight chicks.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22Vanessa Strauss was running the operation.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25At this age, they need to have a really round belly.
0:15:25 > 0:15:29You can see that he's got a hollow belly,
0:15:29 > 0:15:32so he doesn't have any muscle round his chest.
0:15:32 > 0:15:33He doesn't have any fat.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36You can just see from him that he hasn't been fed in a while.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38He's dehydrated. He's not feeling strong.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42- So you're becoming the mum and dad, basically.- Yep, absolutely.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45Every penguin that we can save is essential for the survival
0:15:45 > 0:15:47of the species.
0:15:49 > 0:15:51Look at the size of this!
0:15:54 > 0:15:56Little penguin paradise here!
0:15:57 > 0:16:01After six weeks of intensive care here at SANCCOB headquarters,
0:16:01 > 0:16:05the chicks are given training in essential penguin skills.
0:16:06 > 0:16:10Been given a towel. OK.
0:16:10 > 0:16:11What are we using this for?
0:16:11 > 0:16:14This is a little exercise programme.
0:16:14 > 0:16:16We're sort penguin wrangling.
0:16:16 > 0:16:18- Yes.- It's a round up, really.
0:16:18 > 0:16:19They need to get fit,
0:16:19 > 0:16:23ready to swim far out at sea to find their own food.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26Come on! Come on!
0:16:26 > 0:16:29They're really not going to go in.
0:16:29 > 0:16:30Fish! Eat!
0:16:30 > 0:16:34Oh, there we go! Yes! There you go!
0:16:36 > 0:16:41Vanessa has resorted to a more direct approach.
0:16:41 > 0:16:43No, you can't come back!
0:16:45 > 0:16:48There are 18 penguin species in the world,
0:16:48 > 0:16:52and 11 are in serious population decline.
0:16:52 > 0:16:54What a wonderful sight!
0:16:54 > 0:16:56When their swimming lessons are complete,
0:16:56 > 0:16:59these penguins will be ready to return to the ocean,
0:16:59 > 0:17:02hopefully strong enough to survive and to breed.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19It was time for me to continue my Indian Ocean journey.
0:17:22 > 0:17:24It was a drive of three hours
0:17:24 > 0:17:28along the coast towards the wild and windswept Cape Agulhas,
0:17:28 > 0:17:31which is actually even further south than the Cape Of Good Hope.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41I've reached the most southerly tip of Africa.
0:17:43 > 0:17:45Look, it's very rugged along here.
0:17:45 > 0:17:46Look at the rocks!
0:17:47 > 0:17:50Ever since the late 1400s, when European explorers
0:17:50 > 0:17:53made it around the Cape, from the Atlantic
0:17:53 > 0:17:56round to the relative calm of the Indian Ocean,
0:17:56 > 0:17:59this coastline has always had a fearsome reputation.
0:18:01 > 0:18:02And even now,
0:18:02 > 0:18:05with all our modern navigation aids,
0:18:05 > 0:18:06some ships don't make it.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16500 years ago, the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama left
0:18:16 > 0:18:19the southern Atlantic Ocean, sailed around the Cape,
0:18:19 > 0:18:23and passed here on the first epic sea voyage from Europe to India.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30Travellers and traders followed in his wake,
0:18:30 > 0:18:32and there are believed to be at least 200 shipwrecks
0:18:32 > 0:18:36along this coastline, known as the Graveyard Of Ships.
0:18:37 > 0:18:39I followed their route
0:18:39 > 0:18:42along the coast to South Africa's third largest city, Durban.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55The beaches around Durban are a holiday-maker's paradise.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59Hundreds of thousands of people come here from across the world
0:18:59 > 0:19:01to surf and swim.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04Money from tourism is crucial to many countries
0:19:04 > 0:19:05around the Indian Ocean,
0:19:05 > 0:19:08but often there are conflicts between the tourism industry
0:19:08 > 0:19:12and those who want to protect the ocean ecosystem,
0:19:12 > 0:19:15particularly in Durban, where the water just off the beaches
0:19:15 > 0:19:17can hide some very unwelcome visitors.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26Now this is a sight.
0:19:26 > 0:19:28It's basically a collection of jaws
0:19:28 > 0:19:31from the species which we commonly catch.
0:19:31 > 0:19:33And what would this one on the end be?
0:19:33 > 0:19:35It looks like the biggest one.
0:19:35 > 0:19:37Well, these are all white sharks here,
0:19:37 > 0:19:40and they have, by far, the most impressive teeth.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43- This is a great white? - Great white, yes.
0:19:43 > 0:19:44Look at that in there!
0:19:44 > 0:19:49Serrated teeth, which is perfect for swiftly biting
0:19:49 > 0:19:52and chopping away at a lump of flesh.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56Durban spends millions of pounds defending
0:19:56 > 0:19:58its tourists from shark attacks.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02Jeremy Cliff, of the Natal Sharks Board,
0:20:02 > 0:20:05took me out to see his first line of defence,
0:20:05 > 0:20:09a system of shark nets introduced after a series of attacks in the 1950s,
0:20:09 > 0:20:11which killed seven people.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17Many people think that the nets are a physical barrier,
0:20:17 > 0:20:20and we put them up and the sharks stay on the outside,
0:20:20 > 0:20:21and we quite happily swim on the inside.
0:20:21 > 0:20:23Well, it's not like that at all.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26The nets don't extend from the surface to the seabed,
0:20:26 > 0:20:29and the nets are only 300 metres long.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33So it's not excluding a shark from the area?
0:20:33 > 0:20:34That's right. That's right.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37It's what? It's killing some of them?
0:20:37 > 0:20:42Yes. It's designed to catch and kill the dangerous sharks. Yes.
0:20:43 > 0:20:47There are 15 miles of nets along Durban's beaches,
0:20:47 > 0:20:49but they don't just kill sharks.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54If these nets are designed to catch sharks,
0:20:54 > 0:20:57presumably they're catching other creatures, as well.
0:20:57 > 0:21:01Yes, unfortunately. That's the major drawback of shark nets
0:21:01 > 0:21:06is that they don't just select or target the three dangerous species.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09They take sharks which pose very little threat to humans.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13We also catch rays and turtles and dolphins, unfortunately.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18Far from being just a protective barrier,
0:21:18 > 0:21:20shark nets around the world actually kill
0:21:20 > 0:21:22thousands of marine creatures every year.
0:21:22 > 0:21:24They also reinforce the idea
0:21:24 > 0:21:28that only a sea free of sharks is safe water.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31Back at the Shark Board headquarters,
0:21:31 > 0:21:34there's a cold storeroom piled up with dead sharks
0:21:34 > 0:21:36and other animals they've caught.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39It was a shocking sight, and Jeremy wasn't keen for us to film it.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43But outside he showed me one shark the nets had caught,
0:21:43 > 0:21:47a juvenile great white, one of the world's rarest sharks.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52Yeah, just under two metres in length.
0:21:52 > 0:21:56- Our measurements, we exclude the tail. We measure up to there.- OK.
0:21:56 > 0:21:58At up to six metres long,
0:21:58 > 0:22:02the great white shark is the largest predatory fish on the planet.
0:22:02 > 0:22:06I sense there's a little bit of a conflict, really,
0:22:06 > 0:22:10perhaps, dare I say, even within you, as a marine biologist.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13- It must be tough to do this. - Oh, sure, most definitely.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17I mean, the last thing we want to do is see dead white sharks like this,
0:22:17 > 0:22:20but unfortunately we've got a job to do,
0:22:20 > 0:22:23tourism is very important for this part of the world, and we've seen,
0:22:23 > 0:22:28historically, what a huge negative impact shark attack has had.
0:22:28 > 0:22:33It does seem a little bit of a tragic end
0:22:33 > 0:22:37for such an incredible beast. I don't know, but I feel my feelings
0:22:37 > 0:22:40slightly conflicted about it, cos I fear it
0:22:40 > 0:22:44and I really do respect it, as well.
0:22:44 > 0:22:48I think that's the important thing, Simon, is to try and change
0:22:48 > 0:22:51this predominant attitude of fear,
0:22:51 > 0:22:54towards one of respect, rather than fear.
0:22:56 > 0:22:58I could understand Jeremy's dilemma.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01Shark attacks are actually incredibly rare,
0:23:01 > 0:23:03but such is the fear they inspire,
0:23:03 > 0:23:07tourist resorts will do almost anything to prevent them.
0:23:13 > 0:23:18I travelled a few miles outside Durban to meet a woman
0:23:18 > 0:23:20who's on a mission to change our views
0:23:20 > 0:23:22on this most infamous creature of the deep.
0:23:27 > 0:23:29People don't have empathy for sharks.
0:23:29 > 0:23:31It is the most terrible, terrible sad thing,
0:23:31 > 0:23:33but they are to be revered.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36Gail Addison is a big shark fan,
0:23:36 > 0:23:39so much so, she regularly takes her family along to swim with them.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41Do you know that I take my little eight-year-old,
0:23:41 > 0:23:43and she comes swimming with us with the sharks?
0:23:43 > 0:23:45We're very specific about when we put her in the water,
0:23:45 > 0:23:48and how she goes in the water, and that's the same with divers.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50Some people might think that's a bit mad,
0:23:50 > 0:23:52to put your eight-year-old in the water.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54Do you know what? She's grown up with it.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57She's grown up swimming since was one-year-old,
0:23:57 > 0:23:58when she learned to swim.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01Gail thinks Durban's shark nets need to be removed,
0:24:01 > 0:24:04and that we need to change our view of sharks,
0:24:04 > 0:24:06because, far from being a menace,
0:24:06 > 0:24:08sharks are crucial to the health of our oceans.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11Why are they the most important fish in the sea?
0:24:11 > 0:24:12Cos they're apex predators
0:24:12 > 0:24:16and, unfortunately, that means that they're not used to being hunted.
0:24:16 > 0:24:18They're not meant to have natural predators.
0:24:18 > 0:24:19They are the top of the food chain,
0:24:19 > 0:24:21so they keep everything else underneath them
0:24:21 > 0:24:22balanced and healthy.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24So it controls the ecosystem, really.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26That's exactly what it does.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28It keeps it balanced and, without that balance,
0:24:28 > 0:24:30everything starts crumbling.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35It's not just her family that Gail takes swimming with sharks.
0:24:35 > 0:24:40She also takes visitors out diving with the most feared of predators.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46I'm a fairly new diver, and it has been suggested
0:24:46 > 0:24:49that I should get into the water with you
0:24:49 > 0:24:52and maybe meet one or two very small, tiddly sharks
0:24:52 > 0:24:55that don't like chomping on humans.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58Um... What's the level of risk?
0:24:58 > 0:25:00It sounds quite a scary idea to me.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03It's scary, because for all your life you've grown up thinking
0:25:03 > 0:25:06that if you got into shark-infested waters you're going to get eaten,
0:25:06 > 0:25:07and that's not the truth.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10I want to go out there and show you the truth. Let's go bust some myths.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13SIMON CHUCKLES
0:25:15 > 0:25:18So, it was time to face my fears, and get up close and personal
0:25:18 > 0:25:20with this apex predator.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29I haven't dived very much, in truth,
0:25:29 > 0:25:32so that adds to my...
0:25:32 > 0:25:34general nervousness.
0:25:42 > 0:25:45Gail promised me she's never lost a customer.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48Before I had a moment for second thoughts,
0:25:48 > 0:25:50it was time to take the plunge.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53When I say, go. Two, three, go!
0:26:03 > 0:26:07This was actually my first scuba dive out in the open sea.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12Immediately we plunged into another world.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26Gail led me to a shallow cave,
0:26:26 > 0:26:29where she hoped we'd be able to close to sharks.
0:26:34 > 0:26:36We got into position and waited.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44And suddenly, there they were, ragged tooth sharks.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54Two metres long and armed with a terrifying mouthful of teeth.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06But straightaway it was obvious we weren't on the menu.
0:27:13 > 0:27:19It was exhilarating to be so close to such magnificent creatures.
0:27:45 > 0:27:47Gail, we saw sharks.
0:27:47 > 0:27:49We did.
0:27:49 > 0:27:51You got me to swim with sharks!
0:27:51 > 0:27:53I did.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02And they weren't really that interested.
0:28:02 > 0:28:04We were just a, sort of, an obstruction,
0:28:04 > 0:28:06- a curious obstruction...- Yes.
0:28:06 > 0:28:08..that they needed to get past.
0:28:08 > 0:28:13But at no time did I feel, well, threatened by them, really.
0:28:13 > 0:28:14They're looking at you.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17They're trying to work out, what are you doing there?
0:28:17 > 0:28:19- Yeah.- You're not competing for their food.
0:28:19 > 0:28:21You're not trying to hurt them.
0:28:21 > 0:28:23You're completely confusing to them.
0:28:23 > 0:28:27It was an experience I'll never forget.
0:28:27 > 0:28:30But so long as we all keep thinking sharks
0:28:30 > 0:28:32are the villains of the ocean,
0:28:32 > 0:28:36Gail will have an uphill struggle encouraging people to protect them.
0:28:38 > 0:28:42I like the sea. I'm quite happy to be back here.
0:28:42 > 0:28:43Terra firma.
0:28:43 > 0:28:44Terra firma.
0:28:44 > 0:28:48- Less of the terra and more of the firma, I say.- I love it.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59As well as a thriving tourist industry,
0:28:59 > 0:29:02Durban has one of the great ports of the Indian Ocean.
0:29:02 > 0:29:06Every year, more than 4,000 ships from around the world
0:29:06 > 0:29:10carry 75 million tonnes of cargo in and out of this harbour.
0:29:15 > 0:29:18I'd arranged to hitch a ride up the east African coast
0:29:18 > 0:29:20on a container ship bound for Mozambique.
0:29:24 > 0:29:25I feel quite excited.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28I've never done this before.
0:29:35 > 0:29:36Hello!
0:29:36 > 0:29:39- Hello!- How are you? - Fine, thank you.
0:29:39 > 0:29:43I was boarding the Italian-owned Jolly Bianco,
0:29:43 > 0:29:46200 metres long and 27,000 tonnes.
0:29:50 > 0:29:54Right, let's go and meet the captain.
0:29:54 > 0:29:56Look at this!
0:29:58 > 0:30:02I'm not sure we're all going to fit in here.
0:30:02 > 0:30:05'The ship was huge, but it didn't seem designed to carry passengers.'
0:30:08 > 0:30:10You just press a button here.
0:30:10 > 0:30:14OK, so this is how I'm going to travel to Mozambique.
0:30:14 > 0:30:16I think I'm going to take a flight!
0:30:20 > 0:30:25Goodness me! OK. Let's get serious, we're meeting the captain.
0:30:28 > 0:30:32I found Captain Francesco Venicori up on the bridge,
0:30:32 > 0:30:34overseeing the loading of cargo.
0:30:35 > 0:30:38Where did you come from before here?
0:30:38 > 0:30:42The voyage is starting in Genoa, it's our home port, Italy.
0:30:42 > 0:30:43Right. OK.
0:30:43 > 0:30:49Then Marseilles, Naples, Aqaba, Jeddah, Dar es Salaam,
0:30:49 > 0:30:55Mombasa, Durban, then Maputo and then our way back to Italy.
0:30:59 > 0:31:02Loading the Jolly Bianco took all night.
0:31:06 > 0:31:09And then early the next morning, we were ready to hit the high seas.
0:31:12 > 0:31:16But to navigate the busy exit from Durban harbour,
0:31:16 > 0:31:18we needed a specialist pilot.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23So that's how to arrive!
0:31:24 > 0:31:26There are so many ships plying the Indian Ocean
0:31:26 > 0:31:30and using this port that pilots are winched from ship to ship.
0:31:30 > 0:31:33Steady, 039, please. Steady.
0:31:35 > 0:31:38So you can go to starboard.
0:31:38 > 0:31:41It all looked a bit technical, so I kept well out of the way.
0:31:54 > 0:31:58We were finally on our way to Maputo, Mozambique's capital,
0:31:58 > 0:32:01300 miles up the east African coast.
0:32:02 > 0:32:07There's been trade across the Indian Ocean for thousands of years,
0:32:07 > 0:32:11long before the world's other great oceans were navigated.
0:32:11 > 0:32:15Merchants from China, Arabia and India traded across these waters.
0:32:15 > 0:32:17The Indian Ocean is once again
0:32:17 > 0:32:20becoming the most important seaway in the world.
0:32:20 > 0:32:21One million ships a year,
0:32:21 > 0:32:23and more than half of all shipping container traffic,
0:32:23 > 0:32:27passes through it. The sea lanes of the Indian Ocean
0:32:27 > 0:32:31are criss-crossed by oil tankers from the Middle East, and ships
0:32:31 > 0:32:33carrying consumer goods from China.
0:32:33 > 0:32:37Wow! A whole canyon of containers.
0:32:37 > 0:32:40There were 600 shipping containers on the Jolly Bianco.
0:32:43 > 0:32:46But what on Earth's in all these giant boxes?
0:32:46 > 0:32:50On this ship is the stuff of life.
0:32:50 > 0:32:52Sugar, hides, paper, foodstuff, tiles,
0:32:52 > 0:32:55paint, roof tiles, fruit juices, anthracite, mining equipment,
0:32:55 > 0:32:58milk powder, tin plate, ethyl alcohol, canned food,
0:32:58 > 0:33:01cotton lint, ceramics, lube oils,
0:33:01 > 0:33:03steel, seeds, tobacco, ingots, rubber,
0:33:03 > 0:33:05peptides, electrical accessories,
0:33:05 > 0:33:08and other large mining vehicles, et cetera.
0:33:08 > 0:33:10It's basically anything and everything.
0:33:10 > 0:33:13Ooh, a whole car park, as well.
0:33:15 > 0:33:17The deck below was also packed.
0:33:19 > 0:33:23There's should be about 270 cars and trucks.
0:33:25 > 0:33:27Oh, my goodness, look at this!
0:33:29 > 0:33:32This is absolutely incredible.
0:33:32 > 0:33:36This shipment of South African armoured personnel carriers
0:33:36 > 0:33:39was being taken up the coast to Sudan
0:33:39 > 0:33:41for the United Nations mission in Darfur.
0:33:41 > 0:33:45It was a stark reminder we were about to enter a troubled region.
0:33:47 > 0:33:52This is enough to equip an entire army, or a peacekeeping force.
0:33:54 > 0:33:57But as trade across the Indian Ocean grows,
0:33:57 > 0:34:00ships face a deadly threat from the age-old enemy
0:34:00 > 0:34:04of merchants and sailors - pirates.
0:34:11 > 0:34:15The captain's chart showed dozens of attacks by Somali pirates,
0:34:15 > 0:34:19around this stretch of the ocean, just in the previous two months.
0:34:19 > 0:34:21The Jolly Bianco was heading
0:34:21 > 0:34:23for some of the most dangerous waters on Earth.
0:34:23 > 0:34:27Practically all the Indian Ocean.
0:34:27 > 0:34:31And you have to take your ship through those waters.
0:34:31 > 0:34:32In the middle.
0:34:32 > 0:34:34It must be frightening.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40Of course, yes, it's a serious problem.
0:34:41 > 0:34:4630 years ago, when I started to do this job, pirates are what
0:34:46 > 0:34:52you see in the movie and what you read in some books now, you know.
0:34:52 > 0:34:55No ship is safe from attack.
0:34:57 > 0:35:01Some of the tactics they use against the pirates are quite simple.
0:35:01 > 0:35:04As you can see, they've got razor wire, here,
0:35:04 > 0:35:07and that's along both sides of the ship,
0:35:07 > 0:35:10and it's really meant to discourage anybody from getting onboard.
0:35:10 > 0:35:14They also put cardboard over the windows,
0:35:14 > 0:35:17so that there's not light emitting at night.
0:35:17 > 0:35:22And that means the pirates can't see them as they pass at night,
0:35:22 > 0:35:25the pirates don't come and attack.
0:35:25 > 0:35:27Simple, but effective.
0:35:28 > 0:35:32I was getting off the ship before they would enter the danger zone.
0:35:32 > 0:35:35I would be facing the perils of Somalia,
0:35:35 > 0:35:38and the Horn Of Africa, later in my journey.
0:35:40 > 0:35:44I had another night onboard before we reached Maputo.
0:35:45 > 0:35:48The following day, we arrived in the Mozambican capital.
0:35:57 > 0:36:00BOYS LAUGH
0:36:04 > 0:36:06Maputo is home to almost two million people.
0:36:06 > 0:36:10On the day we arrived, most of them seemed to be on the beach.
0:36:13 > 0:36:16- So busy today.- Yes, it is.
0:36:18 > 0:36:21I'd be travelling through Mozambique with my guide,
0:36:21 > 0:36:23a conservationist called Carlos Mequaqua.
0:36:25 > 0:36:26It's amazing the change
0:36:26 > 0:36:31you will see through the trip up north from here.
0:36:31 > 0:36:33In what way?
0:36:33 > 0:36:36The beach will be more beautiful,
0:36:36 > 0:36:41less people, and very beautiful water.
0:36:46 > 0:36:49We headed north along the Indian Ocean coast
0:36:49 > 0:36:50towards Inhambane,
0:36:50 > 0:36:53a long day's drive from the capital.
0:36:53 > 0:36:56We've got a few more hours on the road though, haven't we?
0:36:56 > 0:36:58Maybe three more hours.
0:36:58 > 0:37:00Three more hours. OK.
0:37:00 > 0:37:03Hopefully we're going to get there during daylight.
0:37:07 > 0:37:10Slow, slow, slow, slow!
0:37:11 > 0:37:13But Mozambique isn't famed for its roads.
0:37:13 > 0:37:17Ah, we're stuck in the sand.
0:37:19 > 0:37:21Best to let some air out.
0:37:21 > 0:37:24'It turned into a long night.'
0:37:24 > 0:37:25Shall we give it a try?
0:37:25 > 0:37:27ENGINE SPUTTERS
0:37:32 > 0:37:36But eventually we limped our way towards our beds for the night.
0:37:56 > 0:37:597.35 on a Wednesday morning,
0:37:59 > 0:38:02standing on a remote beach in Mozambique.
0:38:04 > 0:38:05Such a thing of beauty.
0:38:08 > 0:38:11There's a Mozambican writer who said,
0:38:11 > 0:38:15"Mozambique is like a veranda onto the Indian Ocean."
0:38:19 > 0:38:20It's absolutely stunning here.
0:38:26 > 0:38:29CARLOS SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE
0:38:29 > 0:38:32Carlos had brought me to a village near where he grew up.
0:38:32 > 0:38:34He wanted me to meet some fishermen
0:38:34 > 0:38:38who specialise in a very particular catch.
0:38:43 > 0:38:44It's a tiny boat, eh?
0:38:44 > 0:38:46Yeah.
0:38:48 > 0:38:52'The leader of the group was a young man called Nelson.'
0:38:52 > 0:38:53They're going.
0:39:03 > 0:39:07We followed Nelson and his crew to where they'd laid baited lines
0:39:07 > 0:39:08the previous night.
0:39:12 > 0:39:15- They're pulling now the line.- Yeah.
0:39:15 > 0:39:17To see if they've got any catch.
0:39:23 > 0:39:25Yeah, man!
0:39:28 > 0:39:30I think they've got something.
0:39:38 > 0:39:40Yeah, you can see.
0:39:46 > 0:39:50- You can see it's massive. Wow! Wow! Wow!- Oh, my goodness!
0:39:50 > 0:39:52- Oh, my good lord!- This is big.
0:39:53 > 0:39:55Wow! It's a massive shark, eh?
0:39:55 > 0:39:57It's huge, isn't it?
0:40:01 > 0:40:05Sharks have to keep moving in order to breathe.
0:40:05 > 0:40:10Trapped on their line for hours, this adult female shark had drowned.
0:40:14 > 0:40:17Rolling around in the surf, the magnificent shark
0:40:17 > 0:40:20became a pathetic and upsetting sight.
0:40:23 > 0:40:24Wow!
0:40:26 > 0:40:28Look at that!
0:40:28 > 0:40:32'But I realised I was witnessing one of the great catastrophes,
0:40:32 > 0:40:36'of not just the Indian Ocean, but our global seas,
0:40:36 > 0:40:39'as the men went to work on their catch.
0:40:41 > 0:40:46'Nelson and his men fish for sharks for one specific reason -
0:40:46 > 0:40:50'to harvest one of the most valuable fish products on Earth.'
0:40:51 > 0:40:56They're not interested in the meat on this creature,
0:40:56 > 0:40:58they're just interested in fins.
0:41:04 > 0:41:06Nelson, how much money will you get for the fins?
0:41:10 > 0:41:13TRANSLATION:
0:41:27 > 0:41:29Do you know who buys the shark fins?
0:41:29 > 0:41:31Do you know what's done with them eventually?
0:41:35 > 0:41:38In fact, the fins are usually shipped across
0:41:38 > 0:41:40the Indian Ocean and on to China,
0:41:40 > 0:41:43where the almost tasteless cartilage is put into soup.
0:41:45 > 0:41:51What's particularly obscene about this situation is that
0:41:51 > 0:41:53the entire trade in sharks globally,
0:41:53 > 0:41:57which results in the deaths of millions of sharks every year,
0:41:57 > 0:42:02is to feed or provide fins for shark fin soup,
0:42:02 > 0:42:06a Chinese delicacy meant to symbolise, show wealth,
0:42:06 > 0:42:09the wealth of the person who is consuming it.
0:42:12 > 0:42:16Just like the abalone I saw being poached in South African waters,
0:42:16 > 0:42:19sharks have become victims of the economic growth of China,
0:42:19 > 0:42:22where delicacies that used to be available to just a few,
0:42:22 > 0:42:24are now in huge demand.
0:42:24 > 0:42:28More than 100 million sharks are being killed each year,
0:42:28 > 0:42:32mostly for shark fin soup. There are now thought to be
0:42:32 > 0:42:35just a few thousand great white sharks left on the planet.
0:42:35 > 0:42:38Our oceans face a catastrophe.
0:42:39 > 0:42:43My whole view on sharks has completely changed
0:42:43 > 0:42:44in the last couple of weeks.
0:42:44 > 0:42:49I've gone from being fearful of them to fearful for them.
0:42:49 > 0:42:52They're an apex predator,
0:42:52 > 0:42:56they keep a lid on all other marine life in our seas, in our oceans...
0:42:57 > 0:43:01..and we're annihilating them. We're wiping them out.
0:43:01 > 0:43:06And in doing so, we're threatening the entire marine ecosystem,
0:43:06 > 0:43:11because sharks are the most important fish in the sea.
0:43:16 > 0:43:18Even with a small boat,
0:43:18 > 0:43:21a fisherman here can catch hundreds of sharks each year.
0:43:21 > 0:43:25But the real damage to shark numbers is done further out to sea
0:43:25 > 0:43:29where industrial fishing fleets from Asia and Europe catch millions,
0:43:29 > 0:43:31slicing off the fins
0:43:31 > 0:43:33and often chucking the body back into the water,
0:43:33 > 0:43:36sometimes while the shark is still alive.
0:43:43 > 0:43:45Villagers here are fishing to survive,
0:43:45 > 0:43:48but Carlos is still keen to educate them
0:43:48 > 0:43:50about the need to protect the Indian Ocean.
0:43:50 > 0:43:54He runs a conservation and education programme
0:43:54 > 0:43:57among the fishing communities along the coast.
0:43:57 > 0:44:00First step is to lay on a kick-about to attract youngsters
0:44:00 > 0:44:02to listen to his message.
0:44:07 > 0:44:11MAN SHOUTS IN CELEBRATION
0:44:38 > 0:44:41Carlos is trying to persuade people not to make their livelihood
0:44:41 > 0:44:45by killing the spectacular marine life found in the Indian Ocean.
0:44:45 > 0:44:48He wants them to find other ways of protecting
0:44:48 > 0:44:49and profiting from the sea.
0:45:17 > 0:45:19LIVELY PARTY MUSIC PLAYS
0:45:23 > 0:45:26Then at the end of his talk, Carlos makes sure the music
0:45:26 > 0:45:28gets pumped up loud.
0:45:31 > 0:45:35These are just the people he needs to be talking to.
0:45:35 > 0:45:39I'm standing here and I can actually smell fish.
0:45:39 > 0:45:40These are fisher people.
0:45:40 > 0:45:44If they're not fishermen, they're the fishermen of the future,
0:45:44 > 0:45:48and getting this message across to them now is absolutely vital.
0:45:50 > 0:45:53Even if it is with the help of a dancing competition!
0:46:08 > 0:46:12Mozambique is one of the poorest countries around the Indian Ocean,
0:46:12 > 0:46:14and its tourist industry is very underdeveloped.
0:46:19 > 0:46:20It wasn't always like this.
0:46:20 > 0:46:23Two hundred miles further up the coast, in Mozambique's second city,
0:46:23 > 0:46:27Beira, I'd heard I'd find a relic of tourism from another era.
0:46:32 > 0:46:36Oh, my goodness! There it is. Look!
0:46:37 > 0:46:40The Grand Hotel, Beira.
0:46:47 > 0:46:51Beira's ocean side Grand Hotel was built in the 1950s
0:46:51 > 0:46:53when the country was still a Portuguese colony.
0:46:53 > 0:46:57It had several hundred rooms, a huge swimming pool and a cinema,
0:46:57 > 0:47:00and it was billed as the grandest hotel in Africa.
0:47:01 > 0:47:05So look at this. It's quite a sight.
0:47:05 > 0:47:09This is how it was in the 1960s? It looks amazing.
0:47:15 > 0:47:18But then Mozambique's brutal war for independence
0:47:18 > 0:47:20drove the rich tourists away,
0:47:20 > 0:47:22and the hotel fell into immediate decline.
0:47:26 > 0:47:32- So, this would have been the drive up to the hotel.- Yeah.
0:47:32 > 0:47:36Mangori Felisberto offered to show me around.
0:47:36 > 0:47:39Yeah, this was the main entrance.
0:47:39 > 0:47:43Then the reception was somewhere here.
0:47:44 > 0:47:46Wow!
0:47:46 > 0:47:48This is amazing. Absolutely amazing.
0:47:50 > 0:47:53Looking to the left and to the right,
0:47:53 > 0:47:56you have these grand staircases that sweep upwards.
0:47:58 > 0:48:03And there's this amazing sort of atrium here.
0:48:03 > 0:48:06It still has a very grand feel about it.
0:48:12 > 0:48:15The hotel may have been abandoned by tourists,
0:48:15 > 0:48:17but it was clearly far from empty.
0:48:18 > 0:48:22In fact, the rooms have become somewhat overcrowded.
0:48:24 > 0:48:27CHILDREN BICKER
0:48:27 > 0:48:29How many people...
0:48:29 > 0:48:32how many people live here?
0:48:32 > 0:48:34It's about 3,500.
0:48:37 > 0:48:41- 3,500 people live here now?- Yeah.
0:48:47 > 0:48:50A long civil war followed independence from Portugal
0:48:50 > 0:48:54and the hotel became a refugee camp for thousands of Mozambicans.
0:48:54 > 0:48:58Since then, poverty has driven many more to find shelter here.
0:49:09 > 0:49:12This used to be the swimming pool?
0:49:13 > 0:49:18There's a man doing his washing, his laundry,
0:49:18 > 0:49:20in what's left of the swimming pool.
0:49:25 > 0:49:28There's little in the way of sanitation
0:49:28 > 0:49:30and all the residents share one water pump.
0:49:35 > 0:49:38Although the conditions within the hotel are pretty bad
0:49:38 > 0:49:43this is very much a community. It's like a town within a town, really.
0:49:44 > 0:49:49There are committees to organise various aspects of life here.
0:49:49 > 0:49:50Oops!
0:49:54 > 0:49:57The hotel's residents have even set up a system
0:49:57 > 0:50:00of local government with elected leaders.
0:50:00 > 0:50:04- Simon. Very nice to meet you, sir. - Joao.
0:50:04 > 0:50:07'I met Joao Goncalo, who's the mayor of the hotel.'
0:50:08 > 0:50:12How do you keep order and prevent fights breaking out
0:50:12 > 0:50:17in a community packed into such a relatively small building?
0:50:20 > 0:50:23- TRANSLATION:- If there are problems, the organisers have a meeting,
0:50:23 > 0:50:27and then we have a meeting with all the residents.
0:50:27 > 0:50:29We sit down and resolve the issue.
0:50:32 > 0:50:36We have a head of Social Affairs, who resolves social issues.
0:50:38 > 0:50:42We have a group who looks after hygiene.
0:50:44 > 0:50:46And we have a security group,
0:50:46 > 0:50:48who keep guard at night to keep out intruders.
0:50:56 > 0:50:59Mozambique has suffered terribly in recent decades.
0:50:59 > 0:51:04It's still desperately poor, but here people are doing what they do
0:51:04 > 0:51:07even in the face of adversity - they're getting on with life.
0:51:14 > 0:51:17It was time for me to leave the African mainland.
0:51:17 > 0:51:20From the Maldives to Mauritius, the Indian Ocean is home
0:51:20 > 0:51:23to the most famous holiday islands on earth.
0:51:26 > 0:51:29My first taste of island paradise on this journey
0:51:29 > 0:51:32was to be exotic and mysterious Zanzibar, off the coast of Tanzania.
0:51:44 > 0:51:45My goodness, look at this!
0:51:45 > 0:51:50This is what I think of when I imagine tropical beauty
0:51:50 > 0:51:51and the Indian Ocean.
0:52:01 > 0:52:04For tourists seeking warm seas and white beaches,
0:52:04 > 0:52:06the island of Zanzibar is a huge draw.
0:52:19 > 0:52:23For centuries, Zanzibar was a major centre of commerce in the Indian Ocean,
0:52:23 > 0:52:27connecting East Africa and the rest of the world.
0:52:30 > 0:52:31Jambo!
0:52:33 > 0:52:37Merchants travelled here from far and wide to trade in spices and ivory.
0:52:46 > 0:52:49Everywhere here you see the influence of the traders
0:52:49 > 0:52:53who've been drawn to Zanzibar over the centuries.
0:52:53 > 0:52:55There's elements of Portugal,
0:52:55 > 0:52:59of the Phoenicians, of the Assyrians, of people from Oman
0:52:59 > 0:53:03and the Arabian Peninsula, and of course black Africa as well.
0:53:03 > 0:53:06So it's really a melting pot for the entire Indian Ocean.
0:53:11 > 0:53:14But Zanzibar has a darker past as well.
0:53:14 > 0:53:18It was also the centre of the Indian Ocean slave trade.
0:53:20 > 0:53:24Dealers sent expeditions deep into eastern Africa to kidnap men,
0:53:24 > 0:53:27women and children, who they brought here to sell on
0:53:27 > 0:53:30to the countries of Arabia and India.
0:53:30 > 0:53:34A church now stands on the site of the former slave market.
0:53:39 > 0:53:40Oh, my goodness!
0:53:49 > 0:53:50Oh, my good God.
0:53:54 > 0:53:58So, these are the cells where slaves were held.
0:54:02 > 0:54:08So, apparently in this room... It's not really much of a room, is it?
0:54:08 > 0:54:12But this is where women and children would have been kept.
0:54:12 > 0:54:16So anything up to 70, would have been crammed in here.
0:54:18 > 0:54:21It's quite difficult to breathe in here even now,
0:54:21 > 0:54:23and it's stiflingly hot.
0:54:24 > 0:54:28What this must have been like with dozens of terrified human beings in,
0:54:28 > 0:54:31I just can't even begin to imagine.
0:54:31 > 0:54:34It's an awful, awful place.
0:54:36 > 0:54:40Britain abolished the slave trade in 1807,
0:54:40 > 0:54:43but decades later the Sultan here in Zanzibar was still refusing
0:54:43 > 0:54:45to end the slave industry,
0:54:45 > 0:54:47so the Royal Navy threatened
0:54:47 > 0:54:50to bombard the city to force him to close the slave market.
0:54:50 > 0:54:55Britain saw Zanzibar as crucial to its dominance of the Indian Ocean.
0:54:55 > 0:54:58They threatened another bombardment in 1896,
0:54:58 > 0:55:02when the Sultan's nephew tried to seize power from their ally.
0:55:02 > 0:55:06The Brits said to him, clear out, we don't want you here and gave him an ultimatum.
0:55:06 > 0:55:11They said, if you're not out by 9am, we're going to turn up and start a war, basically.
0:55:11 > 0:55:13The deadline passed and the bombardment began.
0:55:19 > 0:55:22Within just a couple of minutes of the bombardment starting,
0:55:22 > 0:55:26the palace here was ablaze and, within about 40 minutes,
0:55:26 > 0:55:28the Sultan's nephew had fled.
0:55:29 > 0:55:33It's officially recorded as the shortest war in history.
0:55:36 > 0:55:41The islands of the Indian Ocean have always been tempting targets for world powers,
0:55:41 > 0:55:44strategically placed to control the vital trade routes.
0:55:48 > 0:55:51It was something I was looking forward to exploring
0:55:51 > 0:55:53on the next stages of my trip.
0:55:59 > 0:56:03This is the end of the first leg of my journey.
0:56:03 > 0:56:05It's been an amazing trip so far,
0:56:05 > 0:56:08and I feel I've learned a huge amount, particularly about sharks.
0:56:08 > 0:56:10But I've got a lot further to go,
0:56:10 > 0:56:13and a lot more to discover about the Indian Ocean.
0:56:15 > 0:56:20'Next time, I explore the extraordinary Indian Ocean islands
0:56:20 > 0:56:23'of Madagascar, Mauritius and the Seychelles.'
0:56:23 > 0:56:28If you're going to try and imagine paradise, that's it.
0:56:29 > 0:56:33'I meet the armed forces defending paradise from pirates.'
0:56:33 > 0:56:35It's the 21st century
0:56:35 > 0:56:38- and you're going after pirates in the Indian Ocean?- Yep.
0:56:38 > 0:56:41'And get a unique taste of the Indian Ocean.'
0:56:42 > 0:56:46Bat? Yeah, bat. Vampires are not the bat.