0:00:04 > 0:00:08Imagine a line more than 22,000 miles long
0:00:08 > 0:00:12that cuts through some of the most remote areas of the southern hemisphere.
0:00:18 > 0:00:22The Tropic of Capricorn marks the southern edge of the Earth's tropical zone.
0:00:22 > 0:00:27It runs through southern Africa, Australia and South America.
0:00:27 > 0:00:29This is just nature showing off!
0:00:32 > 0:00:37Following the line will take me to beautiful but troubled regions of the world.
0:00:37 > 0:00:39Ah! Bloody hell!
0:00:39 > 0:00:43Capricorn passes through areas of desperate poverty...
0:00:43 > 0:00:45political conflict...
0:00:45 > 0:00:48and environmental devastation.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51Just ripping it down, look at this!
0:00:51 > 0:00:54This second leg of my journey takes me through South Africa
0:00:54 > 0:00:59and Mozambique and across the sea to the magical island of Madagascar.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02Can you imagine how dangerous this is?
0:01:18 > 0:01:20I began my journey in South Africa,
0:01:20 > 0:01:25where one of the closest towns to the Tropic of Capricorn is Louis Trichardt.
0:01:27 > 0:01:29It's a provincial place
0:01:29 > 0:01:34which takes its name from a white Boer general who led the Afrikaner settlers here in the 1830s.
0:01:37 > 0:01:42Under apartheid, you wouldn't have seen many black faces on the streets of this town.
0:01:42 > 0:01:48But as our guide Nhlanhla showed me, since apartheid ended in South Africa,
0:01:48 > 0:01:51things appear to have changed dramatically.
0:01:54 > 0:01:56It's a slight surprise to me
0:01:56 > 0:01:59to come here and see actually
0:01:59 > 0:02:02there aren't that many Afrikaners.
0:02:02 > 0:02:08- There's one white guy over there. - He's come to the bank.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11Walking to the bank with his money, with his takings.
0:02:11 > 0:02:13And I think that is it.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17Everybody else here apart from me is black.
0:02:18 > 0:02:23This doesn't really seem to be the Afrikaner stronghold that it once was.
0:02:23 > 0:02:31If you can watch footage from those days, you'd only see white faces all around this area.
0:02:31 > 0:02:33Why?
0:02:33 > 0:02:37Because black people were not allowed to come to some of the places.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41- Into the towns?- Yeah, they were prevented from coming to town.
0:02:46 > 0:02:53Today, Louis Trichardt is far more representative of South Africa's racial mix...
0:02:53 > 0:02:59and many of the Afrikaners, who own most of the best farmland around the town, now feel under threat.
0:03:00 > 0:03:05Crime has rocketed here in recent years and white farmers have been targeted.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11I met Gideon Meiring, a former apartheid-era military officer,
0:03:11 > 0:03:16who now heads a union of local white farmers and runs what he calls Townwatch.
0:03:16 > 0:03:17Hello there.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19This is Al Fass.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23He's involved in Townwatch, he's also involved with our training.
0:03:23 > 0:03:25- Townwatch?- Ja.
0:03:25 > 0:03:29With Trichardt Townwatch for example, previously there was a hell of a lot
0:03:29 > 0:03:34of crime in Trichardt and after the involvement, it's down by about 95%.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37So you run security patrols, do you?
0:03:37 > 0:03:42- Yah.- Well, this quite... - This is a typical battle jacket.
0:03:42 > 0:03:46- A battle jacket?- Ja. - Can I take it off?- Yeah, you can.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48So this what...
0:03:48 > 0:03:50- is this what your guys wear? - Yes, 100%.
0:03:50 > 0:03:55This is on a lady at the moment. It'll probably fit on me, I'm a slender thing.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59Wow, I feel a bit more macho in this, I feel a bit Rambo.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03What is that? Is this a stun gun?
0:04:03 > 0:04:08- Yeah.- We don't need to see it tested. Well, we could try.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11- Gideon could probably take the shot.- Please not!- Whoa!
0:04:11 > 0:04:12Quite serious, eh?
0:04:14 > 0:04:18While there is undoubtedly a huge crime problem in South Africa,
0:04:18 > 0:04:23I began to suspect that Gideon's concerns ran a little deeper.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27Die Boere is hier om te bly.
0:04:27 > 0:04:28..te bly, ja.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31The Boers are here to stay. OK.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33We're going to do some shooting.
0:04:33 > 0:04:35Gideon took us to the outskirts of town.
0:04:35 > 0:04:41He wanted to show us how prepared he and his people are for any eventuality.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55OK, they're dead!
0:04:55 > 0:04:57They're really dead now!
0:04:58 > 0:05:03When do you need, or why do you need to have an AK47?
0:05:03 > 0:05:08- Uh...- When would you need it? - If you talk about the courses,
0:05:08 > 0:05:10we train the people to handle an AK47
0:05:10 > 0:05:17because the people who attack farmers on their farms from time to time make use of AK47s
0:05:17 > 0:05:21R-4 automatic rifles, shotguns or whatever.
0:05:21 > 0:05:23You basically want to have a bigger gun?
0:05:23 > 0:05:28You must be in a position to handle that weapon and to return fire accurately.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31- So some more bullets have come. - Good.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36- It might surprise you.- OK.
0:05:36 > 0:05:37Hold it steady.
0:05:39 > 0:05:41Bloody hell!
0:05:41 > 0:05:44- INAUDIBLE INSTRUCTIONS - OK, hang on.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47Mind the dog. Come out of the way, dog.
0:05:51 > 0:05:52Bloody hell!
0:05:53 > 0:05:57What's a little bit worrying for me is how
0:05:57 > 0:06:03I get a rush from it, and it does make me feel powerful, actually...
0:06:03 > 0:06:05- briefly powerful.- Yes.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10Ooh! I just shot an AK47.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14Would you ever have had to have your self-defence organisation
0:06:14 > 0:06:19before the end of apartheid? Would you ever have needed to do it then?
0:06:19 > 0:06:25I think it's a bit more dangerous now, because at that stage we have had everything behind us, the laws,
0:06:25 > 0:06:30the money, everything, the organisations, but today we're on ourselves.
0:06:30 > 0:06:36Fuelling the insecurities of people like Gideon is what's happened in neighbouring Zimbabwe,
0:06:36 > 0:06:41where many white farmers have had their lands forcibly seized by the government.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44What's the likelihood or what are the chances that the government here
0:06:44 > 0:06:50might try to do to the white farmers here what the government in Zimbabwe has tried to do over the border?
0:06:50 > 0:06:52Is that something that worries you?
0:06:52 > 0:06:54Ja, definitely, because there's always the possibility.
0:06:54 > 0:07:01We look into situations like that and we must be in a position to handle it.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08Zimbabwe's southern border lies north of Louis Trichardt,
0:07:08 > 0:07:12just 75 miles from the Tropic of Capricorn.
0:07:18 > 0:07:24Once an African success story, it's now one of the poorest countries on the continent.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28Under the dictatorship of Robert Mugabe, the economy has collapsed
0:07:28 > 0:07:32and hyperinflation has led to crippling shortages.
0:07:36 > 0:07:40This border crossing is the main link between the two countries.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42Ten years ago, it was booming.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46Now, much of the trade is down to very basic goods.
0:07:46 > 0:07:48Hello, gentlemen.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50How are you?
0:07:50 > 0:07:53- You're all crammed in there. Are you comfortable in there?- Yes.
0:07:53 > 0:07:59- It's very busy inside, so you're going back into Zimbabwe? - Yeah, we're going to Zimbabwe.
0:07:59 > 0:08:04- You've been doing been doing a lot of shopping, haven't you?- Yeah. What can we do?
0:08:04 > 0:08:06- What have you been buying? - Huh?- What have you bought?
0:08:06 > 0:08:12- What is in the back here, what have you been buying? - Just fish oil, rice, everything.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15Can you not buy them in Zimbabwe now?
0:08:15 > 0:08:18I can't buy because it is so expensive.
0:08:18 > 0:08:20- Good luck.- Goodbye.
0:08:20 > 0:08:25People are taking very basic supplies into the country
0:08:25 > 0:08:29because there really isn't anything for sale in the shops in Zimbabwe,
0:08:29 > 0:08:33so people have to come out here, get some supplies and then head back.
0:08:40 > 0:08:44Unemployment in Zimbabwe is now running at 80%.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52People are starving. Most cannot afford to leave legally.
0:08:52 > 0:08:58As we drove along the border we saw how desperate people have become to escape their collapsing country.
0:09:11 > 0:09:13Oh, my God...
0:09:15 > 0:09:17This is unbelievable.
0:09:29 > 0:09:30Can you see? Look.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34Are you OK?
0:09:35 > 0:09:37You need something on that.
0:09:37 > 0:09:39- You need something on that. - Yes, sure.
0:09:43 > 0:09:45What is your plan?
0:09:46 > 0:09:48I'm just going to look for the insurance man
0:09:48 > 0:09:51because things are tough in Zimbabwe.
0:09:51 > 0:09:53Yes, just trying to...
0:09:53 > 0:09:57to make ends meet on the South African side.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59Where have you come from in Zimbabwe?
0:09:59 > 0:10:00I'm from Bulawayo.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03What's life like there? What's the situation like there?
0:10:03 > 0:10:06The situation is tough in Zimbabwe.
0:10:06 > 0:10:14The situation is tough on hunger, there's no food, so I'm trying to get something from South African side.
0:10:15 > 0:10:18There's nothing in the shops,
0:10:18 > 0:10:21there's no meat to buy.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28- No milli meal to buy.- No food?
0:10:28 > 0:10:32- No fuel to buy.- No fuel either?
0:10:32 > 0:10:34We are starving in Zimbabwe,
0:10:34 > 0:10:36so I jumped the border.
0:10:36 > 0:10:38I've got no passport.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42I want to be a man like you.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47So I jumped the border
0:10:47 > 0:10:50to get money in South Africa.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54Thousands come over like this every week.
0:10:54 > 0:10:58It's estimated that between one and three million Zimbabweans,
0:10:58 > 0:11:03up to a quarter of the population, have entered South Africa illegally.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07These guys don't know if they're going to make it to Johannesburg or not,
0:11:07 > 0:11:11but they're just desperate for money and some food.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20Most of the people fleeing Zimbabwe make for the big cities.
0:11:21 > 0:11:26The next day, we met up with Gideon again, who seems determined to stop them getting there.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29His organization runs a kind of informal border patrol.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31They call themselves the Greenlights.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34So where are we heading to now?
0:11:34 > 0:11:36We're by a railway track, I can see that.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38We are heading north now,
0:11:38 > 0:11:42straight up to Zimbabwe, but we are not going to that border so far.
0:11:42 > 0:11:44- You're not invading?- No, no.- OK.
0:11:44 > 0:11:49When you're arresting these people what do you feel as you're doing it?
0:11:49 > 0:11:51Do you have some sympathy for their situation?
0:11:51 > 0:11:54Definitely so, ja. On the one hand you feel very sorry for them
0:11:54 > 0:11:59because they're helpless, hungry, because of a certain political situation,
0:11:59 > 0:12:05but on the other hand they threaten our safety and security, our wellbeing, our property,
0:12:05 > 0:12:11even our lives, so it sounds like a contradiction but that is the situation.
0:12:12 > 0:12:17As we made our way through the bush, the patrol appeared to have picked up a trail.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20There are people in front, it seems.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22Ah, the car has stopped in front.
0:12:31 > 0:12:33So is this where they were?
0:12:33 > 0:12:36- They're sleeping here inside. - What was going on?
0:12:36 > 0:12:40They're making fire there and maybe they used this building to sleep during night.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43- So this is where they've been?- Yeah.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45Just in the railway...
0:12:45 > 0:12:46building here.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49This is where they think the guys were...
0:12:49 > 0:12:52Ah, you can see there's a little fire that's been here.
0:12:54 > 0:13:00Gideon's men had been on the hunt for nearly three hours and it seemed they might go home empty handed,
0:13:00 > 0:13:04but as the sun went down they got a sighting.
0:13:04 > 0:13:06So they've...
0:13:06 > 0:13:12some of the guys have just stopped these two young black guys over here just to see who they are.
0:13:12 > 0:13:14Don't try to run away.
0:13:19 > 0:13:21Oh, my God, they really are...
0:13:21 > 0:13:23they really are taking them.
0:13:32 > 0:13:37These are just kids, you know, these are really just kids.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41They've just caught two youngsters walking down the railway tracks,
0:13:41 > 0:13:44carrying their belongings in two little bags,
0:13:44 > 0:13:49and these kids have the look of utter resignation on their faces.
0:13:52 > 0:13:56I don't really know what to say to you on this.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58It's just a really awful situation.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01They're just kids, you know?
0:14:01 > 0:14:06Just kids trying to come across to get a job, get some money, have a meal.
0:14:11 > 0:14:18The police will deport the border jumpers, but within a matter of days most of them will be back.
0:14:27 > 0:14:33The next day we made our way across the country, back to the guiding line of our journey.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36So we're getting very close.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38We're very close to the line now.
0:14:40 > 0:14:42Ah...yes!
0:14:42 > 0:14:45Just crossed it. Just crossed the Tropic of Capricorn.
0:14:48 > 0:14:53The spectacular Limpopo region boasts some of the most impressive wildlife on Earth.
0:14:55 > 0:15:01Albert Appelcryn is a ranger at the Kapama Lodge, one of the many game reserves in the area.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07- Do you want to see some giraffe? - Do we want to see giraffe? Yes!
0:15:08 > 0:15:11That's a small one. No, it's not, is it?
0:15:11 > 0:15:15That's the mother. No, that's the mother and that's the baby there.
0:15:18 > 0:15:20This may all look wild but the parks are actually
0:15:20 > 0:15:24manufactured habitats which are home to all manner of wildlife.
0:15:28 > 0:15:34One of the most popular animals among tourists is, of course, the mighty elephant.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39How can he spot them? I can't see a thing.
0:15:41 > 0:15:43Eagle eyes.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48- There they are.- Ah, yes, yes, yes!
0:15:48 > 0:15:54- I can see the white of a tusk.- We must give him a little bit of time. - Yeah, so if we just...
0:15:54 > 0:15:58keep quiet, sit still, maybe they'll come to us.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03So if we're real lucky, they will go past, straight across the sun.
0:16:08 > 0:16:10They're crossing the road just here.
0:16:10 > 0:16:14What an amazing sight. Two, four, six, seven of them,
0:16:14 > 0:16:21the big one there keeping an eye on us, and they're just pushing through the bush.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24It really is an incredible sight.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26But there's a major problem in South Africa.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29There are simply too many elephants.
0:16:29 > 0:16:35The numbers are increasing now because of huge attempts to save the elephant.
0:16:35 > 0:16:40But now we are astonished - the numbers are very, very high.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43- What, too high? - Slightly too high, yes...
0:16:43 > 0:16:48and very, very...need to manage the elephants now.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51Why is there a problem if there's too many elephants?
0:16:51 > 0:16:54Surely, I'm presuming, they're one of the great draws for tourists.
0:16:54 > 0:16:56That's why tourists want to come here.
0:16:56 > 0:17:01Yes, but they are causing a lot of damage to the eco system.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07Here's another tree that's been knocked over.
0:17:07 > 0:17:08This is actually quite a large one.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11It's been pushed over by an elephant.
0:17:14 > 0:17:18Damage like this removes the habitats of smaller animals,
0:17:18 > 0:17:21threatening the survival of many other species.
0:17:23 > 0:17:30But while the problem is a serious one, it's proved extremely difficult to limit the elephant population.
0:17:30 > 0:17:35So plans have been drawn up to cull large numbers of elephants by shooting them.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38It's hugely controversial, and the government is worried
0:17:38 > 0:17:42that if culling happens, tourists might stay away.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45How many elephants are they talking about culling, do you know?
0:17:45 > 0:17:51Well, they say in Kruger National Park, they need to cull about 2,000 elephants for a start.
0:17:51 > 0:17:53- 2,000!- 2,000 elephants.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59The Kruger National Park, the largest and most prestigious game reserve in South Africa,
0:17:59 > 0:18:06told us the elephant issue is currently so sensitive they simply didn't want to discuss it with us.
0:18:07 > 0:18:12The idea of culling the elephants seems to be a big debate at the moment
0:18:12 > 0:18:14but no final decision has been taken, has it?
0:18:14 > 0:18:16No, no final decision has been taken.
0:18:18 > 0:18:24Every time they decide to cull, there's groups have come in and they stop the culling.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26You're with Kapama Reserve and Lodge.
0:18:26 > 0:18:30What's their position on this whole idea of culling the elephants?
0:18:30 > 0:18:33Kapama is against the culling of elephants.
0:18:33 > 0:18:38They would rather support different ways in controlling elephant populations.
0:18:40 > 0:18:45The view of the Kapama Lodge is shared by many of the game reserves in the area.
0:18:45 > 0:18:47But not everyone agrees.
0:18:48 > 0:18:53Just ten miles down the road is the Moholoholo wildlife sanctuary,
0:18:53 > 0:18:57run by Brian Jones, himself a former ranger.
0:18:58 > 0:19:03- You're OK here.- No, I'm going to hide behind you!- Ooh!
0:19:03 > 0:19:05Hello, hello.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07Look at this! Is it OK to touch?
0:19:07 > 0:19:11Yes, you could stroke him. He's got thick skin but that's fine.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13He's a bit thick skinned, isn't he?
0:19:13 > 0:19:16He's going to put his tail up now because he's being scratched.
0:19:16 > 0:19:21- You've got a bit of metal that you're using...- It's something sharp.- ..to make him feel it.
0:19:21 > 0:19:25- Your hands are a bit soft. He needs something rough.- You are...
0:19:25 > 0:19:28you are very cute. You're ugly as hell but you're really cute.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30I beg your pardon?!
0:19:30 > 0:19:33Oh, there he goes, oh, he's going to go. Ohhhh!
0:19:33 > 0:19:37- Oh, look at that.- Come look at the ticks on the bottom here.
0:19:37 > 0:19:39You've just seduced him. He's rolled over.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42We don't use drugs here, we just charm them.
0:19:42 > 0:19:44What an amazing creature.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49Brian has an extraordinary way with his animals.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53And he holds clear views on how Africa's wildlife should be managed.
0:19:53 > 0:19:54Good boy!
0:19:55 > 0:19:58Now he's going to get me at the gate here.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01Hello, big boy. Hello, big...
0:20:01 > 0:20:04- Not too close, he'll get cross.- OK.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07Hello, oooh big boy.
0:20:07 > 0:20:08Ohhhh...
0:20:08 > 0:20:10big boy.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13Ohhhh, big...
0:20:13 > 0:20:15LION ROARS
0:20:18 > 0:20:21You're too close, unfortunately. He doesn't like it.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24Him and I, we sit together, we talk together, like each other,
0:20:24 > 0:20:27but as soon as people come near, he gets... It's called diverted aggression.
0:20:27 > 0:20:31Can you tell me a little bit about the elephants in the Kruger
0:20:31 > 0:20:33because we're hearing a lot about the threat of culling.
0:20:33 > 0:20:39- What's your view on that? - I think that's a misnomer, the threat of culling.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41To me it's common sense. We have to cull.
0:20:41 > 0:20:45Do people outside, conservationists in Europe or North America,
0:20:45 > 0:20:48- do they understand what's going on? - No, they don't.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50We're not looking at saving just an elephant.
0:20:50 > 0:20:52Don't we want to save the leopard, the lion, the cheetah,
0:20:52 > 0:20:55the trees, the grass, the birds, the snakes, the rabbits?
0:20:55 > 0:20:58We've got to put our human emotion aside and look at the whole picture.
0:21:01 > 0:21:05To be really honest with you, all these little game parks with fences around,
0:21:05 > 0:21:11inevitably in the end is going to do more harm than what cattle have done, because the guys have spent millions
0:21:11 > 0:21:15buying the place, on the fence, putting the infrastructure up, now he's got to get tourists
0:21:15 > 0:21:19to pay back, and now he's got to have animals there to show the tourists.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22So he overstocks, and they're doing just as much harm.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26That's the sad point, they're doing just as much harm.
0:21:26 > 0:21:31It was once said Kruger Park had the biggest diversity of mammals in the world,
0:21:31 > 0:21:35but that'll come to an end because already samango monkey's gone. Brown hyenas gone.
0:21:35 > 0:21:37We're looking at oribi, sable, roan...
0:21:37 > 0:21:40Roan's sitting at 30 animals left where we had thousands.
0:21:40 > 0:21:41It's history.
0:21:41 > 0:21:42Whooah!
0:21:45 > 0:21:47You'd make a good cricket team.
0:21:47 > 0:21:48Whooah!
0:21:56 > 0:22:01We left South Africa behind and headed east to neighbouring Mozambique,
0:22:01 > 0:22:04a country of 21 million people
0:22:04 > 0:22:07still recovering from the devastating long-term effects of war.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14This is Mickey.
0:22:14 > 0:22:18- Hello, Mickey.- Hi. How you doing? Good to meet you.- Thank you. - Welcome to Mozambique.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21Thank you and you'll take us across the country?
0:22:21 > 0:22:25- Yeah, I'll take you around.- I'm quite excited about coming to Mozambique. - It's beautiful.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30So here we go, we're crossing into Mozambique.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32It's a big border.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36We've gone from South Africa, which is really perhaps the richest,
0:22:36 > 0:22:42certainly one of the richest countries in Africa, into Mozambique which is one of the poorest.
0:22:50 > 0:22:55The contrast with South Africa could barely have been more stark.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59This side of the border is designated a national park,
0:22:59 > 0:23:02but there wasn't a giraffe or hippo in sight.
0:23:06 > 0:23:11Tell you what, it's a lot hotter here than it was in South Africa.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14You also see there are some other quite marked changes.
0:23:14 > 0:23:20This park on this side of the border is obviously frankly a lot poorer than the South African park.
0:23:20 > 0:23:22There's a lot less wildlife over here,
0:23:22 > 0:23:25and the roads are dusty and bumpy
0:23:25 > 0:23:29whereas in Kruger they're much sleeker and smooth tarmac.
0:23:29 > 0:23:31But Kruger is really more
0:23:31 > 0:23:36of Disney World, compared to the wilderness that you get on this side of the border.
0:23:36 > 0:23:43Between 1975 and 1992, a vicious conflict raged through Mozambique.
0:23:43 > 0:23:4617 years of fighting ravaged the country.
0:23:47 > 0:23:49Hundreds of thousands lost their lives.
0:23:49 > 0:23:53Most of the wildlife was simply killed for food.
0:23:54 > 0:23:59Strangely enough, what we did find dotted about this national park were people.
0:23:59 > 0:24:01SHOUTING
0:24:01 > 0:24:05A bit of confusion about where the head of the village is.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10It's dowry payment going on over there.
0:24:10 > 0:24:11- A dowry payment?- Mmm.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15- Would they mind if we went over to have a look? - HE TRANSLATES
0:24:17 > 0:24:20They seem very happy with that idea.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22Yeah.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24What are they saying? "Jababi"?
0:24:24 > 0:24:28- "I'm drunk". - They're saying, "I'm drunk"? - VILLAGERS LAUGH
0:24:28 > 0:24:30Have they all been on the sauce?
0:24:32 > 0:24:38The Mozambican authorities and some conservationists think these villagers are a problem.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44New plans to restock the park with wildlife
0:24:44 > 0:24:48and draw in foreign visitors mean they now face eviction.
0:24:48 > 0:24:50THEY ARE SINGING
0:24:52 > 0:24:58Have you been told that you have to move out of the park, and what do you feel about this?
0:24:58 > 0:25:00HE SPEAKS IN LOCAL LANGUAGE
0:25:01 > 0:25:03'They said we were going to move.
0:25:03 > 0:25:08'They promised to do everything, to replace the things we have here, the houses and animal shelters.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11'All these promises are just lies.
0:25:11 > 0:25:16'We accepted it because we respect the government but we're not moving.'
0:25:19 > 0:25:23It's a slightly chaotic situation, but we've been talking to some of the village elders
0:25:23 > 0:25:27and what they say is they've been told they have to leave the park
0:25:27 > 0:25:29and they've been promised homes outside the park.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32But the homes they've been offered are too small.
0:25:32 > 0:25:36They're just not prepared to move out until they know these houses have been built
0:25:36 > 0:25:40and they're a decent size, and unless that happens, they say they're not going to go.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48The dilemma here is the same one you find all across Africa.
0:25:48 > 0:25:54How to attract tourists by developing wildlife without trampling all over the locals.
0:26:01 > 0:26:05The conflict here followed independence from Portugal in 1975.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10The Marxist government fought right-wing rebels,
0:26:10 > 0:26:13who were backed by the neighbouring South African regime,
0:26:13 > 0:26:16angry at Mozambique's opposition to apartheid.
0:26:19 > 0:26:21Although the war ended more than 15 years ago,
0:26:21 > 0:26:26large parts of the country are still scarred with land mines laid during the conflict.
0:26:28 > 0:26:34We went to see a Belgian based organisation which is helping to clear them...in a rather novel way.
0:26:34 > 0:26:36My God, look at the size of them.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40This is one of the mine-detector rats.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43- She's... This is a she?- Yes.
0:26:43 > 0:26:45She is huge!
0:26:45 > 0:26:47She is a colossal rat.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51- Do they bite at all? - No, these are friendly.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53- Friendly rats?- Yes.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57Can I give him a bit of banana? Thank you very much.
0:26:57 > 0:26:59Oh!
0:26:59 > 0:27:02Yes, there we are. Go on.
0:27:02 > 0:27:04Look at the camera, look cute.
0:27:04 > 0:27:06Yes.
0:27:06 > 0:27:08You are actually really cute, I have to say.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11Ohh! Apart from when you...
0:27:11 > 0:27:12scratch and grab.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14So the rats will sniff around...
0:27:16 > 0:27:21..and then they'll sense there's a landmine under the ground.
0:27:21 > 0:27:23- And they scratch. - They scratch, do they?
0:27:23 > 0:27:27- Yes.- They scratch at the surface. So they're being harnessed up.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30This one is raring to go.
0:27:31 > 0:27:33And there he goes, he's off.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37The clearing work we were shown is a training operation.
0:27:37 > 0:27:41These Gambian giant pouched rats can weigh several kilos
0:27:41 > 0:27:46but they're still light enough to be able to walk over the unexploded mines without detonating them.
0:27:50 > 0:27:52- Sniff... - HE SNIFFS
0:27:52 > 0:27:54..sniffing along to see what he can find.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58They're easy to train and in a poor country like Mozambique,
0:27:58 > 0:28:01they're much cheaper than conventional mine-clearing machines.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05Oh, he's scrabbling at the ground.
0:28:05 > 0:28:07He's scratching.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10- Has he spotted one?- Yes. - He's spotted one.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13This is the mine which Nelson found.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17- This is a deactivated one.- Yes.
0:28:17 > 0:28:22But if this was a live mine, could that kill a person or it would injure them?
0:28:22 > 0:28:25- Yes.- It would kill them?- Yeah.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28They're so small, aren't they?
0:28:29 > 0:28:32You can imagine if this was an area where people were living
0:28:32 > 0:28:36and just over here you can see the kids over there.
0:28:36 > 0:28:39This is again a populated area where people are trying to turn the land
0:28:39 > 0:28:44into an area they can use for farming, and they come along and they start farming
0:28:44 > 0:28:49and then they tread on a landmine or a kid finds it, picks it up and it goes off.
0:28:49 > 0:28:52And so this is what the rats are able to find.
0:28:52 > 0:28:54It's fantastic.
0:28:54 > 0:28:56It's so simple.
0:28:56 > 0:29:00Just a shrug of the shoulders, all in a day's work for you!
0:29:00 > 0:29:06Rats like these have cleared over 400,000 square metres of land.
0:29:07 > 0:29:12But hundreds of thousands of landmines are still believed to be left unexploded.
0:29:23 > 0:29:28One of the striking things about Mozambique is how little industry there is.
0:29:28 > 0:29:32Still officially one of the poorest countries in the world,
0:29:32 > 0:29:35most of the countryside is without electricity or running water.
0:29:35 > 0:29:38Commerce, such as it is, often takes place on a micro scale.
0:29:40 > 0:29:43And you can see here they've got cashew nuts.
0:29:43 > 0:29:49Yeah, they're cashew nuts in bags attached to the tree. This is the shop.
0:29:49 > 0:29:52A very clever way of selling it.
0:29:52 > 0:29:53Where are they from?
0:29:53 > 0:29:56MICKEY TRANSLATES
0:29:56 > 0:29:58He says he makes it himself.
0:29:58 > 0:30:01- He fries them.- He buys them...
0:30:01 > 0:30:06He buys them raw and he fries them at home and cracks them and puts them in bags and sells them.
0:30:06 > 0:30:10- So, he's quite a little entrepreneur then.- Yeah.
0:30:10 > 0:30:13- Good businessman. You're a good businessman, aren't you?- Yeah.
0:30:13 > 0:30:15Good for you, David.
0:30:22 > 0:30:26The next day we headed north along the N1, the country's main highway.
0:30:31 > 0:30:33We're just short of the line here.
0:30:33 > 0:30:35I'm gonna take a few more steps...
0:30:35 > 0:30:36Three...
0:30:36 > 0:30:38two...
0:30:39 > 0:30:41..one.
0:30:42 > 0:30:47Just here, right here, this is the Tropic of Capricorn,
0:30:47 > 0:30:49running across here.
0:30:49 > 0:30:52And look, there's no traffic coming.
0:30:52 > 0:30:55This is the main, this is the only road in Mozambique
0:30:55 > 0:31:00running south to north, it's the main thread linking this country,
0:31:00 > 0:31:03and it's 4 o'clock, Friday afternoon.
0:31:03 > 0:31:07There's one car coming in the distance. There's nothing coming behind.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10There's very little trade and transport along here.
0:31:17 > 0:31:20It's hard to believe now, but before the war, Mozambique
0:31:20 > 0:31:24was once one of the biggest tourist destinations in Africa.
0:31:24 > 0:31:26Bob Dylan even wrote a song about the place.
0:31:26 > 0:31:29# I like to spend some time in Mozambique
0:31:30 > 0:31:33# The sunny sky is aqua blue
0:31:33 > 0:31:36# And all the couples
0:31:36 > 0:31:38# dancing cheek to cheek
0:31:38 > 0:31:41# It's very nice to stay a week or two. #
0:31:41 > 0:31:46Tourists are beginning to return and we were heading for one place
0:31:46 > 0:31:49the government hopes will really put the country back on the map again.
0:31:53 > 0:32:00Set on the Indian Ocean, Vilanculos is the great hope of the country's fledgling tourist industry.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04The big attraction here is Bazaruto archipelago,
0:32:04 > 0:32:07five paradise islands strung out along the coast
0:32:07 > 0:32:08just off the mainland.
0:32:11 > 0:32:15We're just off to the islands of Bazaruto ahead of us.
0:32:16 > 0:32:20We're going in this little boat in front of us.
0:32:22 > 0:32:24It looks a bit bigger close up.
0:32:43 > 0:32:47Bazaruto is famed for it's luxury eco-tourism,
0:32:47 > 0:32:53offering serenely isolated beaches, and some of the best diving and marine wildlife in the world.
0:32:56 > 0:32:59So this is one of the main lodges on the island
0:32:59 > 0:33:04and people will pay anything up to a grand a night to stay here.
0:33:04 > 0:33:11You have quite a few celebrities coming and staying here, I mean we've had Leonardo DiCaprio
0:33:11 > 0:33:14was staying here with his family when he was here shooting Blood Diamond.
0:33:14 > 0:33:18But that sounds as though that's just the type of tourist
0:33:18 > 0:33:21that the Mozambique government wants to attract.
0:33:21 > 0:33:24They don't want to attract riffraff like me, for example.
0:33:24 > 0:33:29Yeah, it seems like it, but it's quite beautiful and it's isolated.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32I think the people come here because it's a getaway,
0:33:32 > 0:33:36you're far away from everybody but it's beautiful, it's really beautiful.
0:33:38 > 0:33:41Mickey had arranged for us to stay with Paulino,
0:33:41 > 0:33:44one of the 2,000 people who live on the island.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47- Hello, nice to meet you. - Hello, Simon.
0:33:52 > 0:33:55The luxury resorts say they have helped the local community.
0:33:55 > 0:34:00But it didn't seem that many of Leonardo's dollars had found their way here.
0:34:02 > 0:34:07In fact, less than 100 of the 2,000 islanders are employed in the tourist industry.
0:34:14 > 0:34:17We bedded down for the night in Paulino's guest suite.
0:34:17 > 0:34:20RAIN IS BATTERING DOWN
0:34:28 > 0:34:33It's started to pour with rain now, in the middle of the night.
0:34:33 > 0:34:35Absolutely pouring down
0:34:35 > 0:34:37and you can hear it on the...
0:34:38 > 0:34:40..on the corrugated iron roof.
0:34:43 > 0:34:45Chris the producer has just stumbled in.
0:34:45 > 0:34:50He was sleeping in a tent and the tent just collapsed in the rain.
0:34:56 > 0:34:58"Come to paradise," they said,
0:34:58 > 0:35:01"tropical island,
0:35:01 > 0:35:02"sun-kissed beaches."
0:35:05 > 0:35:07The reality is not always what you expect.
0:35:14 > 0:35:17The rain was coming down on the corrugated iron for hours.
0:35:17 > 0:35:21It sounded like we were sleeping under a waterfall.
0:35:22 > 0:35:26I think we've probably had about three hours sleep each.
0:35:28 > 0:35:33Just a fraction of the money from tourism has been invested in this community.
0:35:34 > 0:35:37And the government has so far blocked the Bazarutans' plan
0:35:37 > 0:35:40to start up their own tourism business on the island.
0:35:40 > 0:35:43Do you feel that you've been let down?
0:35:43 > 0:35:47Do you feel you've been lied to about the benefits you'd get from tourism?
0:35:50 > 0:35:53TRANSLATION: We had plans of building a campsite here
0:35:53 > 0:35:55that would have benefited the community,
0:35:55 > 0:35:58and it would have increased our income.
0:35:58 > 0:36:00Now we are dependent on others for money.
0:36:03 > 0:36:06Perhaps the saddest thing about Paulino's situation
0:36:06 > 0:36:09is that he spent his youth fighting for the future of his country
0:36:09 > 0:36:11on the government's side in the war.
0:36:19 > 0:36:25I wasted my time fighting, defending our land, and now I live in really poor conditions.
0:36:26 > 0:36:28The salary I make is very small.
0:36:28 > 0:36:30I can't support my children properly.
0:36:32 > 0:36:36What am I supposed to do? Mozambique is the place I was born.
0:36:36 > 0:36:40I have nowhere else to go.
0:37:01 > 0:37:03So here we go, we're off to Madagascar now
0:37:03 > 0:37:06with just a few of our bags.
0:37:06 > 0:37:11Hopefully we haven't got the pilot who brought the last plane in
0:37:11 > 0:37:14because the last plane that just landed went off the runway.
0:37:14 > 0:37:16On here?
0:37:20 > 0:37:25There are no direct flights from Mozambique to our next destination, Madagascar.
0:37:25 > 0:37:28First, we had to return to South Africa
0:37:28 > 0:37:33before heading onto the Madagascan capital, commonly known as Tana.
0:37:33 > 0:37:37We were then to head south to pick up our journey along Capricorn.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40Or at least that was the plan.
0:37:43 > 0:37:46We've arrived in Madagascar, we're still in the airport.
0:37:46 > 0:37:48We've had a bit of a baggage disaster.
0:37:48 > 0:37:53This is some of our equipment here, but most of it, some of the most crucial bits haven't turned up.
0:37:53 > 0:37:56We think they're still in Johannesburg.
0:37:57 > 0:38:00Bagless, we headed into town.
0:38:16 > 0:38:19Madagascar was a French colony until 1960
0:38:19 > 0:38:21and Tana was like nothing I'd ever seen before.
0:38:25 > 0:38:29One moment you felt you could be in a quaint suburb of Paris,
0:38:29 > 0:38:31with its cobbled streets and 2CVs.
0:38:31 > 0:38:34The next, in a more mediaeval world,
0:38:34 > 0:38:38powered by one of the iconic symbols of this country,
0:38:38 > 0:38:40the ubiquitous zebu cattle.
0:38:46 > 0:38:49Batsola, our local guide, showed me around.
0:38:49 > 0:38:52Maybe there's some medicinal herbs.
0:38:52 > 0:38:56Here in Madagascar you have a lot of strange things,
0:38:56 > 0:39:03we have a lot of things here, like this or zebu crock or something.
0:39:03 > 0:39:06Sorry? What was that?
0:39:06 > 0:39:10Oh, you don't know that we have, we eat zebu crock.
0:39:10 > 0:39:12- Crock?- Crock.- Penis?
0:39:12 > 0:39:14- Yes.- Zebu penis.- Zebu penis.
0:39:14 > 0:39:16- All right, so you eat zebu penis. - Yes.
0:39:16 > 0:39:18Why?
0:39:18 > 0:39:20Because it's good.
0:39:20 > 0:39:22In England you have tea.
0:39:22 > 0:39:24Here we have soup.
0:39:24 > 0:39:26You have soup.
0:39:26 > 0:39:30Yeah, and there is different kind of soup, and one of them is zebu cock soup.
0:39:30 > 0:39:35I know what's going to happen now. Cut to a restaurant.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38I know this is going to happen, I might as well just surrender.
0:39:38 > 0:39:41- Maybe we need to wait for it to cool down.- Yes.
0:39:41 > 0:39:46Has she got any zebu penis to show us, so we've got a sense of...
0:39:46 > 0:39:49- of this delicacy?- Let me ask.
0:39:52 > 0:39:53Yes, she has.
0:39:53 > 0:39:56Oh, good, good, that's great.
0:39:57 > 0:39:59Thank you for this.
0:39:59 > 0:40:02I mean we've got a long way to go together
0:40:02 > 0:40:05and I was starting to like you, Batsola.
0:40:05 > 0:40:08- Yes.- And now look what you've done.
0:40:08 > 0:40:11Let me put it like this and then you...
0:40:11 > 0:40:15Oh, my God! It's still moving.
0:40:15 > 0:40:19I prefer it when it's still attached to the original owner.
0:40:21 > 0:40:24Ooh, feel like I'm crossing my legs now.
0:40:24 > 0:40:26Oh, my God!
0:40:26 > 0:40:28Well, here we go. Come on then. Be brave.
0:40:35 > 0:40:38It tastes sort of like gelatine.
0:40:39 > 0:40:41A blob of... with a slight...
0:40:43 > 0:40:44slight kick in it.
0:40:46 > 0:40:49I swear to God I think I can taste urine.
0:40:56 > 0:40:59Two days later, reunited with our luggage,
0:40:59 > 0:41:01we finally made it to Tulear,
0:41:01 > 0:41:05400 miles south of the capital, and back on the Tropic of Capricorn.
0:41:10 > 0:41:14Tulear sits on the edge of one of the great wonders of Madagascar,
0:41:14 > 0:41:18a unique landscape known as the Spiny Forest.
0:41:23 > 0:41:28'Coca Rakotomalaza has spent most his life studying this ancient habitat.'
0:41:28 > 0:41:31Looking at this I would have thought it was almost dead.
0:41:31 > 0:41:37Yeah, it looks like dead because we are now in the dry season so they lose all their leaves.
0:41:37 > 0:41:40OK. These are really sharp.
0:41:40 > 0:41:42What is this?
0:41:42 > 0:41:45This is endemic species for the south.
0:41:47 > 0:41:50Belongs to the family of Dideraceae.
0:41:50 > 0:41:52Has it got a common name?
0:41:52 > 0:41:54English...octopus tree.
0:41:54 > 0:41:57- In English this is called octopus tree.- Octopus tree.
0:41:57 > 0:42:00Many species are just found in Madagascar.
0:42:01 > 0:42:07Perhaps the greatest resident of the Spiny Forest is the mighty baobab.
0:42:08 > 0:42:10Look at that!
0:42:13 > 0:42:14This is amazing!
0:42:14 > 0:42:20You know how long this baobab have been here?
0:42:20 > 0:42:24Maybe ten hundred.
0:42:24 > 0:42:261,000 years!
0:42:26 > 0:42:281,000 years.
0:42:28 > 0:42:32Coca just said that the story of the Baobab is that
0:42:32 > 0:42:36it's such a proud tree, God got angry,
0:42:36 > 0:42:40so he lifted it out and put it back in,
0:42:40 > 0:42:43and what we think of as the top is actually the roots.
0:42:43 > 0:42:44It's an upside-down tree.
0:42:46 > 0:42:50My image of Madagascar when I was a child
0:42:50 > 0:42:53was very much of almost a bit of a paradise
0:42:53 > 0:42:56with plants and animals and trees covering the whole island.
0:42:58 > 0:43:00How much of the forest is left?
0:43:04 > 0:43:0610% of forest left.
0:43:06 > 0:43:10- 10%?- 10% over all the land.
0:43:10 > 0:43:12- Across the whole island. - The whole island.
0:43:12 > 0:43:14So 90% has been cut down.
0:43:14 > 0:43:19Cut down and burnt and now we lose all of this.
0:43:19 > 0:43:24So this is one of the last bits of proper forest
0:43:24 > 0:43:27that is left on Madagascar.
0:43:28 > 0:43:34'Much of Madagascar, the world's fourth largest island, was once covered by indigenous forest.
0:43:34 > 0:43:39'What's devastated it is the practice of tavy, or slash and burn.
0:43:39 > 0:43:41'You can see it everywhere.'
0:43:44 > 0:43:47So this area looks to my inexpert eye,
0:43:47 > 0:43:51is this all slash and burn, is this what we've been talking about?
0:43:51 > 0:43:54Yes, this is a slash and burn area I talked about.
0:43:54 > 0:43:56What was this?
0:43:56 > 0:44:00This is octopus tree.
0:44:00 > 0:44:05- So this is the octopus tree we saw in the forest.- In the forest.
0:44:05 > 0:44:06Here it's been chopped and burnt.
0:44:06 > 0:44:08It's been chopped and burnt.
0:44:12 > 0:44:16So here we've got a tree which is still on fire,
0:44:16 > 0:44:19I can see the fire underneath,
0:44:19 > 0:44:23so this is slash and burn at the moment.
0:44:23 > 0:44:26This is what's happening across the whole of Madagascar.
0:44:26 > 0:44:27Yes.
0:44:28 > 0:44:33'Slash and burn is mainly done to clear land for cash crops and the grazing of zebu.
0:44:33 > 0:44:39'The great tragedy is that the burnt soil can only sustain crops for a few years
0:44:39 > 0:44:45'before the land is left useless and the devastation is continued elsewhere.'
0:44:45 > 0:44:50When you see what's been lost, the fact that 90%
0:44:50 > 0:44:53of the forest in Madagascar is gone, how does that make you feel?
0:44:55 > 0:45:02Sad, because some of this plant are not still identified
0:45:02 > 0:45:06so every day maybe you lose a new species
0:45:06 > 0:45:11that hasn't been determined before.
0:45:14 > 0:45:19It's hard not to feel depressed at the destruction of so much unique natural beauty,
0:45:19 > 0:45:23but Coca believes simply blaming the local people for doing it
0:45:23 > 0:45:26doesn't address the root of the problem.
0:45:27 > 0:45:32To say destroy it is not maybe the right word because people need land,
0:45:32 > 0:45:38people need to feed themselves and I think we have to find another way
0:45:38 > 0:45:46to feed these people, another way to grow crops for these people
0:45:46 > 0:45:50and that will help us to reduce the loss of forest.
0:45:52 > 0:45:58Slash and burn in Madagascar has been recognised internationally as a major environmental issue.
0:45:58 > 0:46:03New laws are belatedly trying to preserve what's left of the forests.
0:46:11 > 0:46:15We left Tulear, and drove east across the country.
0:46:18 > 0:46:21Even though much of the indigenous forest has been lost,
0:46:21 > 0:46:24Madagascar remains a stunning place.
0:46:28 > 0:46:32Every turn in the road seemed to reveal yet another extraordinary landscape,
0:46:32 > 0:46:36and the villages, too, could throw up a surprise.
0:46:37 > 0:46:39Now it's trying to get into the car.
0:46:41 > 0:46:43What does it want?
0:46:43 > 0:46:46It's got the tail of a racoon but I think this is a lemur, isn't it?
0:46:46 > 0:46:52- Yes.- So this is one of Madagascar's most famous animals really,
0:46:52 > 0:46:55and this guy has just got it sitting on his head.
0:46:56 > 0:46:59They are disappearing because the forest is disappearing.
0:46:59 > 0:47:06But some place in the National Park there are a lot of lemurs
0:47:06 > 0:47:09and they are now protected by the law.
0:47:09 > 0:47:11Super cute though.
0:47:18 > 0:47:19We'd come to Ilakaka.
0:47:19 > 0:47:2410 years ago this place was so small it didn't even appear on most maps.
0:47:24 > 0:47:26Then sapphires were discovered,
0:47:26 > 0:47:32and a tiny rural hamlet exploded into a modern day wild-west town.
0:47:34 > 0:47:39An estimated 100,000 poor Madagascans have flocked here to dig their way out of poverty.
0:47:42 > 0:47:47'Most take their chances in the ad hoc operations dotted all over the outskirts of town.'
0:47:47 > 0:47:50Bonjour. Bonjour.
0:47:53 > 0:47:57Jean is from Fianarantsoa, 150 miles away.
0:47:58 > 0:47:59He's the captain of this mine,
0:47:59 > 0:48:02which is little more than a deep hole in ground,
0:48:02 > 0:48:05ventilated in the most rudimentary way imaginable.
0:48:11 > 0:48:14Oh, my God! This is a breathing tube.
0:48:14 > 0:48:16Can you imagine how dangerous this is?
0:48:18 > 0:48:25This is just plastic sheeting with a little bit of tape around it to hold it together.
0:48:38 > 0:48:42'Jean descends down this 18-metre hole up to ten times a day.
0:48:42 > 0:48:44'For this he will make about £1.'
0:48:44 > 0:48:47God! He's already just disappeared.
0:48:47 > 0:48:51He's just vanished into the blackness!
0:48:51 > 0:48:55And this shaft isn't much bigger than a manhole
0:48:55 > 0:48:59and they've just cut it down, straight down through the ground,
0:48:59 > 0:49:00there's no bracing on the sides,
0:49:00 > 0:49:04there's no reinforcement to prevent it caving in.
0:49:04 > 0:49:10I can just see this tiny man and a shiny torch
0:49:10 > 0:49:12putting soil into the bag.
0:49:19 > 0:49:23He's crawling down a hole under here,
0:49:23 > 0:49:28to somewhere under the ground deep below there,
0:49:28 > 0:49:33gathering the soil into bags and then he'll send it back.
0:49:38 > 0:49:40Each time they're hoping this is the big one,
0:49:40 > 0:49:42the sapphire they're looking for is in there.
0:49:44 > 0:49:47'Many workers have died down these mines.
0:49:47 > 0:49:51'Often, their families are too poor to recover their bodies
0:49:51 > 0:49:54'and they are simply left at the bottom of the dark holes.'
0:50:03 > 0:50:05Here he comes. Are you OK, Captain?
0:50:12 > 0:50:16What does your wife think of you doing this dangerous work?
0:50:17 > 0:50:20TRANSLATION: We can only pray and rely on God.
0:50:21 > 0:50:23The main worry is "Will I survive today?"
0:50:24 > 0:50:27But that's the risk of the job, you need to survive,
0:50:27 > 0:50:29there's nothing else to do.
0:50:36 > 0:50:40The miners bring their stones here, to the local gem market,
0:50:40 > 0:50:44which is run almost exclusively by Sri Lankan and Thai dealers.
0:50:51 > 0:50:52That's a nice colour.
0:50:54 > 0:50:56So as you can see inside there,
0:50:56 > 0:50:58there's a pink purple inside. That's quite..
0:50:58 > 0:51:00that's really beautiful.
0:51:00 > 0:51:02I think you should pay a lot of money for that one.
0:51:02 > 0:51:05There's a guy who's just put his hand through this window
0:51:05 > 0:51:09and he's just dropped a stone into the plate here,
0:51:09 > 0:51:14and the guy, the buyer here, is just going to take a look at it and decide if he likes it.
0:51:21 > 0:51:26So he wasn't happy with that, so he's off to look for another dealer.
0:51:27 > 0:51:32'Millions of pounds worth of sapphires are mined here every year. and then exported.
0:51:32 > 0:51:36'They're cut, polished and sold on the world markets.
0:51:36 > 0:51:38'That's when the real profit is made.
0:51:40 > 0:51:43'Very little of the money comes back to Ilakaka.
0:51:43 > 0:51:48'It's a source of frustration for Madagascans, like our guide, Batsola.'
0:51:48 > 0:51:50The thing that really surprised me about this place
0:51:50 > 0:51:56is for a town at the centre of a gem rush
0:51:56 > 0:52:00with people digging emeralds and sapphires out of the ground,
0:52:00 > 0:52:01everybody was dirt poor there.
0:52:01 > 0:52:04It happens all the time here in Madagascar.
0:52:04 > 0:52:09When you have every kind of resources, petrol, sapphire,
0:52:09 > 0:52:15Malagasy people stay all poor and all the money go out of Madagascar with the Sri Lankan,
0:52:15 > 0:52:21with the Canadian, with the European, with the American, with the Japanese.
0:52:21 > 0:52:22All the time that's happen,
0:52:22 > 0:52:26all the time here in Madagascar and that's a pity, that's a shame.
0:52:33 > 0:52:36150 miles north east of Ilakaka
0:52:36 > 0:52:39is the beautiful highland town of Fianarantsoa.
0:52:41 > 0:52:45The old town has cobbled, winding streets
0:52:45 > 0:52:47and a unique Malagasy style of architecture.
0:52:53 > 0:52:57We'd come here to catch a train to the eastern coast of Madagascar,
0:52:57 > 0:52:59the end of our journey.
0:52:59 > 0:53:04The guy says the train is currently running three hours late,
0:53:04 > 0:53:08so we didn't need to get up at five o'clock after all.
0:53:13 > 0:53:15The train comes from Switzerland
0:53:15 > 0:53:19but it certainly doesn't run on Swiss time.
0:53:25 > 0:53:26We've got a train!
0:53:28 > 0:53:31It's only about seven hours late.
0:53:39 > 0:53:41CHEERING
0:53:42 > 0:53:44We're on the way.
0:54:05 > 0:54:08The train runs on one of the steepest tracks in the world.
0:54:08 > 0:54:12It descends from more than 3,500 feet down to sea level
0:54:12 > 0:54:18and along its 100 miles, there are 48 tunnels and 67 bridges.
0:54:18 > 0:54:21Where else in the world do you think they'd let us do this?
0:54:29 > 0:54:32But this is more than just a passenger train.
0:54:32 > 0:54:36There's a lot of Malagasy travelling on the train.
0:54:36 > 0:54:38They're using it to get around,
0:54:38 > 0:54:41but crucially they're also using it for trade.
0:54:42 > 0:54:46The daily train service provides a vital economic link between
0:54:46 > 0:54:50the highlands and the eastern coast of Madagascar.
0:54:51 > 0:54:56For most people along this line, the train is their main link with the outside world.
0:54:59 > 0:55:03This is a coffee tree as you see, sorry but I can't get them.
0:55:03 > 0:55:05- You can't quite reach. - Yeah, but maybe you.
0:55:05 > 0:55:08- I can pull it down. This is a coffee bean, just there.- Yeah.
0:55:08 > 0:55:11So, there we go. You can just eat it with your...
0:55:11 > 0:55:14Oh, yes, that's really sweet.
0:55:14 > 0:55:18- So you just bite it off. - Yeah, and you have your coffee.
0:55:18 > 0:55:20And that's the coffee there.
0:55:20 > 0:55:24What's the importance of this railway to farmers in an area like this?
0:55:24 > 0:55:25What does it enable them to do?
0:55:25 > 0:55:28If the railroad is not here,
0:55:28 > 0:55:31they can't export the coffee or the banana,
0:55:31 > 0:55:37so they don't have money to buy rice, so they have to produce rice.
0:55:37 > 0:55:44And if the produce rice they have to cut the forest and we need to protect the forest.
0:55:54 > 0:55:57'The role this railway played in protecting the environment
0:55:57 > 0:56:00'became clearer as we headed further down the line.'
0:56:04 > 0:56:07We're about half way through our journey,
0:56:07 > 0:56:11it's taken about five hours to get here, and the landscape is incredible.
0:56:11 > 0:56:13The vegetation, everywhere you look,
0:56:13 > 0:56:15it's green, all different shades of green.
0:56:26 > 0:56:29Our light is the only light here.
0:56:34 > 0:56:36We've just come back to our carriage
0:56:36 > 0:56:39and we can see there's no lights on the train,
0:56:39 > 0:56:41but there's also no lights in the village where we are,
0:56:41 > 0:56:44and this is the reality across most of the country.
0:56:44 > 0:56:47Most of Madagascar doesn't have electricity.
0:56:50 > 0:56:52Despite the lack of power or lights,
0:56:52 > 0:56:55nothing seems to stop the relentless bustle of trade.
0:56:55 > 0:56:58This is a kind of cake, Malagasy cake.
0:57:01 > 0:57:04It's a slightly Dickensian scene inside this carriage,
0:57:04 > 0:57:07with everybody lit by candlelight.
0:57:08 > 0:57:13The last four hours of the journey were spent in almost total darkness.
0:57:13 > 0:57:18Just us, the mosquitoes, and the smell of urine.
0:57:23 > 0:57:26Oh, God, I thought we were never going to get here.
0:57:26 > 0:57:28We are now on the east coast of Madagascar.
0:57:28 > 0:57:30We're nearly at the end of our journey,
0:57:30 > 0:57:35but we should wait and see what the coastline looks like tomorrow in the daylight.
0:57:46 > 0:57:49I'd finally made it to the very edge of Madagascar,
0:57:49 > 0:57:52more than 1,000 miles along Capricorn,
0:57:52 > 0:57:54from the plains of South Africa
0:57:54 > 0:57:59to Manakara, a lazy seaside town, with an end of the world feel.
0:58:01 > 0:58:05It's been a journey full of contrasts, drama and surprises.
0:58:05 > 0:58:07And I've still got a long way to go.
0:58:08 > 0:58:14We've crossed Africa, we've crossed Madagascar, we're at the sea.
0:58:14 > 0:58:16Next stop, Australia.
0:58:21 > 0:58:25Next time, I go across the heart of the Australian outback.
0:58:25 > 0:58:29Who would want to go anywhere else bar living here?
0:58:29 > 0:58:31Discovering the secrets of this vast country.
0:58:31 > 0:58:35I took decades to create the poverty.
0:58:35 > 0:58:38To find out more about the journey, visit our website.
0:58:46 > 0:58:49Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:49 > 0:58:52Email subtitling@bbc.co.uk