Deadliest Journeys - Panama, Business in the Jungle

[Music] [Music] come on guys wake up hey don't break my canoe go ahead fryer in the water darienne as a region where there are no roads everything is handmade everything depends on the river get moving trillion Caesar go Pablo go ahead come on come on whoa whoa we followed these everyday heroes for whom every trip every movement is a struggle against nature careful okay anything broken everything in Darien is wild savage danger lurks at every moment look at sir jag was den on the flats where they hide this is a land for adventure and fantasy as well as greed the gold people will kill it's also the Gateway to the United States for illegal refugees who dream of a new life [Music] for the temple 800 bucks nobody told us this we'd agreed in Bogota they're at the mercy of the smugglers whose only Creed is the dollar in this Green Hell an impenetrable jungle whenever he knows the way to the border humans and destiny intersect in their own way everyone struggles to survive in the Darien it's the region of the impossible [Music] the Twitter rivers the Gateway to this region at the end of the world where time glides past as slowly as the water here the river is the tarmac the canoes are the cars and trucks nothing is mechanized it takes brute strength to travel loading and unloading can take hours a truck full of goods has just arrived from Panama City it belongs to a woman they called the queen of the river - IRRI the queen is Gina a 55 year old store owner it's hard to believe but Gina shows us that her pigs and two and a half tons of merchandise will travel on this little boat everything there is mine it's for my supermarket rice sugar gas beverages oil what's the value of these Goods turn 1/2 thousand dollars come on sweetheart every ten days the Queen transports our merchandise to a little village a full days to River journey away food and also fuel it's the region's most precious commodity so the most expensive there's 1500 liters on board are you gonna sell this - no - the people in the community in my village because they need fuel in addition to a shop Gina also acts as a Freight manager on behalf of others it's a set for the lounge and the dining room lounge in a dining room there were very well packaged and we'll deliver them to the owner I get paid a commission to carry them [Music] Gina employs 12 men even so the loading will take almost an entire day and the loading must be done quickly the chicken won't survive in the heat and in this region the weather is unpredictable now this table can be put there under cover the table and the living room furniture you'll need to carry it good just like that - the right way up do you always supervise this yourself oh yes it's part of my job if I didn't look after the merchandise who will nobody that's the thing it's a live one Andy [Music] loading the cans of fuel is the most dangerous operation there are seven 200 kilo cans with no machines to help they do as best they can [Music] [Music] Gina has spent over half her life on the river building up her business she has four children and is now grandmother to young Chui he's only four but the Queen has made him her heir she takes him everywhere she says to teach him the job Chui a few is everything I'll give you a soda it's the end of the day at the Harbor time for a break for the family to watch a spectacle on the river - we are that occurs only twice a year chouhi loves it it's also the end of the road for the cows the truck cannot go further to get the cattle into the fields there's a chance for some rodeo it's physically taxing and dangerous the cows seem to know they won't be traveling first class [Applause] [Music] and these latest passengers are not treated with kid gloves [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] these girls will take 30 minutes to reach their new pastures the cows don't suffer no they don't they used to it they like the water it's cool but isn't it dangerous for them no it's dangerous for us not for them they can swim we can't well many of them are drowned no no oh yeah last time one did drown oh yeah she died and we ate her how much do you earn doing this job my good worker and six dollars a day plus food and alcohol what do you drink rum [Music] and that's free to the rum the Gauchos are hot this afternoon [Music] they've started early to celebrate the weekend a way of building up courage another hundred animals have to be transported [Music] when they arrive the heavily built cows are exhausted Todd will put them in their pens tonight so they can recover and tomorrow will let them out into the fields to get them out the Cowboys sometimes take extreme measures not forgetting a little local touch it's 5:30 in the morning in the port of yeah visa then gina is stirring to ensure a good night's sleep she keeps her merchandise as close by as possible before the boss gets up everything must be loaded the meat included [Music] woman over 40 I'm wide-awake thank God I need to get on with my work poppy oh why should I set the canoe come on you have to I'm tired excuse me you're not afraid of falling no look I'm used to it for me it's natural I've never fallen in the water by a visa see you soon bow Kelly Cooper Gina small village is a three-day journey from Panama City a day by truck to you visa then no more roads and things start to get complicated in winter it takes seven hours to reach Boca the Cooper close to the border with Colombia in summer when the water levels are much lower the trip becomes a more than 12 hour long nightmare jeana's canoe is 35 years old it's 12 meter long howl weighed down by the two-and-a-half tonne load and powered along by a small 40 horsepower engine at full throttle [Music] the old canoes so low in the water that the wake of any boat it crosses causes a flood on board now many canoes have already been sucked that way by being flooded by passing boats some don't care and just travel too fast and too close to make sure they stay afloat the owner has instructed one of her Clark's to bail water all day long so that she can relax [Music] the first stages of the trip alone but we are aware they have a tourist river cruise a trip through primeval jungle and a chance to glimpse wild animals many might pay good money for [Music] [Applause] [Music] after two hours the relaxing break comes to an end Gino gets back down to business insuring her merchandise gets to customers on the waterfront this brand-new living room and dining room will soon be in their new home is this a good deal well whenever I have the space of my canoe I do it we come past here anyway so it cost us nothing it's an extra $40 now which is better than nothing a few kilometers away on the other side of the border lies the small village of Alto Baldo wedged between mountains it's one of the most remote parts of Colombia tomorrow the school is due to open that the teacher hasn't arrived yet she has a good excuse the path to school is long and steep Delphina mascara has arrived from the city where she spent the summer holidays the first leg is a few hours journey by canoe here too there is no road to the village where she teaches on the other side of the mountain the mayor himself has turned out to greet her now I believe how are you good thank you so a treat you have in store for me today oh my affection as always the mayor has a surprise for his special guests the second part of the journey she will travel courtesy of a unique transportation company the company employs the most resourceful and strongest men from the village come on the chairs are nearly finished okay let's go the schoolteacher all her school supplies and her two assistants will all travel on the backs of these professional Porter's caseros where's my rifle okay let's go these are scenes from another century the colonial era when the Spanish used the natives as human mules when slavery was abolished the Paseos disappeared except here men continue to carry other humans to earn a penny by and large their fares are women the infirm or the weak the first hours are a long climb in 35-degree heat through thick forests and on trials only these men can take Dario put me down please I want to light some candles for the Virgin at the top of the mountain pause in front of the Madonna provides reassurance to some in a welcome break to others [Music] the hardest part of the journey the descent has still to come it's the first time I'm going this way in a chair it's very scary it's horrible I was dizzy you get the feeling you're gonna fall off the chair any minute but still it's better than walking the skill of an acrobat along slippery steps the Pizarro's have dug into the rock over the centuries we're going down horses and mules couldn't go this way this path isn't made for horses and mules I mean there's no room for everything okay nothing broken carrying more than 100 kilos on one's back is a miraculous balancing act it's very dangerous people have fallen into the ravine because of the weight or simply because they lost their balance there been many accidents here it's very hard work but we used to it after a half day of effort the little village of Alto Baldo and the school are finally in sight till a bit on time the teacher will be there for the new term [Applause] [Music] to celebrate the arrival of the teacher the village has hosted a race a strange race only to be found in these parts these physically powerful men are respected and looked up to in the village carrying a child the races complete a circuit there what's he done twenty-one minutes the man of the day is one with a two-minute lead over the others and the result of its superhuman effort [Music] a man carrier a trade from another era its job that allows the village of El Toboso to survive and Delfina the teacher to educate children in the depths of the jungle [Music] [Music] the scene is surprising for this remote area [Music] Queen Gena has received a call from the village hello daughter yes we've just left your visa last business meeting with her secretary and in a few minutes the phone will no longer work going deeper into the mountains the danger rises as the water levels drop at this junction of rivers the skill of her boatman makes all the difference he must weave between the tree trunks carried downstream as a result of violent storms [Music] when the river is clear you can see the tree trunks but even if we see them the canoe might still hit the wreckage you have confidence in your husband oh absolutely hundred percent he's worked for me for 16 years and naturally no one on board has a lifejacket at midday it will be time to sit down to lunch and in order not to fall behind schedule I'm making salad Gina has thought of everything in case of the unexpected with no more gas what's wrong with him I need six gallons of gas to get to the village okay calm down well we'll get you some you see they didn't buy enough gas for the trip and now they've run out the engine uses a lot of gasoline so I'll give him a hand it's a blessing from God if you hadn't been here what would have become of us we'd have never made it to Bach at the Cooper before nightfall Gina queen of the river tuara is also its guardian angel rise some chicken and sauce accompanied by a small green salad Gina the boss is also a chef [Music] lunch break for the whole crew [Music] the village of Pinot gana marks the midpoint of the journey everyone must stop here it's a typical quiet town with a military garrison all along the river the Panamanian border police search each boat a short distance away as Colombia it's a country that's been at war for 30 years and the world's largest producer of cocaine the military are looking for drugs and guns and food for the Colombian guerrillas even the Queen must show her papers the search lasts an hour as her canoe is thoroughly inspected the police say it's a routine check of the goods that I'm carrying but since the border with Colombia is close by the police suspect we may be supplying the guerrillas but we've never even seen one a guerrilla Ramos on this stretch of the river the police have imposed a curfew at 6 p.m. all traffic is banned in fact the military also trying to stop the flow of illegal immigrants heading north for the United States [Music] [Music] for some life seems to be a bed of roses but not for these men and women who've come from far away these illegal immigrants from Africa have entrusted their lives into the hands of three smugglers and their canoe now in the jungle comes the riskiest part of their passage to the United States [Music] they need to cross one of the most tense and hostile areas in the world at any time they might be seized by the army and sent back to their own country it all started 48 hours earlier in Turbo northern Colombia it's the point of departure for the well-organized human traffic after several days of bargaining the head of the smugglers confirms the illegal immigrants will leave the same evening at 11:00 p.m. on board one of these fishing canoes at the appointed hour we quietly leave the city with the smugglers ostensibly to go fishing at sea our presence makes the crew nervous fearing it might alert the police lower your light and your camera careful and watch out for the branches there there the somalis they're hiding over there waiting in a marshy areas sixteen they're legal immigrants twelve men and four women they've been here for two weeks hiding inside a house come over here come over here get it get in the front once away from the city the boatman steps on the gas we must travel the greatest possible distance at night to foil the army patrols [Music] it's a three-hour crossing on a rough sea then through the night along the Rio su chio the saltwater river the helmsman navigates blindly [Music] submit we has a tree trunk and there's panic on board you see one of the eretrians is about to explode no problem be quiet it's okay okay oh damn look the second tree trunk nearly impaled the boat we avoid being sunk though why why is there all this water in the boat oh it's always wet look see comes in here and there [Music] it's not it's fine it's normal that's water [Music] tonight the illegals have once again escaped death they've brushed with death several times since starting their ordeal they come from Sudan Eritrea Somalia even Bangladesh first they flew or sailed across the Atlantic fake Ecuador a country for which they don't need a visa from Ecuador they head for Colombia on foot by boat or by truck their final goal is the United States and the hope of a new life the immigrants have left the city of turbo in Colombia to reach Panama without getting caught by the military they have to cross the near impenetrable jungle the Darien [Music] in the morning fatigue adds to the tension after the Rio sushi oh there's a swamp infested with crocodiles the vegetation is so dense that it wraps around the propeller the engine heats up and threatens to break down 13,000 kilometers from home and completely lost these men and women nevertheless keep going they can only trust their in faith and the smugglers these new unknown masters of their destiny [Music] the Sun has been beating down since dawn the water levels continue to fall and progress is slow in this little corner of the world we have no idea where we are but Roberto the leader of the smugglers seems to be enjoying himself he's planning to hike the prices who speaks the best Spanish you yeah the guide means half the money half the money he needs half the money now guide to get to the border how much is $800 now an 800 other border there's a discussion that it will be brief resigned all talk of revolt is quashed everyone takes out their dollars 800 for 16 people they're reluctant but have no choice [Music] what you what joy your people there's $800 the boatman receives his share with no qualms and proud of his work leaves happy [Music] [Music] the group starts off it will be a long day the border with Panama is closed further north in the forest another group of men is on the move towards another paradise these are not immigrants but prospectors returning to a mine in this jungle full of surprises it's best to be armed to defend themselves and to hunt for food is that look [Music] [Music] [Music] what is it it's a pelican toner good oh yeah to make soup it's very tasty their weapons are not only for hunting but also to repel predators it's hard to walk here the road is dangerous there are many snakes Jaguars and many Pumas in this jungle there's a Jag was down over there we kill them in those holes that we shoot them well get them out of their holes and then we kill them this is where they sleep mercury particle and Rubens have come from their small village where they partied for three days there's a small camp a little base but since they have no more money they return to work on this River the Rio Salado the natives know this river well and for centuries have been looking for the most precious of minerals gold using this homemade machine which is essentially a vacuum cleaner they plunge under water to scowl at the riverbed they suck up the sand which then settles into a sieve after two days of work the moment of truth will they be gold and how much I think I see some specs how much you think you've got that I don't know it's hard to say this traditional method of panning may reveal some golden flakes but did you lose lots of gold doing it that way no if you do it gently the gold won't wash away the heavier gold remains at the bottom of the bowl that's more than one gram surely it so good oh yeah $25 a gram look at how the gold shows up so I guess you're happy yeah it's taken two days to finally find something the gold will fetch barely fifty dollars but it's enough to celebrate with before returning here and beginning work again at any moment we could find a lot of gold if we do then I don't know what we do we get straight back to the village go a bit crazy and spend drink dance if we find 50 or 100 grams we'll go crazy it's like Gold Fever yeah Gold Fever gold crazy too much gold is evil you don't know what to do you go mad you know for gold people would kill it's the fifth hour of the truck and the immigrants had no idea such a living hell was possible America is still far away how are you Mamoon how're you feeling in this forest we're even hardened adventurers have given up they only have their city clothes their light shoes and their entire belongings carried on their backs whatever they have or don't have they must press on they walk without knowing exactly where [Music] suddenly the black tarpaulin indicates signs of life it's a base camp the group will have to wait here for several hours for a new smuggler to guide them where are we okay where are we the location is unclear but what is certain is that the camp regularly accommodates illegal immigrants for now neither the Army nor the guerrillas have discovered its existence biggest problem is the army to prevent the military arresting on the illegals are taken here and then we get them across the border you are logged at time into a la Frontera in the late morning it's almost 40 degrees 40 degrees of humility mosquito weather the sleepless night and difficult walk have left their mark bruises on both body and soul one of the illegals agrees to tell us his story on condition of anonymity immediately the government put me in jail for almost six months then from that I escaped it from the jail and I would not come back to my country how was the price of this trip much more money about $15,000 or $16,000 to finish line to finish Alanya how did you get this money some of them by working and tell them my family interview and what is your dream just leave peacefully in America yes leave peacefully to work colleagues money and to help my family the hours tick away and the still no sign of the new smuggler the other major concern is the quantity of food and drinking water both of which are now dangerously low Roberto the chief smuggler shows us that water can be found all around us no problem this water is safe to drink no problem it's like fruit juice you can drink this no problem see in the afternoon the second smuggler finally shows up at the camp in his canoe but once again there's confusion and another crisis meeting why you leave us here what Paran silly how much spontaneous no sir Cointreau epidemic over our parents died biography Lord L parallel via to temptation unlimited tell him to tell that no we have the border when we finish the boat we'll give the rest relative telling okay for once and this is the first time the migrants are successful it's a small victory the smugglers forbid us to film any further or to continue with them to keep the border crossing secret it will be four months before we have any more news these Somalis Eritrean Sudanese and Bangladesh's did finally achieve their dream their American dream the hardest thing to take on the river is the Sun burning stultifying almost 40 degrees for Jeana it's time for a siesta the rest is all too short the engine cannot do it alone the river is very dry we'll have to get in the water and raise the canoe against the current it's always like that in the summer in winter it's not like that at all but now in the summer it's very hard very difficult the entire crew apart from little Chui is forced to get into the water they have to use brute force to push three tons against the current in the village they know Gina is on her way a boatload of children is on its way to lend a hand we're trying to head up fortunately they're people in the village er will pick us up Pablo go ahead well no kena give into the wars and grab the rope start to pull it hush the canoe is two lights and can't make it and now the engine stalls and the canoe begins to drift Gina sees that the canoe is heading straight for her own vessel they narrowly avoid a collision come on harder til your seat oh you need to put it down in this canoe come on this side grab the can [Music] twelve hours to cover just 30 kilometers it's now three days since they left Panama City hey we've arrived at Boca the coop a hooray now we must untie and unload the other bug out as usual the village children jump for joy when they see Gina and her team rockin a coupie is a typical easygoing darian village with a population of some 2,000 in this little paradise in the middle of nowhere afro and native panamanians live peacefully together in a village where there's neither running water nor telephones people live here from agriculture primarily bananas these these bananas are plantains they're very nice they're the best the plantations are located a few hours walk from the village the work is tedious in the furnace-like conditions and the pay's poultry just five dollars a day per person [Music] gina escaped this life of slavery due to her business she's become the richest and most important woman in the village welcome to my little palace this is my grocery store this is your life's work right Gina oh yes this is my pride and joy because I work for Darian and for the people of Darian Bertha and this is my husband together we've made all of this possible but success comes at a cost while her husband Minds the grocery store Gina the Nomad lives on the road in two days to refurnish her stock she will leave once again for Panama City another challenging journey fraught with pitfalls all the sacrifices I have made in my life are on behalf of my children because tomorrow or the day after when I finally close my eyes they will inherit everything I didn't have that opportunity so at least when I died I'll die happy because I've left something for my children they will have something to raise their children with because God has given me that possibility you must never tell Gina that she's a great woman her answer will be that for the people of Darien nothing is impossible [Music]

Channel: Best Documentary

Views: 1,452,869

Rating: 4.6095486 out of 5

Keywords: documentary 2019, documentary, travel, deadliest journeys documentary, most dangerous roads in the world, waterways, deadliest journeys full episodes, free documentary, National Geographic, dangerous roads, human destiny, panama documentary, Deadliest Journeys, roads

Id: IimRwUcrNLM

Length: 49min 24sec (2964 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 30 2019