Desert Nomads (Full Episode) | Primal Survivor: Extreme African Safari

foreign [Laughter] the time during the day when Lions could just easily be sleeping on the other side of that bush in the shade I'm not at the top of the food chain [Music] oh wow three-toed big huge heavy animal in this kind of environment you want to try to see them before they see you for sure [Music] they're right there they're right there right there that is the black African rhino [Music] I would have never in my entire life ever imagined I would see African Black Rhinos in the wild so incredibly rare wow wow wow this is incredible I'm Haze and Adele wilderness explorer I'm on a grueling solo journey into East Africa's legendary Great Rift Valley I've always known that this place in the world is a mecca for wildlife as a biology teacher I've done a lot of talking about this place and here I finally am in one of the wildest places on Earth formed 25 million years ago the Great River Valley is considered the cradle of human evolution and it's one of the most biodiverse places on Earth it's home to Africa's most iconic wildlife known as the big five lions leopards rhinos elephants and buffalo walk these lands and I'm on a mission to see them all this is a special spot this special morning look at that how many Olive baboons are there it's the nature shows that I used to watch when I was a kid they got me so excited about wildlife and right now I'm living it my Rift Valley solo Safari South will be a 500 Mile Wildlife Journey like no other through some of the most extreme environments on Earth I'll be tackling Windswept deserts towering escarpments massive Lakes and deep gorges My ultimate goal is one of the greatest Wildlife destinations on the planet the legendary savannas of the Serengeti I specifically chose this time of year to begin this Expedition I still have a ways to go but I've got to get to essentially what is the beginning of a race the beginning of of a marathon the southern migration is fast approaching when big animals start to descend on the Serengeti to eat breed and give birth it's one of Nature's greatest spectacles and it's right where I'm headed there won't just be tens of thousands of animals it'll be millions of animals beginning a giant migration and if I time it right it's going to be an adventure of a lifetime my first challenge is to cross the notorious shall be depression a harsh mix of arid desert and wind blasted Flatlands one of the toughest terrains in all of Africa my target is Lake turkana the gateway to the Great Rift Valley Beyond but before I hit the desert I need to find water oh wow oh wow really so I'm climbing down to a potential Watering Hole as far as Cliffs go he's a doozy but doable I'm pretty sure I don't want to be my last climb rock is really crumbly sometimes you just have to believe all right okay you seem solid enough these are working okay okay nice I've made it down but there's a problem the watering hole is dry Buffalo or it was this is an incredibly challenging place for any kind of wildlife to survive so it's just difficult for me as well survival and death out here but there are still some animals around that are adapted to these arid conditions the gravy zebras can survive for five days without drinking water they're looking right at me they're different from other zebras in that they have really big round ears they're the biggest of all the zebras and they're by far the rarest they have the very coolest of the paint jobs we have different faces we have different fingerprints zebras have different stripes and that's how they identify themselves normally there would be water there would normally be a lot more animals but since they're all gone this just gives me a heads up that I've got some ground to cover if I'm to survive my journey ahead across the Shelby desert I'll need to find water and I best hope rests with the remarkable tribe that call this desert home the gabra nomadic herders they make settlements in the sand and find water in the Arid wilderness and they will be crucial to my chances of making it through the Shelby desert it's all opening up here Wide Open Spaces here goes as I reach the outer edge of the Shelby desert the forest becomes withered scrub and I hit the eeriest environment I've ever encountered and you hear that because he's very bizarre trees weird so weird this dead looking Forest is singing the branches whistle a haunting tune ah and I think I know why okay right there all these ants that are living inside of their little home inside a thorn they all have these little entrance holes and they act like a flute so it's got these branches full of flutes that wind up collectively acting like a whole bunch of whistles that's why this place has that weird sound and oh yeah they're coming they're coming in force now and stinging getting in my facial hair the fire ants that hollow out these Thorns are feisty and injecting me with Venom hi the answer already getting me a whistling Thorn Acacia Forest it's just a totally bizarre natural ecosystem in the Shelby desert no desert is the same it's just depends on where you're at what kind of neighborhood you're in and this is so totally bizarre leaving whistling Forest I now enter the desert for real that Shelby was forged by ancient volcanic activity a harsh expanse of black lava rock is ahead of me there's a stone Corral up there looks like it's just recently built this is where all the Rocks were that they're building this rock wall yeah it's all new rocks so this isn't super old so whoever is out here they have goats and they put them in these Stone Corrals they keep them nice and protected from the Predators more than likely hyena turning this volcanic rock to their advantage must be the work of the Gober tribe this is a good sign it means people are around but I don't know how anybody can make it out here but there are people passing through here somehow [Music] whoa I just caught that in the corner of my eye can you see it can you see that snake hidden it is a big heavy snake look at that wow that is a puff adder it's highly venomous you have to make sure that you are out of its striking range so I am being very cautious a monster like this is the most dangerous snake in Africa its Latin name is bitus eritans which means violently striking puff adders can deliver five times the amount of Venom needed to kill a human being when it was all curled up and hiding he just didn't see it it is the quintessential Ambush Predator they'll stay in a hiding spot just like over there for for weeks on end the reason why they're called a puff adder is because they make that sound that puffing noise it senses me as a threat a snake like that is concerning to see because I know that there are a lot of puff adders between right here and my way to the Great Rift Valley I have to watch every step I take the Shelby desert is one of the most extreme places on Earth in the local language chalby means bare and salty [Music] and the air is bone dry [Music] I need to find water and the only way I'll do that is to find the gabra every single Little Rock is trying to get at my ankles with every step there ain't nothing out here talk about No Escape of the Sun sometimes it only rains a quarter of an inch in a year and Relentless dry winds push temperatures to over 100 degrees making this place feel Barren and dead but then up ahead I spot something it's a herd this and people babita hey hello the only people that are around here the Gaga hello brother thank you Missouri yeah okay thank you I gotta brush up on my gabra after a harsh Trek it's nice to get a warm welcome from herdsmen watto and Barako great though mean people it's starting to get desperate there for a while the nomadic gabra survive almost entirely from the milk and meat that they get from their goats and in the middle of this seemingly Barren expanse a small community has settled their ability to find water sources out here is legendary this deep well is a Lifeline for the gabra and their herd truly kicking it all in right now it's a crash course just trying to keep up with everybody in this what am I saying sometimes you just land into things and you don't have all the words to express yourself but this is magical over the years the gabra have uncovered Deep Springs in the desert and built a small network of wells allowing them to survive and travel through this unforgiving landscape and the magic word is bhaji that's water look at how excited all of the animals are look at all these they've been waiting for water there's only one way to bring the water they need for their goats to the surface hard work [Music] and if I'm going to drink their water I have to do some lifting the gobber use a unique rhythmical song to set the tempo it's definitely tiring but the singing in the Rhythm just keeps you on Pace the lifting starts fast and relentless but there's soon a shift in the tempo of the song starting to really slow down now we're almost finished now the songs changed oh yeah yeah and we're done now and uh wow what an amazing experience yes auntie the gabra are a generous people and Watson Barako invite me to rest and eat with them on the menu fire roasted goat Ninja means I'm hungry after the legs after the ribs then it goes to the backbone and as you can see there's nothing goes to waste just like that ready for the barbecue Roy that fire is hot when I tell watto and Barako of my plants to cross the desert to the Great Rift Valley on foot they do seem concerned okay this journey that I am embarking on they've never heard of somebody doing it solo the biggest danger is running out of water running out of food and then the wild animals particularly in this region hyenas which yeah I don't like hyenas either but then the herdsmen give me a vital piece of information that could make all the difference to my journey okay just right where the sun was setting go westbound I can join them for a few days sounds great the gabra move entire villages on the backs of their camels to find new pastures and Watson Barako tell me that in the western desert there is a camel train heading to a new settlement near my destination Lake turkana if I can reach them in time I can travel with them for part of my journey it's going to be incredibly dry incredibly hot that's why they want to have me join their camel train for at least part of the way to get my way that much closer to the rift valley by the looks of it it's going to be a really interesting day tomorrow yeah I want to try some of this ah sound like it's so good yeah you just got to get your fingers right in there and the fat is still sizzling finger licking good so good the herdsmen tell me there's absolutely no food to be found out in the desert so I need to take a ration with me that's special to the gabra what is this [Music] it looks like it's primarily animal fat they were saying if I really run out of food my last resort is to dig into this but from the from the looks of it and the smell of it they said to definitely cook it before I eat it [Applause] so this is where I'm spending the night tonight I think we're all enjoying looking at ourselves in the camera but uh talking a little bit about the day today very long very hard but what an amazing experience tomorrow I'm gonna head out on my own way they're wishing me luck and I'm in their prayers as soon as the Sun is up I'm ready to go again but before heading off watto and Barako give me a gabra totem a goat's toe bracelet okay I gotta 100 . this is great yeah the journey ahead of me across the chalby is going to be long and hard I still need to Traverse over 70 miles of brutal desert to reach Lake turkana my gateway to the great riff Valley my best chance of success is to catch the gobbler camel train but there's no guarantee of finding them and these lands are hostile nope uh I am not surprised to find one of these it's always better to find them first before they find you okay there there you are okay there are you gonna cooperate there I need to handle this particular kind of Scorpion with extreme care it's a species of thick tail scorpion and its sting is dangerously potent as a general rule the smaller the more narrow the Pinchers are the more potentially dangerous the Venom is and then the other part that makes a scorpion a scorpion is that needle Sharp spur attached to a Venom gland let me see if I can flip it around without does scorpion do anything crazy a lot of ways they're record holders they're creatures that can withstand the very hottest conditions this scorpion is perfectly adapted for the desert they can survive for a year without eating they catch their prey with those Pinchers they hold it into place and then with that with that Stinger it can look for the weakest part of a body of their prey and then wedge that poison tipped Stinger right into their prey either paralyze it or kill it breaks a hole into the body cavity of its prey and then sucks the juices right up I love it when a scorpion is being this Cooperative uh I'm able to see it up close to him I didn't get sunk but I will let it go and there you go yeah you are cool I push into the planes of clay at the heart of the Shelby desert this Barren terrain was once the bed of an ancient Salt Lake [Music] now dead flat and without a scrap of vegetation this open expanse is scoured by hot winds [Music] this wind just never stops you think wind cools things down but out here in this part of Africa it's just like having a hot hair dryer right against your whole face all day long it's pretty hard on the lungs and eyes you've heard people say there's no place to hide it's nothing compared to this way out and exposed in the middle of the clay Flats things get more serious I gotta try to get out of here oh no just like that just as fast as it comes out of nowhere disappears again these so-called dust devils are swirling vortex traveling at up to 60 miles an hour nobody got hurt just a little bit of 80 grit in the eyeballs wow just a force of its own and the dust just goes up into the sky there's nothing out here to stop them they just keep getting more and more momentum that was a little one big one if you're real bad I bet at last a bit of vegetation I've made it across the wind blasted clay Flats but just as I'm thinking of settling down for the night spot an ominous track you gotta pay attention to the ground hyenas definitely are here [Music] this is hyena poop that's real white that's a whole bunch of hair and chunks of bone honey in a poop because hyenas eat every last scrap of a kill including the skeleton they're scat of pulverized bone is almost pure white you can see right here they look a lot like dog except with hyenas the front paw it's really big and the rear paw is hardly anything at all it's really small it's because with a hyena the way they're built all the muscle all the masses up front so it supports a lot more weight mostly it's because of their jaw and their head so pound for pound a hyena has one of the strongest Jaws in the animal kingdom because they have Jaws built to crush bone you don't want to get into tangle with a hungry hyena because was what they're capable of they're quite capable of ripping arms off and and worse they are around it's just too dangerous to sleep out in the open the Gober told me stories of men going missing and just their clothes being found I need to make a plan to protect myself overnight this will work out the safest thing for me to do is to sleep up in a tree if you know anything about hyenas they are horrible at climbing trees so yeah this is the most logical thing to be doing there we go yeah there good that's probably all I need bed frame and this is a rope pretty strong and in a pinch it'll work oh that was a good one love that now just lay these sticks everything's a little bit wobbly try to keep the sharpest Parts down on the bottom and make kind of like a a cradle for myself just tuck these in here and I'm done kind of like a hammock I have slept in worse places but rarely are they this cool okay I think it's time to get some fire going use my sandal that's how they do it these sandals by the way this is what all the locals are rocking they're made out of recycled tires this looks like a nylon eight ply all-weather radial I use these for walking but right now I'm going to use them to help me get a fire started I'm gonna crunch all this up to get a fire going [Music] my tire sandals are a handy platform let's go nice and slow in the beginning and with enough friction I work to create an ember there we go good good gotta feed this feed this feed this feed this you can see that ember right it's growing okay yeah fire cool good good good yeah fire is up just in time for Nightfall I'm getting hungry and all I've got to eat is the emergency ration the gabra gave me when I first saw it honestly it looked like goat poop and covered in slime but now that I see it it kind of looks like um really really dried chunks of meat but it can go a little bit Rancid and I guess it smells like The Butcher Shop yep and now with these hot Coal's just perfect but that meat on there just like that and that will cook just like so a fresh palm leaf is my frying pan the plant's moisture stops it from burning that is sizzling okay yeah you can see that um tastes like tastes like the like the grizzle on the side of a frying pan after you get done cooking your hamburgers and stuff and that stuff that's all kind of like the scratchings I guess not the last little bits of it here now I head right up there cool just a quick update the wind is howling there are wild animals about here are things down there I wish you could see further out there that was not that bad I actually liked it back on the ground I can see what was prowling around underneath me just last night there's some tracks here hyenas definitely are here and they were here last night I'm glad that I was sleeping in a tree last night I take a very precious Swig of water before I head out my Supply is running low I need to find the gabra camel train or things could become desperate thank you and in the shade of a tree I spot a promising lead I'm seeing it all right now this right here is camel scat seems dry but that's just the nature of camels they can squeeze every little bit of moisture out of their food this is so fresh right here that there were camels that were parked here and I can see people Footprints as well I am on the right camel scat track this is great best sign I've seen so far I am I am on track need to move quickly to catch the camel train missing them now isn't an option but a major obstacle stands in my way this is where the terrain really gets not nice this was all volcanic lava this was all liquid you can see where it came out of the ground it just like and then just squished and flowed out that way and then it couldn't go anywhere and then it just stayed in time it's like you can pick up this rock and here you can see where once it was just liquid and just squished apart like taking a a cheese pizza except it just stays as these razor sharp pieces of rock that just crumble right right under your feet and it's as dark as it gets so it's as hot as it gets and it's just like hell the black lava soaks up the sun's Heat making it baking hot picking my way across it is sapping my energy thank you and costing me precious time but finally I make it through foreign with the lava Field behind me I'm picking up pace this must be the desert passage the Gober nomads use although the camel train is still nowhere in sight but just as I was giving up hope on the horizon thank God honestly thank God [Music] there they are I got them the camel train [Music] ER yeah the camel train look at the house it's amazing wow I cannot believe I found it this is spectacular what's your name my name is he is the leader of this whole Community here and the leader of this Caravan this big train of camels water oh my God thank you okay meeting up with these Nomads is a lifesaver [Music] but we've all still got quite a journey ahead of us [Music] look at this all of this that you see right there the Twigs the materials the baskets this is everything that they own this is the this is the moving truck right here go to extraordinary links traveling for weeks at a time moving entire settlements across the desert in search of new grazing grounds for the herds they're moving to bigger bigesters it's all about being hopeful because it hasn't rained here for so so long so as spectacular as this whole event is this is an event out of desperation and yes there are Smiles because people there is hope that life will get better once they get to their destination at last we arrive talk about a long day everybody's excited to be here it's time to unload and set up camp and it's the woman's job to construct their homes all from the materials that they've been carrying on their camels all right give a helping hand but in in Copper culture it's only the women that are to be building the house there is a gabra saying that if you don't find yourself a wife you won't find yourself a home all those sticks and all the building material that was on top of a camel is all being assembled to make a house after a while they start to look like this that's the finished house to celebrate our arrival I'm offered a quite special drink coffee beans fried and goat butter and then floated on top of Camel's milk it's very sweet oily highly dark roast coffee it's a new one for me where else are you gonna get a coffee made like this they have a great crunch kind of like a caramely flavored charcoal and um yeah you just crunch it up it's supposed to be good for the teeth they say it just like Scrubs it in and that's what everybody's doing you get kind of a carbon scrub when you're all done they have it all figured out thank you very much thank you what an honor you know as we chew on roasted coffee the elders huddle together and offer me a blessing for my adventure into the Wilds of the Great Rift Valley they're just giving me their best wishes they can and Their Blessings I'll never forget them that's for sure California now some of the men are getting together and singing This is their nightly entertainment it's about the happiness of being together and it keeps him this happy I'm game there's a lot to learn from these people [Music] the next morning I'm up early the gabra of set up home here but I've got to move on and my friends have pointed me in the right direction towards Lake turkana my Gateway into the rift valley I've made it across the wind blasted expanse of the childhood after days in the flat dust bowl of the desert a climb up high will help me see the incredible Landscapes and challenges yeah I still have ahead of me just one last push wow there it is I knew it was big but I didn't know it was that big that is Lake turkana finally look at all that water for as far as you can see and over there the entrance into the Great Rift Valley a world that I'm about to explore okay come for the next leg of my journey I will need to scale a mighty escarpment looks like it gets too fast and dropped down into the Great Rift Valley itself you gotta know exactly where to put your feet on the trail of an elusive herd of migratory elephants nice nicer wild elephants [Music] thank you

Channel: National Geographic

Views: 26,303

Keywords: national geographic, nat geo, natgeo, animals, wildlife, science, explore, discover, survival, nature, culture, documentary, perpetual planet nat geo, photography, full episode, Desert Nomads, Full Episode, Primal Survivor, Extreme African Safari, First Leg, Trek, Great Rift Valley, Hazen, Battles, Arid Chalbi Desert, Mission, Tribal Camel Train, Deserts, Extreme, Nomads, African Safari, Rift Valley, Battle Ground, Camel, Legs, Train, Safari, Tribal, Survivor, Rift, Valley

Id: 3iPyf1V5jYk

Length: 44min 17sec (2657 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 27 2023