Make It Out The Amazon Alive! | S1 E03 | Full Episode | I Shouldn't Be Alive

the Amazon rainforest covers an area the size of Australia it is host to half of all species of life on Earth many of them lethal it is no place to be lost alone in the jungle there are countless ways to die this is a true story of a fatal decision that betrayed a friendship and turned the adventure of a lifetime into a deadly struggle for [Music] survival Bolivia South America in November 1981 three Backpackers traveled to the remote Outpost of azri Amis in the Amazonian jungle Yosi Ginsburg is a 22-year-old from Israel fresh out of national service with the Israeli Navy the reason why I came to South America was one reason it was very clear to me I wanted I an adventure I was very very naive brigh eyed open to the world everything is possible with Yosi is Kevin Gail an experienced traveler he's a 29-year-old photographer from Oregon I was traveling I had an agent in New York and I was sending my shots to him so I had motivation to try to have some shots published and of course I was thinking uh maybe I'll publish some in National Geographic but it was primarily for myself that I was doing this with Kevin and Yosi is Marcus scham a 29-year-old school teacher from Switzerland Marcos and I had been uh great friends we'd been traveling off and on together for eight months he was going through a crisis a relationship had just broken up and he was falling apart and he just uh wanted to escape the three friends have spent months backpacking around South America but now a charismatic Austrian Carl rcta has drawn them to aamus with the promise of a real Adventure he will take them into the Uncharted rainforest to meet a lost tribe of Indians never before seen by Western eyes oh lousy map now deta the Hall of Olivia on one map look I marked it for you see that that's where we are now we cross the toichi river we cut the trail for 4 days and we end up at the village and then you see the real Indians there was an ex with a pen car said the Indians are there we had no reason not to believe him he told us that he was a geologist that he had been in South America for 15 years that he' been in the jungle numerous times he was an expert in the jungle so I had no reason to to his word listen it's going to be tough but we'll go in together and we'll come out together agreed yeah okay good let's do it [Music] step guys as we set off from aaras we started seeing and you know like things were changing and we weren't exactly the same people already and I think the reason for it was that we knew we leaving civilization behind and this is it just the four of [Music] us at marus it's a Junger the friends follow their guide into the rainforest ahead of them lies a week-long hike to the Indian village from there caros told them they will return to Civilization by rafting down the tuichi [Music] river it was a different world and we could hear animal life all over the place monkeys were hauling screaming and I could see birds numerous varieties all over the place it was like a [Music] picture we don't have food because car sensibly saying we wouldn't carry you know like tins and stuff there's lots of game so we'll hunt that's what you do in the jungle all we have is rice beans and salt that's all the rest comes from the jungle but what we kill is not so [Music] pleasant to the partt to the partt it's gruesome and Co waves it in the end and screaming and you see the Wilderness in his eyes isn't his element He loves it you've killed it you've murdered it you can't do that what there's no law here this is Bolivia you you take care of him we're going it well tonight Kevin hey Marcus pick up my gun Marcus would wouldn't bring himself to eat we killing to eat Marcus thinks can we save that monkey it didn't make any sense cuz we were in the jungle we were in this environment and those things happen and he was just oversensitive about [Music] everything you know K is not so tough what would you know about it y you were never in nature like this before well I was in the military yeah that was the Navy this is the jungle where is this damn Village oh this is bad my friend this you got to be careful with this you see the sauce they will all open up together in the end then you got no skin left and your feet are kaput guys I'm sorry he said it's tremendous pain we didn't believe him cuz it was part of it okay now he's complaining he's always complaining he's always finding a reason to complain Mar should rest one of you could go now with me to make contact with the village and then come back from Marcus The Village you said 3 or 4 days max to get there it's been more than a week now Marcus could be here for days hey you don't believe me you think I don't know where it is huh nobody's leaving anybody behind so what do we do huh it wasn't fair to Marcos to continue I wanted to continue if Marcos hadn't been there I would have continued it wouldn't there's no question about that we should go back down to the river we should build the raft now Marcus can take it easy on the raft what do you know about the river I know the river is back that way ah screw it it's your choice [Music] forced to abandon their dream of visiting the Indian village the adventurers head back to the tuichi river now they will raft out of the Jungle my dream had been shattered and I was very upset and I knew I wouldn't have another chance so I was in a pretty F mood I was very upset cuz my dream you know to make contact with the idian my that dream was gone and you know it was mainly because of Marcus but ahead of them lies nearly a 100 miles of river before the nearest settlement and the air strip [Music] home immediately we knew it's a mistake left left go left what left easy car on a good line we're on the Carl line we're we're right on course BR de in the rainforest Carl was the authority and rightly so but not anymore cuz on the river Kevin saw immediately that Carl is no Authority was ridiculous cuz Carl didn't know how to swim it was very obvious to me that Carl didn't know what he was doing in the raft and I I let him know I told him that he was doing everything backwards listen to me we do okay Carl nobody's going to drown I think we are okay okay maybe it's my imagination so now Z's like fighting on the raft they fighting because Carl said you know we have to pull to the left and Kevin said nonsense you have to go to the other side come on pull you car with Scream and curse you don't listen to me look what happens huh what did I tell you crazy on a river like that you know like no cooperation no friendship it was hell we're pretty close to the canyon huhuh I told you you got to forget the ref now look we are here almost the kown river it's m Paso San Pedro Force he called us and he said down from here it's a canyon and there's no way if you're going in you're dying there's no way out of it so two days on the river and you had enough huh you don't believe me we got to walk now you understand me Kevin look we walk around the canyon we stay close to the river if Youk further on there's a small man in Village clier CLI is halfway to San Jose we get to San Jose you're as good as home car said if you want to leave let's walk we wanted out you know this was a misadventure it wasn't fun for me either and Kevin was the only one that was not happy at all I wanted to continue you know we can the worst comes to worst we buns off the rocks and continue and we'll just do we just continue with our plan we'll stop before the San Pedro Falls hike around the the falls with our equipment build a new raft and then then we continue we can't let Carl take the river away from us y'll see I mean think about it why did we come on this trip in the first place Carl promised as an Indian village which was supposed to be the highlight of the whole thing we never saw it was it ever there all we have left now is rafting on the river and how long have we had on it less than two whole days and know way his Marcus coming he'll drag us down we could do it we could go It Alone you know it was a moment I just didn't know what to do I mean in my guts I wanted to go with the with Carl and Marcus but I already had this relationship with Kevin you know like Kevin was my hero Kevin I you know I chose Kevin you know like I in that split I chose Kevin he was my man so I stuck with him I said okay you know I'm coming with you I felt Marcus was in a very bad place bad spot I certainly didn't want to hurt him I didn't want him to make him feel worse but and I I couldn't help the guy I mean my best buddy and I couldn't help him we had this uh wall between us but you promised we'd go in together and we'd come out together this is different don't you get it I don't want you to come you're not coming so this is it yeah I guess it is in ret perspective how did we do that how can you split in such an environment you [Music] know I know you'll be all right let's get moving see I see you soon Carl you'll see the Aventura still haven't had enough huh you're full of it Kevin you're going to be fish food the PA of you it was hard wrenching it was like a betrayal and it was terrible feeling I really felt [Music] ashamed it should take little more than a week for Carl and Marcus to hike out to the nearest Village but now Yosi and Kevin face the dangers of the river alone Kevin and I went into full excitement me into that's the that's the adventure begin a new chapter no more four people Kevin became the authority and I accepted his authority I guess part of it was an issue of age but other part was that I didn't know [Music] Rivers all right getting that straight go keep in time with my rhythm almost immediately we entered a series of Roller Coaster Waves hard your side it was a different [Music] River ble hard it's becoming much more intense you know like the river is getting narrow the water swifter certainly it was a bad decision to continue that was a major uh mistake we're just shooting straight in into white water both of us were lying on the raft that was the only thing we could do suddenly it was clear to me that nothing that can prevent us from collide with this huge rock that was approaching and that's what happened we hit the rock all right Yosi I want you to listen to me now okay we can't stay here all right so I'm going to jump okay I'm going to swim to the shore and I'm going to throw you a line I don't want him to jump I he tells me why he's jumping and his plan is completely suicidal but in that stage I think not only is that it's suicidal he he kills me [Music] now don't leave me all right y throwing the shoes and the machete I saw the raft teetering back and forth on the on the Rock and then at the same time the raft moves and I hear the terrible Screech the mass of water just Yosi Yosi hold on he entered the Rapids and I saw him go through two or three Rapids a couple drops and around the bend he went and I didn't see him again there's like huge pressure on my chest and I can feel I can feel that you know like the power of the river I'm shooting at such a high speed and deep deep under the waters it's like the pressure surmount I cannot breathe I feel this is it I'm exploding I'm dying and I knew this is my end after a long time in the river I was spat again into the surface and that terrible Canyon behind me how did I pass it I just don't know I just have no understanding of it but I was on the other side by a miracle Yosi has survived but now as night falls he is separated from Kevin by more than 2 miles of river and impassible can the next morning Kevin starts to search for Yosi I decided to go down river and look for Yoshi [Music] Yoshi I was responsible for him being there and I didn't know if he was alive if he drowned or if he was hurt as Kevin works his way down river Yosi struggles back up the canyon towards him Kevin I'm walking up the right B early morning of the day after this tragedy This Disaster I know this scratch this metallic scratch behind the rock there's a small pool in the middle there the backpack is waiting yes when Kevin made this bag he said give me everything important to you cuz this is the life bag he tied two empty things to have it flow the life bag contains vital supplies a flashlight a waterproof Poncho a few ounces of rice and crucially the map that promises yosi's best chance of survival I put the backpack on my back and now with a new spirit I climbed up thinking that it's going to be easy now Kevin and I get together and it's going to be over we've got the equipment it's going to be a good story after another day of searching Kevin is less than a mile away from Yosi when he comes up against the canyon walls he has no choice but to turn away from the river and climb climb up into the jungle I knew that the San Pedro Falls was before me and I wasn't about to uh to swim through that so I decided to leave the water and Hike into the [Music] [Music] jungle now it's clear that when I was walking behind the ridge or the bluff in the jungle Yosi was was walking up River not very far [Music] away yes the friends continue to look for each other for days surviving on little food and almost no sleep they're unaware that every step is taking them further apart yes the only thing that kind of uh kept me going was the notion that Kevin is running after me and he will follow me and things will be fine when Kevin [Music] comes [Music] Kevin has finally worked his way back to the river but he is now miles Downstream from the canyon and Yosi after 5 days alone with no food or equipment to help him survive he is exhausted and starving by this point I realized my chances were very very very very minimal I mean I thought I was going to die so I had one shot that was to make it to San Jose Kevin's only hope is that the current will carry him down to San Jose was no longer thinking about Yosi he was thinking about my life I didn't have anything left so now I was trying to save my life and uh that's what I [Music] did that night the fear was so big that every minute every little thing I'll he I'll just jump in I'll start looking around to make sure there's no animal coming I just clearly heard some Branch breaking something is moving I knew I'm not imagining that something is moving near me I look with the flashlight around but the moment I put the beam on I see the face of a [Applause] Jaguar I had a cigarette lighter and I had a can of repellent and I remember that I saw that in a movie that you can actually set the repellent on [Music] fire the flame died and there was no Jaguar not like I I managed to scare him I sat there for the the rest of the night and you know I started crying and screaming and trembling it was consuming that that fear [Music] I just realized I knew it k something happened to Kevin something happened to Kevin and is he probably died I took the map out and I started studying it suddenly I remember Carl told us about some Camp the gold mining camp about 4 days away up re there so now I had like an idea I have to walk and looking at the map it was very hard to work it out but I thought within two three 4 days maximum I'm making it to the camp and once I made it to the camp I'll have a trail to follow and I'll make it out Yosi heads for the mining camp at curlier from there he will pick up the train to the Village of San Jose and safety and here I am singing out loud my chest open enjoying the scenery and fully trusting I'm going to make it then I suddenly discover a tree and I saw clearly was actually cut with a Mas Kevin and then it all makes sense to me actually Kevin was doing the same thing that was in you I would be trying to go to klia so I'm sure Kevin is there before me I kept on walking along that trail and it started being a bit strange because the marks weren't as clear as before deep in the bush I had no sense of direction and now I was stuck with this little Trail and hoping that it will lead me back to the river and to the camp and then after hours where I'm already despaired cuz you know it took me away from the river I see this footprint it's not an old footprint I see that footprint in the mud and I realize this is a hiking boot and there's only one person in the world that could have left that footprint it's Kevin [Music] [Applause] [Music] Kevin this Footprints wasn't Kevin's it was mine in all these hours half days that I walked I actually I actually walked in in a circle this Trail didn't lead me anywhere after hours on the river Kevin's condition is critical he is barely conscious and has no idea if he has passed San Jose or not all of a sudden I see a [Applause] canoe the current is Swift so it's it's taking me down river quite a [Applause] [Music] ways then finally they turn turned their heads and they began waving their arms like this like down river down river so I let go of the branch i' been holding onto and I began swimming towards the shore when they approached me they asked uh two uh two questions they asked me if I was lost then they asked me if I was hungry it was kind of [Music] funny they told me that they went hunting in this area twice a [Music] year I mean it's literally one in a million it was just pure [Music] luck I had been saved but I didn't know if Yi was alive but I just had this feeling that Yosi wouldn't give up Yosi pushes on towards the old mining camp with the rice gone he's surviving on little more than scraps of fruit scavenged from the jungle floor I just made it a rule I'm not going to lose the river again suddenly there was this opening along the river and I saw the Hat goer [Music] Kevin I was so hurt the disease on my feet this fungus reached my hands as well and my hands were raw as [Music] well and I felt that not only the pain that was so excruciating but I actually remembered how Marco said that and I remember that I actually didn't believe him and I thought that he's a win and for a second I was thinking that maybe what has happened to me was directly related to the way I behaved to him to my friend and now I know cuz I suffer myself [Music] Yosi has no choice but to press on and hope he can make it to San Jose the rain was merciless it was so tough the night came and it was very hard to escape what happened is quite unbelievable I didn't know of that phenomena but the literally the jungle started [Music] collapsing it took me seconds to understand but by the time I understood it was too late it was a flood and the River Rose no no no no [Music] I by morning the flash flood has subsided but Yosi has been washed far away from the river by that time I was really in bad situation it was the 15th day of my solitude I couldn't start a fire there was no sun to dry and no food and the rain and wet but things were clear I just had to stand on my feet and keep on walking CU I knew now there one one thing find the river just days after being rescued Kevin has made his way to a Bolivian Army Airbase to try and convince them to mount a surge I went to the office of the commander and I spoke to him and he said if a gringo traveler was was lost in the jungle that he didn't have a chance or [Music] I hear that noise and I listen to that noise cuz it's so foreign and I start realizing it's an [Music] airplane I'm saved and I know everything now I know also that Kevin is in the plane I know it's a it's a plane after me I know it's Kevin and I'm just jumping on my feet and I'm running and I'm screaming Kevin [Music] Kevin [Music] [Applause] what you know as soon as I realized this airplane was just oblivious to me I just [Music] collapsed for the first time I Was Defeated you know I felt defeated I knew that so much hope and they didn't see me and there's no way they could see me flying just a few hundred feet above in a Bolivian Army spotter plane Kevin shares yosi's sense of defeat I realized we couldn't see much and I asked him to fly lower and he he wouldn't he said it was too dangerous and on top of that we were flying in a straight line he wasn't following the Contour of the river I didn't have a chance to find Yosi this way I was going crazy it was very very frustrating like every day was very important time was the key element and every day that passed I knew it was another day that you'll see chances were diminished they were getting smaller and smaller Yosi has now spent 17 days alone in the jungle since the floods he's found nothing but rotten fruit to eat he is feverish and weak with starvation I was famined I was diseased I was injured and weak I started realizing that I don't know what's going on anymore I'm maybe I'm I'm I'm becoming [Music] insane I thought that you doy wouldn't give up so I began thinking about the next steps and I found a fellow named Tico and I asked him if he could take me up there toi he told me that he can but he gets to be back within 3 days so it's better than nothing so I said [Music] fine something beat me it was a strong bite and I can feel it's like a termite an ant and then another bite and then another bite and then they I attracted a nest of thermites and there were like hundreds of them and then thousands of them and I couldn't escapes there were no way I could Escape but the the worst horror was the ray of light hitting a red carpet you know like everything around me 5 6 M around me everywhere it was all red and [Music] moving my body was like a colander there was no place in my body that wasn't bleeding and I just had to escape now and I stood on my feet and I kept on walking I told him that I want to go as high as possible up the river as much as possible just kept going up and up and up I didn't want to stop the jungle is just the jungle [Music] on my knees on my on my elbows I'm [Music] crawling suddenly I started seeing a few sing that I recognized and it was actually Kura I went all the way back to that deserted mining camp but the mining camp wasn't there anymore the flood took [Music] everything my feet weren't feet anymore there were like two lumps two chunks of blood and pass I gave up I prayed to God just allow me to die all I want is to rest let me [Music] die fore speee I knew that was it for Yos it would take weeks if not a month to get back to the jungle and there's no way that he could survive another month in the jungle and I felt this this heavy heavy heavy feeling and this sense of loss and this terrible sense of guilt that I'd caused his death I clearly heard a buzz like a like a bee or a wasp and it's like coming closer and I can start hearing it circulating my my head so you know I'm already in like the zone of like delirium I'm just trying to get rid of that wasp cuz and there so strong that noise in a certain point I think it maybe it's trapped inside the mosquito Nets and I raise my head and I just try to get rid of that wasp and the buzz is in my ears and as I raise my head and there's no I don't see the was but when I turn my head right there on the beach I see Shades and [Music] [Music] people stay where you are stay where you are y don't move I mean it's like at that stage I'm not I I don't know what's going on just you know like kin like a flesh he's already there and I'm collapsing in his arms and we just old each other and old each other it's now just emotion we cry and cry and cry I couldn't believe it that that we'd found him if he would have been Upstream just 100 yards away he wouldn't have heard heard us we wouldn't we wouldn't have seen them I mean it's literally one in a million my life was spared I mean I know Kevin saved my life but it was a miracle for sure it was a miracle I think that Yi saved my life because if if uh we hadn't found him if he if he would have perished in the jungle I would have had a very heavy burden to bear knowing that I caused his death cuz I put him in the situation and I was I was apply [Music] responsible so I think that's how I see [Music] it Yosi and Kevin were safe but they had yet to find out what had happened to Marcus and Carl who they had left to walk out of the Jungle 20 days before it was a shock to us to discover that there was no trace of Marcus or Carl of course when I realized that that Marcos was lost in the jungle it was a very uh very heavy feeling Kevin went back into the rainforest immediately to search for them and he couldn't find anything any sign any track it just evaporated the Bolivian Army also mounted a search and discovered that the Indian village that Carl had marked on the map did not exist they they told me that Carl had a history of taking people into the jungle and leaving them it happened more than once they were very very familiar with Carl and they said he's a troublemaker and he found Refuge here in Bolivia and I was shocked over the following years both Kevin and Yosi mounted searches for Marcus but no sign of him was ever found I don't feel guilt about not taking Marcus with us then and even now I feel that it was the right decision not toow to come but I always thought then and I probably do occasionally now that if I would have gone back with with Carl and Marcos if we would have gone back together that it would have ended differently it was a life and death issue and and we we decided for him that he should go out yeah we did think both Kevin and I we were thinking that what we are doing is more dangerous if this is an excuse we we were thinking that still we made that decision for him and he never came back Kevin Gail is now a fitness instructor and photographer living in Israel he is married to Ora an Israeli he met while searching for Marcus and Carl Yosi Ginsburg is now a writer and a motivational speaker and has done much to preserve the Amazonian jungle he lives in New Southwest Wes [Music] Australia

Channel: I Shouldn't Be Alive

Views: 165,938

Keywords: Ishouldntbealive, documentary, documentaryfilm, documentarytelevision, documentarytv, factual, ishouldntbealivetvshow, realitytv, shouldntbealive, traveldocumentary

Id: cK9WA2Od_5s

Length: 49min 33sec (2973 seconds)

Published: Wed May 08 2024