World's Most Dangerous Roads - Surinam, Gold Fever

[Music] [Music] hey yes [Music] the sun slowly rises over paramaribo the capital of suriname pedro is preparing for a long trip he has kept his childlike spirit even if he has just become a grandfather oh i don't like this pedro and his wife francesca are not like other grandparents they're gold hunters go on get going every year they set off to bury themselves for months at a time in their mind in the amazon forest being careful won't kill you go that way this is the only type of vehicle to manage the road where we're going no other vehicle could well unless it's a tractor take it down take it down that's good [Applause] gold has paid for their daughter's educations and they hope to earn enough to secure the future of their grandson he's our first grandson he's a man but he won't go into the forest like his grandpa no no he'll play football and go to school he's too young to go into the jungle [Music] pedro and francesca's journey will last several days 200 kilometers through the jungle on the road to gold suriname is difficult to locate on a map but it's not an imaginary country suriname is in the heart of the amazon a jungle country 163 000 square kilometers covered with virgin forests very few roads a few tracks and notably a lot of large rivers waterways where canoes are the trucks suriname is the least populated country in the americas with barely half a million inhabitants the majority of the population lives in the capital paramaribo suriname is a land of adventure to get from one village to another one usually takes not the road but the river and its unpredictable waters suriname was a dutch colony largely built on the african slave trade their descendants still lived there and now work for the gold diggers the garimperos fifteen to thirty thousand men from neighboring brazil suriname is their el dorado [Music] after a six-hour drive pedro and francesca reached the shore of the moroni river hey collect all the barrels and put them in the canoe [Music] they must now load 2 000 liters of gasoline three tons of diesel oil 100 liters of water dozens of kilos of rice vegetables potatoes enough food to last at least three months they still need to get the essential quad bike on board over 300 kilos in a canoe that is already dangerously low in the water pedro is hardly reassured do you have a life jacket oh yes i have a problem with water a problem what's that [Applause] you but if i fell into the water i wouldn't drown pedro financed this expedition with the money he made from gold last year everything he has he's plowed into what's on board but the old canoe is overloaded and the water is already seeping in and the rapids are close by here it's calm further on it's rough there are more waves that's why i wear the vest the river level has dropped significantly following the year's severe drought the silhouettes of the rocks are a constant menace the guy will have to steer the canoe using one foot on the rocks and the other in the canoe mind the rocks look out the rocks would break up if it hits a rock [Music] right yeah find out you're gonna hit the rockstar feared has happened the overloaded canoe is stuck on a sandbar hey come on friend come down get out of the boat and to help us but the boatmen are cautious not jumping without seeing where they put their feet first if your foot goes between two rocks you break it you break it so when you jump you need to know how you jump and you know yeah i've done this many times [Music] too late the boat has drifted [Music] it's now sitting across the current [Music] the engine is not powerful enough to move it if it capsizes it's the end of the trip hold the boat hold the boat go on quickly now get up ahead get up in front quick [Applause] foreign the situation worsens when the canoe touches bottom everyone including pedro jumps into the water not for too long though as there are water holes [Music] one hour later the boat moves a few centimeters it's enough to re-float it [Applause] um [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] fate causes one of the engines to fail and if that was not enough it's almost dry pedro notices a leak in one of the tanks and the loss of dozens of liters of diesel there's a hole here [Music] i [Music] at tapo and i'll put on a plastic washer mongotapo is a village in the jungle not far from the moroni it's where they hope to find a new engine and repair the leak [Music] put a piece of cloth and start to uh block it up and then gotta really wrap it around tight we won't arrive in camp today my husband i think i'll give him a pill so he can sleep for two hours uh or even all night and all of the day can you calm oh yes for me it's better to stay calm before i used to get very stressed so i prefer not to me maybe do you like this kind of life look you know i've been wanting if you should fight to achieve it and somehow they're achieving the improbable locating a replacement engine in [Music] next we'll install the new engine and get going again the canoes set off at full speed pedro is adamant about arriving at the midway camp before nightfall one hour we still have to go more yeah it's gonna be dark how is it to go in the on the river by night it's dangerous huh yeah because at night you can't see the the difference because it's nice how the current will go and if it's difficult to anticipate you can do it to captain i hope so keep my fingers crossed [Music] now it's a matter of trust [Music] me i'm afraid the boat's stuck [Applause] the level of water is low because of all the rocks under [Applause] underneath no i don't like to navigate at night but uh on we go not much fun to be here [Applause] [Music] traveling comes to an end for the day we're arriving we'll sleep here and have a wash and get something to eat we've traveled a lot it's been a long day i'm glad we arrived it uh it's been a hard day's work and tomorrow will be even trickier his last words are ominous [Music] in west suriname on the banks of the corontan river [Music] [Applause] a light pierces the night it's a small boat from a distant village apo era the villagers sailed all night to reach here it's low tide and the pontoon is located three meters off the ground the 30 or so passengers are a little [Music] nervous this pontoon doesn't seem to be for a remote village but a proper town the minibus picks them up but to get to it there's a mud path to cross hey there's never been any casualties but last week the passengers killed two poisonous snakes up man good is up because it's soft soft soil is soft too much water they head towards town to get there the boat passengers have made an incredible journey leaving apoera their village in the amazon rainforest they have taken 24 hours to get here just to go shopping in the big town newer nickery 14 000 inhabitants like suriname new nickery is a multi-ethnic city five communities live together peacefully [Music] muslims from java indians chinese and arowaks who were the first to settle here [Music] like the humans the gods too seem to live in harmony the passengers arrive in town at around eight in the morning they have a lot to do in little time in which to do it as the boat departs again in the late morning felix wants to sell his pineapples in the market back home in apoera all you need to do is just bend down to pick them up but here they're worth a lot of money [Music] the market at newer nickery is straight out of a painting [Music] [Music] the city people love felix's sweet pineapple this now i'm a regular this is the fifth time i've been here this is the best pineapple in the market but the inhabitants of apoera come mainly to new nickery to stock up on food supplies once a month malik 23 raids the supermarket owned by madame weichi okay i buy some groceries for whom like flour vegetable oil coffee creamer and coffee and so what did you buy here i'm not in april i tell you because it's a little bit expensive so it's better i come here once a month and then this will keep me up and this will keep me for the whole month yes for my me and my family yes i'm marking my goods so [Music] you know because a lot of people buy stuff so just to know your stuff you just put your name four hours after their arrival in the city the passengers are once again on the muddy road to the pier at the mother marcos the captain has bought a nice flat screen tv he's asked a friend to help he just said he have a four wheel drive so we make ask him to take me there no other car can go in there inside the captain has no doubt this form of transport befits his rank you just take out our picture good but as in the fable of the hare and the tortoise there's no use hurrying and the passengers overtake the four-wheel drive real difficult too many difficult for the people to walk here and travel here finally a tractor comes to help their problems are far from over the truck that is transporting the goods has now also got stuck [Applause] [Music] [Applause] as the hours tick by all sorts of things show up on the boat there's even a coffin the loading is underway but the captain fears he may have to stay in port water is very low very very low so we have to wait maybe when they finish loading and we're gonna see if we can come out here because with this water we cannot go no no no right now why it's slowly but uh stuck on the sun we are stuck now yeah [Music] the old engine lacks power but with humans lending a hand the good ship ida bali wants nothing to do with it and it doesn't budge one inch there's still one possibility [Music] [Applause] come on guys let's go [Music] just a few hours behind schedule the ida bali reaches cruising speed [Music] so now we travel to an um seven hour i think it's gonna be something of uh i think 230 kilometers in the river to the river but like i said earlier if it was to the road it will be only 80 to 90 kilometers but the river is you will see it it's full of course [Music] suriname has its own sense of time it's best not to be in a rush the jungle imposes its own philosophy of life on the locals but it's far from plain sailing [Music] in suriname almost all of the few paved roads lead to a pier [Music] from here there are no more roads [Music] to get to their village at langu these men and women have a tough journey ahead [Music] across the waterfalls at azinodopo and then the ones at bongo 300 years ago their african ancestors fleeing slavery took refuge behind the walls of water and stone but where once waterfalls were their protection these days they've become their tormentors it's impossible to negotiate the falls in a canoe the only way is to go on foot carrying all the cargo the smartest have everything planned the others carry their goods as best as they can for almost a kilometer minded mosquitoes they're really big out here further up past the waterfall they wait for another boat but the boatman only has one engine which he has to carry each time he makes this trip we have to make this detour because of the some waterfall can get by but they must unload their cargo first leaving the engine and canoe behind is too great a risk jerry prefers to play it safe his canoe is his livelihood [Music] 50 euros a day enough to live quite comfortably in the jungle it's two hours in the canoe between the two waterfalls then a 30-minute detour on foot to go [Music] around [Music] [Music] after a full day's journey the village of langu appears [Music] people live in these huts of wood and canvas [Music] time seems to have come to a standstill here [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] in the jungle a canoe acts as the school bus there is no road but the state hasn't abandoned its people okay let's start again one two three four five six yeah next yeah you start with nothing at the beginning and then your mummy gives you six apples apples how many apples do i have six moments gather your bags amy the teacher teaches in dutch the official language you got kids in the village never there are children in the village who have never been to the city who have never seen a car you never saw an onion who have never had anything other than a broom in their hands or maybe a bicycle the government subsidizes the school and the village generator as the generator runs on petrol it powers a village over here and another over there [Music] it's switched on at seven every evening but the next day the village may be without as the petrol is about to run out [Music] [Applause] [Music] once a month the strongest men in the village are tasks with collecting four thousand liters of the precious fuel [Music] which is provided by the government with six or seven 200 liter cans per canoe just remaining afloat requires great [Music] skill to work past the waterfalls the men are forced to carry 20 cans of 200 kilos each for almost a kilometer [Music] to do this ever since the first people settled here we're not equipped to carry such heavy loads so it's hard work it takes the villagers five hours to go around the two waterfalls [Music] okay [Applause] [Applause] [Music] hello [Music] yet it's a chore that nobody in langu resents on the contrary it helps maintain their independence everything revolves around work you don't get to see your family or children you work hard here too but it's peaceful [Applause] but in a few months time jerry and the inhabitants of langu might well find the calm shattered the mayor of the village heinz fredricks in ceremonial dress however believes langu will be reborn a road will be built will here be spared the misery of dealing with the waterfalls vehicles will be able to come all the way here some trip that now takes six hours by canoe will take no more than an hour by car my [Music] the teacher who was born in the village doesn't believe it for one second the road is a legend she's been hearing about since childhood since when i was young you talked my elders talked about it and it is it is in the heart of the people and they finish the road it is a dream come true [Music] five kilometers of forest have already been destroyed [Applause] [Music] [Applause] come on the forest is part of our heritage but we need some more modern things that's why we're investing in the construction of this road this is an opportunity for us to improve our lives [Music] [Applause] [Music] let us one day work for one machine for one man in one day yes they might dream of improvement but the road is a virtual invitation to destroy the forest especially for the gold diggers [Music] on the banks of the moroni river gold hunters francesca and pedro are forced to change their dugout to get to their mine by the time you get there it will already have thawed the time it takes to get home it won't go off it'll stay fresh until this afternoon will it rot no i'm not sure and of course there's the quad to get where we're going it's impossible to take the big canoe because the riverbed is dry and the tide is maybe not in two hours but two or three hours anyway if everything goes well that is which is rare in suriname [Music] especially when the arm of the river is littered with tree trunks [Music] [Music] now it's dangerous because the riverbed is dry [Music] maybe in a week no canoes will be able to use it everywhere you feel a bang underneath the boat everywhere everywhere you you feel it you have to very carefully especially when the propeller because this wood is tropical hardwood you hit it with a propeller you're gone the boatmen are all descendants of slaves and never leave their forest it's a big responsibility but these boys at a very young age they become mature if you don't go to school you have to work in the land since they are small these boys are coming in the creek because they'd be hunting they'd be fishing they'd be cutting the trees and now looking for gold [Music] go in that direction i can't anymore go that way [Music] the water levels drop dangerously pedro has to offload part of their equipment [Applause] to head off with a quad the river is not navigable you have to go another way and they'll take the baggage and carry on a little bit further [Music] it's no way we can stop that's the job never a calm day the gold mining region is a land of desolation [Music] miners such as pedro helped carve out this secret pathway it may be the revenge of the spirits of the forest because just a few kilometers [Music] later we need some new parts [Music] new parts fat chance of those [Music] this time pedro knows exactly what the problem is that's the petrol petrol is a very poor quality [Applause] [Music] [Applause] gasoline [Applause] okay [Music] so [Music] this is now their fourth breakdown in less than two hours [Music] under the canopy of trees in the middle of the day it's 45 degrees and the air is saturated with moisture the couple is exhausted hi [Music] [Music] even francesca's patience is finally running out there are times when patience reaches its limits it makes me want to explode help on the other side the boatmen are also beginning to tire come on let's get back in [Music] [Applause] why didn't you leave the canoe over there [Music] the next time you fall in the water i'll leave you you're crazy where is it leaking oh jesus christ my god calm down we just need a little help stay calm [Applause] we can sort this out [Applause] [Music] [Applause] the canoes finally reach their destination followed a few hours later by the quad [Applause] this is a kind of illegal river station from where all the garimperos in the region depart there are no more rivers at this point all travel is with a quad once again everything must be unpacked and unloaded true it's hard work but we made it yes we go about barefoot all day [Music] injuries quickly disappear getting the cargo up to the mine will take them till nightfall pedro and francesca will live here for at least two months at six am the camp begins to stir [Music] all day long the digger devours the [Music] earth it took four canoes tethered together to transport the machine this far [Music] it constantly feeds the metal beast [Music] [Music] [Music] yes [Applause] [Music] sometimes i find something and other times i find nothing i do all of this to earn a good living so i can have a decent retirement that's why i work so hard i always said i would never work for a boss i just work for myself we may not be earning much but it's us who decide what we do [Music] i'm stopping looking for gold today my head is exploding as in all the countries of the amazon suriname is slowly devouring the forest [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: Show Me the World

Views: 82,578

Keywords: documentary, roads, National Geographic, waterways, travel, Deadliest Journeys, most dangerous roads, free documentary, dicing with death, ADVENTURE, DISCOVERY, Deadliest Roads

Id: w3146E5-Mj4

Length: 51min 48sec (3108 seconds)

Published: Fri May 28 2021