Zambia | Life In An Old Truck | Deadliest Journeys

after seeing victoria falls for the first time david livingston wrote scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight the zambians call it musi or or the rumbling smoke this rumbling resonates throughout zambia a country that has never really tapped into its rich resources or invested in its infrastructure driving a rift in zambia is a big challenge [Music] the zambians are struggling to survive but remain optimistic throughout every challenge they face there's always a solution when the cabs are about to crack under the weight of their goods they use their heads in both senses of the word some risk it while others prefer to turn their bikes into delivery vehicles over one thousand pounds on each wheel [Music] [Music] nothing is thrown out in zambia and everything can be fixed [Music] there are also legendary men in the country who have power beyond measure however these men here are unable to leave their small islands and must stay surrounded by stagnant water until the king gives them permission on that day they'll begin their move in a customary procession that takes them to the highlands the locals have an expression the price of a buffalo is often more than the price of a man summer or more precisely the rainy season starts at the beginning of november in zambia [Music] wheels get stuck and the older machines start seizing up this particular one has provided 42 years of loyal service starting the motor requires a certain level of craftsmanship to become hit fast but stacking the machine and let's hope it works as it had been three weeks since nicolas and his father kosam earned any money they'd finally got an order but were having issues with their truck everyone got together to help save the truck they all call goddess of manunga the legendary iron lady without her the village of manunga would not exist kosum has been behind the wheel for over 30 years transporting bricks and stones to build every house and store in the village [Applause] everyone knows [Music] [Applause] [Music] is know [Music] [Music] [Laughter] if they can't get the truck going nicholas and his father will have to fork out 50 to bring a tractor [Music] [Applause] hey [Music] and these guys don't have fifty dollars to spare so they made one last attempt [Music] we'll have to wait and see if the goddess of manunga will make it the 30 miles to the brickyard [Music] it's hardly the most environmentally friendly vehicle but this is the least of their worries [Applause] two people are required to drive this old british-made beast nicolas became co-pilot at the age of eight it has become his father's eyes and ears over time as his eyesight has deteriorated [Applause] [Music] nicholas not only guides him but must hold on to the gear stick the entire time if not it automatically goes back into neutral [Music] this old british bird is constantly breaking down and groaning and her latest tantrum meant we had to make an emergency stop for fear something would explode time to top up the oil [Applause] you want to hide there's a leakage somewhere here in the engine the water pump has leakage so the motor moves or as we are moving we are moving our time [Music] every stop requires topping it up with two liters of oil and a jerry can of gas the tank that we have just okay now the pipes are not okay so we've replaced it by putting a container it is only five which has removed [Applause] [Music] [Applause] foreign [Music] it's clear that this old lady's frame is almost damaged beyond repair unfortunately the day the last bolt blows nicolas and his father will no longer have a source of income and neither will their workers [Music] the goddess was holding on for now but for how long despite her dramatic damages at least she's not under water like those in the southeast of the kingdom of barozziland the zambezi river had burst its banks the flood hadn't covered everything but entire villages found themselves knee-deep in water hundreds of farmers were trapped in their huts built on the highest part of their fields [Music] [Music] doesn't complain however the river will enrich his soils with silt and produce a good harvest but the flood does come with certain dangers he had installed a rudimentary security system to protect himself but why stay why had nambao and his neighbors resorted to fishing to survive and refused to leave their flooded lands well because they are part of the lotsy tribe who will only move from their flooded land when their king permits them on this day everyone was finally heading to the highlands in an incredible procession called cuomboka foreign [Music] foreign here he is sporting his 19th century british admirals uniform king imricol ii one of the most powerful kings on the african continents he is litunga the guardian of the earth he's in charge of the entire western province of zambia and its 650 000 inhabitants [Music] considered a living god he has immense powers only a few advisers and his court are permitted to speak to him without bowing you must never turn your back on the king it was time for the battle to commence between these men [Applause] [Applause] when the river's waters are about to reach the palace the king commands kuamboka literally get out of the water to join the dry land this pilgrimage to his second residence takes place on large row boats with his court the region's men begin to compete against one another at this point everyone wants to be selected as the royal paddler and this tradition selection process has been ruthless for over 300 years [Music] [Music] one of these that's what is important yes and you are not supposed to do it faster or slower but you know how to do properly you need to be to do it in a in the same regime the same way it's far from easy [Music] [Music] they need 300 royal paddlers and were nowhere near their target someone else struggling to reach their destination was the goddess of monunga who has broken down once again however kosum and his son nicholas have discovered the steering axle out of place [Music] okay as you can see the tires moved behind me there are just 30 inches between the bumper frame and the ground it's exhausting work [Music] [Applause] foreign without noticing the obvious danger kosum started to fill the truck with gas meanwhile underneath the truck [Music] the disaster was narrowly avoided but put everyone in the bad mood [Music] after three hours of exhausting work the iron lady was finally resurrected [Music] by top wish [Music] it was almost night time so the brick collection would have to wait until the next day [Music] at least on the way back nicholas and crossland were able to pick up a few passengers [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] just like foreign we could buy some new spare parts but [Applause] so this is how we survived here but it has been difficult for us my father is now holding now if nick is driving just because we are poor i do not have something isn't in the best shape so it's time for a visit [Music] is the only raster garage owner around these parts [Music] this vehicle is very strong no wonder why it is even still on the road because this make is made from britain long time ago so it's not easy for someone to learn this level unless he's got a lot of experience i'm the doctor of this track because i've been in the work for over 25 years so i know it very well so the wonder why are you even seeing it at this time it's moving due to my knowledge honey it's okay yes it's okay it can drive we can know how many kilometers the truck has or she must have done at least half a million miles kosam was praying dr angry would give his goddess the strength to head out the next morning for bricks [Music] there are thousands of resourceful people in the zambian provinces just like kosum each earning a living and sometimes risking their lives for just a few cents here his children weren't just throwing water on the ground for fun they're wetting the earth to prevent the invisible enemy from being released into the air they live in a disaster-stricken town [Music] is highly polluted by lead and zinc mines excessively exploited the toxic dust released over time is now everywhere with thousands of cases of lead poisoning amongst children as well as many other illnesses abandoned the townsfolk try to treat themselves using grandma's traditional solutions fifa [Music] these gallons of milk are in fact useless but seem to have a placebo effect so much so that alex and his brother continue to work in the now deserted lead mines the government shut them down when contamination exceeded warning levels back in 1994 but the town itself has never been de-polluted and rats as they call themselves continue to create this deadly dust yeah it was a prohibited area but uh since the gulf these people didn't want to face the government didn't want to help these people so they actually started working in here just by force okay but it's illegal it's illegal yeah actually [Music] this is what it's called the prohibited behavior for the denzel why is dangerous it's very dangerous because because of this alex his brothers and hundreds of rats are relentlessly digging and sifting for lead but spending 10 hours a day breathing in metal micro particles is the price to pay just to put food on the table [Music] it is tough because by the moment we finish putting soil into our sucks we started lifting those and we usually put the motorbike be [Music] the extracted lead will be used to produce car batteries crystal glassware sound insulation and even underwater electric cables africa is rich in mineral ores a profitable business that unfortunately rarely trickles down to its poorer populations zambia is the biggest copper producer in africa the factory that refines the ore has contaminated the town of mufilera the ore is extracted by injecting sulfuric acid which is manufactured in huge quantities and sold to the democratic republic of congo which also operates its own copper mines millions of gallons are transported on the roads and these trucks are ticking time bombs these trucks look like they're in good condition but they're often held together with bits of string joseph is carrying 20 tons of acid with no safety measures or cars to open the road for him [Music] you have to be every day when i wake up i have to thank god and ask him for his guidance especially when you are going to you are going to [Music] despite carrying sulfuric acid joseph had a good excuse for speeding there are often endless lines of traffic at the border [Music] joseph wanted to avoid sleeping in his truck so he plowed on faster and faster with one added danger his steering wheel is on the left and in zambia they drive like the british driving a rough time in zambia is challenging like when you want to overtake you can't see very clearly okay you have to move this side and that's when you see it so sometimes what you do is you come to your left uh uh [Music] risk taker joseph knew he needed to slow down as soon as possible but still called his mechanic without taking his foot off the gas [Music] [Music] he could very well end up like this driver but at around 4 30 p.m just six miles from the border joseph got stuck in a huge traffic jam he risked his life for nothing and would spend the night in his truck now we have to wait here because it's not safe that side he was within the queue so we have to start the queue early in the morning [Music] more than a thousand trucks had been queuing since the morning why a congolese customs officer was murdered the night before the border was in fact closed nobody was getting through [Applause] everyone was trying to find a parking space but some weren't great at taking directions yes and now you can do to you think you can one this one we need to move this truck yes it's already bleeding here we must go back even under normal circumstances it can take a week to cross the border so a group of entrepreneurs have put a system in place to solve this issue they offer businesses delivery using alternative routes transporting their goods on their heads or cargo bikes it even saves these businesses money as the bribes paid to soldiers are much lower than customs tax [Music] one ton of goods and the bike is still standing strong everything is calculated precisely [Music] despite this ingenious solution the bike still was weighed through traffic often fighting to get through [Music] [Music] um [Music] [Music] okay [Music] we [Music] thousands of tons of goods are illegally brought across the border every day [Music] joseph would struggle getting 20 tons of acid across on men's backs the driver unfortunately has to wait in line joseph ended up spending five days in the cab of his truck before crossing the border [Music] in manunga nicholas and his father kosam were unable to head off in the morning as planned they discovered their british goddess had a flat tire [Music] and it's efficient yeah yes here in africa that's how we do it remember foreign [Music] the tire has let's say seen better days but will be used until the very end the goddess of monongah kosum's pride and joy is invincible [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] these are very nice bricks as you can see the land here is full of gravel so when making bricks they become tough so they cannot be easily bred system bricks we can use it to build shops schools and other infrastructures they are very good [Music] [Music] [Music] the 42 year old goddess of monunga could finally take a well-deserved break but the villagers weren't done with her yet [Music] despite her numerous injuries this young boy will still see her driving around the village when he's all grown up this goddess proudly overtakes her more modern counterparts who could never withstand the same damage showing them that she still has some life in her engine and perpetuating her legend [Music] on the banks of the river zambezi the tense selection of the royal paddlers is coming to a close 300 men will have the honor of bringing the king to his second palace we'll have to wait and see if they're the right guys for the job this is one two three [Music] tomorrow is the big day the king was making them wait only boarding once all his personal belongings were loaded and he brought everything but the kitchen sink [Music] taking advantage of the chaos those disgruntled paddlers who've been assigned to less prestigious boats tried to sneak onto the royal boat [Applause] the captains tried to stop these free riders from boarding as best they could everyone was confused so the military tried to calm the situation today we are coming out from water to the upper land [Music] when the king of the lotsi people set sail in just a few hours his people can finally move to more hospitable lands after spending 43 days surrounded by flooded waters [Music] under the watchful eye of the powerful symbol that adorns his boat king imrico ii alongside a member of the zambian government started the procession [Applause] oh [Music] the queen followed in a slightly smaller boat with the boats for the court and royal mistresses in her wake [Music] the elephant symbol of the king's physical and mental strength came to life amongst the tall grass [Music] oh [Music] [Music] the king finally disembarked on the other side of his kingdom eight hours later with the people welcoming their king in a fanfare the lotsy will celebrate this successful journey for three days [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: Best Documentary

Views: 3,170,606

Keywords: documentary, roads, National Geographic, waterways, travel, deadliest roads, adventure, zambia, deadliest journeys, free documentary, full documentary, worlds most dangerous journeys, most dangerous journeys, hd documentary, most dangerous roads in africa documentary, most dangerous roads in zambia

Id: iKhKuCCQTak

Length: 48min 4sec (2884 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 25 2022