Original subtitles

I just feel like I'm supposed to [bleep] starve.

Holy [bleep]

Narrator: They survived in pairs

and in groups.

And now, the best of the best are taking on their

greatest challenge yet -- To survive 21 days...

Oh [bleep]

...with no support...

Oh, my god!

...no one to watch their back...

- This is my shot. - ...Completely exposed.

Aah!

I'm terrified. [Sobs]

Narrator: "Naked and afraid alone."

First impressions, I'm driving out right now.

It's hot, dry as hell out here.

Not a lot of water.

My mind is racing really fast

that I'm like totally landing in this new environment.

My name is Luke McLaughlin, 32 years old.

I live in Asheville, North Carolina.

For a living, I teach primitive survival skills.

And I've completed a 21-day challenge in Namibia

and a 40-day challenge in Colombia.

This is the first time I'm doing this totally alone.

And it's really exciting in the fact that

I won't have anyone getting in my way.

But also it's a little scary

because I don't have anyone to rely on.

I'm really excited to put my skills to the full test

to prove that I can survive out here.

I feel nervous about being alone,

but I'm excited to play in this giant sandbox.

Narrator: Luke's solo survival rating or SSR was established

based on how he faired on his past challenges in three

categories -- self reliance, mental toughness, and skills.

On Luke's 21-day challenge in Namibia,

he struggled for seven days to obtain fire,

one of his strongest primitive skills.

[ Chuckles ] Aah!

Narrator: This caused him to lose confidence in himself.

How the [bleep] is that not -- aah!

But his perseverance and leadership won out.

Oh, that's good.

Yeah.

Ensuring his and his partner's survival.

We did it.

During his 40 days in Colombia,

he failed to kill any big game and had to survive on insects.

Luke: We got about seven of the crickets

and about 200 ant bites.

Narrator: But he ultimately completed the challenge.

Based on all of his accomplishments,

he begins with a solo survival rating,

or SSR, of 8.2.

This is the spot.

Well, I guess it's time to get naked again.

Feels more pleasant already.

I don't believe in underwear so... All right.

Narrator: For this challenge, Luke was allowed to choose

three essential items to keep himself alive.

Oh, bag, how I missed you.

Trustee little mini machete.

I got my pot.

This is essential for boiling water.

And then, oh, my old friend.

My bow and arrows and my homemade osage bow.

I also got my quiver here,

my coyote quiver, with arrows in it.

Tanned this coyote myself.

This is life right here. Hunting is the game changer.

My map.

So I'm by the baobab tree.

Water's just a little south of me.

So gonna make my way that way.

All right. Time to head out.

Narrator: In order to survive in Vhembe,

a semi-arid wilderness in the northernmost region

of South Africa, Luke will have to hunt the same sun baked

game trails as the area's fiercest predators --

Lions and leopards who stalk and ambush

weak or abandoned prey,

packs of hyenas smart enough to launch coordinated attacks...

[ Hyenas howling ]

...and crocodiles lurking just beneath the water.

♪♪

♪♪

Plenty of tracks out here.

Sand is really, really great at picking up tracks.

My dad taught me a lot about the outdoors and hunting

when I was a kid.

He passed away not too long ago.

It'd be really amazing if I could get a big kill

while I'm out here, but the trick is,

can I get a kill without getting killed?

Curiosity is important to follow here.

With a partner, you're kind of learning the landscape together.

There's scorpions and thorns and lions and hyenas,

so everything is all about slowing down

and paying attention and being mindful entirely by myself.

♪♪

This is cork wood.

The lightness of it makes it a candidate for fire.

It's a little bit rotted.

That's exactly what I'm gonna use tonight.

Daylight lies...

I maybe got three hours, maybe four at most, of daylight.

And so that's not a lot of time to try and make fire

and get a good shelter built so I don't get eaten tonight.

♪♪

I think I might see water.

Hallelujah.

♪♪

The water looks great.

And I want to just like jump in, but I can't

'cause there's maybe crocodiles in there.

♪♪

Fresh slides here.

♪♪

Get this back. Hopefully I can get that boiling tonight.

♪♪

I'm just trying to scout around right now

to find the right location for my shelter.

Hm.

♪♪

There's, like, this giant --

This is just a wall of thorny mess.

Like, to me, that looks like a hunting blind.

I'm like, "yeah, I would hunt from there."

This is where the big cats hunt.

Trying to set up my shelter where big cats hunt

could potentially cost me my life.

I mean, here's a little nook between rocks.

I don't need a lot of space because I'm by myself.

Get my fire going here, nice and cozy, hidden.

Literally when I'm making my shelter,

I'm figuring out how I can also hide.

Thing is I just don't have a lot of time right now.

As much as thorns suck,

they can be useful for protection.

I need lots of thorns.

Narrator: To protect himself from nocturnal predators,

Luke must build a shelter, or boma,

from acacia tree branches that are covered

with razor sharp thorns.

The work gets easier if I had another person.

I wish I had someone to help me right now.

The sun is getting lower.

I know I still want, really, really want

to get a fire made.

It's a long shot, but just keep moving forward.

There's nothing else to do.

Oh, [bleep]

Here's where you need a partner.

Oh, wait, I'm by myself.

♪♪

So my boma's built.

It's good to have extra protection

for literally my life.

Going to try to getting a fire before the sun is going down.

I'm feeling very rushed right now.

Yeah, I'm just running out of time.

♪♪

I need fire tonight to keep predators away.

For my 21-day challenge in Namibia,

took me a week to get fire.

So I am wanting to redeem myself.

I can do this.

Trying to stay positive.

[ Exhales deeply ]

♪♪

I have an ember.

Big fatty, that's good.

This poop, it'll just smolder and lasts forever.

♪♪

Okay.

In Namibia, it took me seven days to finally get fire,

stay warm.

And now by myself, it's under an hour to get a fire.

That's on day one.

That's a drastic improvement.

I don't give myself enough credit a lot of times,

and I feel proud that I did this by myself.

I got this, you know?

♪♪

♪♪

And into night one.

And wrapped up in a little thorn boma.

Thorns everywhere.

So hopefully I'll be safe tonight.

We'll find out.

This is Africa after all, so...

[ Hyenas howling ]

♪♪

♪♪

There are definitely hyenas not too far away.

[ Hyenas howling ]

♪♪

It's like, all right.

[ Hyenas howling ]

♪♪

They are looking right at me.

[ Hyenas howling ]

♪♪

[ Hyenas howling ]

Luke: Hey, get out of here, get.

Hey! Get out of here!

[ Hyenas howling ]

They're turning away.

Got my attention, that's for damn sure.

But, uh, that's what my boma's for,

all thorns all around me, shoulder height.

Being alone makes everything scarier but [bleep]

♪♪

Sun's starting to come up on day two.

Night one was, um, long.

I got some sleep

with hyenas and lions running around at night.

And, um, it's tiring.

It's like ultimate gnarliness.

♪♪

Today I'm gonna drink some more water.

Probably go down and get another refill.

I got water, shelter, fire,

and just got to work on that food.

Animals are coming in, and see if I can't get a shot.

♪♪

Squirrel by that tree.

♪♪

It's a tough shot.

Squirrels do go up, up, up.

I wish it was little bit lower.

♪♪

♪♪

He's a cute little bugger.

Sorry, friend, you're gonna be my dinner.

Thank you, friend, for your life, for the hunt.

I can't believe I shot that. [ Chuckles ]

That was really, really a hard shot.

I can't believe I did that.

If I can hit a squirrel this size,

I think I can hit an impala's heart.

At least this gives me a little more confidence.

♪♪

Fabulous.

♪♪

Excited to try it out.

Oh, yeah.

Squirrel heart and lungs.

Squirrel lungs are the best so far.

You don't really know gratitude until you're really damn hungry

and you hunt an animal yourself,

cook it with the fire you made yourself.

That's gratitude.

Good job, Luke.

Thanks, Luke.

♪♪

[ Snorting ]

There's some wildebeest dung.

It's fresh. There's game everywhere.

Hopefully get a big game, you know.

Hoping to get an impala or kudu.

I don't want this to be like XL, where I was eating

bugs and small things.

One tarantula.

I'm eating those bones.

That sucks.

♪♪

All the path lead to watering hole.

It's the hottest part of the day.

The animals are moving.

You know, if I can just get comfy and cozy, they're around.

They got to come drink some time.

♪♪

♪♪

[Bleep] Damn it.

I think they sniffed me out.

Their eyes and their nose are so much better than mine,

and they can see me long before I can see them.

♪♪

So morning of day four.

I thought it'd be easier to get shots off at these impala.

But they're super jumpy, really alert.

And so I'm gonna have to do a better job

of covering up my scent.

Yes, I am using wildebeest poop as deodorant right now, too,

just let you know.

My pit's still stink.

I just wanted to cover up my scent.

Have something else other than my B.O.

Scaring away the impala.

♪♪

♪♪

[Bleep]

Damn.

[Bleep]

♪♪

How could you be that bad?

Put it in the [bleep] animal.

♪♪

Today I was confronted with my greatest fear.

It's not hyenas, it's not lions, it's failure.

Makes me question myself.

I feel lonely for my girlfriend back home.

I miss a lot.

Didn't eat anything today.

My digestion is basically shutting down.

And just feel worn down.

Had a lot of good opportunities,

saw a lot of animals, missed a lot of shots.

So tomorrow, I need some food.

Narrator: The average human needs 1500 calories a day

to survive.

In the past seven days, Luke has taken in a total

of only 400.

[ Sighs ]

♪♪

It's windy today, and that's not a good sign for me

as a hunter because the wind just keeps pushing

my scent different directions.

And the impala pick it up and just run off.

I'm gonna get up in a tree.

So that'll give me a little bit of advantage

in that my scent will be up, they won't sniff me as easily.

If I fall, I'm really hurting.

Maybe dead.

Maybe, right there.

That's my best shot.

Yeah, right there.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[ Groans ]

I just [bleep] hate myself right now.

Impala came exactly where they're supposed

to [bleep] come.

And I [bleep] up the shot.

I'm [bleep] put in front of her.

[ Groans ]

Damn it.

♪♪

Hunt all day, don't get anything.

And I'm [bleep] hungry.

I'm just gonna keep failing and just like hating myself

over and over and over and over.

Just like, what's the [bleep] point?

♪♪

Luke: Start of day 10.

I just got to get something in my belly.

Going to my tree again.

You know, I want to curl up in a ball and quit.

It'd be so much easier to do that.

But I'm just gonna keep battling.

I also want to do this for my dad.

This is a big tribute to him.

The definition of a warrior is not he who wins,

but he who fights.

♪♪

This hunt is probably one of the most challenging things

I've ever done in my life.

I just feel like...

Like I'm supposed to do this.

I'm supposed to [bleep] starve.

Just hunt and hunt and hunt and hunt.

There's one deer. Hang on.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Oh, [bleep]

♪♪

I hope I didn't hit the shoulder blade.

Yes, it's broken off. That a good sign.

♪♪

Okay, I got some blood here.

There's nothing wet here besides the blood.

Oh, my god.

I see it.

♪♪

Here it is.

Here's what I finally did.

I can't believe that I got this this ram.

This is the most [bleep]

Magical thing that's ever happened.

I don't know how to describe it.

I don't know.

I feel really grateful, and I want to sit here in

this moment for so long, but I really want to process

this animal, too, 'cause lions and hyenas want to eat

this as much as I do.

If my dad could see me now. This is unreal.

♪♪

I wish I had a partner right now.

That would make things a lot easier.

I wouldn't even mind sharing with a partner right now.

We'll open it up and see how the heart's looking.

I just nicked the heart.

You can't get any -- that's exactly what we're going for

when we're shooting.

♪♪

[ Chuckles ]

So tonight, I'm just gonna consume the best parts

and keep my meat close.

Guard it with my life.

I worked damn hard for this meat,

and I ain't giving it to nobody.

I'm gonna be sleeping with about

50 pounds of raw bloody meat next to me all night.

So that means I got to add to my boma.

As much as it sucks, it's good to have

extra protection for literally my life.

Okay, today on "cooking with Luke naked in the wild",

we're gonna be cooking some impala tonight.

Wow! What a treat, huh?

We're just letting that slow roast

and just kind of melt into the fire as I burn my hands.

Tonight we're cooking some back strip

and also some heart.

Look at that. Look at that perfection.

Now I need a toothpick.

Oh, where would I find a toothpick?

Mm. Oh, my god.

Where could I possibly find a super pointy,

sharp thorn-like thing in Africa.

Mm, don't worry, my house is made of them.

Thanks, acacia. Look at that.

I feel like the most cave man [bleep] ever.

[ Laughs ]

I feel high on meat.

♪♪

Morning of day 11.

Impala roast beef breakfast.

♪♪

This hide, not gonna be able to tan it,

but gonna leave it as raw hide.

It'll still be a nice little mat for sleeping on.

Today's just processing all this meat,

trying to cut big meat chunks into little meat chunks,

dry them out using the fire.

Just gonna take some slabs out of this,

try to keep them thin.

If I don't do a good job, it all goes bad

and I'm back to square one.

All right, I kind of created a natural chimney here.

Narrator: Luke is curing his meat by using the crevice

in a large rock to funnel smoke from his fire

on to the strips of impala.

Cooking them and drawing out all blood and moisture.

In 8 to 12 hours, the jerky, or biltong,

should be safe to eat for up to three months.

By no means is it a fast process.

It's a slow process, and I got a lot of meat.

I haven't even gone through one leg yet,

so definitely gonna lose some.

Flies are out, and I'm just trying to cook

and process as much as I can as fast as I can.

So this is what I got done today.

Pretty good amount of meat.

And taking them to my boma.

I mean, look that. That's sealed on the outside.

I just can't imagine this going bad.

[ Growling ]

♪♪

I'm a little concerned because I don't feel particularly great

about leaving the legs in my boma.

Raw meat, it's what the predators go for,

so I got to hide them well.

Narrator: Lions, hyenas, and leopards

are all factory predators who can sniff out

fresh blood molecules in the air

from a mile away.

See, I think there's a little crack in the rocks.

I can jam them down in there,

cover it up with acacia and a whole bunch of rocks.

Animals don't really mess with the acacia,

so if something gets this without opposable thumbs,

I'll be very impressed.

There's an acacia tree,

which is just full of gnarly thorns.

What I'm thinking is I'm gonna try to put the other legs

in the tree high up so that an animal can't get it.

But then I can get it with a stick because I'm a smart ape.

♪♪

[ Growling ]

What?

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Right outside my boma.

♪♪

♪♪

[ Animal growling ]

♪♪

[ Luke shouting indistinctly ]

♪♪

Two big critters right outside my boma,

and then they ran off, and that scared the [bleep] out of me.

This is Africa. [Bleep] Is real.

♪♪

Yeah, last night sucked.

Couldn't really get to sleep.

I heard some big animals nearby pretty much the whole night.

I'm hoping that the meat I stored is still intact.

The tricky part of being alone is

there's a higher risk for predators coming in.

Humans didn't survive by themselves.

Hunter gatherers never did this alone.

Someone got their face down in there.

Africa doesn't play around.

Hopefully the other two legs are in that tree.

[Bleep]

Um...

♪♪

And now there's nothing there.

50 yards from my shelter,

something big came up and took the meat,

took my hard work.

That could be a leopard.

That sucks. That was a lot of meat.

That was like probably 30 pounds of meat gone now.

I am down to jerky all of a sudden.

I'm just in trouble.

♪♪

Okay, so I started checking my jerky

and making sure it was good and dry and still preserved,

and I'm finding the thicker chunks that weren't fully dry,

there's mold, and then I even opened up one

and found this.

Yeah, that's -- those are maggots in my meat, so...

That's not good to eat anymore.

So I'm losing a good portion of my jerky here.

Should've dried them out another day.

Narrator: Luke managed to eat just four pounds

of his 50-pound kill, less than 4,000 calories.

Unless he finds more food, it will take less than two days

for him to burn all of that energy

and become an even more vulnerable prey

to the area's predators.

I don't want to get sick eating my food,

but I'm just worried that I'm gonna be hungry

on day 20.

[ Sighs ] Damn it.

Leopard steals my meat.

Seems like that's what Africa's doing to me,

is just taking from me, so I get it, I'll play along.

Back to nature.

♪♪

I don't really want to hunt a whole nother impala.

Could go look for some birds.

I think a Guinea fowl would be nice

sometime in this last week.

Kind of become an opportunist hunter,

and whatever presents itself I'll probably go for

just to get some fresh meat, just to get me through to 21.

Hopefully, that leopard doesn't come back.

♪♪

Back to huntin'.

Narrator: 15 days of isolation has changed

Luke's brain chemistry, increasing the production

of a neurochemical that makes humans more alert,

but the buildup of that chemical,

known as tachykinin, also causes depression

and increased irritability.

Luke: Damn it.

♪♪

Right now I feel really defeated.

My shot's just not quite working with these small critters.

And anything legit, the hardest thing about all of this is

that I don't have anyone to talk to.

No one knows what the [bleep] I'm going through.

No one knows.

So you've been put in this hunger situation

and this much stress, surviving in South Africa

with lions and hyenas all around me.

[ Roaring ]

Yeah, I just feel really disheartened.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

It's my dad's birthday today.

Who died, he died about a year and a half ago, and...

Yeah, I don't know. I know I'm emotional now,

being hungry again, and...

Just thinking about him a lot today.

Hunting was a big thing for my dad.

These antlers I have tattooed on my neck here are the...

They were the largest buck he ever got with his bow.

♪♪

And that was the way we bonded.

If my dad was here right now, I think he would just tell me

to get back up in the tree and keep hunting,

not much else to do.

♪♪

♪♪

One animal can get me through.

Best chance for me to get through this is to trust myself.

I know how to do this.

♪♪

[ Bow snaps ]

[ Impala whining ]

[ Gasps ]

♪♪

Luke: Just getting cozy around the fire,

and my new favorite thing for nighttimes

is cuddling with my coyote fur.

Coyote's always been special.

It's fun to have a little north American animal

here in Africa, and it's just like

a comfort thing, it's like, basic human need to like,

need something to hold on to, whether it be a pillow

or a blanket or a person or a dog or whatever.

See this, just do a little -- Just do a little cuddle.

Oh, yeah, look at that, that's provocative.

I am a provocateur. [ Laughs ]

♪♪

[ Bow snaps ]

[ Impala whining ]

[ Gasps ]

He went directly for the cover.

♪♪

♪♪

I'm so grateful for this animal.

I'm so happy and also sad.

Just enough food to get me through day 21.

Thank you for your life, friend.

To be able to stand in a tree, craft a bow,

cast an arrow, and kill one of the most

skittish animals in, like, the world,

is, like, astounding.

That's my meal for tonight.

[ Growls ]

I just want to get this away from where I'm sleeping

as far as I can.

I'm sure the hyenas, and I'm sure the lion,

and I'm sure the leopard are all gonna be back tonight.

If I got to pay off the animals with some flesh,

I'll do that.

If that means you're not eating me,

I'll take that, I'll pay that.

♪♪

Day 20, I'm just wrapping up,

realizing it's the last night I'm gonna spend here.

Right now, I'm just feeling like king of this domain,

but a lonely king.

I wish I had more people to share this with.

That was one of my favorite parts of the past challenges,

was being able to share my bounty

and my successes with people.

I don't have that now.

Oh, that's gonna be good. Mmm!

Hi. I'm Luke.

6'1". I'm a Virgo.

I'm looking for a person who'd like to come over,

wants to share my meat with me.

If you're that person who's not squeamish,

send me some smoke signals.

Maybe I'll call you later.

I do want to see my family, my loved ones,

girlfriend and my dog.

I'm ready to just feel human touch.

As soon as that sun starts lighting up,

bookin' it out of here,

and hopefully the extraction's not too bad.

♪♪

Looking at the map, that's east, that's north.

We're gonna hit some mountains, it looks like,

some hills at least, so that's the plan.

Thanks, fire.

I love you, and I hate you at the same time.

It's been real.

Narrator: Luke's route to extraction cuts straight

through four miles of leopard country, alone,

exposed, and open to attack.

[ Roaring ]

Then Luke must navigate a two-mile hike

over the Vhembe foothills without provoking troops

of territorial baboons.

When threatened, males flash their front teeth

before charging.

Their bite can easily break bones or kill.

♪♪

♪♪

Luke: Trying to keep my head on a swivel,

look out for predators.

Tracking through territory I've never been through.

No idea what's around the corner.

Just me, walking, and so it feels vulnerable

to be alone and be compromised because I'm by myself.

♪♪

All right, so I'm seeing the hills.

The baboons are over there,

but I got to get through those to get to extraction.

♪♪

[ Baboons chattering ]

Baboons, couple trees over, spotted me or smelled me.

They sent out an alarm.

Baboons are super smart.

I'm gonna give those baboons plenty of space

so they know that I'm not a threat at all.

[ Baboons chattering ]

♪♪

You can hear the quiet,

so I'm pretty sure they've settled down now.

♪♪

[ Panting ]

Not a bad view.

I'm one step closer to human contact.

Hard to describe what I'm feeling.

Sad, anger.

Joy.

Whoa!

[ Laughs ] That's my whip.

You guys want to pick up the naked guy? [ Laughs ]

Tag.

Made it.

I feel proud of myself.

I wasn't ready for the alone aspect to be that much harder,

and to be able to accomplish this thing and, like,

look back is astounding.

[ Groans ]

North Carolina, please.

Don't have the words, nor will I probably have words ever

for what this experience was like.

Challenging, horrible, amazing, beautiful,

and I'm also excited to get out of here.

[ Laughs ] That's also true.

Narrator: Luke lost a total of 22 pounds

during the challenge, but he overcame crushing self-doubt

and excelled as a hunter.

His solo survival rating rises to 9.8.

Get to see the countryside, I get a cushion.

I've pushed myself to my edge and my limit.

Doing this challenge by myself with lions and hyenas

and leopards feels like a monumental task,

and coming out of it, it's like,

"yep, I could do that, and I'm more powerful

than I give myself credit for."

I'm a bad [bleep] [ Laughs ]

And I love you, pops.

Let's go!