All language subtitles for Tropic of Capricorn 4of4 Chile to Brazil_Subtitles01.ENG

'Imagine a line more than 22,000
miles long, that cuts through

'some of the most remote
regions of the southern hemisphere.'

Look what's ahead of us.
Look at this! Look at this sight!

'The Tropic of Capricorn
marks the southern edge of
the Earth's tropical zone.

'It runs through Southern Africa,
Australia and South America.

'On the final leg of my Capricorn
journey, I'm travelling from
Chile to the coast of Brazil.

'It's more than 2,000 miles across
the driest desert in the world
and over the longest mountain range.

'Along the way I meet some
of the last forest people.'

I think I prefer the honey
to the bee larva!

'I witness environmental
devastation.'

Just ripping it down. Look at this!

'And I visit the biggest city in
the southern hemisphere

'where I'll be trying to keep
out of trouble.'

Argh! Bloody hell!

What a sight!

I'm here on the coast of Chile
beginning another leg of my journey
around the Tropic of Capricorn.

On this bit of the trip,
I'll be travelling all the way
across South America.

Just a few miles south of Capricorn
is the city of Antofagasta

where I met up with my Chilean guide
and translator, Constanza Mujica.

What awaits us across Chile?

Basically the driest desert in
the whole world, er...

and that's an extremely
awesome experience.

How the world would be if
everything ended - that's the desert.

TRAIN HOOTS

Ahead of us lay the vast Atacama
desert. Constanza had arranged

for us to hitch a ride on
a giant freight train -

the start of my journey
zig-zagging along Capricorn.

So this is the landscape we are
going to be heading into. Yep.

It's barren, isn't it?
Barren as hell.

Kilometres and kilometres of
straight lines.

That's it.

This train hauls thousands of
tons of copper and supplies to
and from Chile's biggest mine.

It's half a mile long
and pulled by three locomotives.

How important is copper
to this part of Chile?

It's important for the whole of
Chile, not just to this part.

We actually usually say that
copper is Chile's salary.

We all eat from what comes in copper.

38% of everything we export
is copper.

38%?! Yup.

Chile is the world's
biggest exporter of copper.

Rising demand from China has pushed
international prices for the metal

through the roof creating a boom
in Chile many hope will continue.

There's a sense of excitement that
great things are going to happen,

that we will be able to sell each
Chinese guy one of our apples

or one kilo of our copper and become
automatic millionaires.

There's a great sense of expectation
of what is going to happen

with the Chinese demand
for our products.

All the way along
the Tropic of Capricorn,

China has a presence.

It's buying up natural resources
and minerals or it's investing.

It's there basically
and it's here in Chile.

If you pay the right price,
you got it!

HE LAUGHS

It's so bright out here.

I think this is about as bright
a light as we've seen while we've
been travelling around Capricorn.

And the heat, as well,
is really starting to pick up.

The Atacama is millions of years
old and covers 70,000 square miles.

It's much more arid even than
the Sahara and parts have had no
rainfall for hundreds of years.

But mining companies that work out
here need water to extract copper

and their attempts to find supplies
have brought them into conflict with
some of the local indigenous people.

We eventually arrived in the small
town of San Pedro de Atacama

built around an oasis by Spanish
Conquistadores in the 16th century.

Little survives in the desert but
the Atacameno people have lived here

for more than 11,000 years
with their herds of llamas.

Many of the Atacameno are now
unhappy with the mining firms

that provide so much
of the country's wealth.

Hola, good morning.
Rosa, hello, Simon.

'In San Pedro we met up
with community leader
and guide Rosa Ramos.'

Is this our picnic? Yes, yes.

Fantastic! We've got bananas...

'Rosa has been one of
the most vocal opponents of
the mining companies' plans.'

Where are we off to today?

The idea is visit the two lakes in
the altiplano, over 4,000 metres.

4,000?!

To a couple of lakes.

Leaving the desert,
Rosa took us up into the altiplano,
the high plains of the Andes,

to show us an unprotected lakeland
area she believes is under threat.

Half way up
we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn.

We've arrived again
on the Tropic of Capricorn. Yes!

This is a sort of
Capricorn monument, is it? Yes, yes.

And my modern GPS tells us

that we are now 2,505 metres
above sea level.

Two and half kilometres up.
Are we going to get ill?

Am I going to get ill?

No, please, you need to feel OK.

I don't want to get ill
but I have suffered from
altitude sickness in the past.

You've got something else.

I'd like to give you some coca
leaves because don't feel bad there.

You put it into your mouth to chew?

Yes, you put it in your mouth,
a little bit. Coca leaves.

So how much should I take?

5...4.

'Coca leaves can be
used to make cocaine

'but in their raw form the leaves
are widely used as a traditional
remedy for altitude sickness.'

Will I become really overconfident
and start talking crap?

And I stuff them into
my cheek pouch.

Excuse me! Messy eater.

And then now relax.

And after we can walk
in the mountains.

Fortified by Rosa's herbal remedy,

we drove even higher into the Andes.

We're now at...just over
4,000 metres

so we're nearly...

nearly the equivalent of
half way up Everest.

We've just come round the corner
to see this amazing lake out here
on the plain in front of us.

This is just nature showing off!

Look at this.
This is like a Caribbean...

a Caribbean sea, a tropical sea.

Four kilometres above sea level,
we're up in the High Andes

and there's a tropical sea!

It's amazing!

It actually brings
a lump to my throat, it's...

just so beautiful.

We're going to try and get
to the edge of this
beautiful lake over here.

We also have to go quite slowly
because of the altitude we're at.

There's not much oxygen in the air.

What a sight!

The birds that we saw from
a distance are actually flamingos!

I'm absolutely staggered by this.

What does this lake mean to you and
the indigenous people of the area?

Does it hold a special place
in your beliefs?

SHE SPEAKS SPANISH

TRANSLATION: For us the Andes are
the gods who gave us the water in
the desert so we could survive.

Our people have lived here
for thousands of years.

We've always respected
the environment...

..but now people are destroying it

and killing our animals and plants

and we are very sad.

The mining companies want to drain
water from these high Andean lakes.

Rosa fears the consequences.

SHE SPEAKS SPANISH

TRANSLATION: Firstly,
even us indigenous people

understand that mining is
important for the country's economy.

We know this, but we don't think
it's necessary to sacrifice

such a fragile ecosystem
for an economic gain

that could be achieved just as well
by bringing water from the sea.

The lake is unprotected
and its future is uncertain.

On our way back, Rosa
took us to a local village

where they are using their meagre
water supplies in a sustainable way.

Until recently, Talabre had only
intermittent electricity.

But the villagers decided to build
their own micro-hydroelectric plant

to harness water that trickles
down from the Andes mountains.

So on this street here, look,
they've got electric street lights

that have been installed
quite recently.

And that makes a huge difference
in a community like this because it
means life can go on after dark.

'Rosa took us to meet
a friend in the village.

'The new generator has dramatically
improved the lives of
Antonia Mondaca and her family.'

So, look and this is where you see
the effect. You see the
electric lights, look at this.

How has the electricity helped
and changed lives here?

TRANSLATION: We only used to have
three hours of electricity

between 6 and 9 at night.

It's changed everything -
the whole atmosphere.

And it's great for the kids -
now they can watch educational
programmes on TV.

Let's ask the kids
a very important question.

What is your favourite TV programme?

ROSA TRANSLATES

The Simpsons!

That evening, Rosa invited us to
join her and some friends

for a barbeque in a remote
and beautiful part of the desert

known as the Valley of the Moon.

There was only main one dish
on the menu - barbequed llama.

Rosa, look what you have organised!

Fantastic.

This is the ultimate
Andean sandwich!

We've got it here. Llama meat.

Thank you very much.

So here we go.

This is the first time...

I've eaten llama.

Let's just try it like this.

Never mind the bun.

It's tough but it's good.

SHE LAUGHS

It's good, yeah? It's good, yeah.

'Rosa is part of a new generation
of politically active

'indigenous people in South America
who are fighting for their rights.'

In your lifetime, do you think
indigenous people are getting
more power? Yes, it's changed.

Today we think we wake up,

with reaction. And we say, "stop".

Our government...

..prefers here the people

that have powers.

Politics no is clean, no is clear.

I think it happen everywhere but...

HE LAUGHS

Well, Rosa, I want to say
thank you for showing us

some of the most amazing places
around San Pedro and the Atacama.

It's an extraordinary place.

So thank you,
and thank you for my llama!

The next morning we headed even
higher into the Andes

towards the border with Argentina.

It was a 100-mile climb
through a landscape so barren

it's used by NASA to
simulate conditions on Mars.

Running down the length of
the continent like a jagged spine,

the Andes is the longest
mountain range in the world.

We're now really high up
in the mountains.

Wow! We're at 4,600 metres now.

We're still going to
be climbing up even higher.

This is the highest we've been
on Capricorn on our journey.

I'm really feeling it.

It's harder to breathe.

And you feel it when you do take
a breath, you're not getting
enough oxygen into your lungs.

We climbed to nearly 5,000 metres
above sea level

and crossed the border
into Argentina.

As we descended on the other side,
the whole landscape changed.

After the crossing
the driest desert on earth,

a spot of rain was a welcome sight.

The Argentinean foothills
are lush and fertile.

We were heading to a valley
right on the Tropic of Capricorn.

I can see a sign, look, just
ahead...

"Vicunas."

'I had come in search of
a bizarre and secretive creature
native to the Andes.'

They look quite shy and delicate.

'The Vicuna is a smaller
cousin of the llama.

'Its wool is so valuable it was
once hunted almost to extinction.'

Hola. Buenos dias, Hugo.
Buenos dias. Benvieniedo.

'Hugo Robles owns this ranch

'and I arrived just in time
for a vicuna roundup.'

It's beautiful here.

A government programme is
encouraging ranchers like Hugo
to farm vicunas sustainably.

The population has now recovered
from a low of less than 10,000
to around a quarter of a million.

Today they're going
to be catching them, or trying to
catch them and vaccinating them.

Which, given the fact these are
very shy, nervous creatures

that run away when you're within
half a mile of them,

is going to be a bit
of a challenge.

TRANSLATION:

Oh, yes, yes, look, there they are!

The vicunas!

Look, they're already running away.

Am I coming with you, Hugo,
am I your new farmhand?

So I just climb over?

I'm not sure I'm too heavy for this!

No.

The vicunas have just
legged it in this direction.

What they're trying to do is drive
the vicunas down into this corral

that snakes downs
like a tunnel, really.

And then they can catch them.

Hugo, they're like cheetahs.
Look at them!

How on earth
are we going to catch them?

Hugo's off to chase them.

What the hell are we doing?!

Ooh, we are going to get them!
HUGO SHOUTS

THEY CHIVVIE THEM ON

Can you please stand still?!

Oh, dear!
No wonder their fibres are worth so
much because nobody can catch them.

So they've caught two in the funnel.

No! They're going to escape!

Oh, bloody hell! Shut the gate!

Here we go.

Look, they're in...the corral.

Success! Look at them!

These are the vicunas...

..and their fibres are
finer than cashmere.

The finest fibre in the world
comes from these creatures

and for that you pay a hefty price.

A suit made from the fibre
from one of these creatures can cost

about £15,000.

So they just need to calm down,

calm down. It's OK, it's OK.

'With the vicunas finally safe
in their corral, it was time
for them to have their jabs.'

Look how cute this creature is.

So soft, isn't it?

Muy suave, no? Si, si, suave.

It's like a woolly Bambi.

Very soft.

Oh, look, there's a bit coming off.
How much is that worth?

That's probably worth about £100!

Hugo, so we put this on the...

over the head?

It's all right.

Poor thing. It's OK.

They're we are.

It's OK. Aww.

There we go. Blindfold comes off.

There we are.

It wasn't too bad, was it?

Run free!

There goes a very
expensive woolly jumper!

The next morning we set off,
travelling east

across this remote region
in the far north of Argentina.

It had been raining all night
and landslides had strewn mud
and rocks over the mountain roads.

There seems to be one person
clearing rocks from the road.

Great(!)

He should have the road cleared by
about the middle of next year.

It looked like we would make it
through to our next stop on
Capricorn

but heavy lorries were completely
stuck in the mud.

We were heading for
a small indigenous settlement

just north of the line
on the edge of a remote forest.

Traditionally hunter-gatherers,

the Wichi people have lived in
this region for thousands of years.

But like indigenous communities
across South America,

their way of life is under threat

as their land is taken over for
farming cattle and crops like soy.

John Palmer is an Oxford-educated
anthropologist who has studied and
lived among the Wichi for decades.

Hello, John. Simon.

John's witnessed the destruction
of this forest at first hand.

He's married to Tojweya
and they have two children.

How serious is
deforestation in this area?

What could be the best word? It's...

..catastrophic. It's...

very severe.

What effect is it having
on peoples' lives?

Well, in the immediate sense
there's a lot of ill health.

They've got no chance to
be independent economically.

It's like having your
supermarket shut.

Where do you go for your food?

'One of the few remaining
foods the Wichi can harvest
from the forest is honey.

'Roque Miranda, the leader of
this Wichi community, invited
us on their daily honey hunt.'

I'm a bit worried about being stung

by angry South American bees.

That's where the bees are?

Just in here?

I don't really want
to antagonise the bees.

So a little fire is being lit
and smoke will be used,
well, really to dull the bees,

to make them a little bit dozy and
discourage them from attacking us.

Roque's getting ready.

That looks very serious.

Roque's putting on layer after layer
as a protection against the bees,

which makes me feel a little
bit exposed with bare arms.

I did bring a jacket

and this bag

can be used to cover the head.

So he's wafting
some smoke into the hive.

I'm going to put my head net on.

And here come the bees.

BEES BUZZ

I don't think this
smoke is working guys.

Bloody hell!
I've just been stung once.

It's going!

They're not going to like that,
are they?!

There, he's opening it up
and there it is, there's the honey!

Look at it, glistening.
It looks incredible.

Proper wild honey,
straight from the forest.

The bees aren't happy to lose it.

Ay!

I've just been bitten again.

If everyone was to
hold one of these then we'd
put up more smoke around us.

Let's try some pure honey.

Oh, fantastic.

That's amazing.

Perfecto.

What is this? This is honey
and what else is that there?

So this is the larvae
of the bees, ooh.

And you eat the larvae as well?

I'm choking on the smoke.

I think I prefer the honey
to the bee larva.

'But as the forest is cut down,
the 50,000 Wichi

'in northern Argentina are losing
their natural food supply.

'Although the Wichi are the legal
owners of much of this forest,

'this is a remote part of
Argentina.

'They cannot stop the deforestation
happening around them.

'The bulldozers
just keep getting closer.

'A few hundred metres
from the village I witnessed
the devastation at fisrt hand.'

So here we've got a really new
area of deforestation.

It's really shocking
to suddenly come across this.

Look at this!

This is being torn out.

This is forest the Wichi depend on,
the rest of the world depends on.

These are lungs for our earth.

Look at this round here.

This is what they use.

This is what they use to destroy
the forest here.

They put these
huge chains between two bulldozers,

stretch it out,

and then just run it across
the trees, ripping the trees up.

I can barely lift...

just this.

Can you imagine
the devastation this causes?

'Just 5 days before our visit, Roque
and some of the other villagers

'had confronted the bulldozer
drivers and begged them to stop.

'But later that same night
they heard them felling again.'

HE SPEAKS SPANISH

TRANSLATION: When we came
back at about 11 o'clock

they had moved to this part of
the forest and were cutting it down.

They must have known we would
come back to stop them,
so they were in a hurry.

Finally they left the area
and headed off over there.

The land is being cleared for
farming cattle and crops like soy.

The bulldozers have stopped for now

but the Wichi know they will return.

You can imagine the scene here
the other night when these villagers

come out of their community
and they come to these
bulldozers and they say,

"You are taking away our absolute
livelihoods, our absolute being.

"We can't survive without this."

INSECTS CHIRP

'There's no electricity
in the village

'and that night John and I joined
Roque around the communal fire.'

Roque, do you think that Wichi
culture can survive the destruction
that you're seeing around you?

TRANSLATION: Well, I reckon
that when our forest has gone,

we'll have nothing to live on.

As the leader, I'm aware that the
Wichi are in dire straits

because they don't know
what's coming to them.

None of us know what to make of
it because it's all so new,
this deforestation.

How can any of us make sense of it?

I wonder what will become
of my children when I'm gone.

So, quite a depressing day, today.

Seeing all the destruction
of the forest.

You know, it's the sort of
thing you hear about at a distance,

but then when you see it close up,
it really is...

It really is desperate.

You can only feel a great
sense of sadness for the Wichi,

I think, because they
are a very gentle people

and gentle people tend
to get walked over.

'The next morning we set
off towards Paraguay.

'It's a 500-mile drive along
a relentlessly straight road.

'In order to cross the border,

'we had to head south of Capricorn
towards the capital, Asuncion.'

TRADITIONAL MUSIC PLAYS

'We arrived in Paraguay on one of
the biggest days of the year -

'the Feast of the Immaculate
Conception.'

There's loads of stalls selling
all sorts of stuff.

Some of it's even religious!

'My guide in Paraguay was
journalist Andrea Machain.'

Balloons, sunglasses, flowers,

there's a collection
of ceramic frogs here.

Look, we've got statues here...

Baby Jesus with gold pants on.

So it's not just a religious
festival or pilgrimage?

No, no. It's a gathering where people
come from all over.

It's like a national party.

For the whole of Paraguay?

Yes. Even more important than
Christmas, I would say.

More important than Christmas?!

Yes. Surely not!

'Religion has always been
a powerful force in Catholic
Paraguay.'

These people are broadcasting live,
the mass. And it's on national TV.

'Today, Paraguay's a democracy,

'but from the 1950s until 1989,
the country was ruled

'by Alfredo Stroessner,
a brutal dictator,

'even by South American standards.

'Paraguay was so isolated from
the outside world that it became

'a haven for notorious Nazi
war criminals like Josef Mengele.

'The next morning, Andrea took me
to a cafe in the capital, Asuncion,

'which was a clandestine
meeting place

'for those brave enough to
oppose Stroessner.'

What was happening to people
who spoke out or expressed
an opinion against the regime?

Nothing good.

The Stroessner dictatorship didn't
go against you personally

if you said something against it,

but against your whole family
even your children.

So even the bravest people
would take the danger

and the risk for themselves,

but couldn't cope taking the risk
for the people they loved.

We're here at the museum of...
Well, it says memories, really,

but it's a museum of torture almost.

Here with Dr Filartiga,

who we will ease out of his car.

'Andrea introduced me to one of
the most prominent victims

of the 'Stroessner regime,
Dr Joel Filartiga.

'We met at a museum which documents
some of the worst excesses

'of Stroessner's secret police.'

Just on the way here,

the doctor was saying that he was
tortured four times by the regime.

That's part of the reason

he needs a little bit
of assistance now

from his grandson.

So the history of state terrorism

in three languages.

So here, this is the man himself.

This is Stroessner.

What did he say?
The tyrant. The tyrant.

Can we see any specific case here?
This looks like a child...

TRANSLATION: 'She's little girl
who was tortured and raped.

'She was about 12 or 13 years old.'

Can you see the picture here?

This is a regime that would
torture children.

'These records were discovered by
chance in a suburban police station.

'They document the fate of 400,000
people who were imprisoned and
50,000 who were murdered.'

It's an extraordinary place.

It can't be easy for people to come
back here and see what happened.

This is a mock-up,

but even as a mock-up,
it's really quite unsettling.

This is what happened here, Doctor.

TRANSLATION: The dead were wrapped
in barbed wire when they
were finished with.

They were packaged up and thrown
away from a helicopter,

dumped in a river or buried.

'Dr Filartiga's crime was
to run a free clinic
treating political dissidents.

'He was tortured in a bath
with electric shocks

'in this very cell,
but he survived.

'But what haunts him most is that
the regime then went after his son.'

It must be incredibly painful

for you to think back to that
time, but can you tell us

a little bit about what happened
to your son, how he was killed?

TRANSLATION: They hung
him from his ankles.

They tortured him with
electrical equipment, with shocks.

Stroessner himself was listening
on the radio to my son's answers.

He dictated the questions.

I lived in fear of it.

I told my son not to go out.

I had an idea it might happen.

Every day I suffer.

I can't sleep at night.

'Stroessner was overthrown in 1989
and died in exile.

'Today, Paraguay is
free from tyranny.'

You've lost as much as anyone has
in getting rid of the old regime.

Are you happy with
the Paraguay of today?

TRANSLATION: I am satisfied,
but sadly,

another form of
oppression has appeared.

There's a new demon now.

93% of our country is deforested.

There is a culture of death
which prefers money to life.

'We flew north, back
towards the Tropic

'to investigate the deforestation
that so angered Dr Filartiga.

'In the last 50 years,

'nearly all of Paraguay's
forest has been destroyed.

'We were heading towards
the Mbaracayu Reserve,

'one of the last
pockets of forest in Paraguay.'

'The once mighty Atlantic
forest used to cover almost
all of eastern Paraguay.

'In its place now are endless fields
of cash crops, especially soy.'

Aargh!

There was a sheep on the runway.
We just missed it. It was close.

He was a quick runner!

Lucky for us.

HE GROANS
Like a cork from a bottle!

So this is almost the entrance
then to the forest? Yes.

'I met up with Rene Palacios,

'the head ranger
at the Mbaracayu Reserve,

'who showed me this unique habitat.'

So here we are, we're entering
the forest...

The Atlantic Forest.
The Atlantic Forest.

It used to extend over an area much
larger than Paraguay, didn't it?

Oh, yes. It came all the way from
the Brazilian coast,

the Atlantic coast,
down to Paraguay and North Argentina.

Tell us what
the Atlantic Forest actually is.

Because not many
people have heard of it.

Well, we have many, many species of
plants, more than 2,000.

A lot of birds. You can find here
the big mammals, like...

Have you heard about jaguars?

I have heard about jaguars.
Do you have them here? Yeah.

What other animals have you got?

We have pumas too. Pumas? Yeah.

And do you know about the tapirs?

It's almost a bit like a pig.

Yeah, but big. 300 kilos of mammal.

A giant pig! Aw, yeah.

'Back at his headquarters,
Rene explained

'that the forest has been cut down
to make way for crops like soy.'

We've had a huge deforestation in
Paraguay, in the Atlantic Forest.

And most of the deforestation
was made for agriculture.

The land in Paraguay is a very
low price, so many people
came, especially from Brazil.

They bought land and plant soy
because the soil here is very good.

They have very good production.

The productivity is very high.

'Soy now accounts for nearly
half of Paraguay's exports.

'In one of the poorest
countries in South America,

'many people see this cash crop
as Paraguay's economic salvation.

'But there's a growing
campaign against soy.'

It really is just a sea of soya.

'Activist Diego Segovia took
me to the soy fields

'on the edge of the reserve.'

When you see these huge
fields of soy

where there used to be
great forests, what do you feel?

I mean the forests have been lost
in your lifetime, haven't they?

TRANSLATION: We say
they've become a green desert

because there is no other form of
life that isn't soy,

nothing but soy
and the herbicides they use

kill everything else.
They kill the soil,

they kill the water,
they kill the rural communities.

'Soy is high in protein

'and most of Paraguay's harvest
goes to China and Europe

'to feed our pigs and cattle.
But it's also now being used to make
biofuel,

'a replacement
for fossil fuels like petrol.'

But surely, biofuel, it's seen as
something that might save us from
climate change.

Isn't it good a thing?

TRANSLATION: We think this is
a myth, it's a lie,

because to produce biofuels
you need to cut down the forest.

You have to get rid of the trees

and the trees are the living
things that absorb the most carbon.

I think it's madness,
converting our fields

into fuel for cars.

'Just a few decades ago,

'the Paraguayan forest was home to
dozens of indigenous communities,

'like the Wichi we met in Argentina.

'But most
of them have now been displaced.'

'We were heading south
to the border crossing with Brazil.

'All we could see on the drive
were endless fields of soy,

'much of it destined for Europe

'to fatten livestock and
put meat on our tables.'

Our world is so globalised now,
it's extraordinary that we have

such little connection now in
Europe with the food that we eat.

We just don't realise

where the different elements that
make up our plate are coming from.

When you come out here and see
the damage that soya is doing

to the forest and the people
who live in the forest,

it really does make you think
more than twice about it.

'Just as the sun was setting,

'we finally reached Ciudad Del Este
right on the border with Brazil.'

'A city of more than
a quarter of a million people,

'Ciudad Del Este is a giant, crowded
claustrophobic cash-and-carry.

'Deep in the heart of South America,

'this is the third largest
tax-free zone in the world

'after Miami and Hong Kong.'

'Shoppers flock here from across
the region, keen to pick up
a bargain.

'There's only one way to travel in
Ciudad del Este - motorbike taxi.'

VAN HORN BLOWS

Ooh, we're about
to get smashed up...

'The turnover in all manner of
tax-free goods in the city

'is a major contributor to
Paraguay's national economy.'

It's quite weird to come
from rural Paraguay

and come here and see
all this going on.

Look, you've got
inflatable beach stuff,

tents, even though we're maybe 1,000
kilometres from the sea.

Shops here sell clothes, umbrellas,
pirate CDs,

medicines,
power tools and car parts.

It's a dirty, dusty shopping centre
but with an edge.

Look, a huge, inflatable
Father Christmas.

There's a man there with an AK47
guarding a shop selling children's
rucksacks.

The lawless atmosphere
and tax-free status

has made the city a hotbed
of counterfeiting and smuggling.

It's a crazy, duty-free,
anything goes, cash town.

Eehh!

Gracias, gracias, gracias.

So now we need to head to Brazil.

So here we go.
We're crossing now the Rio Parana.

The Parana River from Paraguay
on that side, to Brazil on this.

You get the feeling there is
a greater degree of order here and
look, we've come to a very smart,

huge immigration, customs point.

'The border was packed
with Brazilians

'returning from Ciudad Del
Este with their duty-free shopping.'

Keep this paper, OK? OK. Fantastic.
Thank you.

'But not everyone was
bringing in goods legitimately.

'We'd only been at
the border a few moments

'when the police stopped a man
smuggling packages from Paraguay.'

So this is the bag the guy had.

Just cutting it open.

Ooh, look at that.

Inside you've got 20, 25 bullets.

And this is one of
the great problems

for Brazilian police and customs
in this area

because just across the border,
you've got a completely lawless city

that we've just come from

and people are able to buy
things like this fairly openly.

'On the other side of the border is
the Brazilian city of Foz do Iguacu.

'Brazilian photographer
Fernando Cavalcanti

'was to be my guide through the last
country on my Capricorn journey.'

You could say that this
city was built on smuggling money.

Well, all this illicit stuff.

But now it's changed, you know,

it's likely swinging towards tourism

and the waterfalls
and stuff like that.

Now we're here, we've got to
go and see the waterfall.

'We headed for
the breathtaking Iguacu Falls.'

In front of us we can see
what looks to me

as though it's
smoke rising from the forest.

But in fact, it's water vapour
coming off a huge waterfall.

We're approaching one of the most
extraordinary natural sights on
Earth.

Look at this! Look at this sight!

Oh, my God!

We're just flying
into the vapour now.

But below us, it's as if there's
a giant tear in the earth.

'Brazil has nearly 20% of
the world's fresh water.

'It's one of the country's
greatest natural resources.

'At its peak flow, 6.5 million
litres of water per second

'cascade over these falls.'

I think it was Eleanor
Roosevelt when she first saw

these waterfalls, she just looked
at it and said, "Poor Niagara".

I've never seen a sight like this.

This, for me, is one of the most
extraordinary natural sights

on this planet.

'It was time for
the last stage of my journey.

'We flew to Sao Paolo,
back on the Tropic of Capricorn.

'With a population of at least
20 million,

'it's the biggest
city in the southern hemisphere.'

Here we are. So we're just crossing
the Tropic of Capricorn now.

Well done!
Thank you. Well done to you.

THEY LAUGH

And we're heading into Sao Paulo.
Yes.

Man, it's huge. I'm sure you're
going to be impressed.

It's the biggest city in the country.

It's where the money is.

'Sao Paulo is
the commercial centre

'of Brazil's
rapidly developing economy.

'It's home to a new
class of the super rich.'

This is quite a wealthy area.

Quite wealthy?!
It looks ferociously wealthy to me.

Luxury, huge mansions, almost.

It looks like Lifestyles of
the Rich and Famous. Look at it.

BMW to the left,
Mercedes in front of you...

On the right here, you
could see some Porsches.

Look at this.

Brazil is a developing country but
you wouldn't know it around here.

'The rich in Sao Paulo

'are going to extraordinary lengths
to protect their wealth.'

See...

Electric fences on top of every wall.

This one has infra-red as well.

Bloody hell, it has as well.

You have to hide your wealth behind
the walls. That's not much fun.

'Living just minutes away from
the wealthy in their gated mansions

'are Brazil's urban poor.

'The huge gulf between
the haves and the have-nots

'has helped create
a frightening rate of violent crime.

'Last year, there were 3,000
murders

'and 70 kidnappings
in Sao Paulo alone.'

'Perhaps not surprisingly,

'the city has more private security
guards than any other in the world.'

'Fernando took me to a company that
is making a fortune supplying
bodyguards to wealthy Brazilians.'

'Jose Neto is
the vice-president of the firm.'

Jose, so how's business going?

TRANSLATION: We're the biggest
security company in Brazil

with over 14,000 employees,
500 of whom are close protection
bodyguards.

The demand for our services is
very high

because the problem of
crime is very severe in Brazil.

OK, let's see what your men do.

Come on! OK.

'Jose suggested I play
the role of a VIP

'in one of the training exercises.'

This is my cue.

OK, so I'm walking to the shops.

GUNFIRE

Oh, bloody hell!

I've no idea what happened to
the kidnappers, but I've got away.

One minute I was walking towards

three plates on the wall
and the next,

I was being picked up, chucked in
the back of the car and we were off.

Very dramatic.

Oh!

We're leaving the wealthy part of
Sao Paulo now and we're heading

towards the suburbs and then,
into what in other countries

would be called the shantytowns.

Here, they call them the favelas.

And we're heading to one favela in
particular, which used to have

the reputation of being the most
dangerous place on the planet.

'Just a few years ago,
the murder rate in Jardim Angela
was the highest of any

'neighbourhood in the world with
drug massacres almost every week.'

'Community worker Osni Santos
offered to take us on a tour of
the favela.'

'He insisted that it wasn't safe
to take our shiny new hire car

'so we've travelled in his van.'

Quite a squeak on the brakes there.

Has this car had its MOT recently?!

THEY LAUGH

Not sure! There's no MOT here!

I can see, clearly.

THEY LAUGH

Why is it called the Quiet Hill?

'As in developing cities across
the planet,

'many people here have been moved
off rural areas

'to make way for huge
industrial farms,

'so they come here
in search of work.'

I mean, do most people have jobs?

60% are unemployed?! 60%.

'Life in Jardim Angela
IS starting to improve

'and with leadership from
the Catholic Church,

'the community is taking back
streets from drug dealers
and gangs.'

'We visited a church community
project where youngsters are now
taught skills

'like cooking and hairdressing,

'to keep them
on the straight and narrow.'

Is that all right? Is that OK?

I'm ready to make pizzas!

'My cookery teacher is
teenager, Luis Fernando.'

I'm really bad at all forms
of cooking and I burn toast.

So I'm very keen to learn
how to make a pizza,
particularly the Brazilian way.

What do we start with?

Is that all right?

More or less.

More or less! Very good.

'Luis is only 17, but he's
already had a chequered past.'

TRANSLATION: I was in the wrong
life.I did lots stuff I shouldn't.

My dad got very worried.

I thought there was something
there for me,

because I wanted to fill
that emptiness I felt inside.

And what age did you get involved
with drugs?

TRANSLATION: 14 years old.

First, it was weed,
and then, the flour.

But not this flour...the other one.

Cocaine? Yeah.

TRANSLATION: Bit by bit

I got out of drugs, and now I
don't take anything any more.

I'm here, steady,
strong, learning with them.

'With little formal education in
the favela,

'the teenagers are now learning
skills that will improve
their chances of finding a job.'

I don't understand what I'm doing
wrong, apart from everything.

Look at the state of
mine compared to his.

Why is mine like that?
THEY LAUGH

What's going on?
What have I done wrong?

Unbelievable. Because you're crap.

Because you're crap.

THEY LAUGH

It's like that, is it? I see!

Joking apart, the sense
that I really have here,

I don't know whether you
feel this, but there's just...

These kids have got
incredible potential.

There's so much potential in a place
like this and for so long it's just
gone to waste.

They've been
neglected for too long.

'It was time for us
to leave Sao Paulo

'on the very
last leg of the journey.'

We're coming to the coast now

and we're heading to a town called
Ubatuba, which is right on
Capricorn,

right at the point where Capricorn
leaves South America

and heads out
across the Atlantic Ocean.

'The Tropic of Capricorn is the most
southerly point on the planet

'where the sun
can appear to be directly overhead.

'We were arriving at the coast on
the day when this happens -
the solstice.'

What are the chances that
we're going to see the sun,

on the solstice on Capricorn?

I would say very slim. Oh, really?
Yes.

Ubatuba has a reputation
of being a very rainy place.

We actually joke that Ubatuba
should be called Ubashuva -

shuva meaning rain -
because it rains a lot down here.

Look at this.

Mmm, I smell fish.

'Ubatuba was once just a small
fishing village, but today,

'it's a busy holiday resort for
Brazil's burgeoning middle-classes.'

It's supposed to
be somewhere around here, huh?

We think we're
coming up to Capricorn.

Well, that's the airport

and I heard the monument
was just by the airport...

Oh, maybe it's that. Look!

That's the monument, I think.

Well, that's a skate park and
that looks like a globe. Yes!

I think we got to Capricorn. Finally!

Amazing!

We're at the Capricorn
monument on the coast of Brazil.

This is it. This is really the end!

This is where we started our journey

months and months ago
on the coast of Africa in Namibia.

We went across Africa,
across Madagascar, which they seem
to have forgotten on this globe!

Across the middle of
Australia, that's Australia there.

Round here, round the world.

And then we hit
the coast of South America in Chile.

We've gone across South America...

Look, Brazil is outlined here.

We've come across Brazil
and look, there we are now.

A little hole's
been drilled for Ubatuba.

I feel a bit
odd about this, actually.

I mean, I didn't think I'd feel

quite as, almost emotional as
I do, but honestly,

it's been such
a long journey and this is it.

Here we are.

The sun's come out just at
this final second. Look at that!

On the solstice at midday.

The sun is overhead,
the shadow falls underneath.

We're at the southern point,
the southern border of the tropics.

We've travelled all the way round.

We've seen so much on the way from
the rise of China in Africa,
to deforestation in South America.

It has been an amazing journey. I've
got a huge lump in my throat now.

We've made it!

Come on. Let's have a drink.

Yeah, you're right. We deserve one.

We do. One for Capricorn!

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