I'm Bear Grylls, and I'm gonna show you what it takes to get out alive
from some of the most dangerous places in the world.
Whoo!
I've been to the ends of the earth
battling the worst that nature can throw at me,
using all my knowledge and skill
to make it through the wild's toughest challenges.
I've been lucky to see it all.
That is very, very tight.
And on the way, I've learned so much.
How they picked the tracks of that up, amazing.
Now using some of that experience and some brand-new action...
That's amazing!
..I'm gonna show you how to survive wherever you are on the planet.
Whoo-hoo!
This is the Man vs Wild Global Survival Guide.
From the swamps of Indonesia
to the sands of the Sahara
and the mountains of Patagonia,
there's nowhere I haven't taken on.
But to survive in each different environment
needs a different set of skills and knowledge.
In this episode, I'm gonna take you around the world,
and show you how to stay alive
whether you're in the desert, the tropics or the Arctic.
I'm gonna do it using previously unseen tips and challenges.
On location we get into so many crazy situations
that often we can't fit it all into the program.
Well, now we can, and it's gonna be a blast.
Whoo!
Making this show, we've been almost everywhere on earth.
-Sumatra. -Siberia.
-Zambia. -Belize.
-South Dakota. -Alaska.
-Alabama. -Central Romania.
-The Sahara Desert. -Guatemala.
-The Arctic Circle. -Vietnam.
-The Baltic Coast. -Georgia.
-Patagonia. -And a whole lot more.
This is gonna be an adventure.
On this incredible journey
I've experienced virtually every environment known to man.
It's just intense.
Quite a mad place to be.
Facing some of the toughest challenges
in the harshest conditions.
This must be the hottest desert I have ever been in.
Look at this.
Whoa!
Now I'm gonna strip it down
and show you the best techniques to use
depending on where you're stranded...
..whether it's the heat of the deserts,
the cold of the polar climates,
the wild mountains of the temperate zones,
or the humidity of the tropics.
And I'm gonna start with the tropical islands.
Places like this might be seen as paradise,
but the reality is very different
there's often hardly any fresh water,
and these can be some of the harshest areas to survive anywhere.
There are roughly 45,000 tropical islands.
And one thing they all share is an abundance of sea life.
But that's not always a good thing.
Oh, look, we've got a shark here. Just there.
Look, bluebottle jellyfish.
You do not wanna get stung by this guy.
Whales!
Massive humpback in the water with us.
If you can avoid the dangers in these
warm waters, the rewards are immense.
And you don't have to look far to find your supper.
Look at all these shells.
They're all the way along here.
These are conch shells. Just hundreds of them.
They're among the largest molluscs in the Caribbean.
Let's go and get a conch.
The Taino people who lived here 500 years ago
dived for these large sea snails,
eating their meat and using their shells.
But it's tough work without a mask.
It's just hard to see.
But actually there is a way you can dive without a mask,
and what you do is just cup your forehead with your hands,
and then when you're underwater, you blow out of your nose,
creates a little air pocket and will let you see for a few seconds.
Making an air pocket in front of my eyes means I can focus underwater,
gives a chance to locate a conch.
Conch!
If there's anything in this, it's
gonna make a really nice fish supper.
It's not even Friday.
The traditional method for removing a conch
is to make a hole in the front of the shell,
in the third ring from the centre.
And what that does is just pierce that vacuum
and makes it much harder for them, the conch, to hold on.
Yeah.
(GRUNTS)
Whoo.
No raw seafood is 100% safe, but I'm gonna risk it.
Mmm.
Actually good, a bit like, just, raw scallop.
High in protein and minerals, seafood is great survival food,
and it's just everywhere here.
You see this? It's covered in these things.
And those are actually edible. Called chitons.
Look, let's see if we can get one off.
You see all of that gunk inside,
but there's a little snack on the way that's gonna do a treat.
Tastes like a very salty, very tough oyster.
But a good bit of energy.
Let's keep moving along this coastline.
It's not just the sea that can help the survivor on a tropical island.
The beaches are also rich hunting ground.
There's a beach almond tree.
If you find one of these,
you're in good shape.
Look around on the ground.
Here you go, that's one of the fruits from it.
Good thing about these is you got fruit on the outside,
but then, inside - get an old one - inside that, you'll get a nut.
The beach or Indian almond grows all over the tropics.
Its fruit is fleshy and slightly acidic.
Strong flavour, but good.
But it's the nut that's the real rich source of energy.
Crack it open, inside...
..good almond.
Mmm.
The nuts are rich in protein, fats and carbohydrate.
That's a good find.
Fill our pockets with these.
When you come across great survival food like this,
collect as much as you can and store it somewhere safe -
you're gonna need it.
Food may be plentiful on tropical islands.
The big problem can be finding fresh water.
But there are some telltale signs to look out for.
Look here.
You see the trees are much bigger,
and it all looks more lush,
just the sort of place you might find some water.
Definitely worth a look.
You can actually almost smell water here, it just feels much more humid.
Look, you see water all the way down here.
Actually, that's a little bit salty.
Not much but there's definitely a little bit of salt in there.
Probably a mix of rainwater
but it's also some sea water seeping up through the rock.
Even a little salt water starts you down a dangerous path.
The more you drink, the thirstier you get,
and ultimately your kidneys fail under the high salinity.
Without fresh water you'll only last three days,
so it's vital you find it.
And sometimes it can turn up in the most unlikely places.
I can see a change in the water.
Actually, look, that's amazing.
Can you see this?
It's like a natural spring coming out from down...
..down under the rock.
See if you can see this.
Look, if I throw some sand in, watch this.
See that? It's being brought right out.
Actually that is fresh.
Now, that is just amazing, literally right on the shoreline
to have fresh water coming down.
Fresh water floats on top of the denser sea water.
Natural springs are as good as it gets in the wild, but they're rare.
Let's get this filled up.
There's one source of both liquid and food
that's always around in the tropics - the coconut.
Coconuts can be a lifesaver.
They can also be brutes to get into.
One simple way, though,
find a bit of hard wood, put a bit of an edge onto it...
..and then just...
..drive the coconut onto it.
Coconut is such a good hydration fluid
that in some developing countries it's used in hospitals
as an alternative to medical saline.
You should look for this miracle fluid in young green coconuts -
the older and browner they get, the less water there is.
If you can escape your island and survive at sea for long enough,
you're likely to end up on the mainland coast,
and that's where we're going next.
Whoa!
The harsh realities of island life in the tropics
will stretch the toughest survivor,
but getting stranded in a temperate zone has its own unique pitfalls.
(GRUNTS)
Whoa!
The temperate zones lie north and south of the tropics.
They have relatively moderate temperatures
and are more populated,
especially on the coast.
But just because you're stranded in a developed part of the world
doesn't mean you're safe.
If you're lost, there's no guarantee of rescue -
could be days, could be weeks - so you'd better learn the basics.
OK, go!
If you're stuck on the coast in a temperate region,
and you follow the shore for long enough, you're gonna find help,
but you'll need food on the way.
Here are some new tips to show you how to find it and how to cook it.
Start by looking around protected tidal beaches
and it shouldn't be long before you get lucky.
Look, there are loads and loads of these mussels here
that I can use.
And then there's this limpet.
And there's lots of nice spirulina in here,
and that's all gonna be good.
Packed full of vitamin B12,
this seaweed can be a good substitute for meat.
Oh. (LAUGHS)
Got a crab as well.
And these little shore crabs,
as long as they're small like that,
those are fine to eat just raw.
Only eat crabs like this raw if the water quality is good.
Tastes of sand and salt.
And goo.
Now to find somewhere to cook up my feast.
Actually, this will do - nice and sheltered from the wind,
above the high tide mark.
Just gonna find myself some wood.
There's plenty of driftwood lying at the high tide mark -
it's covered in salt and still damp.
I'll need lots of tinder to get it going.
Dead grass is perfect.
You just run your fingers through it, like through your hair,
and you get all the nice dead, dry stuff.
And then it's gonna catch and go.
And that's nice when it goes first time.
I'll try and get some of this seafood broth going
with these mussels.
And all I wanna do is throw all of these,
just like they are, sand and everything,
in there.
Pop the limpets out.
Add some water and boil it up.
As mussels are essentially filter feeders,
in poor water areas they can be high
in concentrated toxins.
It's best to cook them properly.
Once the broth has boiled, I'll pick out the seafood,
and then strain the rest - my socks will work a treat.
What I want is all the juice and all
the goodness without all of the sand.
It's like fishy socks.
But at least it's warming.
Coastlines like this can offer the survivor a lot,
but if you choose to head inland,
temperate regions present many different landscapes.
Mountains.
Valleys.
And grassland.
But one of the most common is the forest.
The whole place is just teeming with bears!
Shh.
(WHISPERS) That's a brown bear.
My heart is thumping.
In this global survival guide I've shown how to deal with
being stranded on the coast in tropical and temperate regions.
Now we're heading inland to the temperate forest,
a very different environment.
The inland areas
of the northern temperate zones
were once mainly forest.
Humans have cleared many of the trees
for cities and farmland,
but there are still vast and wild areas left.
And this is one of the greatest of them all...
..the Carpathian Mountains in Romania.
Thousands of miles of dense forest.
There's potential for food and water, but it's not all good.
Clear.
Down there are some pretty nasty creatures.
Good luck, Bear!
Here you go. Come over here.
There you go, a little salamander.
Get him in these chopsticks. Hang on.
Wanna be a little bit careful not to touch the skin of this.
It actually secretes some poison out of it.
But, you know, it's a pretty clear indicator nature gives you
of something bad - very brightly coloured yellow spots,
doesn't move very fast,
you know it's not gonna bite you or anything,
which means it's gonna have some sort of defence,
and its defence is the poison it releases.
So you don't wanna eat that.
But kind of beautiful as well, eh?
OK, let him go.
Of all the creatures that live in temperate forests,
there's one that's guaranteed to strike fear
into the heart of any survivor.
Shh.
(WHISPERS) You can just see it there.
OK, come down, come down.
That's a brown bear.
OK, we are very close here, probably only about 50 metres.
No sudden movements at all.
And my heart is thumping... at the moment.
But he hasn't spotted us, I don't think.
Unbelievable to see... to see a bear this close.
OK, he's just spotted us,
and he's turning away.
And he's moved away.
But, you know, you get a bear that close,
any sudden movement, he's gonna pick up.
And, really, if they go for you...
..you've just gotta... you gotta back away slowly.
If they're coming for you fast, you've gotta run.
Best thing to do, drop something of yours, a rucksack -
they're gonna go straight for that first to smell,
and that might give you just a precious few minutes to get away.
But it means we've gotta be just so careful...
..moving through these woods.
In forest survival, any kind of weapon is going to help,
ideally a rifle,
but if you're stranded without warning,
you're unlikely to have one of those.
Sometimes, though, nature throws you a bone,
or in the case of Montana, a stone.
I just found this arrowhead back there.
You know, some of these date back literally thousands of years.
Would have been shaped and made by Native Americans
who used it to hunt with and to protect themselves.
Native Americans used bows and arrows to hunt deer, elk and bison,
and if it was good enough for them, it's good enough for me.
I've gathered some feathers and willow for the arrows,
and alder for the bow.
It's all about tools of convenience, using whatever you can around you,
just to help yourself hunt and survive.
First thing I wanna do is just strip this willow down,
take all of the outer bark off.
Next, to attach the arrowhead,
the central thread of my para cord is ideal for the job.
And then just melt down some of this pine resin...
..and then mixed in with a bit of charcoal...
..makes a really effective glue.
The feathers must be placed carefully.
If not, the arrow won't fly straight.
You see the rifle on that?
That's what gives it the spin.
OK.
Time to make my bow.
Just tapering down one side of this.
And in between doing that,
just get it over the fire and try and dry it out,
and that's gonna stiffen it up and then give it more power.
More parachute cord makes my bowstring.
I should have a range of about 15 yards.
Looks like we're ready to go.
Come on then.
(WHISPERS) So, just trying to keep all movement nice and slow,
no sudden movements, because when you're moving jerkily
animals catch you out of the corner of their eye.
Bow hunters will normally actually often scout an area
for months in advance,
and once they find a good area, they'll come and they'll wait,
and they'll wait.
But I don't have that luxury of time.
We'll give it a bit longer, move out through this woodland bit.
If we don't get anything, we'll then move off.
Then suddenly I spot something in the trees above.
OK, OK.
See him on the top branch there?
Got him?
It's a long shot. The bird's tiny, but I've got to give it a go.
Oh.
Went straight over his head.
I try again, but the second arrow scares him and he flies away.
No luck this time.
Survival is all about playing the odds,
and you'll often have setbacks before you succeed.
So try, try and try again until your plan works out.
The one thing you must never do is give up,
especially where we're going next -
it's back to the tropics and into the jungle.
(HISSES)
I'm on a journey of survival,
a trip around the world looking at the best ways to stay alive
in almost every type of environment...
..using brand-new action from some of my unseen adventures.
There's a definite sense of excitement.
I'm showing you the best tips and techniques
so you can make it out alive, wherever you're stranded.
Whoo-hoo!
And the right knowledge and attitude are vital to where we're going now.
If you can survive here, you can survive anywhere.
Welcome to the jungle.
Hot, humid and huge.
If you're not used to this environment,
it's bewildering and dangerous.
It is just jungle, jungle, and more jungle.
Usually located in the sweltering heat of the tropics,
jungles are home to half of all the animal and plant species on earth,
and a large number of those are trying to kill you...
(HISSES)
..as my cameraman found out in Belize.
Ooh, Bear.
- Yeah? - My leg. Look.
-What's that? -My leg.
(LAUGHS) Oh, yeah.
Let's have a look.
That's quite a good size... good size tarantula.
Let's see if we can get him off.
Wanna be careful here, I don't want him to bite you either.
Through...through there.
Right, there we go.
And that is a good size.
Look, you can see his fangs right at the front there.
If you try and squash him or grab him, he'll strike, wham, like that.
But as long as you don't disturb him,
he shouldn't...shouldn't bite.
You saw that climbing up your foot.
That's well spotted.
Let's just leave him be though, let's not mess with him.
Look, up go his fangs at the front. Let's get him off.
Not every creature in the jungle wants you dead -
some are very happy to eat you alive.
Oh, man, I'm getting hammered by these things.
Leeches - they're everywhere here.
Ah, look, you see this one,
it is just full of blood.
Absolute brutes.
Sometimes in the jungle it can feel like everything is out to get you,
but hidden away there are some amazing creatures and plants
that can help the survivor.
This is the Camino Real trail in Panama -
the route that Spanish conquistadors used to move their treasure
from the Pacific to the Atlantic,
and it's home to a very special plant.
Come and check this plant out.
This is called ortiga.
And you can tell that just if you look at the underside of the leaf -
it's got these very sharp barbs,
and also if you look down the actual stalk of it, really sharp again.
And legend has it that the slaves who
were driving the gold mule trains,
when they reached the point of just complete exhaustion
and they couldn't go on,
they'd supposedly whip their legs with these spikes
and it would make their legs go numb.
And I've always been interested to see actually whether
this stuff works or not.
So let me give it a little go.
OK.
And, look, you see it all just going
red there,
And I wouldn't describe it as a bundle of good fun,
sitting in the jungle whipping myself.
But let's just see if their trick works for me.
And actually it feels very, very hot suddenly.
And it's kind of like just rubbing
a load of heat balm along it.
Not quite numb, but the ortiga certainly gave me a lift of sorts.
Jungles have a lot to offer when it comes to food,
and sometimes it's just lying around on the floor.
Actually, look, this is an old termites nest.
Look, you see this? Here we go, look.
There you go. Look, shake all of these out.
And, look, see all of those little guys, those are the termites.
And, look, actually, look, see these bigger ones, these are the workers.
They're the ones that actually who move all the colony around.
More nutritional value in these bigger ones.
Ow!
Quite sharp little nippers on the front there.
And, look, you'll see him actually just clinging on for dear life
to my finger.
Mmm.
Crunchy.
If you're stranded and nobody's looking for you,
you're gonna have to get yourself to safety.
Whoa!
But moving through the jungle is tough.
In Sumatra I found a quicker way to travel.
I reckon I'm gonna make much better...better progress
if I can get into this river.
There are some rapids
but I reckon if I find myself a log, this should be manageable.
This river is heading where I wanna go,
and it's gonna be way faster than walking.
Rapids downstream mean this isn't the safest option,
but there are some techniques you can use to minimise the risk.
You need to take this time before the
rapid, not only to get your breath,
but also to plan your route in them.
I can use the buoyancy of this bamboo
to get myself up, and get a view.
But I hate that feeling where you
can just hear the sound of the rapids
building and building.
(EXHALES)
And suddenly I'm in the turmoil of the rapids.
I'm aiming for what's called the tongue,
where the water builds up and all the main volume is going.
Fight to keep your head up high so you can anticipate the waves ahead.
Try and stay on your back with your feet pointing downstream,
so you can face any obstacles.
And if you go under you've gotta keep calm, don't fight it,
just let the water spit you out.
OK, I'm out of the main flow and through that eddy line.
That was much stronger than I thought.
But I've made some good progress down the river.
Wanna get out of it now.
In the jungle, if you look hard enough you'll find food and water,
but you could be stranded somewhere
where there's virtually nothing.
Bottom line is it doesn't matter how good or smart or clever you are -
without water, you're dead.
Coastlines.
Forest.
Jungle.
With knowledge, positive attitude and a bit of luck,
you can make it out of these places alive.
But surviving in the desert is a different matter.
Around one-fifth of the world's land area is desert -
food is scarce, water virtually nonexistent.
Temperatures can range from over 130 degrees Fahrenheit in the day...
Really, the heat out here is just relentless.
..to below freezing at night.
I'm really cold. I just can't wait to see the sun.
There's very little shelter, and you're unlikely to be found.
If you get stranded here, you're in big trouble.
Whatever desert you're in,
your biggest struggle is gonna be finding water.
And if you don't, death is gonna visit you very quickly.
In the Baja desert in Mexico
I was having a rough time after being stung in the face by a bee,
but out here the search for water can never stop.
Cacti may seem like a good option for fluids, but many are poisonous.
You see, all of these are cardon cacti.
And, look, they're huge.
And cardons actually grow into the biggest cactus in the world.
Some of them contain up to a tonne of water in all of those big limbs.
But it's not the sort of water you can drink.
Try and tuck into that
and it's just gonna make you throw up, give you diarrhoea.
It's got loads of chemicals and toxins in it.
And out here, that's just gonna kill you faster.
In the constant quest for water
the canyons of the Chihuahuan Desert provide some better options.
Your best bet is down on the canyon floor.
Storms create massive run-off into pools known as tinajas.
The trouble is it might not have rained here for months.
Oh, hang on, we've got water here.
Looking pretty stagnant, though.
And you've gotta try and resist the temptation
to dive in and drink water like this.
It's gonna have all sorts of nasties in it.
And actually you're at your most vulnerable
at the point where you're most thirsty
because it's then that you get careless.
But what I've got is just a normal clear hiking water bottle.
And there is a way that I can use sunlight, the UV light,
to help me purify this stagnant water.
And all you've gotta do is fill it up,
and then leave it out in the sun for about six hours,
and then sunlight and the UV rays
will purify about 60%-80% of all the bad stuff.
Actually, give it a good shake as well - that oxygenates the water.
So all I've gotta do is leave it on the back of the rucksack as I walk,
and hopefully after about six hours, it's gonna be pretty OK to drink.
You know, it's never gonna be 100%, but it's better than nothing.
When it comes to food, deserts offer precious little,
so in one of my rare encounters with other humans,
I met the ultimate desert hunters, the San Bushmen of Namibia,
to learn from their hard-won wisdom.
One of the San hunters has picked up the track of a hare,
the faintest print in the sand.
Using their intimate knowledge of the desert,
the Bushmen find, and start digging down to the hare's burrow.
There's a definite sense of urgency and excitement with these guys now.
(SPEAKS LOCAL LANGUAGE) OK? OK?
OK, he's got it.
Less than 10 minutes after picking up the trail,
the hunters have caught their prey.
A stunning piece of bushcraft.
How they picked the tracks of that up, you know,
especially after it was raining last night,
almost completely obliterated the tracks,
but they just caught it from the sun,
they could just see the silhouette of the tracks, amazing.
It would take years to learn all the skills of the San Bushmen,
and even then, surviving in the desert
would be hard,
but probably not as hard as staying alive in our final destination.
And how anybody or anything can live here
is just extraordinary.
If the heat of the desert is tough,
the cold of polar climates can be tougher.
Whoa!
It's fair to say I've landed.
If you're stuck somewhere like this, you've got your work cut out.
Exposed flesh can freeze in minutes,
and there are hidden dangers everywhere -
crevasses,
hypothermia
and avalanche.
See that coming straight off the mountain? Avalanche.
And this is why this area is so dangerous.
You don't wanna hang around here, guys, that whole slab just dropped.
Let's keep moving.
Polar climates mainly occur
in the Arctic and the Antarctic,
but similar conditions
can be experienced at altitude
or anywhere with permanent snow or ice.
In this frozen world
normal rules just don't apply.
You might think water wouldn't be a problem
when you're surrounded by snow,
but if you try and eat it raw,
you'll burn your mouth and get ulcers.
Don't do it.
You could let it melt in a water bottle close to your body.
But if you're in glacier country like this, you're in luck.
This river is pure melt-water, flowing down from the glacier above.
Pretty cool seeing this coming straight out under the ice,
and if ever water is gonna be good to drink, it's this stuff.
There's no animals that can die upstream of here.
It's just straight out.
And, look, you see, it's silt-coloured.
And all that is is all the pummelled ground rock,
ground by the weight of the glacier.
Glacial melt-water is pure, good to drink and always refreshing.
In Siberia, temperatures have been known to plummet
to -90 degrees Fahrenheit,
and finding food can seem impossible.
You might look at a landscape like this
and just think there's nothing here to eat, it's so barren,
and on the surface of it, you're right,
but under my feet here, in this frozen lake, there is food -
there's fish.
Siberians drill holes to fish for perch and carp.
I've got a frozen deer leg,
so that's what I'm gonna use to smash through the ice.
It's quite hard work!
Ah, through.
I've now gotta make something to fish with.
I'm gonna make a line using some cord from my parachute,
or you could use drawstring from your bags or clothes.
The spring from a toggle can make an improvised hook,
and a little bit of deer meat will make great bait.
I picked up a rock when I left the shore.
I can tie this round the end.
And to finish, a bit of candy wrapper to act as a lure.
I reckon my chances are
good to middling, I reckon.
OK, let's lower this in.
Stick this in to stop it freezing and then move away from it,
and, you know, really, the less vibrations
I make round here, the better.
Come on, fishies, delicious bit of deer here!
At this time of year, carp are hibernating in the gravel,
but perch feed in even the coldest water.
I've left it as long as I can,
but I'm getting cold, and I've gotta get moving.
Time to check my line.
Really, when there's this little food around
you just need to try every trick in the book to get some.
And let's see what we've got.
Ah.
Nothing.
You know, really, ideally I'd give it a good three hours
but I'm just getting cold sitting around on this frozen lake,
and I can't afford to wait, so I'm gonna take this, and get moving.
It was worth a try,
but it just shows how incredibly hard this landscape can be.
And if you're stranded in a polar climate,
you'll need to get out quickly,
and that could mean you've gotta take a risk.
Inside the Arctic Circle in Norway
the most direct route to the safety of the coast
was blocked by a rock face.
I took a short cut through an ice cave.
OK, just watch yourself on this.
This should lead us through and down.
(ICE CLINKS)
(QUIETLY) You see all that fluting all the way up?
That's what we don't want coming down on top of us.
You wanna get through these sort of
things as quickly as you can and out.
OK, I'm gonna go first, let me go, and then you join me.
Ice caves are constantly changing as the melt-water from above refreezes.
Get this wrong, and you could get crushed.
OK, it is very, very tight.
OK, I'll take the camera and you just wriggle. Come on, headfirst.
(GRUNTS)
There you go, it looks like a way out here.
Well, that's the coast.
It's always a good feeling when you overcome an obstacle
and you're on your way home.
Whatever crazy situation you find yourself in,
you've always gotta appreciate the simple things.
Wow.
Be positive, be strong and be resourceful.
The world really is what you make of it.
Really, when the sun is out like this,
the Patagonian ice-field
is just breathtaking.
This place really is just amazing.
Heart rate's still high,
but now it's not from fear,
now it's just from elation.
Good climb.
Some things in life
just don't have a price tag.
One thing's for sure, if you wanna survive,
wherever you are in the world,
the most powerful tool is your mind.
And a little knowledge
and bags of enthusiasm
go a long way to keeping you alive.
To share my favourite moments
from the show, visit: