BEYOND THE ANDES

[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] a few moments ago we boarded the panagra plane at Miami destination the rainforests of the Amazon the grand canal east of the Peruvian Andes one of the world's last unconquered frontiers once I read about the Spanish conquistadores they were the first of a stream of fortune hundreds who ever since 1530 to have sought the riches of gold the unknown armed with well armed with light tangle to see to experience to know but not to conquer the excitement of the trip is his hard bill and I are going to the Peruvian jungles for the same reasons we went to Alaska to catch king salmon not only to battle the king salmon but also for the thrill going to a new place sure I caught a salmon but I'll never forget the mysterious Northern Light now we're out to get the deadliest fish swimming the waters of the year puron you the question will these man-eaters of the Amazon yield to the love modern tackle there's only one way to foul and by gosh we aim to find out first stop Lima Peru we're about to enter the world different from anything we've ever known to rule land of contrasts the home of the great atahuallpa in his Incan people who fought Bizarros conquistadores and lost land of the towering Andes cradle of the thousand-mile Amazon home with a weird flat headed Indians and of the naked campus the court in the dusty run remind us that this is the last outpost of civilization next point of destination the jungle people are people pushing around through this crowd makes me feel as though it's just another County Fair only south of the equator here on the shores of the Ucayali is the perfect example of a town living from its River it doesn't seem to matter much to the locals that their drinking water is a happy mixture of turned up mud a washing of clothes and swimming of the kids all add to the flavor of this unforgettable drinking age to all visiting farm and that's what we are or at least a young fry make us feel that way I wonder what kind of an escort Bizzaro had history sure is a funny thing every page of it written just because some man wanted to go somewhere and do something all the arrangements for a guide have been made ones are man I should really say boy he's only 18 he's a seasoned guide who has penetrated some of the most remote parts of the Amazon forests forbidden to most men this 120 degree heat feels like the backdraft of a blast furnace but it doesn't seem to be bothering one me I'm from the States can't do much with fancy lingo so by pointing and running I'll try to get across the ideas that we have about taking primitive game fish with modern tackle a thousand miles a hand paddling is too much to think about why not match the dependability of machine against the savagery of the jungle this outboard motor is no plaything in this kind of country it might well mean the difference between life and death signor Sicily to the rescue maybe he can get the details across to one one is wondering how we can possibly expect to challenge the many moves of these waters I guess you never know what to expect shallow waters savage waters Styx and jungle rubble a few words from senior Sicily and it looks like everything is straightened out for one up at dawn to make the final changes on our dugout canoe all we're going to do with the hard way talk about contrasts a modern outboard motor on a type boat probably as ancient as man's early history and the pilot one of course [Music] [Applause] [Music] from paddle to outboard in one easy lesson and one is trying not to show the strain finally we're on our way I'm working pretty hard at the pucallpa skyline knows when we'll see it again [Applause] [Music] so far it looks like a good River this Ucayali broad deep calm friendly [Applause] but Juan wasn't kidding when he talked about its changing moods sparkling blue one minute and next muddy brown filled with skeletons of dead timber projecting from the water what are these jaws of menacing wood that keep at us as if in sudden anger the waters target us though to turn us back from our quest small whirlpools that docked water seem to follow us in all peaceful waters again with friendly freshwater porpoises rolling playfully alongside up to this point has been one question in my mind where do you catch fish in the strange country if you look in the middle of the river the shoreline where back of the matter is I'm not even certain is that the kind of fish we're looking for that's the problem we're looking for something but don't know exactly what Juan says there might be some bearish schooling near these rafts a cedar well we came here to find out so let's find out [Music] there's something big ly familiar about the way this character is acting [Music] Shambala our first score against the river shaumbra thin is a billfold after taxes and with a lower jaw straight out of a nightmare but even with those two-inch fangs he's still a sucker for a surface lair after that opening skirmish we decided to hit Shore for a look around if one can do it I can too why I used to be the town's champion fence Walker after all what's the difference between a pole in the fence [Music] [Applause] he must be the heat [Music] the jungle is a vast gallery of spectators all watching the big show as we go deeper into the interior I have a feeling we're the main attraction we know that the really primitive Indian tribes live just five or six miles inland we're sticking close to the river it's the closest thing to civilization in this territory Wan has been muttering something all day long about headhunters long-haired encompass headhunters of South America now I know why Wan has been so uneasy it's of life-and-death importance we remember this jungle is deadly these headhunters wouldn't hesitate to chop off our heads shrink him to the size of a baseball the heat has hit about 120 degrees and the insects are making life miserable poisonous Bora shooters Devils it sting through your clothes we've entered the home of the ten-foot cannibal tiger fish freshwater sharks 3,000 miles from the salty ocean ants whose single bite will cause blindness we've stepped into the middle of hell three men alone on this narrow tippy dugout canoe in our very lives rest in the hands of this 18 year old Peruvian boy why we're approaching a village of Tamas Indians a matriarchy which Wan claims is friendly I sure hope he's right these gals rule the roost around here Amazons and every sense of the word often after a big battle Steve's innocent looking women who mutilate fallen most of the killing that's done is because these women keep nagging at their husbands to get more slaves these gals have a system all their own if the husband gets too frisky a taste of flora pondo plant juice turns him into a kind of walking zombie with neither will nor wit nice kid I know one thing sure we don't aim to put any strain in their hospitality there's only one thing we want information about fish her face seems friendly enough but I wonder what she's thinking actually our one real aim is to find the Piranha our general destination is an obscure inland lake called a Maria but our friend keep saying something about the Taichi according to this native fishing for pike she is a complicated affair first the man form a cage with poles beat the water vigorously to drive the fish have the spear ready to throw when you spot it heave and finish it off of the night these plexi often our nine feet long way up to 400 pounds the meat resembles feel with little or any fish flavor funny thing about this fish is that it has the tail of are both it like a cod has more than one stomach its head and behavior is similar to a muskie but it has no teeth there's a combination for you is this really the 20th century or is some Twitter thrown us back into the prehistoric past the side of this patrones home is a welcome relief after the miles of bewildering jungle behind us our mosquito nets aren't up by sundown we'll be eaten alive by the clouds of insects looking for warm flesh our nets are not perfect protection against the buzzing swarms of blood hungry mosquitoes this first night I can think only of the deadly night hunting snakes big around as a man's thigh which stalks and strikes without stopping until the victim is dead pleasant thoughts for dreaming we reached the junction point of the real bumble tamiya and UV alley this morning we're trying deep running lures bills and business already what is that a largemouth bass or a baby tarpon [Music] Corvina I was right it does look like a largemouth bass and tail walks across the water like a good old Florida tarpon [Music] so help me whan looks completely Buffalo our bright hunks of metal just don't add up to him [Music] [Applause] that crazy fool fish surfaces pauses and then dessert oh damn [Music] yeah I near the lateral stripe like a snow fast hard-hitting fighter despite the warm temperature of these waters we've left the Ucayali and have cut off to the Tamiya heading west towards the enemies the jungle is pressing in ever closer I have a crazy feeling that even this narrow shallow River literally presents our presence [Music] with the lyric poetry of the Latin Peruvians have named this worst jungle region in the entire Amazon basin la Selva the forest the water is a dirty brown has a stagnant stitch rocks look kinda hungry a few more swipes like that and they'll flip this dugout [Music] [Music] Stream narrows the jungle reaches down to claw at us the chambre finds former network of living traps the jungle orders of rot decay or sickening [Music] the eyes of the jungle are honest the Indian tribes speak of prehistoric monsters still surviving and roaming these forests notes of the Explorer Colonel BH Fawcett have been found describing an 80-foot reptile weighing 25 tons Fawcett thought it might have been a typo darkus a diners are thought by scientists to have disappeared from the face of the earth millions of years ago in 1925 Fawcett and his party went back into the bush and disappeared forever no trace of them was ever found [Music] our search for Leakey Maria and the cannibal piranha has alerted every living creature in the bush [Music] somewhere up ahead lost in the jungle is a Maria called by the Indians Lake of mystery [Music] suddenly we've broken from the brush into a lake so immense it staggers the imagination lake ii maria it must be this place has a brooding silence not a sign of life anywhere this must be the home of the Brian it's a relief to be out in the open again the air smells fresh almost sweet Bill's asleep already Juan is at the fire maintaining his nightly vigil Mar morning we go after the fish spawn in hell the name which freezes the blood of the fiercest tribes papaya breakfast jungle style it's a beautiful morning with all the jungle around us in a friendly moon we hope one thinks there might be a ciamis tribe living near here he was right a village of Chalmers out here in this vast nothingness they dress in colorful bark cloth similar to the South Sea Island topper the phrase were a silver piece in the nose at least we have one thing in common they're fishermen so are we one thing I've learned never leave the boat until after your guide is made certain everything is alright be generous with gifts a machete to the chief small mirrors and comb to the others savages are like children any show of weakness or desired harm might be fatal [Music] and reply to my questions about pure Anya the chief has brought us to the pitiful spectacle of this woman keeping constant vigil over the grave of her husband killed and eaten by the Quran yet all that remained were a few shreds of cloth and over these she grieves there's now no doubt in our minds about the friendliness of these people they're fishermen who want to lead peaceful lives but only a few miles back in the brush are the head hunting campus tribes killers at the Jumbo the woman's more pleasant pastime consists of making beer they're chewing spitting probably contributes to the flavor with this delicious beverage is a stimulant raiding parties are planned and young ciamis women provide perfect victims savage compass Sun one side and brandy on the other which is worse the chief says two Americans on a scientific expedition were here three years ago they witnessed the incredible savagery of the piranha an animal unlucky enough to fall in the water drives the perineum mad with lust the water becomes a boiling cauldron as thousands of these Devils attack and in a matter of seconds all that remain are a few Foreman's the homicidal fury of their attack defies imagination [Music] we've heard enough to realize the best thing to do with these Devils is use wire leader in metal lures apparently the piranhas can chew blocks of wood into splinters [Music] who would think that such beauty could harbour such horrors I still don't believe it's impossible to strikes right off the bat [Music] Devilfish this why so help me they look like plain old blue gills now how could a little old son fish like this each man insects coca leaves that's what these Indians been chewin well it was a long trip getting here so we might as well try for a few more Devilfish huh all the same they sure kick up one heck of a rumpus the way bill is yanking and tugging you think he had a funny thing is and no other fish around [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] I'm convinced if one can do that what can a school of 10,000 do this is no myth no wonder there are no other fish around here these devils have killed and eaten everything else in the lake [Music] you might call these piranhas wolves of the water they travel in packs that one object kill and devour [Music] [Music] from now on I intend treating these cookies with a heap of respect [Music] the word term means tooth fish for that dental structure 18 [Music] [Music] the scourge of the Amazon a chunk of diabolical completely beautiful the greatest adventure of our lives how can I ever forget the suddenness amazonite and jet black the next two swarms of humming mosquitoes in insects the ghostly hiss of the anaconda the 12-foot Bushmaster stalking death these are sounds of the jump never forget I know we've seen things beyond our wildest expectations but knowing at the back of my mind is the thought what haven't we seen only the mind of that eighteen year old boy maintaining constant vigil at the fire knows this jungle animals only he knows both Telus activity of millions years continues the Jaguar still screams in the night not in a bush death lurks waiting for her victims over the floor of the jungle the Aborigines eat their meat raw our coming has been but a mere ripple on the surface of the eternal jungle we didn't come to conquer or destroy both what we've left I think why but I know nothing has been changed this is the Amazon beyond the end [Music]