7 Toughest Days (2023-…): Season 1, Episode 2 - Oman - full transcript
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(wind blowing)
(dramatic music)
There's nothing out here.
I mean, look at this, it's just
dry and arid. It's baking.
I'm in Oman, one of the driest
places on the planet,
at the hottest time of year.
There's that old adage, "Water, water
everywhere and not a drop to drink."
82% of the country's swept by desert,
including the world's largest sand sea.
My goal is to survive for one week here,
but first, I have to get to shore.
-Can we go in?
-DRIVER: No.
-DWAYNE: No, no in?
-DRIVER: No.
DWAYNE: I think the boat driver
is trying to protect his boat.
Ah, do you know, I'm just gonna do it.
(grunts)
(underwater sounds)
That cord on my bag is now
tangled around my foot.
Can't swim! (gasps)
This was a great idea until
about five minutes ago.
I just need to touch the bottom.
Ah, this was a **** idea. (gasps)
(groans)
Stupidest idea.
(groans)
Tie your bag on, keeping it close.
What are you thinking?
This is day one, and the
takeaway is think before you act.
I'm Dwayne Fields,
explorer and adventurer.
(whoops)
Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop.
-In the wilderness is where I come alive.
-Oh, viper!
-It's my true calling.
-Whoa!
In 2010, I became the first Black British
man to trek to the North Pole.
Progress is that way.
I love to push myself to the limit.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, that's a drop.
Now I'm challenging myself
to survive a week
in some of the harshest
environments on Earth.
Oh, man, this is gonna be intense.
Using all my skill,
determination and will to survive.
Here we go!
That's why I'm here battling
the scorching deserts of Oman.
This is gonna be my 7 Toughest Days.
(dramatic music)
It's always good when you start
the day with sand in your socks.
It literally feels like out of the
frying pan and into the fire.
Almost dry. Look at that.
Five minutes, clothes are drying,
which would be great
if I ran a laundrette.
Right, I need to head southwest
over the mountains,
cover some ground.
Oman lies in the southeast corner of the
Arabian Peninsula, east of Saudi Arabia.
Over the next seven days, I'll be
exploring the Al-Hajar mountain chain,
before heading to the Wahiba Sands,
where I've arranged to meet a
group of Bedouin tribesmen
who will take me out of the desert.
(man chanting)
DWAYNE: Three days earlier,
I met with the Bedouin.
In Oman, they are traditionally
nomadic camel herders.
There guys are the desert experts.
-Hello.
-Hello.
-DWAYNE: How are you?
-Welcome.
DWAYNE: I'm hoping they'll be
able to give me some advice
to help me survive
out in the extreme heat.
I want to spend one week
walking across the desert.
-Do you think it's dangerous?
-Yes, very, very dangerous.
Because the water,
after one day is finished.
No one has faith in me here.
(all chuckle)
I want to show you what my plans
are, where I want to go.
Yes.
DWAYNE:
My biggest challenge
is going to be finding the most
vital ingredient for life: water.
I'm carrying a gallon in my pack, the
absolute minimum I'll need to get started.
I know I'll need more.
My first objective is to climb
the Salmah Plateau.
Up here, the Bedouin tell me there are
sinkholes that could contain water.
-MAN: In here, there are wadi.
-There's wadis in there?
MAN:
Yes, wadi. This wadi.
DWAYNE: Wadi means valley or gorge.
Seasonal riverbeds
that fill when it rains.
On the other side of the plateau,
I'm hoping to find one
where I can get more water
before the final obstacle
to the south, the Wahiba Sands.
Here, I hope to meet the Bedouins'
camel train on the seventh day.
-You will wait for me there, yes?
-Okay.
DWAYNE: A parting gift, a shemagh, the
traditional headgear worn by the Bedouin.
MAN:
Oh, very nice. Now you are Omani.
Now I am Omani.
Now I'm ready for the desert.
-Yes, Bedouin. Yeah.
-Bedouin.
I will make it there.
-Wish me good luck. Yeah.
-(chuckles) Yes.
(grunts)
I'm mindful I've got
a bladder full of water.
So I'm trying to conserve it.
But I don't want to get too dehydrated.
So it's finding that balance.
But I just need to drink.
Even my water is warm.
I've barely started and I've already
drank half my bladder of water.
I've got this traditional shemagh.
If I wrap it around my head,
it's supposed to eventually
make me cooler.
(chuckles) I don't know if that's
gonna happen instantly.
I've got a long way to go.
(grunts) Progress is that way.
It hasn't been that long since I
left the sea. It's a hot, dry heat.
It just sucks the water out of you,
even evaporating through my breath.
I can lose two pints of water
a day just huffing and puffing.
(heavy breaths)
(rocks clatter)
A few just loose.
Ow.
(hisses) Ow.
(grunts) I've got all these
little spikes in me now.
Ow. There's just so many of them.
Everything out here feels like
it doesn't want me here.
(grunts)
Desert plants are incredible survivors.
Some wield thorns instead of leaves,
which use less water
and act as protection.
They may look dead; they're not. They're
hibernating, waiting for the next rain.
Hang on.
I think this is it. This is the top.
No, no, no, no, no.
Where's the sinkhole?
(grunts)
I can't see any evidence of it.
I get to the top and I
realize that it's nothing.
In my head, it just got a lot tougher.
(heavy breaths) Oh, gosh.
I need to find one tomorrow.
The sun's dropping.
I need to find somewhere
to make a camp.
The best thing I can do to conserve water
is to cool down and sleep. Stay positive.
Do you know what I'm really
thinking, after a day like today?
Ice cold, sweaty beer.
I probably wouldn't drink it,
I'd probably just rest it right here
on my head, which is banging.
I just need to get my air mat up.
But not under this.
It just takes one of these, and I roll
over, and I puncture my air mat.
I'm gonna move away
and just find a flat spot.
This'll do.
Please don't pop. That's done, fire.
It's colder at night in the desert. When
the sun goes down, the heat goes with it.
There is barely any humidity
to keep it around.
Feels like it's dropped 20 degrees.
What's this?
I think that's hair from the goats.
It should burn really well.
I see you sparking, come on.
(groans) Ow! Ow, ow, ow, ow.
I sat on a bloody thorn.
Ow! Ow, ow, it's in my bum. (laughs)
That one is right in there.
(exhales)
What a day.
(sighs) Nature has this way of
making you face things.
(fire crackles)
Out here, you can make your mind wander.
Everything is just so hostile.
It reminded me of being in London
and getting stabbed twice;
once here in my shoulder,
just up here, upper chest,
and the other one in my lower stomach.
I was in the wrong place
at the wrong time.
That whole experience changed everything.
I'm lucky to be alive. I thought, "I have
to get away, back to nature."
A place like this isn't out to get
anyone, it's just out to survive.
(dramatic music)
(grunts)
I'm gonna try and get some
miles in before sun rises.
Right, southwest it is.
If I don't find water soon,
I'm gonna have to call in help.
I'm gonna have to bow out.
Oman has no permanent
bodies of fresh water.
These sinkholes are hard
to spot from the ground.
I am looking for any signs of a
depression, a change in color, anything.
Some bones.
Probably died from exhaustion,
dehydration. That is not gonna be me.
My head is banging. I'm feeling
out of breath and I'm queasy.
They're all signs of heat exhaustion.
It it develops into heat
stroke, I'm in real trouble.
What's that now?
What is that?
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
(dramatic sting)
Something like the Grand Canyon
in the middle of the mountains.
I'm gonna try and figure out
how deep this is.
(gasps)
I can't see the bottom of it.
(clatter)
(gasps) That's about five seconds.
Now, I didn't spend as much time
in my physics class as I should,
but from what I remember
that means it's roughly about 400 feet.
If there's water down there, I'm saved.
If I go in, I'm committed,
and if I can't find a way out,
I'm screwed.
Alright, do I try and go down?
This is deep. This is so deep. (groans)
I'm gonna try and get down there.
I'm looking for a good, natural anchor.
A rock with a overhang that
I can throw a sling around.
That's not gonna work.
Hold on. Yeah, that could work.
Yeah, would you trust your life on that?
(stretches)
The two anchor points
are sharing the load.
And because I'm the load, I want to
make sure it's definitely centered.
You've got this, Dwayne.
(grunts)
(rocks crumble)
Here goes.
This is getting to be more of
a scary decision than I thought.
But you know what, I've committed now.
There's no going back.
This is really deep.
It's just opening up now.
This place is unbelievable.
This was all just beneath my feet.
I can just see, like,
a sliver of daylight.
Below ground, it's so much more bearable.
A lot cooler. I'm kind of
expecting to see, like,
dinosaurs or something come
around the corner. It's unreal.
There's lots of signs
that there was water here.
That's a clear water mark, which
means, at the lowest points,
there is gonna be some water, hopefully
some moisture, and I can refill my pack.
What's that? Oh, this
little fella didn't make it.
I reckon this fella was doing the same
thing I'm doing, searching for water.
But it ran out of luck.
(clatter)
That's what I'm looking for,
something like this.
Just a pit in a rock where
the water would catch
and it will sit there where it's
cool enough, just not evaporate.
Come on. Come on.
Ah, there's water.
Ah, there's more water.
I've got an idea. (blows)
I'm just gonna use my sock to soak it up.
Not much. Might be a cup full.
I know it's only a couple of drops of
water, but it sounds like life to me.
Do you know what, I'm gonna boil this.
Come on.
(exhales)
This tiny cup of water is a sign
that the massive gamble paid off.
Somewhere high up there's some birds.
(squeaks)
Hang on, that's a bat.
A minute ago, I thought there wasn't
a single thing alive in here.
But they've adapted to survive here.
Desert fruit bats draw out
more fluids from their food,
allowing them to consume
higher volumes of liquid.
(exhales) I'm trying to make it last.
It's not gonna go very far.
Victory.
I'm in the darkest place…
I think I've ever been in.
And it's a little bit creepy.
Well, just look for yourselves.
I'm gonna turn the camera around
and switch the light off.
Every now and then, I hear a few
stones falling from the roof
somewhere else in this cavern.
I'm turning it back to me now. Absolutely
nothing, and it's right here in my face.
Wow.
When you pause and just look at it,
and you look at the light up there,
it's amazing to think that water
created this. It's just awesome.
I'm desperate for some water, and it's
just ebbing away at this mountain.
Now I need more water
and a way out of here.
Water comes in, and it must go out again.
I'm gonna find a way out.
It looks like an opening to
another, I don't know, channel.
Yeah, this is another tunnel.
I don't know, an offshoot, maybe.
Could be a way out.
I'm gonna have a look.
(grunts)
That's daylight.
And daylight means an exit.
(clatters)
(grunts)
It's getting really hot now. It's already
30 degrees hotter outside the cave.
(grunts)
This is good. It's much greener here than
it is anywhere else I've passed.
This means there's a good
chance there's moisture,
and I reckon it's gonna be down there.
I'm in a different wadi now.
This one's bigger.
Oh, hang on.
I think this is that thorny apple,
the one the Bedouin were telling me about.
I was told to avoid it.
They're really powerful hallucinogenics,
and just one of these can be
really, really dangerous.
I mean, the fact that no animals are
grazing on it is kind of a telltale sign.
It's like every single thing out here is
protecting itself with poisons or toxins.
It's like survival of
the fittest out here.
(water rushing)
I can hear water.
I can see it now, look!
I think I'm hallucinating.
Can you hear that?
It's running water.
This is a spring.
I can't believe how much it's changed.
It's like I'm in a different world.
(grunts) Oh, that's the
best water I've ever tasted.
I've never felt this way about
finding water before. (exhales)
I didn't realize how hot I was
until I put my hand in here.
Sometimes springs can taste salty.
I probably wouldn't drink water like this,
but it's flowing and it looks clean
enough. It doesn't smell bad or taste bad.
I'm a bit too thirsty to even
care right now, if I'm honest.
(grunts)
Rainwater can penetrate
porous limestone rock
and seeps deep underground to
collect in a natural reservoir.
When the aquifer becomes full,
the water springs back to the surface,
filling canyons like this one.
I actually just want to get in.
I'm getting in.
(water gurgles)
I'm swimming in a desert!
This is crazy!
Wow!
Whoa, that is green.
This is good. This is
very good. (chuckles)
This feels like the perfect spot
just to recharge and recoup.
This is like an oasis in the
desert, man. So green and lush.
This many variations in
plant life means resources.
There's fish all over the place.
I'm gonna have a quick look
around, explore a little bit.
I'm looking for a decent
place to put a camp.
That's not too bad.
Simplest shelter is a lean-to, and I'm
gonna use some of these palms here
to build a shaded area, just
to get the sun off my back.
(grunts) This is all from the water
that came down this watercourse.
It's not gonna be a massive structure.
It's just enough to get me
a nice, shaded area here.
These are gonna be my roof.
Ow. Poking me as I'm cutting them.
Every single thing out here
wants to protect itself,
and these sharp, spiky bits keep sticking
me every time I reach in for one.
(exhales) Oh, yes.
(sighs) Just being in the shade for a
minute makes the world of difference.
Yeah.
(sighs)
This is gonna make
the perfect bed for tonight.
It's soft sand instead
of hard, sharp rock.
Man, I found water in the desert today.
I'm talking about proper water
in a desert, in a oasis.
Like, that's Disney Aladdin stuff.
But I did it.
And that's what life--
not even survival anymore--
that's what life is about, isn't it?
I remember being a kid in Jamaica,
and we had very little.
We had enough water and we were happy.
And right now, I am so
happy in this space.
I could comfortably spend
a couple of days here.
I feel like this is
the calm before the storm.
(haunting music)
I feel safe here.
Maybe it's the abundance of water,
an essential component of life.
I'm becoming one with the desert.
I'm halfway through the challenge, and the
unforgiving Wahiba Sands lie ahead,
where the Bedouin have agreed to meet me.
I know there's zero chance
of finding water out there.
For the next few days, I'm gonna stick
around here to hydrate and recover.
All these ponds have tons of fish in them,
but I didn't expect to be
fishing in a desert,
so I don't have, like, a hook or
anything. But I've got a mozzy net.
This will be a new method for fishing.
Everyone is gonna be doing this.
So, basically, I'm gonna hang this out
over, and as I pull it up, bang.
Caught myself fish.
So, I'm gonna have to get some stones
to weigh it down a little bit.
See, it's a work in progress,
just like any new invention.
I don't know if this is actually gonna
work, but hey, it's all about patience.
Oman's wadi fish have adapted to survive
for long periods of drought
in isolated pools.
They can ever crawl to bigger
puddles when the water dries up.
There's tiny fish swimming over it.
If the little ones are okay,
the bigger ones will see that.
Oh, there's that bad boy. He's laughing at
me. Keep coming, my friend.
Oh, there's one.
I feel like I got one.
Oh, three little fishes.
Mmm, I'm not gonna eat these, I'm gonna
throw them back. Give them another chance.
Proof of concept. That's what this is.
(beautiful music)
Whoa, those are dates!
Yeah, I can get up there.
(grunts)
Ow! I'm getting bitten by ants.
(grunts) I need these dates.
They're high in fructose and potassium,
an essential electrolyte.
Ow!
I can't stay up here, I'll drop them down
and pick them up later.
They just taste so good.
Wow, they're all coming out now.
Got to get down.
This is such a good find.
I never appreciated how
sweet a date is before.
I'm gonna try not to eat all of them.
(rattling)
Alright, I've got some water.
I've got my sock full of dates.
I'm just trying to charge up,
get some sugar in my system,
before I press on to what's
probably gonna be the trickiest,
or the hardest part of this whole journey.
Today, I head to my next
challenge: the Wahiba Sands.
But first, I'm gonna soak up every last
drop of this water. I'm gonna need it.
That's a long way down.
How high is that?
(splash)
It's about a second. You can do that. Come
on, Dwayne. You can do that. Here we go.
(gasps)
Bloody hell.
It's a lot higher than
it looks from up top.
I can't believe I did that.
Once it's done, it's done, isn't it?
(groans) My heart's just going
du-du du-du du-du du-du!
I didn't give myself a chance at the top
to think about it too much.
It was just drop the stone, yeah, it's
about half a second thereabouts,
and then just jumped straight after it.
I'm gonna keep moving.
Water's all dried up. (sighs)
It's going more from green to brown now.
This blows my mind.
There's no sense of scale out here.
Those dunes, I don't know whether big
dunes far away, or little dunes close by.
I just can't tell.
All I know is the Bedouin are that way.
So, that's the way I have to go.
The Bedouin have agreed to set up a camp
southwest of the canyon
in the Wahiba Sands.
Normally, I could cover
hard ground quickly,
but the soft sand, combined with the lack
of landmarks, are slowing me down.
If I don't run into the Bedouin within 24
hours, I'll know I've missed them.
Ah, man, this is gonna be intense.
(grunts)
This just feels like endless desert.
It goes on for miles and miles.
The wind shapes the dunes at right angles
to the prevailing direction.
Here, the prevailing wind blows
mainly from the southwest,
so if I stick in line with the gentler
slopes, I should be heading the right way.
(gasps) It's just so hard to go
through this soft sand.
You use roughly double
the amount of energy
as you'd normally use for just
walking around. I can feel it.
It's getting really hot now.
During the day, the sand actually absorbs
the sun's radiation, making it unbearable.
It's like walking on a hot plate.
Now I understand why the Bedouin said
it's better to travel at night.
-How do you navigate in the desert?
-No map, only star. In the night…
-DWAYNE: Yes.
-MAN: …you'll have star.
DWAYNE: I'll rest now, make a shelter. I
can walk later when it's cooler. (groans)
I'm using the bag that the tarp
came in. Just filling it with sand.
It'll hold down one corner of the tarp.
I'm not gonna be drinking
out of this anytime soon,
so I'm just gonna use that as another
weighted anchor.
I've run out of anchors, so now
I'm down to using my boots.
(exhales) This makes such a difference.
There's no way I can walk in this.
I'm just gonna chill here for a little
while, a couple of hours, save my energy.
That breeze isn't even a breeze.
It's just hot air being moved around.
You know when you open the oven doors
and it just hits you with that hot air?
I think I might have pushed myself harder
today than I should have.
And I haven't covered half as much
of the distance that I wanted to.
The sun's just dropped behind the
mountains, and instantly,
like I mean instantly, I felt
the temperature start to drop.
Yeah, I'm gonna get moving.
Quite pleased with how that worked out.
Now I'm gonna press on through the night,
like the Bedouin suggested,
and try and use the stars to find my way.
It's a clear night, and I can see both the
horizon and the stars to get my bearings.
Where's the North Star?
Ah, those stars make up
Ursa Minor, so if that's north,
because the tip of the tail
is the North Star,
that's southwest.
Good. I can never forget the North Star.
I remember when I was a kid and I asked my
great grandmother what a star was.
And she was like, "Oh," in a
really strong Jamaican accent,
"Me no know, you know. You
have to find out and tell me."
And the first star that I ever got to know
was, you know, Polaris,
which is the North Star.
Always reminds me of her.
If I keep the North Star
on my right shoulder,
I'll continue to point roughly west.
Just a bit to the left,
and now that's southwest.
It's a lot cooler at night.
This is where all the other animals are
waking up for the exact same reason as me.
So, I have to kind of watch my step.
It feels like at any minute I'm
gonna step on something
I don't really want to get bitten by.
Oh! That's a snake trail.
Do you know, I'd have
rather not seen that.
(grunts) You start picturing what's out
in the darkness. It's just a bit scary.
I've got the sun coming up now.
(grand music)
I can follow the dunes again now.
(faint voices)
I swear I can hear voices.
(curious music)
That's people talking.
That's people talking! (grunts)
Hey!
(camel grunts)
Hey!
(chuckles breathlessly)
You're here. I made it, man. (breathes)
I made it! What's happening?
What's happening?
You alright?
I can't believe it.
They were waiting, just like
they said they would be.
How's it going? The most
beautiful thing in the world
is a bunch of blokes in a
desert with a load of camels.
I made it. Are they leaving?
(grunts)
(laughs)
This challenge has pushed me to my limit.
It's reminded me why I test
myself in these extreme places:
to push through, struggle, and grow.
Here, all the odds seem
stacked against life.
(chuckles) I just… There were
moments I didn't think I'd make it.
But it was incredible to witness nature
fighting, adapting and thriving.
Oh… Yeah!
I'm left to appreciate the most
basic requisite of life: water.
From the smallest droplets, to
the most unexpected, lush oasis,
nature has a way of persevering.
It's survival of the fittest.
I wonder if these guys have some water.
---
(wind blowing)
(dramatic music)
There's nothing out here.
I mean, look at this, it's just
dry and arid. It's baking.
I'm in Oman, one of the driest
places on the planet,
at the hottest time of year.
There's that old adage, "Water, water
everywhere and not a drop to drink."
82% of the country's swept by desert,
including the world's largest sand sea.
My goal is to survive for one week here,
but first, I have to get to shore.
-Can we go in?
-DRIVER: No.
-DWAYNE: No, no in?
-DRIVER: No.
DWAYNE: I think the boat driver
is trying to protect his boat.
Ah, do you know, I'm just gonna do it.
(grunts)
(underwater sounds)
That cord on my bag is now
tangled around my foot.
Can't swim! (gasps)
This was a great idea until
about five minutes ago.
I just need to touch the bottom.
Ah, this was a **** idea. (gasps)
(groans)
Stupidest idea.
(groans)
Tie your bag on, keeping it close.
What are you thinking?
This is day one, and the
takeaway is think before you act.
I'm Dwayne Fields,
explorer and adventurer.
(whoops)
Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop.
-In the wilderness is where I come alive.
-Oh, viper!
-It's my true calling.
-Whoa!
In 2010, I became the first Black British
man to trek to the North Pole.
Progress is that way.
I love to push myself to the limit.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, that's a drop.
Now I'm challenging myself
to survive a week
in some of the harshest
environments on Earth.
Oh, man, this is gonna be intense.
Using all my skill,
determination and will to survive.
Here we go!
That's why I'm here battling
the scorching deserts of Oman.
This is gonna be my 7 Toughest Days.
(dramatic music)
It's always good when you start
the day with sand in your socks.
It literally feels like out of the
frying pan and into the fire.
Almost dry. Look at that.
Five minutes, clothes are drying,
which would be great
if I ran a laundrette.
Right, I need to head southwest
over the mountains,
cover some ground.
Oman lies in the southeast corner of the
Arabian Peninsula, east of Saudi Arabia.
Over the next seven days, I'll be
exploring the Al-Hajar mountain chain,
before heading to the Wahiba Sands,
where I've arranged to meet a
group of Bedouin tribesmen
who will take me out of the desert.
(man chanting)
DWAYNE: Three days earlier,
I met with the Bedouin.
In Oman, they are traditionally
nomadic camel herders.
There guys are the desert experts.
-Hello.
-Hello.
-DWAYNE: How are you?
-Welcome.
DWAYNE: I'm hoping they'll be
able to give me some advice
to help me survive
out in the extreme heat.
I want to spend one week
walking across the desert.
-Do you think it's dangerous?
-Yes, very, very dangerous.
Because the water,
after one day is finished.
No one has faith in me here.
(all chuckle)
I want to show you what my plans
are, where I want to go.
Yes.
DWAYNE:
My biggest challenge
is going to be finding the most
vital ingredient for life: water.
I'm carrying a gallon in my pack, the
absolute minimum I'll need to get started.
I know I'll need more.
My first objective is to climb
the Salmah Plateau.
Up here, the Bedouin tell me there are
sinkholes that could contain water.
-MAN: In here, there are wadi.
-There's wadis in there?
MAN:
Yes, wadi. This wadi.
DWAYNE: Wadi means valley or gorge.
Seasonal riverbeds
that fill when it rains.
On the other side of the plateau,
I'm hoping to find one
where I can get more water
before the final obstacle
to the south, the Wahiba Sands.
Here, I hope to meet the Bedouins'
camel train on the seventh day.
-You will wait for me there, yes?
-Okay.
DWAYNE: A parting gift, a shemagh, the
traditional headgear worn by the Bedouin.
MAN:
Oh, very nice. Now you are Omani.
Now I am Omani.
Now I'm ready for the desert.
-Yes, Bedouin. Yeah.
-Bedouin.
I will make it there.
-Wish me good luck. Yeah.
-(chuckles) Yes.
(grunts)
I'm mindful I've got
a bladder full of water.
So I'm trying to conserve it.
But I don't want to get too dehydrated.
So it's finding that balance.
But I just need to drink.
Even my water is warm.
I've barely started and I've already
drank half my bladder of water.
I've got this traditional shemagh.
If I wrap it around my head,
it's supposed to eventually
make me cooler.
(chuckles) I don't know if that's
gonna happen instantly.
I've got a long way to go.
(grunts) Progress is that way.
It hasn't been that long since I
left the sea. It's a hot, dry heat.
It just sucks the water out of you,
even evaporating through my breath.
I can lose two pints of water
a day just huffing and puffing.
(heavy breaths)
(rocks clatter)
A few just loose.
Ow.
(hisses) Ow.
(grunts) I've got all these
little spikes in me now.
Ow. There's just so many of them.
Everything out here feels like
it doesn't want me here.
(grunts)
Desert plants are incredible survivors.
Some wield thorns instead of leaves,
which use less water
and act as protection.
They may look dead; they're not. They're
hibernating, waiting for the next rain.
Hang on.
I think this is it. This is the top.
No, no, no, no, no.
Where's the sinkhole?
(grunts)
I can't see any evidence of it.
I get to the top and I
realize that it's nothing.
In my head, it just got a lot tougher.
(heavy breaths) Oh, gosh.
I need to find one tomorrow.
The sun's dropping.
I need to find somewhere
to make a camp.
The best thing I can do to conserve water
is to cool down and sleep. Stay positive.
Do you know what I'm really
thinking, after a day like today?
Ice cold, sweaty beer.
I probably wouldn't drink it,
I'd probably just rest it right here
on my head, which is banging.
I just need to get my air mat up.
But not under this.
It just takes one of these, and I roll
over, and I puncture my air mat.
I'm gonna move away
and just find a flat spot.
This'll do.
Please don't pop. That's done, fire.
It's colder at night in the desert. When
the sun goes down, the heat goes with it.
There is barely any humidity
to keep it around.
Feels like it's dropped 20 degrees.
What's this?
I think that's hair from the goats.
It should burn really well.
I see you sparking, come on.
(groans) Ow! Ow, ow, ow, ow.
I sat on a bloody thorn.
Ow! Ow, ow, it's in my bum. (laughs)
That one is right in there.
(exhales)
What a day.
(sighs) Nature has this way of
making you face things.
(fire crackles)
Out here, you can make your mind wander.
Everything is just so hostile.
It reminded me of being in London
and getting stabbed twice;
once here in my shoulder,
just up here, upper chest,
and the other one in my lower stomach.
I was in the wrong place
at the wrong time.
That whole experience changed everything.
I'm lucky to be alive. I thought, "I have
to get away, back to nature."
A place like this isn't out to get
anyone, it's just out to survive.
(dramatic music)
(grunts)
I'm gonna try and get some
miles in before sun rises.
Right, southwest it is.
If I don't find water soon,
I'm gonna have to call in help.
I'm gonna have to bow out.
Oman has no permanent
bodies of fresh water.
These sinkholes are hard
to spot from the ground.
I am looking for any signs of a
depression, a change in color, anything.
Some bones.
Probably died from exhaustion,
dehydration. That is not gonna be me.
My head is banging. I'm feeling
out of breath and I'm queasy.
They're all signs of heat exhaustion.
It it develops into heat
stroke, I'm in real trouble.
What's that now?
What is that?
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
(dramatic sting)
Something like the Grand Canyon
in the middle of the mountains.
I'm gonna try and figure out
how deep this is.
(gasps)
I can't see the bottom of it.
(clatter)
(gasps) That's about five seconds.
Now, I didn't spend as much time
in my physics class as I should,
but from what I remember
that means it's roughly about 400 feet.
If there's water down there, I'm saved.
If I go in, I'm committed,
and if I can't find a way out,
I'm screwed.
Alright, do I try and go down?
This is deep. This is so deep. (groans)
I'm gonna try and get down there.
I'm looking for a good, natural anchor.
A rock with a overhang that
I can throw a sling around.
That's not gonna work.
Hold on. Yeah, that could work.
Yeah, would you trust your life on that?
(stretches)
The two anchor points
are sharing the load.
And because I'm the load, I want to
make sure it's definitely centered.
You've got this, Dwayne.
(grunts)
(rocks crumble)
Here goes.
This is getting to be more of
a scary decision than I thought.
But you know what, I've committed now.
There's no going back.
This is really deep.
It's just opening up now.
This place is unbelievable.
This was all just beneath my feet.
I can just see, like,
a sliver of daylight.
Below ground, it's so much more bearable.
A lot cooler. I'm kind of
expecting to see, like,
dinosaurs or something come
around the corner. It's unreal.
There's lots of signs
that there was water here.
That's a clear water mark, which
means, at the lowest points,
there is gonna be some water, hopefully
some moisture, and I can refill my pack.
What's that? Oh, this
little fella didn't make it.
I reckon this fella was doing the same
thing I'm doing, searching for water.
But it ran out of luck.
(clatter)
That's what I'm looking for,
something like this.
Just a pit in a rock where
the water would catch
and it will sit there where it's
cool enough, just not evaporate.
Come on. Come on.
Ah, there's water.
Ah, there's more water.
I've got an idea. (blows)
I'm just gonna use my sock to soak it up.
Not much. Might be a cup full.
I know it's only a couple of drops of
water, but it sounds like life to me.
Do you know what, I'm gonna boil this.
Come on.
(exhales)
This tiny cup of water is a sign
that the massive gamble paid off.
Somewhere high up there's some birds.
(squeaks)
Hang on, that's a bat.
A minute ago, I thought there wasn't
a single thing alive in here.
But they've adapted to survive here.
Desert fruit bats draw out
more fluids from their food,
allowing them to consume
higher volumes of liquid.
(exhales) I'm trying to make it last.
It's not gonna go very far.
Victory.
I'm in the darkest place…
I think I've ever been in.
And it's a little bit creepy.
Well, just look for yourselves.
I'm gonna turn the camera around
and switch the light off.
Every now and then, I hear a few
stones falling from the roof
somewhere else in this cavern.
I'm turning it back to me now. Absolutely
nothing, and it's right here in my face.
Wow.
When you pause and just look at it,
and you look at the light up there,
it's amazing to think that water
created this. It's just awesome.
I'm desperate for some water, and it's
just ebbing away at this mountain.
Now I need more water
and a way out of here.
Water comes in, and it must go out again.
I'm gonna find a way out.
It looks like an opening to
another, I don't know, channel.
Yeah, this is another tunnel.
I don't know, an offshoot, maybe.
Could be a way out.
I'm gonna have a look.
(grunts)
That's daylight.
And daylight means an exit.
(clatters)
(grunts)
It's getting really hot now. It's already
30 degrees hotter outside the cave.
(grunts)
This is good. It's much greener here than
it is anywhere else I've passed.
This means there's a good
chance there's moisture,
and I reckon it's gonna be down there.
I'm in a different wadi now.
This one's bigger.
Oh, hang on.
I think this is that thorny apple,
the one the Bedouin were telling me about.
I was told to avoid it.
They're really powerful hallucinogenics,
and just one of these can be
really, really dangerous.
I mean, the fact that no animals are
grazing on it is kind of a telltale sign.
It's like every single thing out here is
protecting itself with poisons or toxins.
It's like survival of
the fittest out here.
(water rushing)
I can hear water.
I can see it now, look!
I think I'm hallucinating.
Can you hear that?
It's running water.
This is a spring.
I can't believe how much it's changed.
It's like I'm in a different world.
(grunts) Oh, that's the
best water I've ever tasted.
I've never felt this way about
finding water before. (exhales)
I didn't realize how hot I was
until I put my hand in here.
Sometimes springs can taste salty.
I probably wouldn't drink water like this,
but it's flowing and it looks clean
enough. It doesn't smell bad or taste bad.
I'm a bit too thirsty to even
care right now, if I'm honest.
(grunts)
Rainwater can penetrate
porous limestone rock
and seeps deep underground to
collect in a natural reservoir.
When the aquifer becomes full,
the water springs back to the surface,
filling canyons like this one.
I actually just want to get in.
I'm getting in.
(water gurgles)
I'm swimming in a desert!
This is crazy!
Wow!
Whoa, that is green.
This is good. This is
very good. (chuckles)
This feels like the perfect spot
just to recharge and recoup.
This is like an oasis in the
desert, man. So green and lush.
This many variations in
plant life means resources.
There's fish all over the place.
I'm gonna have a quick look
around, explore a little bit.
I'm looking for a decent
place to put a camp.
That's not too bad.
Simplest shelter is a lean-to, and I'm
gonna use some of these palms here
to build a shaded area, just
to get the sun off my back.
(grunts) This is all from the water
that came down this watercourse.
It's not gonna be a massive structure.
It's just enough to get me
a nice, shaded area here.
These are gonna be my roof.
Ow. Poking me as I'm cutting them.
Every single thing out here
wants to protect itself,
and these sharp, spiky bits keep sticking
me every time I reach in for one.
(exhales) Oh, yes.
(sighs) Just being in the shade for a
minute makes the world of difference.
Yeah.
(sighs)
This is gonna make
the perfect bed for tonight.
It's soft sand instead
of hard, sharp rock.
Man, I found water in the desert today.
I'm talking about proper water
in a desert, in a oasis.
Like, that's Disney Aladdin stuff.
But I did it.
And that's what life--
not even survival anymore--
that's what life is about, isn't it?
I remember being a kid in Jamaica,
and we had very little.
We had enough water and we were happy.
And right now, I am so
happy in this space.
I could comfortably spend
a couple of days here.
I feel like this is
the calm before the storm.
(haunting music)
I feel safe here.
Maybe it's the abundance of water,
an essential component of life.
I'm becoming one with the desert.
I'm halfway through the challenge, and the
unforgiving Wahiba Sands lie ahead,
where the Bedouin have agreed to meet me.
I know there's zero chance
of finding water out there.
For the next few days, I'm gonna stick
around here to hydrate and recover.
All these ponds have tons of fish in them,
but I didn't expect to be
fishing in a desert,
so I don't have, like, a hook or
anything. But I've got a mozzy net.
This will be a new method for fishing.
Everyone is gonna be doing this.
So, basically, I'm gonna hang this out
over, and as I pull it up, bang.
Caught myself fish.
So, I'm gonna have to get some stones
to weigh it down a little bit.
See, it's a work in progress,
just like any new invention.
I don't know if this is actually gonna
work, but hey, it's all about patience.
Oman's wadi fish have adapted to survive
for long periods of drought
in isolated pools.
They can ever crawl to bigger
puddles when the water dries up.
There's tiny fish swimming over it.
If the little ones are okay,
the bigger ones will see that.
Oh, there's that bad boy. He's laughing at
me. Keep coming, my friend.
Oh, there's one.
I feel like I got one.
Oh, three little fishes.
Mmm, I'm not gonna eat these, I'm gonna
throw them back. Give them another chance.
Proof of concept. That's what this is.
(beautiful music)
Whoa, those are dates!
Yeah, I can get up there.
(grunts)
Ow! I'm getting bitten by ants.
(grunts) I need these dates.
They're high in fructose and potassium,
an essential electrolyte.
Ow!
I can't stay up here, I'll drop them down
and pick them up later.
They just taste so good.
Wow, they're all coming out now.
Got to get down.
This is such a good find.
I never appreciated how
sweet a date is before.
I'm gonna try not to eat all of them.
(rattling)
Alright, I've got some water.
I've got my sock full of dates.
I'm just trying to charge up,
get some sugar in my system,
before I press on to what's
probably gonna be the trickiest,
or the hardest part of this whole journey.
Today, I head to my next
challenge: the Wahiba Sands.
But first, I'm gonna soak up every last
drop of this water. I'm gonna need it.
That's a long way down.
How high is that?
(splash)
It's about a second. You can do that. Come
on, Dwayne. You can do that. Here we go.
(gasps)
Bloody hell.
It's a lot higher than
it looks from up top.
I can't believe I did that.
Once it's done, it's done, isn't it?
(groans) My heart's just going
du-du du-du du-du du-du!
I didn't give myself a chance at the top
to think about it too much.
It was just drop the stone, yeah, it's
about half a second thereabouts,
and then just jumped straight after it.
I'm gonna keep moving.
Water's all dried up. (sighs)
It's going more from green to brown now.
This blows my mind.
There's no sense of scale out here.
Those dunes, I don't know whether big
dunes far away, or little dunes close by.
I just can't tell.
All I know is the Bedouin are that way.
So, that's the way I have to go.
The Bedouin have agreed to set up a camp
southwest of the canyon
in the Wahiba Sands.
Normally, I could cover
hard ground quickly,
but the soft sand, combined with the lack
of landmarks, are slowing me down.
If I don't run into the Bedouin within 24
hours, I'll know I've missed them.
Ah, man, this is gonna be intense.
(grunts)
This just feels like endless desert.
It goes on for miles and miles.
The wind shapes the dunes at right angles
to the prevailing direction.
Here, the prevailing wind blows
mainly from the southwest,
so if I stick in line with the gentler
slopes, I should be heading the right way.
(gasps) It's just so hard to go
through this soft sand.
You use roughly double
the amount of energy
as you'd normally use for just
walking around. I can feel it.
It's getting really hot now.
During the day, the sand actually absorbs
the sun's radiation, making it unbearable.
It's like walking on a hot plate.
Now I understand why the Bedouin said
it's better to travel at night.
-How do you navigate in the desert?
-No map, only star. In the night…
-DWAYNE: Yes.
-MAN: …you'll have star.
DWAYNE: I'll rest now, make a shelter. I
can walk later when it's cooler. (groans)
I'm using the bag that the tarp
came in. Just filling it with sand.
It'll hold down one corner of the tarp.
I'm not gonna be drinking
out of this anytime soon,
so I'm just gonna use that as another
weighted anchor.
I've run out of anchors, so now
I'm down to using my boots.
(exhales) This makes such a difference.
There's no way I can walk in this.
I'm just gonna chill here for a little
while, a couple of hours, save my energy.
That breeze isn't even a breeze.
It's just hot air being moved around.
You know when you open the oven doors
and it just hits you with that hot air?
I think I might have pushed myself harder
today than I should have.
And I haven't covered half as much
of the distance that I wanted to.
The sun's just dropped behind the
mountains, and instantly,
like I mean instantly, I felt
the temperature start to drop.
Yeah, I'm gonna get moving.
Quite pleased with how that worked out.
Now I'm gonna press on through the night,
like the Bedouin suggested,
and try and use the stars to find my way.
It's a clear night, and I can see both the
horizon and the stars to get my bearings.
Where's the North Star?
Ah, those stars make up
Ursa Minor, so if that's north,
because the tip of the tail
is the North Star,
that's southwest.
Good. I can never forget the North Star.
I remember when I was a kid and I asked my
great grandmother what a star was.
And she was like, "Oh," in a
really strong Jamaican accent,
"Me no know, you know. You
have to find out and tell me."
And the first star that I ever got to know
was, you know, Polaris,
which is the North Star.
Always reminds me of her.
If I keep the North Star
on my right shoulder,
I'll continue to point roughly west.
Just a bit to the left,
and now that's southwest.
It's a lot cooler at night.
This is where all the other animals are
waking up for the exact same reason as me.
So, I have to kind of watch my step.
It feels like at any minute I'm
gonna step on something
I don't really want to get bitten by.
Oh! That's a snake trail.
Do you know, I'd have
rather not seen that.
(grunts) You start picturing what's out
in the darkness. It's just a bit scary.
I've got the sun coming up now.
(grand music)
I can follow the dunes again now.
(faint voices)
I swear I can hear voices.
(curious music)
That's people talking.
That's people talking! (grunts)
Hey!
(camel grunts)
Hey!
(chuckles breathlessly)
You're here. I made it, man. (breathes)
I made it! What's happening?
What's happening?
You alright?
I can't believe it.
They were waiting, just like
they said they would be.
How's it going? The most
beautiful thing in the world
is a bunch of blokes in a
desert with a load of camels.
I made it. Are they leaving?
(grunts)
(laughs)
This challenge has pushed me to my limit.
It's reminded me why I test
myself in these extreme places:
to push through, struggle, and grow.
Here, all the odds seem
stacked against life.
(chuckles) I just… There were
moments I didn't think I'd make it.
But it was incredible to witness nature
fighting, adapting and thriving.
Oh… Yeah!
I'm left to appreciate the most
basic requisite of life: water.
From the smallest droplets, to
the most unexpected, lush oasis,
nature has a way of persevering.
It's survival of the fittest.
I wonder if these guys have some water.