Joanna Lumley's Nile (2010–…): Season 1, Episode 2 - Episode #1.2 - full transcript

(serene orchestral music)

- I'm traveling along the
world's longest river,

the Nile, 4,000 miles from sea to source.

It's the most remarkable
journey I've ever made.

(twinkling suspenseful music)

Look how wide it is.

It's a huge river.

My adventure started
two weeks ago in Egypt.

Hello, darling.

Hello, sweetheart. (tongue clicking)

I followed in the footsteps
of Agatha Christie.



We think that's the winner.

(crowd cheers)

Marveled at the beauty
of this mighty river.

It's pretty unspoiled, isn't it?

And heard tales of spirits
hiding in the depths.

(man speaking in foreign language)

I'll come and sort that demon out for you.

(man laughs)

But I'm less than a quarter
of the way through my journey.

(children laughing)

I still have four more countries to go,

all in my quest to reach
the source of the Nile.

- [Guide] Here we are.

- Oh my gosh!



(dramatic orchestral music)

(soft suspenseful music)

It's late afternoon.

I've just boarded the weekly
ferry that's taking me

from Egypt into Sudan across Lake Nasser.

When I was a child, we used
to travel across the world

like this on ships all the time.

The army traveled by ship.

We didn't fly in those days.

We used to lean on the rails
like this and just look

and look at the waves
turning white like this.

And the sea I can
remember being dark blue.

I remember my mother putting out her hand

and she had a sapphire engagement ring

and she said, "The sea is
the color of sapphires."

And I then knew what the
color of sapphires were.

Lake Nasser was created when a huge dam

was built across the River Nile at Aswan.

At just over 300 miles long,

it's the world's largest man-made lake.

It's colossal to think
one river has made this.

(jaunty music)

My journey along the Nile began
two weeks ago in Alexandria.

I've already traveled 700 miles to Aswan

where I joined the ferry to
take me across Lake Nasser.

Once in Sudan, I'll be
following the river to Khartoum,

Sudan's capital, where the Nile
is joined by the Blue Nile.

Here, I'll take a new direction,

following the river into
the highlands of Ethiopia.

I'll then rejoin the Nile
in war-torn Southern Sudan,

continuing south through
Uganda, across Lake Victoria,

and pushing on into
Rwanda where my journey

on the world's longest
river will come to an end.

(mysterious music)

It's going to take me 18 hours to get

to the Sudanese border, so
plenty of time for dinner.

- I see you in the films.

- Oh.
- Before.

- Did you?

- Yeah.
- Oh.

- Maybe...
- Maybe on television

or something like that.

- Television.
- Maybe television.

- Yeah, James Bond.

- Egyptian?

- James Bond, Bond.

- James Bond!

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

- You.

- On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

- I remember it.

(Joanna and man laugh)

- [Joanna] That's wonderful.

- Okay.
- That's wonderful.

I'm a Bond girl.

Gosh, I didn't think I'd be recognized

as a Bond girl on a ferry.

(passengers chattering
in foreign language)

Here below deck in a
sweltering 40 degree heat,

Sudanese workers are traveling home

after working overseas from as
far away as China and Dubai.

(passengers speaking in foreign language)

I don't know how to say not meat.

I've got some eggs, that's lovely.

Thank you, (speaking in foreign language),

thank you so much.

(man speaking in foreign language)

You speak English?

- Yeah.
- Oh, excellent.

- My name is Magdi Osman.

- [Joanna] Magdi, may I call you Magdi?

- Yes, please.

- Wonderful.

This is delicious food.

- Yeah, it's nice.

This is local food.

We call it in Arabic,
(speaking in foreign language).

(Joanna speaking in foreign language)

The English name, the
correct name is for it,

I don't want to say.

It's beans, just beans.

Let's say beans.

And I feel good when I eat it.

I don't like meat too much.

- Oh.
- Yeah.

- And you look, if I may say
so, a very marvelous man.

You look very healthy.

- Thank you very much. (laughs)

(jaunty music)

- This boat may not be state of the art,

but it seems to have all
the creature comforts.

(man speaking in foreign language)

That smells wonderful.

That is until it's time
to get ready for bed.

It's not that one's squeamish,
but there's something

sometimes a bit horrifying about some

of the sort of lavatory arrangements.

So you can't sort of smell
what it's like in here,

but it's not brilliant.

And actually, if I had my way,

I would be in here with
gloves and scrubbing.

I'd give this a really good scrub.

Actually, it's all right.

Once you've just got over it, you know.

Quite a lot of life is like that.

Just get over it and just do it.

There we are, lovely.

(groans) No, fine.

(somber music)

(Joanna speaking in foreign language)

It's so hot downstairs that
I want to sleep on deck.

Unfortunately, so does everybody else.

Thank you so much.

(speaking in foreign language) Thank you.

But with over 500
passengers, it looks like

I should've bagged a place earlier.

Maybe this is a little nice
corner by these bottles.

- [Passenger] Yeah, this
place is the best one.

- Is this a good...
- You are sleeping here, yeah?

- Yeah, I certainly...
- That is the best place.

- Is that a good place?

- [Passenger] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- That's wonderful, thank you.

I've seen a couple of
little friendly cockroaches,

but I think they'll be
fine 'cause, you know,

what's a cockroach between friends?

It feels rather odd lying
down with everyone else

standing up, but there we are.

This is me, and it's so warm

I wouldn't need anything over me.

This is comfortable.

The word comfortable didn't
sort of spring immediately

to the lips, but I
thought I'd just say it.

I am comfortable.

And the great thing is that I can hear

the throb of the ship's engine,

and I know that just there
is the Nile swishing past.

(soft mysterious music)

As dawn breaks, we're just
three hours away from Sudan.

But before we get there,
Egypt has one last treat

for us as its most
spectacular ancient monument

comes into sight:

(twinkling mysterious music)

the Great Temple at Abu Simbel.

Abu Simbel is over 3,000 years old.

Its centerpiece, carved from solid rock,

is four colossal seated statues

of one of Egypt's greatest
rulers, Pharaoh Ramses II.

I've seen Abu Simbel before.

Phenomenal.

(twinkling mysterious music)

In the 1960s, this immense
temple was nearly lost forever

when this whole area was
flooded to make Lake Nasser.

But thankfully, over 50
countries came to the rescue.

(upbeat drum music)

At huge cost, it was cut
into over a thousand pieces,

and then rebuilt 200 feet
above its original position,

a miracle of engineering,

preserving Abu Simbel forever.

Finally, we arrive at our destination,

the small port of Wadi Halfa.

It's difficult to believe
that this tiny strip

of concrete is the gateway to Sudan,

a country the size of Western Europe.

(men speaking in foreign language)

(jaunty music)

(crowd chattering in foreign language)

It's quite franticly hot on this quayside.

(crowd chattering in foreign language)

I've just seen our kit.

It's beginning to go around there,

so perhaps they're gonna make a sort

of pile of it over there.

(men chattering in foreign language)

When we think of Sudan, we usually think

of a country torn apart by civil war.

(woman speaking in foreign language)

Though the tribes of Darfur
in the west of the country

are still fighting, the
north is relatively peaceful.

Which means business as usual for most.

(crowd chattering in foreign language)

We've just gotta clear
all this through customs.

- [Man] Okay.

- Which is just about to happen,

and then we can get properly
into the deserts of Sudan.

(soft suspenseful music)

Gone are the luxuries of Egypt, hotels,

hot running water, and comfortable beds.

For the next four days,
we shall be camping

under the stars, so we have
to carry everything with us.

It must be one of the most
remote places on Earth.

It's very exciting.

(twinkling mysterious music)

Leaving Wadi Halfa and
the ferry behind us,

we head 125 miles south to Wawa,

where we're hoping to meet of the Nile's

most feared creatures.

(soft mysterious music)

We're making our way down to the river

to look for crocodiles,
and the Arabic word

for crocodile is (speaking
in foreign language).

So, we're hoping to see
(speaking in foreign language)

a huge (speaking in foreign
language), yes? (chuckles)

Mohammad laughing knowingly.

But they do grow to the most immense size.

I think I'm right in saying also

that the Nile crocodile
is the most aggressive

of all the big, big crocodiles.

(man speaking in foreign language)

For many of us, the closest
we've come to a crocodile

is on the silver screen.

(woman screams)

(suspenseful music)

Tarzan movies, the very
stuff of Hollywood adventure.

(suspenseful music)

What I didn't know was that to save Jane,

Tarzan was wrestling the Nile crocodile,

the most dangerous freshwater
predator in the world.

It can grow to three
times the length of a man

and weigh as much as a small car.

(ominous music)

This is a bit Mad Dogs and Englishmen,

but the truth is this is the best time

to see crocodiles because this is the time

they come out to bask when
the sun is at its hottest.

So we have to be here.

I mean, it is fry egg hot plate.

The river's lovely and cool.

It just begs for you to
jump in, but crocodiles.

I think not.

(Abdu speaking in foreign language)

Local crocodile hunter, Abdu Mohammad,

is helping me find this great reptile.

(soft suspenseful music)

I've just been staring at the same bit

of sand now for a long time.

(suspenseful music)

- We're crossing over the river now

because Abdu thinks he
might have seen one.

Of course I'm straining my eyes.

Everything I see looks as
it might be a crocodile.

I'm sure I can see crocodile footsteps.

- Abdu, does Abdu want me to go with him?

- Abdu.
(speaking in foreign language)

- [Man] Do you want her to go?

- Do you want me to come with you?

- Yes.
(speaking in foreign language)

- Yes?
- Yeah, he's happy,

he's happy to go with you.

- Why was I longing for him to say no?

(sighs) Okay.

I'll leave my sandals
on so the crocodile's

got something to eat.

(suspenseful music)

Oops.

Unfortunately, we've been outsmarted.

The crocodiles have gone.

But we've only missed them by minutes.

- [Abdu] Yes, about here.

- [Joanna] Yeah?

- And here. (speaking in foreign language)

- And there.

About there from there, there it is.

- Four kilometers.

- Four meters?
- Four meters.

- Four meters.
- Four meters.

- That's huge.

- [Abdu] Yes.

- Can you tell by the footmarks,
man or woman crocodile?

Male or female?

(Joanna mimics bones cracking)

- Yeah.
- Yes.

(Joanna laughs)

- Not us, Abdu, not us.

I wish we could see one.

(ominous music)

Oh!

Sadly, crocodiles are
big business in Africa.

Every year sales of their valuable skins

fetch over 150 million pounds.

Though the crocodile
provides a living for some,

it's feared by most,
and not without reason

as they kill as many as
500 people every year.

And these two holes here
are the ones which these,

those are baby teeth but at the bottom,

these immense front incisors
fit into the slots up there.

So you have this interlocking,
which means that if

it's grabbed something,
it's absolutely welded on.

(soft suspenseful music)

Well, croc, you met your end.

It was a monster like this
that nearly ended the life

of local fisherman Hamid Abd el-Rassul.

Hamid, come and show me.

- And it (mimics jaws snapping).

- Oh, he's got you like that.

And then, he's going along?

Look he climbs over onto the top.

Like this?

- Gee!

- Go, ow.

- Oh, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow.

Ow, ow.

Sit down.

Hamid took 10 hours to crawl
the five miles home in agony.

Oh exhausted, have to rest again,

probably losing quite a lot of blood, too.

And then wake up and still
this awful bleeding leg.

For 10 hours.

And how long in hospital?

- Okay for walking?

- Thank you, Hamid. (speaking
in foreign language)

(Hamid speaking in foreign language)

(soft suspenseful music)

Despite these tales of horror,

I still want to see a crocodile.

We've been told they're back,

so we head to the river for one last look.

(suspenseful music)

Suddenly in the middle of the river.

Look, look, look, that huge, huge thing.

Looks like a log, but it's a crocodile.

It's difficult to tell over
the water how huge it is,

but I guess if it looks that
big and it's in the middle

of the river, it must be at
least 18 or 20 feet long.

This animal is extraordinary.

It evolved 200 million years ago

and it even outlived the dinosaurs.

Pretty impressive.

The truth is, we're not gonna see them

out of the water today.

It's too cool.

It's only about 130, far
too cool for a crocodile.

Jolly cool for me, actually.

Okay, let's go and get some blankets.

(soft suspenseful music)

In a couple of hours it'll be dark,

so we're heading off
into the Nubian Desert

to find somewhere to put up our tents.

The thing is, we're going into the desert

because there are mosquitoes
on the banks of the Nile.

So it'll be lovely.

Pretty exciting to camp
bang in the desert.

(suspenseful music)

This is really beautiful.

Because we really are in
the middle of nowhere.

I mean, you've heard
of the back of beyond.

This is beyond the back of beyond.

It's just nowhere.

It's fantastically exciting.

This is the best campsite
on Earth for tonight.

And the lads are starting already.

Idea, I think I'll walk up a bit slowly

so I just won't be there
quite at the beginning.

(man speaking in foreign language)

Good, great.

(jaunty music)

I couldn't be happier.

We've four drivers, two
cooks, one policeman,

and Musab Abeidi, our
guide and translator.

(Musab speaking in foreign language)

Ah, nothing left for me to do.

(hammer tapping)

My case is called rather
ambitiously Marco Polo.

This is my bed.

It's lovely.

(soft mysterious music)

It's pretty odd to be writing a journal

and put at the top of it Nubian Desert.

I never thought I'd write that in my life.

(Joanna gasps)

The sun's beginning to go.

Everywhere I am in the world, if I can,

I try to watch the sun going down.

Where we live in Scotland,

we watch the sun going down every night.

We can't bear to miss the sun going.

Dear diary, give everything away

and camp.

I didn't write that 'cause
it's not true. (laughs)

On the menu tonight is Nile tilapia,

but as I am vegetarian,
they've kindly prepared me

some beans and chips.

(men speaking in foreign language)

(lighter clicking)

Hm.

Isn't this lovely?

Look, this is the flashy, flashy torch.

It does all that, which is exciting.

So when you're lighting your
candles, your cigarette,

everything, this just goes on and on.

And then, when it's stopped,

shine the other end and
you think it's a torch,

but actually there's this
beautiful little picture

of a beautiful girl.

Look at that.

Found it in the market today.

She's got a lovely bracelet
and a sweet little face.

And it's obviously a men's item,

but isn't that charming and modest?

Not like one of those barrows,

and you twitch it up the other end

and all her clothes come off.

This is just a charming, darling girl.

Oh, she's my new friend, my tent friend.

You see what living in the
desert can do to your brain.

(zipper hissing)

Goodnight. (laughing)

(mysterious music)

We're heading south to the ancient

and sacred town of Karima,

once the heart of the
great kingdom called Nubia.

(villagers chattering in foreign language)

Today, Karima is a market
town, a staging post

for those traveling across
the desert to Khartoum.

(villagers chattering in foreign language)

(man laughing)

I found out that most people here

think of themselves as Nubian,
identifying with a culture

which stretches back over 5,000 years.

(somber music)

We know little of this great civilization,

but just outside the
town, there's evidence

of a chapter of history
that is largely untold:

the story of the Black Pharaohs.

For me, one of the most
extraordinary things

I've discovered on this trip,
is that the great pharaohs

of Egypt didn't all come from Egypt.

In fact, the last burst
of fabulous Egyptology

that we know, the ancient
Egyptians, were in fact Nubians.

It's unbelievable.

There are more than twice as many pyramids

here in the Sudan as there are in Egypt.

But it was here, this
was the seat of power.

(mysterious music)

The Black Pharaohs of Nubia took control

of a huge empire called
the Kingdom of Kush

that stretched south from
here and all the way north

through ancient Egypt
to the Mediterranean.

They moved their capital here

where the Temple of
Amun lies in the shadow

of the sacred mountain Jebel Barkal,

also known as the Pure Mountain.

- [Man] A pyramid.

- They believed this mountain was the home

of the greatest of all gods,
Amun, the god of kingship.

Woops.

Sandy, sandy.

(soft mysterious music)

Every Friday, the Muslim holy day,

people flock to climb its perilous slopes

to watch the sunset over the Nile.

Abdul Magid Omar has
been climbing the Jebel

ever since he could walk.

If anyone knows the best way up, he does.

(Joanna speaking foreign language)

Ah, thank you.

Oh, look at this.

(Abdul speaking in foreign language)

Look at this,

it's the River Nile.
- The River Nile.

- [Joanna] (gasps) It's fantastic.

- [Abdul] Really very, very good.

- [Joanna] It's so beautiful.

- Very good.

It's very good, yes.

This is the top of the hill.

- Yes.
- Yes.

- Oh.

(speaking in foreign
language), holy mountain.

(Abdul speaking in foreign language)

Holy mountain.

(serene music)

(man speaking in foreign language)

Wow.

Wowee, Abdul, look at this.

Isn't it fantastic?

- [Abdul] You found everything.

- Am I right in thinking
that when the Nile is full,

it comes right up to
the edge of this green?

- Yes, 19.

If the Nile flood, 'til just
the feet of Jebel Barkal.

- Yes, here.
- Right up to here?

- [Musab] This here, this water.

- [Joanna] So this is all the old temple.

Oh, how wonderful. - Oh yes.

- [Joanna] Well don't go too
close, I get terrible vertigo.

- How old will you be?

When you can hardly get up,
will you still come up there?

(Musab speaking in foreign language)

Yes. - He will never

stop doing it.
- Never stop, very good.

(Abdul speaking in foreign language)

- [Abdul] The sun is...

- [Joanna] Yes, it's just beautiful.

- It's very good now.

- Shams.

- Yes, shams.

- The sun is called shams.

And something which is rather lovely

is that my son, my own son,
as opposed to this sun,

when we were trekking in Hansa,

they couldn't say James
so they called him Shams.

So my son is called Shams and the sun here

is called shams, and today
is my son's birthday.

So the whole thing (chuckles)
is completely perfect.

What a day to be on the holy mountain.

(serene music)

(engines rumbling)

The next morning, we're up
early as our translator,

our draggerman, Musab, has told me

of an extraordinary and
rarely seen burial site

five miles from town.

I think a tourist to
Sudan could be forgiven

for missing out on the next great treat.

It's like Sudan's hidden secret.

It's this extraordinarily important couple

of tombs that still remain.

All the rest have disappeared.

They used to be under pyramids,
now they're just tombs,

but they've got fabulous
things inside, I think.

I can't wait to see them.

(mysterious music)

This is a little local graveyard.

This is how people are buried
today, not like the pharaohs.

Just a small stone at your head and foot,

mosque in the background.

It's rather simple and lovely.

This is the cemetery of El-Kurru.

Here the Black Pharaohs were buried

over two and a half thousand years ago.

(man speaking in foreign language)

However, many graves have since

been ransacked by tomb raiders.

How did they dig into the pyramids?

- They start, the people
looking for the treasures

on the top of the pyramids.

And then they dig all the pyramid

and they found the top of the tomb.

(Joanna gasps)

Like this here if you can see.

- Yes.

- [Musab] They open it from the top.

- [Joanna] And they found they
were in the burial chamber?

- Yes, they discover that there is a door

bringing to outside. - I see.

So then they started to look...

- Then they start to
dig in the correct way.

(mysterious music)
(man chattering)

- Despite the vandalism,
the most impressive tomb

is that of Queen Qalhata, mother
of the last Nubian pharaoh.

Huge staircase.

- Be careful.

- With a great big step.

So this ceiling is very
beautiful and blue.

And here, Musab, is this where the body

would have been put down on here?

- [Masub] Yes, here it should
be in this point exactly.

- Can we go onto it,
can we step on it now?

- Yeah.

- And this is the picture of
her body lying as it would be.

- Yes, very...
- Wrapped in her

funeral clothes.

- Yes, and she's dying.

You see here the bed,
the shape of the lion.

- [Joanna] Yes.

- And all the tools of the war under

because our queens they
were a warrior queen.

- Right, so these are weapons.

- Yes, an arrow.
- Daggers, spears, arrows.

The Nubians were good with arrows,

weren't they? - Yes. (chuckles)

- They were great archers, I think.

- Her favorite of these.

- Yes, how fantastic.

Look at that bow.

That's wonderful.

But here on this side (gasps).

Now this wonderful.

I'm going to get down and look at this

because she's turned around.

She seems to have come back to life.

- [Masub] Yes, after smelling the ankh.

- After smelling the ankh.

So that's the key of life there.

- Yes.
- With the crisscross

and that loop there.

He's giving it to her to smell.

Here's the god.

And here she's woken and turned around

and she's lying up on her
stomach, feeling better already.

(mysterious music)

Only 1,000 people a year come here.

That's not very many, is it?

I hope it stays like this.

I'd hate it to get any grander.

I'd hate it that we couldn't film

or stand up close to the walls.

I'd hate it that we didn't have Ali

with his key to unlock it.

I'd hate it that the
steps would get worn down.

But I wouldn't hate it to
be a little bit cooler.

(gentle music)

Karima, a town full of
echos of the ancient past,

from its holy mountain right
down to the banks of the Nile.

These old boats are a stark reminder

of a more recent age
when the river was used

to transport goods, animals,
and people along its banks.

Now it seems the river looks empty,

unused, almost forgotten.

But for the locals, the Nile hasn't lost

its spiritual power.

(villagers singing in foreign language)

Nowhere is this more apparent
than at a Nubian wedding.

(women singing in foreign language)

(man speaking in foreign language)

(Joanna and woman speaking
in foreign language)

(women singing in foreign language)

I think we're heading down
to the river, the River Nile.

I think some sort of
ceremony goes on there.

And I said to them (speaking
in foreign language),

which means congratulations.

(women singing in foreign language)

Muslim men are allowed four wives,

but Huwaida is Mohammad's
one and only bride.

(woman singing in foreign language)

And this isn't an arranged marriage.

They chose each other.

(villagers chattering in foreign language)

To bring the couple a
long and happy marriage,

the guests make an
offering of dates and wheat

to the River Nile.

(villagers chattering in foreign language)

(gentle music)

The marriage is blessed
with water from the Nile.

This is the final ceremony of
their marriage celebrations

that have lasted seven days.

(gentle music)

(women singing in foreign language)

And I think this, snapping your fingers

and sort of doing that,
is a kind of blessing

'cause I did that to the bridegroom

and he looked very please.

And all the women were urging me to clap.

They were going, come on
clap, get in with it, and I...

So a lot of that was going on.

(suspenseful music)

Saying goodbye to Karima,
we're taking a shortcut

across the Bayuda Desert.

Then we'll rejoin the
river, which will take us

into the capital of Sudan, Khartoum,

halfway point of my
journey along the Nile.

(suspenseful music)

I've always been fascinated
by this tough race

of people, the pastoralists, who live

a nomadic existence in
these harsh deserts.

Around 10% of Sudan's 40 million people

follow a way of life that
hasn't changed for centuries.

The Hasania tribe moved here from Egypt

a thousand years ago.

(mysterious music)

(Joanna and villagers
speaking in foreign language)

Four generations of the Hasan family

have come to say hello.

Thank you.

(group speaking in foreign language)

Thank you, (speaking in foreign language).

How lovely.

This is a beautiful bowl of yogurt

I've just been offered,
which is delicious.

- (chuckles) Oh yes.
- So very delicious.

It's lovely.

Hello, (speaking in foreign
language), little one.

(children speaking in foreign language)

Hello, baby, hello (speaking
in foreign language).

Hello, little one, (speaking
in foreign language).

- Them is able.
(speaking in foreign language)

She's asking about your name.

- My name is Joanna.

(women speaking in foreign language)

- Joanna.
- Joanna.

(women laugh)

(woman speaking in foreign language)

(goats bleating)

- [Joanna] This place is so remote

that some of the older people

may not have seen an English person

since the British occupation of Sudan,

which ended 50 years ago.

Oh this is wonderful in here.

This is so lovely.

May I sit here?

May I sit here?

- When she was as young as this.

- [Musab] When they saw
the English, they were...

(Joanna laughs)

- And this is yogurt being
made in a goat skin like that.

I'm not sure if I'm
meant to bump that stem.

- (laughs) You passed the job over to me.

- Eventually Great Grandmother Medina

became too old to travel,
so the family decided

to settle here where
they've been for 22 years.

(bright music)

However, as head of a family of 10,

Mohammad continues a semi-nomadic life,

breeding livestock and
transporting salt by camel,

nearly 200 miles across
the desert to Khartoum.

Tell me why you prefer to
live in the open spaces

in the fresh air rather than in a city

with buildings and roads.

- I love this way of life.

(gentle music)

- It's just fantastic.

And I understand them absolutely longing

to be in the open air

and have eye stretching views like this,

with the wind blowing through rather than

in a hot town with fumes of petrol

and busy people all the time.

And it's a hard life.

It's a hard life, but
you're free, you're free.

(Mohammad speaking in foreign language)

Though this freedom comes at a price.

To get water, Mohammad
must travel 10 miles

to the nearest well,
and most people in Sudan

have less than a pound a day to live on.

(goats bleating)

Think you could live like this
in a kind of romantic dream,

but I suppose in the end you go back

to your curtains closed and
your keys clinking and...

I'm not sure we've got it
right, though, you know?

I mean, we might not want
to live as simply as this,

but I'm not sure we've got it
right in the Western world.

No, it's a twig for me,
a twig house for me.

Right.

Twig house, let's try that
in London, see if I moved on.

(goats bleating)
(suspenseful music)

We push on, towards the
Nile, and then Khartoum,

which lies a two-day drive ahead of us.

Unfortunately, the desert has other ideas.

Oh, Mohammad.

We're stuck, miles from anywhere.

But thankfully, we're not alone.

(man speaking in foreign language)

Charming people just
materialize out of nowhere.

It seems to be empty and it's
actually quite full of people.

(suspenseful music)

Do you think we should bounce it?

Do you think if you bounce it,

does that sometimes
help you get out of it?

(men chattering in foreign language)

(triumphant music)

Good. (speaking in foreign language)

We're driving southeast,

southeast across the desert to Khartoum.

We'll have to stop for the night

before we get there
'cause it's a long drive.

It's rather exciting, isn't it?

Oh look, the cars, well bye.

(jaunty music)

So, on to Khartoum, where my journey

takes a new direction.

There, our great river is
joined by the Blue Nile

and I'll follow it into
the highlands of Ethiopia.

(mysterious music)