BBC - Equator with Simon Reeve (2006) Part 3 Latin America

Simon Reeve travels to paradise beaches, dense rainforests and towering volcanoes on a 40,000 kilometre journey following the invisible line around the world. For most people, the equator is just an imaginary line around the globe but in this series Simon Reeve comes face-to-face with the reality. On a 40,000-kilometre journey, he reveals the equator as a unique region of our planet; home to both the world's greatest concentration of human poverty and natural biodiversity. Beneath the sweltering heat of the equatorial sun lie paradise beaches, strange foods and exotic wildlife, along with some of the world's most extreme terrains: dense rainforests, towering volcanoes and perilous rapids.

Part 3: Latin America

After surviving the most dangerous region in Colombia, Simon is nearly swallowed by a tidal wave in Brazil. The final leg of Simon’s series starts in the Galapagos Islands. The islands might look gorgeous, but Simon discovers there are concerns that the 100,000 tourists who visit each year are threatening the fragile ecosystem. Fishermen in the Galapagos also claim they are not being given a chance to earn a decent living on the island, and have allegedly killed several giant Galapagos tortoises in protest. In the Ecuadorian capital, Quito, Simon makes the difficult climb to the top of El Reventador volcano, known as 'The Exploder'. A local scientist explains that Quito is the world’s most at-risk city, due to volcanic activity created by geological pressures on either side of the equator. Simon passes through the most dangerous and lawless area of Colombia, where government forces regularly battle guerrilla rebels. A trek through the jungle reveals endangered animals and a remote Indian tribe with a sacred equatorial monument to the 'middle of the world'. In Brazil, speedboats take Simon along the Amazon River, through vast untouched tracts of the Amazon rainforest, to meet remote indigenous tribes now suffering unemployment and alcoholism.

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