- Hi, I'm Les Stroud, host and creator of Beyond Survival.

Within the scope of filming this series, I've circled the globe eight times in ten months.

I was never not in a state of jet lag.

To embed myself with cultures who either still live, close to earth, or engage in practices meant to keep their connection to the earth.

It was a chance to stretch my own skills and beliefs beyond what I knew.

Beyond survival.

In many cases, I had to come to these cultures in a state of humility, offering a gift and seeking permission to take part in their lives.

To experience life as they knew it.

I went in without pretense, without presumption, without agenda, and left myself completely in their care so that I was open to learning their ways.

Hunting, fishing, eating, sleeping; the way that they do.

Sometimes it was modern influenced with much connection to the outside world, and other times it was near primitive.

In all cases I was challenged both in my own well-honed skill sets of survival and wilderness experience, but also in my own belief system about life itself.

I learned to go beyond the technicalities of hunting and fishing and shelters and fire, and instead to dig deeper into what it means to be truly connected to the earth in profound ways.

To go beyond survival.

This is an overnight ordeal.

He's asked me to bring along some blankets, a pad to sleep on; and to be prepared to spend the entire night under the influence of the medicine.

(man chanting) Here we go.

(rattle rattling) (man continues chanting) (Les coughing) I'm Les Stroud, and I'm in the jungles of Peru seeking out the true masters of survival.

Some of the last indigenous people on earth.

(man chanting) Before they're gone.

(dramatic music) Before the past is lost.

Before their world vanishes.

I can learn their ways.

(hard rock intro music) (gentle music) Vast, but sparsely populated, the Amazon rainforest runs through nine South American countries and covers 60 percent of the country of Peru.

(dramatic drumming) Deep in these forest's live a tribe that was hidden from modern civilization for hundreds of years, called the Huacharia.

Though the Huacharia have abandoned their nomadic ways they still hunt with bow and arrow, and gather wild edibles and insects for food.

Here in the Peruvian rainforest I'll learn the secrets of this rare ecosystem, from the jungle's very secret keepers themselves.

My journey to Amazon jungle of Peru starts in the high Andes, winding it's way through various mountain eco-systems, until I reach the Amazon itself.

Our path to the Huacharia tribe leads us directly through a town whose primary export is coca leaf.

Gathered from the mountainside plantations the leaves are left to dry in the sun, and then packaged and legally exported for tea.

In tea form or simply chewed, the leaves are good for suppressing hunger, thirst, pain and fatigue, and are a staple for the Peruvian locals.

There's a darker illegal side to the coca trade here, but it happens under the cover of darkness.

Continuing my journey to the Huacharia tribe the roads become rough and wet.

Only a few week before, mudslides crippled the country and rivers swelled from torrential rains.

It's turned these remote back roads into treacherous pathways, where one slip could mean a thousand foot fall into the green abyss.

We are definitely stuck here.

(truck engine strains) Now this is jungle driving.

Vehicles are often the biggest victims deep in the jungle.

And one thing is for sure, drive off the side of the road here, and you'll likely never be seen again.

(cows moo) After rescuing stuck vehicles at least a dozen times we finally arrive in the remote Amazon village of the Huacharia.

(people drumming) It's a big deal to the Huacharia that an outsider has come to live with them.

And they welcome me with a special meal.

They prepared a root called yucca.

It's chewed, smashed, until it looks a lot like mashed potatoes, but tastes sweeter.

When it mixes with the saliva from the ladies that chew it, it actually ferments the mixture.

The tribal chiefs greet me in full head dress and offer up a meal of the fermented yucca mush.

As expected, they live simply here.

But the fingers of the outside world continue to grasp the once remote jungle culture.

Now this is their house.

This is the real deal here.

You can see up, they sleep on hammocks.

This is as simple and as primitive as it gets.

And once again, the two main things that I find change culture radically, simply a metal pot.

And I don't know what they would of used before, maybe pottery, maybe not.

But a little bit of plastic, from around, metal pot, the rest of it's very simple.

It's all based on weaving, tying together, carving, and grabbing the raw materials from the jungle.

It's really quite amazing how they sit on the cusp of living almost as primitively as they have always lived.

Yet, modern world creeps in just a little bit here and there.

Either slowly, or quickly, depending on how you look at it.

(jungle flute music) - [Archer] Ah, ha ha ha.

Ah, see.

(archer grunts) - That's how much would of gone into the animal with that shot.

That would've hurt.

Ya!

(Les laughs) Yeah, nice.

Right through, sweet.

Gracias, gracias.

Okay, now we can hunt.

All actions of every sort taken by the Huacharia are begun by ceremony.

(rattle rattles) Because these ceremonies ensures their very survival in this jungle life, before we go on a hunt we've got to ask permission from the jungle spirits; for blessings, strength, and success on the hunt.

So the point of this is, it's like asking the medicine of the plant to improve and keep the accuracy of the hunters, us, intact by rubbing the medicine of the plant onto the arrows.

This is the final piece here.

This will come with me, it's like a secret ingredient.

But before if I see an animal, then I rub the arrow with this.

Let's go hunting.

This particular village, you can access by vehicle.

That means access to the outside world pretty readily.

Modern clothes, in the town and village there's some sinks and taps, and cutlery, plates, those types of things.

Lots of access to modern implements but still living a fairly primitive lifestyle when it comes to certain aspects like hunting.

The hunting and gathering part of a hunting and gathering society is exactly the skillset that seems to be the separator between assimilating into a modern culture and maintaining a more primitive one.

That combined with ceremony and ritual.

Lose the ceremony and ritual, lose the land based skills like hunting and fishing, and you lose the culture.

Got some really nice wild mushrooms here.

Perfect.

There's always hunting and gathering, gathering and hunting; gather while you hunt.

Hunt while you gather.

Either way, there's a reason why that phrase has been played out the way it has been.

'Cause that's exactly what they do.

And one doesn't really ever come without the other.

It's the perfect use of energy.

Perfect synergy of activities.

(low music) As expected, the women are the gatherers, spotting wild edibles with every turn of the jungle trail.

And also, as expected, the men are the hunters.

A lot of game that they might to after here, has started to disappear.

The game, is not as it used to be.

A lot of the game is gone.

Too much activity, mines, roads being built, just like everywhere.

And that's what sends the game away, so they have to go farther and farther to find just about anything.

This dude's actually going to climb the tree get to the heart of palm.

Not sure how high he's going but he's definitely preparing.

Sometimes gathering for these guys is like putting your life in your own hands.

I've seen this method before.

Putting a rope around your feet like that, it's the same technique used a long way away from here in the Pacific Cook Islands.

Wrapping a strap around his feet.

And then going up the tree, the feet grasping around the trunk.

The beauty of the heart of palm is he can just go up this tree and take food like this whenever he needs energy.

So if we're hunting it's perfect.

It's a quick grab along the way and doing it this way rather than chopping it down at the bottom, means the tree still lives.

It'll sprout another top and it can do it again later.

(branches crashing) Oh look at that, it's beautiful.

Nice clean and white.

Ah, soft, it's super healthy and it's a good food.

No wonder they developed the skills to be able to climb that high to get at food like this.

It's just total hunter gathering.

One thing leads to another, leads to another.

These leaves are basically to simply make a funnel for getting water from a water vine which we could all use right about now.

The trails in this jungle here, they weave through like veins of a river, and it's essentially their highway.

Leading from one fishing spot to another, one gathering spot to another.

(traditional music) The middle of the jungle, just a sidewalk.

(man greets in foreign language) (Les answers in foreign language) Came across a man, with it looks like his daughter and his wife just walking the trail.

Nice easy little four hour jaunt.

So on top of a long hill, and there's a big hole dug and it's for garbage.

Just a hole to put garbage in.

The reality is, without the access to the modern world there wouldn't be such a thing as garbage.

Because everything would biodegrade, but now with plastic and rubber, metal and things like that, even here in the middle of the jungle, they've gotta deal with garbage.

(forest animals calling) So we've got a hunt on now.

Here's my chance, you see some bird you hear some bird.

(bird chirping) This is crazy.

He's walking in bare feet, I'm trying to walk with him.

I'm telling you, it's ridiculous.

He's walking super slow trying not to make a sound and I'm trying to follow him, but I'm wearing rubber boots.

It doesn't work too well for hunting when all you're using is a bow and arrow.

(birds calling) Unless they don't taste good, all birds are taken for food in the jungle.

(birds calling) We just missed the bird.

I think it got stuck in the tree, the arrow.

Bravo.

I'm in the very humid and very hot, Peruvian Amazon jungle.

With the remote Huacharia tribe.

We're on a hunting and gathering mission as they share with me their jungle survival techniques.

(water rushing) There's no such thing as an easy jungle hike.

Straight up, straight down.

That's why they call it the jungle.

(vines snapping) This vine here is simply for basket weaving.

They need some supplies, so they're gathering along the way.

Always so far to go just for one little item.

Because even this close to society, and even with metal pots within grasp, they still weave their own baskets, make their own bags to carry things from the jungle.

So in this way, definitely keeping their culture alive.

Sometimes when I'm confronted with a situation where we meet people such as these where they're so close to civilization.

And some part of them seems savvy.

I bet I'm not the first person to film these people.

Yet still, be able to come through the jungle like this, barefoot, climb trees, gather everything they need for survival shows that even though they're savvy to the outside modern world they haven't lost their skill level and their original culture and way of life.

You gotta watch it with every step you take.

Every time I grab a tree, to pull myself up you gotta be careful it's not one crawling with poisonous ants or sometimes you just shake the tree a bit and ants or worse might fall from above.

And worse here, could be any number of extremely poisonous snakes.

That's why they wanted me to be in boots, to protect my ankles, while they walk in bare feet.

(traditional music) It's as simple as that, it's just a chop off of the vine and the water just comes drizzling out.

And even using bamboo for the container you've gotta chop both ends of it, otherwise if you just chop one end and wait underneath it the suction holds the water in.

This way, with this vine to chop both off, and all the water drains out.

(ax smacking) Usually it's just the men that come out on the hunt but this time the women are with us because we're doing some gathering.

There we go, whoa.

Got a big, a lot of water in this one now.

(water dripping) This water is just great just to drink, but also it's very medicinal water.

If you have a conjunctivitis or fever you can drink this water.

Very healthful, very good for you.

Mm.

Ah, that's good.

That's very good.

And surprisingly it's cold too.

It's not cold here, temperature wise but the vine water's cold, it's beautiful.

(traditional music) Time to stop for a little bit of protective face painting here.

At this little spot here, he thinks he can get some worms.

- [Man] Look at that.

- What do you see?

What do you see?

- [Man] Look at that.

- Ai, yay, yay, yay, yay, yay, yay, yay.

It's a wasp nest.

That is one heck of a big, a big small wasp's nest.

Just a little tiny wasp but they hurt when they sting.

It's just a ball of them.

It's a ball of wasps, he's walked right in behind them.

I don't think I'm gonna go in and follow him this time.

I'll let him come out.

Wow, that's incredible.

That's the trouble with the jungle man, you go through you're gonna stir something up.

My guide is hard on the hunt for a treat hidden within a dead palm tree.

Oh ho ho.

That's a lot of work for that meal.

Does he, uh, bite?

Bite?

(man speaks foreign language) Oh si.

Huh, okay it bites.

Finally now we get to eat our take home lunch here.

(man speaking foreign language) (Les blows) Mm.

Mm.

Ah, the mushrooms.

Mm.

(baby chatters) (woman speaks) Ah, okay.

I didn't even see these the first time but they caught some shrimp with the snails.

Yep, that's shrimp all right.

Mm.

Wow, that, the palm heart is amazing.

It's fantastic.

(people conversing) Snail.

A little chewy, but good.

Ah ha.

So there we go that's a little grub dude there.

She took her part already.

It's good.

That's good.

Mm, si.

So you can see that, we were gathering while we were hunting, classic hunting and gathering.

And the process, we ended up with enough food, even though we were unsuccessful with the hunt, we ended up with enough food to eat.

We've got snails, mushrooms, the grub.

We've got some banana, the palm heart.

All of it, absolutely delicious, and enough to be full tonight.

(traditional music) As the shaman explained to me, everything is done with a ceremony.

There's nothing that they do that doesn't somehow start with some kind of ceremony.

And, these ceremonies and these skills what I'm about to learn.

The Huacharia believe these ceremonies keep the spirits of the area and the community in balance and harmony.

They've been practiced for hundreds, if not thousands of years.

When one member is going through a difficult time, the shaman will work with him and call the different plant spirits to come and appease his soul.

They wouldn't allow me to experience life and survival with them until I underwent a series of ceremonies meant to align my own spirit with the spirits of water, rock, wind, and fire.

As well as the spirit of the jungle, and the earth itself.

For they believe without these ceremonies people are not living their lives in harmony with nature.

In the dampness of the rainforest the shaman and I spend hours working on a single hand drill to create fire.

They have matches, but this is a sacred fire for a sacred tobacco ceremony, and it must be started in a traditional way.

As so many ceremonies are, this is one is for purification and connecting with the spirit of tobacco.

(shaman speaks foreign language) - [Shaman] Bueno, bueno.

As I work with the elements and eventually produce a flame, my intentions become known to the spirit world.

(shaman speaks foreign language) Tobacco and fire are what feeds the plant teacher's genius and they say that before you cut down a medicinal plant or ingest one you must blow tobacco smoke and ask for permission.

If I'm going to be able to ingest the Huacharia's powerful plant medicines throughout my time here, I have to honor the place with tobacco and fire by undergoing this sometimes painful but clarifying tobacco ceremony.

Coca leaf is chewed for the strength and a mixture of dried tobacco and ground, dried bark powder are placed in a small pipe and blown high into the nasal passages.

The shaman has a curled pipe and blows it into his own nose.

But for me, he handles the pipe, as he knows blowing too hard could be a problem.

But even when he handles it, it's extremely painful.

Some describe the first experience of it, like driving a spike up your nose with a hammer.

The blast of tobacco and bark dust washes through my senses, the power indicative of an ocean wave.

But he asks to blow more, as both nostrils are necessary for cleansing of nasal passages.

For the cleansing of the mind.

(traditional music) The rest of my body takes a backseat to the intense feeling of clarity that comes over me.

I don't smoke cigarettes, so the intense tobacco flushing instantly induces feelings of nausea.

(traditional music continues) Clarity of vision and clarity of the mind don't always come without some kind of pain.

I'm deep in the Peruvian jungle with a group of people called the Huacharia.

And after many sacred ceremonies and a jungle trek to gather food, we've headed off once again to try our luck this time with fishing.

But first a small stop along the way to deal with a snake that scared a family out of their dwelling.

This snake was actually in the roof.

And they pulled him out of the dwelling here.

They aren't going to let a snake like this, sort of hang around loose.

So they unfortunately, they've whacked it on the head.

But they kill these snakes always.

So this poor guy, his fate is relegated to the same fate that most snakes around here, if they're spotted out in the open, experience.

And that is, they get whacked and killed.

This one's still unfortunately a little bit alive here.

I was able to get to it before they completely killed it.

That is a beautiful snake.

Now he's just trying to get his bearings to come back around on me here but.

They've hit him, but I've seen snakes, now you see him sort of twisting around trying to get his bearings.

I've seen snakes hit before that come back around.

So with any luck, I mean they wanna just chop his head off and kill him, with any luck.

Maybe I've got it to the point where they'll let him go.

And I can let him back into the jungle here.

All right, the last thing I really wanna do is let this snake get killed, but there's no way they wanna let it go free.

And that's that, that's life in the jungle.

Snakes like this come around encampments like these.

Not my style, not my speed, not what I'd like to do, but it's the way it has to be done.

It's life in the jungle.

As it turns out this is not a poisonous snake, but for the Huacharia, when it comes to a four foot snake in your roof, they kill first and ask questions later.

Sad though this is, it's the reality of living around poisonous snakes, spiders, ants, all sorts of creatures.

Back at home, we'd just use poison, we don't see the death.

Here, when something threatens the life of your children, your family, you have to kill it yourself.

At least they're making use of all of it.

They're pulling the fat out from the snake, which is very important for them, and the meat, and they'll use the skin for decoration.

(brooding traditional music) More in touch with the medicinal and the viable plants of the jungle than most people on the planet.

These Huacharia are holding onto a skill set that in some eyes could be the future key to curing diseases and sickness worldwide.

And they don't wanna lose these skills.

They're proud of them.

Hopefully they'll be able to keep their knowledge and share it with people beyond their diminishing jungle borders, and take this great spiritual and physical knowledge beyond survival.

(water splashes)