Angola - Unknown Africa
 
FILM PREMIERE 21 March 2008 at 8 pm on BBC 2 Angola is a jewel of a country that for most of my life has been locked behind a civil war. But since the breakthrough peace accord in 2002, the country is opening up with a heaven sent opportunity to explore it. The long years of war have resulted in massive depopulation of both humans and animals, and there are still vast sections of the country that are impenetrable in the East, but the interface between three extreme ecosystems, the cold Atlantic ocean, the Namib desert, and the Congo forest, has always fascinated me, and I’ve been curious to see what wildlife has survived the war.  Our journey started at the Cunene river which borders Namibia, and extended all the way up to Luanda in the north which is not far from the Congo river.  Unfortunately, the diamond area in the East - where the giant sable is rumoured to be extant - was a no-go-zone as much of it is still land-mined, so we kept to the west coast and drove on a beach for about 300 km, racing the tides.   Racing the tide between dune cliffs on one side and Atlantic breakers on the other was highly exhilarating!  Our adventures didn't stop there - on a day trip to film birds on an island 10 km offshore, our rubber dinghy ran out of fuel 5 minutes after we started back. It was impossible to get back to the island, it was sunset so we were rapidly losing light, the wind was howling and sea becoming increasingly rough.  Nine kilomtres from land with night falling and a strong current sweeping us out to sea, the sheer horror of realization paralysed us for a moment, but then our crew spirit kicked in and we scrambled for action as a team.  We had two ridiculously tiny oars, but by great good luck I'd brought a small tarpauline to cover the camera-gear which we managed to rig up as a make-shift sail. It was attached at the stern to the fully extended tripod, cable-tied to ropes on the bow, and held high above our heads as we took turns acting as the main mast.   Progress was agonisingly slow, but our handheld GPS clocked a speed of 4.8 km an hour - it was pitch dark but we knew with certainty we were heading towards land!    To keep up our spirits we sang love songs, thinking of those we'd left at home, "how wonderful life is now you're in my world".  It could have been the start of a horror movie - "There's No One to Hear You Scream off the Coast of Angola", a small rubber dinghy with seven people drifting out to sea at night, with no food or water.  But the stars were brilliant in the sky, and we kept on going, until, finally, we sailed through white breakers and hit the shore within a few kilometers of our camp.  Soaking wet, shivering with cold, we danced with joy in a delirious, hugging circle, and as the dunes sang around us that night I've never felt more clear headed, in love with my husband, and happy to be alive.  All credit to our crew who kept their heads and humour, to Tom and Seb who were masts of steel, and to that marvelous little tarp! COMING SOON! 21 March 2008, 8 p.m., BBC 2
June 2007
JOURNAL