The first leg sees Simon Reeve crossing the beautiful landscapes of Namibia and Botswana. He has a close encounter with some hungry cheetahs and visits the world's largest diamond mine. He crosses the Kalahari Desert in search of the famous Bushmen, who claim they have been evicted from their ancient homelands.

Simon Reeve is distraught when he witnesses the Zimbabwean refugee crisis. He watches giant rats clear land mines in Mozambique and eats soup made from the penis of the Xebu (a type of ox). He visits a shanty town where thousands of impoverished Madagascans are digging for sapphires.

On the Australian west coast, Simon Reeve witnesses the migration of the humpback whale. He meets a tough outback couple refusing to leave an asbestos polluted ghost town and a farmer attempting to eke a living out of a dustbowl. He visits one of many Aboriginal communities in a deperate state, blighted by alcoholism, child abuse and poverty.

The final stage of Simon Reeve's journey. Simon crosses the Atacama desert - the driest place on earth - and climbs 15,000 feet into the Andes. In Argentina he dodges bees as he hunts for honey with the indigenous Wichi people, whose lives are threatened by deforestation. In Brazil, Simon visits Sao Paolo, the biggest and perhaps most dangerous city in the Southern Hemisphere.