(dramatic music)
- My name's Steve
Backsaw, I'm a naturalist,
and, I guess, an explorer.
(dramatic music)
Over the course of
one calendar year,
we had the unique opportunity
to attempt 10 world firsts.
Absolutely endless amounts of
stalagmites and stalactites.
And the thought that
we're the first people
ever to see them is
almost beyond belief.
To be able to go
on an expedition
with the very best in
the world is a privilege.
It's an honor that
someone at my level
would never normally have.
(laughing)
Thank you, John.
Thank you for keeping me safe.
I think it's quite
humbling to spend time
with people who are
almost superhuman,
some of the greatest explorers
in their field, in history
and I've been able to count
them as teammates and friends.
- Well done, I'm
really proud of you.
- Stevie, boy.
- [Steve] Thank you all.
- [Woman] You did awesome.
- [Steve] Thank
you all so so much.
- [Woman] Nice one guys.
- Thank you James.
- I think for me, the
greatest highlight
of this series has been
waking up each morning,
rolling out of my hammock
or opening the tent door
and not knowing what
that day has ahead.
Being on those jungle
rivers, going around
every corner and not
knowing if there could be
a jaguar sat at the riverside.
Or if you could find a huge
tree blocking your path
that could take
days to get around.
Having a tapir wander
out of the bushes
and just, you know, stroll
in between our boats.
No way, that is
absolutely amazing.
Clearly no idea what we,
as human beings, were,
'cause it hadn't seen
a human being before.
(dramatic music)
Standing on top of a
mountain in the arctic,
as the first person to summit,
the sense of achievement,
- Well done, great job everyone.
- the view, the vista.
We were looking out onto
hundreds of mountains,
none of which had ever
been climbed before,
and an entire environment where
there were no
other human beings.
That sense of the unknown is
what makes expeditions special.
For me though, the highlight
of this whole expedition
was the last moment.
It was being in a cave in Borneo
which doesn't occur on any
map, doesn't have a name,
and seeing, emblazoned over
the walls and the ceiling,
memories of people
having been there
tens of thousands
of years before.
Those are really clear ones.
- [Explorer] And the
scratching, and vivid.
- [Steve] Look at that!
- [Guide] It's very good.
- We've stood on
the top of mountains
and looked around at
the vista and seen,
there are plenty more for
another couple of generations
of explorers to go out and
explore for the first time.
Likewise with the
rivers, the rainforests,
it's not all done,
there are plenty more
final frontiers out there
for people to push through.
(dramatic music)
Inevitably on expeditions,
you get worn down,
you get worn down by
leeches, ticks, mosquitoes,
by the fact that fungus
appears to be growing
on every inch of your
body and you're chafing
and hot and humid and sweaty,
but, on expeditions like
this, there's always something
that brings you back, that makes
you rediscover your enthusiasm.
It could be a harpy
eagle sat in a tree,
it could be a stunning vista,
the reflections of the forest
on the water around you.
(water)
It's absolutely spectacular.
There's something
that reminds you
how lucky we are to be here
and how privileged to see these
places for the first time.
(dramatic music)
