1 00:00:01,001 --> 00:00:04,203 [Josh] Tonight, our quest for El Dorado continues. 2 00:00:05,672 --> 00:00:06,572 [pilot speaking] 3 00:00:12,846 --> 00:00:15,525 [Josh] Deep in the Colombian jungle... 4 00:00:15,549 --> 00:00:17,260 All right so, Jaguars, spiders, snakes, plants... 5 00:00:17,284 --> 00:00:20,130 - pretty much the whole jungle's trying to kill us. - Yes. 6 00:00:20,154 --> 00:00:24,801 [Josh] Clues from a mysterious civilization point the way to hidden treasures. 7 00:00:24,825 --> 00:00:28,027 Oh, come on! Look at this! 8 00:00:28,862 --> 00:00:30,774 Are there other cities out there? 9 00:00:30,798 --> 00:00:31,842 - Absolutely. - [Josh] No question? 10 00:00:31,866 --> 00:00:32,765 No question 11 00:00:32,799 --> 00:00:34,845 [Josh] Whoo! 12 00:00:34,869 --> 00:00:36,947 It's our most dangerous expedition ever... 13 00:00:36,971 --> 00:00:40,005 Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! 14 00:00:42,542 --> 00:00:46,123 I have never been in a jungle environment 15 00:00:46,147 --> 00:00:49,826 that was more challenging than this one... ever. 16 00:00:49,850 --> 00:00:50,427 [yells] 17 00:00:50,451 --> 00:00:51,717 Duce! 18 00:00:52,118 --> 00:00:57,134 ...as we uncover the truth behind the lost city of gold. 19 00:00:57,158 --> 00:00:58,001 Ha-ha! 20 00:00:58,025 --> 00:01:00,159 Is it a wall? Look at that! 21 00:01:02,028 --> 00:01:03,740 My name is Josh Gates... 22 00:01:03,764 --> 00:01:04,975 Hello! 23 00:01:04,999 --> 00:01:07,878 ...explorer, adventurer... 24 00:01:07,902 --> 00:01:08,445 This is sick. 25 00:01:08,469 --> 00:01:09,913 [yells] 26 00:01:09,937 --> 00:01:13,683 ...and a guy who ends up in some very strange situations. 27 00:01:13,707 --> 00:01:14,951 Whew! That was exciting. 28 00:01:14,975 --> 00:01:16,920 With a degree in archeology, 29 00:01:16,944 --> 00:01:18,455 and a passion for the unexplained... 30 00:01:18,479 --> 00:01:19,378 [exclaims] Ya-ha! 31 00:01:19,412 --> 00:01:20,924 ...I travel to the ends of the earth 32 00:01:20,948 --> 00:01:23,794 investigating the greatest legends in history. 33 00:01:23,818 --> 00:01:25,962 Okay. Let's punch it. 34 00:01:25,986 --> 00:01:28,187 This is Expedition Unknown. 35 00:01:31,157 --> 00:01:32,669 [Josh] Okay, here we go Let's do it. 36 00:01:32,693 --> 00:01:36,406 My team is currently hiking in the mountains of northern Colombia. 37 00:01:36,430 --> 00:01:38,275 It is hot, it is humid, 38 00:01:38,299 --> 00:01:40,844 and we are miles from civilization. 39 00:01:40,868 --> 00:01:43,547 We got here the same way those before us did, 40 00:01:43,571 --> 00:01:46,383 by being obsessed with legends. 41 00:01:46,407 --> 00:01:50,554 And no legend has sowed more destruction than El Dorado. 42 00:01:50,578 --> 00:01:54,091 In the 16th century, Spanish conquistadors mounted expeditions 43 00:01:54,115 --> 00:01:58,728 to the new world in search of this fabled city of gold. 44 00:01:58,752 --> 00:02:01,765 Their campaigns unleashed suffering and death. 45 00:02:01,789 --> 00:02:04,768 And their thirst for treasure drove the extinction 46 00:02:04,792 --> 00:02:06,937 of entire civilizations. 47 00:02:06,961 --> 00:02:08,738 But where did the story begin? 48 00:02:08,762 --> 00:02:11,041 And could there really be gold 49 00:02:11,065 --> 00:02:13,743 and lost cities out there to be found? 50 00:02:13,767 --> 00:02:17,981 I followed the trail of conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada 51 00:02:18,005 --> 00:02:20,172 to Lake Guatavita in Columbia. 52 00:02:20,974 --> 00:02:22,619 Welcome to El Dorado. 53 00:02:22,643 --> 00:02:25,021 Oh, my God. 54 00:02:25,045 --> 00:02:28,892 It was here that the indigenous Muisca people anointed their new chief 55 00:02:28,916 --> 00:02:30,794 by covering him in gold 56 00:02:30,818 --> 00:02:33,330 and depositing offerings in the lake. 57 00:02:33,354 --> 00:02:37,834 In time, the story of The Golden Man, El Hombre Dorado 58 00:02:37,858 --> 00:02:42,127 mutated into the legend of a golden city, El Dorado. 59 00:02:42,562 --> 00:02:44,274 Imagine hearing stories 60 00:02:44,298 --> 00:02:46,776 of people covering themselves in gold. 61 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:50,814 They must be so dripping in gold that they can afford to bathe in it almost. 62 00:02:50,838 --> 00:02:53,272 - Their imaginations must have gone wild. - Yeah. 63 00:02:53,606 --> 00:02:55,819 [Josh] At a Muisca burial site, 64 00:02:55,843 --> 00:02:59,389 we discovered real treasures that the Spanish never found. 65 00:02:59,413 --> 00:03:02,692 - It's gold. [exclaims] - Yeah. It's a piece of gold. 66 00:03:02,716 --> 00:03:05,662 [Josh] Unbelievable. Look at this. 67 00:03:05,686 --> 00:03:08,632 But the El Dorado myth is about more than just treasure. 68 00:03:08,656 --> 00:03:12,057 It's about an entire lost city. 69 00:03:14,394 --> 00:03:17,340 When the Spanish arrived on Colombia's Caribbean coast, 70 00:03:17,364 --> 00:03:20,810 they encountered the gold-adorned Tairona people 71 00:03:20,834 --> 00:03:23,402 who retreated to strongholds deep in the mountains. 72 00:03:23,636 --> 00:03:25,782 For the next 400 years, 73 00:03:25,806 --> 00:03:28,852 outsiders for unable to reach these mysterious cities. 74 00:03:28,876 --> 00:03:30,921 Then in the 1970s, 75 00:03:30,945 --> 00:03:35,091 looters discovered a massive Tairona settlement deep in the jungle, 76 00:03:35,115 --> 00:03:37,494 which they named Ciudad Perdida, 77 00:03:37,518 --> 00:03:39,629 or the Lost City. 78 00:03:39,653 --> 00:03:41,631 Today archaeologists at the site 79 00:03:41,655 --> 00:03:43,867 are using cutting-edge scanning technology 80 00:03:43,891 --> 00:03:46,369 to reveal something extraordinary. 81 00:03:46,393 --> 00:03:47,837 There may be more lost cities 82 00:03:47,861 --> 00:03:51,975 and priceless treasures even deeper in the interior. 83 00:03:51,999 --> 00:03:54,878 My mission, reach the team at Ciudad Perdida 84 00:03:54,902 --> 00:03:58,070 to find a real El Dorado. 85 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:02,686 We're carrying all of our filming equipment, 86 00:04:02,710 --> 00:04:05,722 not to mention a week's worth of food and supplies, 87 00:04:05,746 --> 00:04:08,625 20 miles up a mountain to Ciudad Perdida 88 00:04:08,649 --> 00:04:10,694 - It's beautiful here. - It's beautiful, isn't it? 89 00:04:10,718 --> 00:04:13,897 - Yes. Which usually means it's also dangerous. - Yeah. 90 00:04:13,921 --> 00:04:14,531 What should I be worried about here? 91 00:04:14,555 --> 00:04:15,765 - We have jaguars... - Uh-huh. 92 00:04:15,789 --> 00:04:18,401 [Sergio] We have 80 different kinds of spiders. 93 00:04:18,425 --> 00:04:19,669 - [Josh] Eighty? - [Sergio] Eighty. 94 00:04:19,693 --> 00:04:22,038 That I can handle. Let's talk snakes. 95 00:04:22,062 --> 00:04:23,039 We have some deadly snakes here. 96 00:04:23,063 --> 00:04:24,841 - What do you have? - Bothrops. 97 00:04:24,865 --> 00:04:26,543 We call that the fer-de-lance. 98 00:04:26,567 --> 00:04:27,377 - That's very dangerous. - Yeah. 99 00:04:27,401 --> 00:04:29,234 I have a little experience with them. 100 00:04:30,303 --> 00:04:34,217 Packing up venom in a single bite to kill a man six times over, 101 00:04:34,241 --> 00:04:38,143 a fer-de-lance nearly punched my ticket in the jungles of Guatemala. 102 00:04:38,411 --> 00:04:39,589 [man] Josh, snake. 103 00:04:39,613 --> 00:04:40,824 Snake right by you. 104 00:04:40,848 --> 00:04:43,960 - Where, where, where? - Up, up, up, snake. 105 00:04:43,984 --> 00:04:46,930 And in this part of Colombia, it's responsible 106 00:04:46,954 --> 00:04:49,688 for nearly 70% of all snake bites. 107 00:04:49,722 --> 00:04:51,301 Perfect. 108 00:04:51,325 --> 00:04:53,603 All right, so Jaguar, spiders, snakes, plants. 109 00:04:53,627 --> 00:04:56,072 - Pretty much the whole jungle is trying to kill us. - Yes. 110 00:04:56,096 --> 00:04:58,163 -At least we'll die in a beautiful place, though, -Yeah. 111 00:05:00,300 --> 00:05:01,967 Okay, guys, come on. 112 00:05:06,406 --> 00:05:10,954 We need to hike more than six miles uphill to reach camp tonight. 113 00:05:10,978 --> 00:05:12,656 Day two is another eight-mile trek 114 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:13,823 into the mountains. 115 00:05:13,847 --> 00:05:16,660 And day three will bring us the final leg 116 00:05:16,684 --> 00:05:20,018 to meet the archaeologist at Ciudad Perdida. 117 00:05:20,586 --> 00:05:23,833 As the afternoon wears on, the sky opens up. 118 00:05:23,857 --> 00:05:25,902 Not surprising, considering this area sees 119 00:05:25,926 --> 00:05:29,995 more than 157 inches of rain a year. 120 00:05:30,697 --> 00:05:33,777 Brian and Diego. Really slippery, be careful. 121 00:05:33,801 --> 00:05:34,800 Don't lose that camera. 122 00:05:39,939 --> 00:05:43,108 There's mud, and then there's whatever this is. 123 00:05:46,346 --> 00:05:49,225 The trail turns into a giant slip and slide, 124 00:05:49,249 --> 00:05:53,085 and as my tech supervisor Diego learns, it's not the fun kind. 125 00:05:54,887 --> 00:05:55,987 [grunts] 126 00:05:56,389 --> 00:05:59,024 - You okay? - Yeah. 127 00:06:00,059 --> 00:06:01,638 [Josh] We slog on. 128 00:06:01,662 --> 00:06:06,031 Still a few miles out from tonight's camp, our pace slows to a crawl. 129 00:06:17,377 --> 00:06:18,655 And when the sun sets, 130 00:06:18,679 --> 00:06:22,280 our situation goes from uncomfortable to un-viewable. 131 00:06:22,849 --> 00:06:25,562 All right, well, we have lost the light. 132 00:06:25,586 --> 00:06:27,430 The rain has stopped momentarily, 133 00:06:27,454 --> 00:06:29,766 and we are trying to get ourselves to camp. 134 00:06:29,790 --> 00:06:32,736 You really don't want to be hiking here after dark. 135 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:34,126 It's a pretty dangerous place to be. 136 00:06:34,827 --> 00:06:36,940 Exhausted and caked in mud, 137 00:06:36,964 --> 00:06:38,875 we stumble on for another mile, 138 00:06:38,899 --> 00:06:41,778 desperately hoping to find our campsite. 139 00:06:41,802 --> 00:06:45,036 I see lights. Here we go, guys, 140 00:06:47,774 --> 00:06:50,086 Okay. Home sweet home. 141 00:06:50,110 --> 00:06:51,610 - We're here, guys. - [Josh] Look at this. 142 00:06:51,644 --> 00:06:53,011 Salvation. 143 00:06:53,780 --> 00:06:56,493 This simple shelter built for the trek to the Lost City 144 00:06:56,517 --> 00:06:57,994 may not look like much, 145 00:06:58,018 --> 00:07:01,219 but after today, it feels like El Dorado. 146 00:07:01,854 --> 00:07:04,156 [sighing in exhaustion] 147 00:07:05,958 --> 00:07:10,128 Great day, everybody, Let's... [chuckles] Let's do it all again tomorrow. 148 00:07:11,998 --> 00:07:13,365 Wonder what time the generator goes out. 149 00:07:17,403 --> 00:07:18,370 Good night. 150 00:07:25,411 --> 00:07:27,390 [yawns] Good morning. 151 00:07:27,414 --> 00:07:29,692 I had this horrible dream that we were in a-- 152 00:07:29,716 --> 00:07:30,949 Oh, no, it's all real. 153 00:07:31,417 --> 00:07:33,496 Okay, here we go. [sighs] 154 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:36,366 Today we need to log eight miles to reach camp. 155 00:07:36,390 --> 00:07:39,869 But our spirit and everything else is a bit dampened. 156 00:07:39,893 --> 00:07:42,005 One of the real challenges up here is that everything is wet. 157 00:07:42,029 --> 00:07:42,839 It is so humid, 158 00:07:42,863 --> 00:07:44,574 it's raining, it's misty. 159 00:07:44,598 --> 00:07:47,043 You're sweating. And then, no matter what you do, 160 00:07:47,067 --> 00:07:50,101 even if you hang your clothes up, they end up like this. 161 00:07:51,037 --> 00:07:52,337 Still soaked. 162 00:07:53,506 --> 00:07:55,084 Okay. 163 00:07:55,108 --> 00:07:58,388 We make our first and easiest river crossing... 164 00:07:58,412 --> 00:07:59,789 marching through verdant pastures 165 00:07:59,813 --> 00:08:02,247 as we approach the heart of the jungle. 166 00:08:08,354 --> 00:08:12,101 After hours of hiking in swirling heat and humidity, 167 00:08:12,125 --> 00:08:15,227 we encounter something I never expected to see out here... 168 00:08:15,595 --> 00:08:16,573 People. 169 00:08:16,597 --> 00:08:19,776 Passing us on the ridge is an indigenous family 170 00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:22,879 from a culture known as the Kogi, descendants of the Tairona. 171 00:08:22,903 --> 00:08:26,037 Hola! Hola! 172 00:08:30,042 --> 00:08:31,109 Machete's bigger than the kid. 173 00:08:31,978 --> 00:08:33,111 Amazing. 174 00:08:35,414 --> 00:08:37,560 A short walk later, we arrive at their village 175 00:08:37,584 --> 00:08:40,497 where the Kogi live much as the Tairona did. 176 00:08:40,521 --> 00:08:44,234 No machines, no electricity, no written language. 177 00:08:44,258 --> 00:08:46,736 Isolation has protected Kogi culture, 178 00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:48,538 which, despite appearances, 179 00:08:48,562 --> 00:08:50,773 is actually incredibly advanced. 180 00:08:50,797 --> 00:08:52,909 After all, they're living in harmony 181 00:08:52,933 --> 00:08:55,678 with one of the most punishing environments on earth, 182 00:08:55,702 --> 00:08:57,480 a place where European invaders, 183 00:08:57,504 --> 00:09:00,683 for all their might, simply couldn't cut it. 184 00:09:00,707 --> 00:09:03,686 The knowledge and grand construction of their ancestors, 185 00:09:03,710 --> 00:09:06,890 the Tairona, was a secret to the outside world, 186 00:09:06,914 --> 00:09:11,950 their own private El Dorado, until looters chanced upon the ruins. 187 00:09:12,952 --> 00:09:14,764 - [exhales sharply] Sergio... - Yes, Josh. 188 00:09:14,788 --> 00:09:15,598 So, explain this to me. 189 00:09:15,622 --> 00:09:19,836 Looters found this Lost City in '75. 190 00:09:19,860 --> 00:09:22,705 These looters, they were farmers, and they used to go out 191 00:09:22,729 --> 00:09:24,908 in the mountains for hunting. 192 00:09:24,932 --> 00:09:26,009 Right. These weren't, like, career criminals. 193 00:09:26,033 --> 00:09:27,377 They were local guys. 194 00:09:27,401 --> 00:09:29,679 - Yes, they were just locals. - Got it. 195 00:09:29,703 --> 00:09:31,047 And what did they find up here? 196 00:09:31,071 --> 00:09:33,583 One of these guys was hunting, 197 00:09:33,607 --> 00:09:36,019 and he saw a stone steps. 198 00:09:36,043 --> 00:09:37,487 -And that was it. They knew someone was here. -Yes. 199 00:09:37,511 --> 00:09:39,389 [Josh] Wow. 200 00:09:39,413 --> 00:09:41,758 And so soon after that, gold starts showing up on the black market. 201 00:09:41,782 --> 00:09:42,914 Yeah. 202 00:09:43,416 --> 00:09:45,795 The farmers unearthed thousands of Tairona offerings 203 00:09:45,819 --> 00:09:48,898 left in burial pits at Ciudad Perdida. 204 00:09:48,922 --> 00:09:51,701 Some of this stunning jewelry is on display 205 00:09:51,725 --> 00:09:53,870 at the Museum of Gold in Bogota. 206 00:09:53,894 --> 00:09:54,938 But much of it vanished, 207 00:09:54,962 --> 00:09:58,063 lost to the illegal antiquities trade. 208 00:09:58,464 --> 00:10:00,877 And how do archaeologists find this place? 209 00:10:00,901 --> 00:10:03,846 The thing is that the looters, they started to fighting 210 00:10:03,870 --> 00:10:06,182 and killing each other over the gold. 211 00:10:06,206 --> 00:10:07,050 Treasure of the Sierra Madre. 212 00:10:07,074 --> 00:10:08,384 - Have you ever seen that movie? - No. 213 00:10:08,408 --> 00:10:11,120 Humphrey Bogart. Great movie. Similar story 214 00:10:11,144 --> 00:10:14,157 Greed brought out the worst in the conquistadors 215 00:10:14,181 --> 00:10:15,425 and in these farmers. 216 00:10:15,449 --> 00:10:17,961 Fortunately, one of them blew the whistle 217 00:10:17,985 --> 00:10:22,398 and lead archaeologists to the ruins of a real life El Dorado... 218 00:10:22,422 --> 00:10:25,335 allowing it to be studied and conserved. 219 00:10:25,359 --> 00:10:29,005 Nearly 40 years later, the team we're trying to reach believes that 220 00:10:29,029 --> 00:10:33,064 what's been found so far is just scratching the surface. 221 00:10:33,633 --> 00:10:35,244 - Okay. Uphill? - That's the plan. 222 00:10:35,268 --> 00:10:36,746 - Let's go. - Let's do it. 223 00:10:36,770 --> 00:10:40,083 Okay, so Humphrey Bogart is this down on his luck prospector, right? 224 00:10:40,107 --> 00:10:43,019 He's in a bar and this guy comes in 225 00:10:43,043 --> 00:10:44,142 and he's got a map. 226 00:10:45,745 --> 00:10:48,024 We forge on mile after mile. 227 00:10:48,048 --> 00:10:50,315 [dramatic music playing] 228 00:10:53,819 --> 00:10:56,065 - Hey, Brian? - [Brian] What? 229 00:10:56,089 --> 00:10:58,990 [Josh] Have you ever seen Treasure of the Sierra Madre? 230 00:10:59,125 --> 00:10:59,836 [Brian] No. 231 00:10:59,860 --> 00:11:01,838 [Josh] As dusk approaches, 232 00:11:01,862 --> 00:11:04,396 we find our shelter and try to get some rest. 233 00:11:07,800 --> 00:11:09,612 [dramatic music playing] 234 00:11:09,636 --> 00:11:11,714 We're back at it bright and early. 235 00:11:11,738 --> 00:11:14,384 "Just six miles to go" becomes my mantra. 236 00:11:14,408 --> 00:11:17,075 The trek is starting to feel like Groundhog Day. 237 00:11:18,878 --> 00:11:20,590 Oh, look. Another bridge. 238 00:11:20,614 --> 00:11:23,314 Only this one is more of a bridge to be. 239 00:11:24,717 --> 00:11:27,052 [Sergio Guerrero] Okay, Josh. Here is where we cross. 240 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:28,831 [Josh chuckles] Okay. 241 00:11:28,855 --> 00:11:30,800 All right. Let's get wet. 242 00:11:30,824 --> 00:11:32,168 - Come on. - [Sergio] Let's do it. 243 00:11:32,192 --> 00:11:33,836 [dramatic music playing] 244 00:11:33,860 --> 00:11:36,428 [Josh exclaims] That is not warm. 245 00:11:51,644 --> 00:11:54,179 -Everybody's across? Okay, let's do it. -Yeah. 246 00:11:56,415 --> 00:11:58,528 From here there's nowhere to go but up. 247 00:11:58,552 --> 00:12:01,664 We climb higher and higher into the mountains 248 00:12:01,688 --> 00:12:05,356 until we finally reach the first traces of the Lost City. 249 00:12:06,792 --> 00:12:08,971 - Josh, you see this? - Yes? 250 00:12:08,995 --> 00:12:09,839 Yes. Stairs. 251 00:12:09,863 --> 00:12:12,709 Yes. This is part of the Lost City. 252 00:12:12,733 --> 00:12:13,910 This was built by the Tairona. 253 00:12:13,934 --> 00:12:17,246 This was built by the Tairona over 1,000 years ago. 254 00:12:17,270 --> 00:12:18,381 Unbelievable. 255 00:12:18,405 --> 00:12:20,383 - Yes. Yeah. - And look, it just goes up, up, up. 256 00:12:20,407 --> 00:12:23,386 The entrance to Ciudad Perdida is a marvel. 257 00:12:23,410 --> 00:12:27,879 Exactly 1,200 steps engineered in dense jungle. 258 00:12:27,913 --> 00:12:28,858 One, two, 259 00:12:28,882 --> 00:12:30,927 three, four... 260 00:12:30,951 --> 00:12:33,629 These stairs are the only way in or out 261 00:12:33,653 --> 00:12:35,064 of the Lost City. 262 00:12:35,088 --> 00:12:38,868 The Spanish noted that Tairona warriors were incredibly fierce. 263 00:12:38,892 --> 00:12:41,370 Using their tactical knowledge of the jungle 264 00:12:41,394 --> 00:12:43,773 to carry out lethal ambushes. 265 00:12:43,797 --> 00:12:47,677 By funneling invaders onto narrow staircases like this, 266 00:12:47,701 --> 00:12:50,012 the Tairona were able to repel attacks 267 00:12:50,036 --> 00:12:52,882 and keep the Spanish at bay. 268 00:12:52,906 --> 00:12:56,385 Two sixty one, 262, 263, 264, 265... 269 00:12:56,409 --> 00:12:58,187 But we will persevere. 270 00:12:58,211 --> 00:13:02,046 Turns out every day was leg day for the Tairona. 271 00:13:06,719 --> 00:13:09,732 Five ninety seven, 598, 599, 272 00:13:09,756 --> 00:13:11,567 six hundred. Halfway, guys! 273 00:13:11,591 --> 00:13:13,369 [man] Can we stop? I'm thirsty. 274 00:13:13,393 --> 00:13:15,805 I can't hear you. Keep walking, everybody. 275 00:13:15,829 --> 00:13:17,962 - Someone's gonna puke. - You're doing great. 276 00:13:17,997 --> 00:13:19,842 Everybody's doing great. 277 00:13:19,866 --> 00:13:21,399 [whispering] We're gonna die. 278 00:13:21,700 --> 00:13:23,101 We climb on 279 00:13:23,335 --> 00:13:26,883 and the ancient Stairmaster literally takes my breath away. 280 00:13:26,907 --> 00:13:30,953 But what we find at the top truly leaves me speechless. 281 00:13:30,977 --> 00:13:33,389 After three days and more than 20 miles uphill, 282 00:13:33,413 --> 00:13:36,392 we are among a small handful of people 283 00:13:36,416 --> 00:13:40,930 to reach one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of the last century. 284 00:13:40,954 --> 00:13:42,987 The Lost City. 285 00:13:43,155 --> 00:13:46,369 1198, 1199, 286 00:13:46,393 --> 00:13:48,026 1200. 287 00:13:49,962 --> 00:13:51,874 Oh, come on! 288 00:13:51,898 --> 00:13:53,097 Look at this! 289 00:13:53,833 --> 00:13:55,066 Woo! 290 00:13:57,403 --> 00:13:59,882 [dramatic music playing] 291 00:13:59,906 --> 00:14:00,783 Woo! 292 00:14:00,807 --> 00:14:02,440 Oh, look at this place. 293 00:14:05,411 --> 00:14:06,756 This is insane. 294 00:14:06,780 --> 00:14:10,081 If you're looking for the Lost City, here it is. 295 00:14:11,750 --> 00:14:14,730 I'm searching for the truth behind the legend of El Dorado 296 00:14:14,754 --> 00:14:16,199 at Ciudad Perdida. 297 00:14:16,223 --> 00:14:17,667 The ruins of a Lost City 298 00:14:17,691 --> 00:14:21,404 hidden in the depths of the Colombian jungle. 299 00:14:21,428 --> 00:14:24,740 What lies before is a marvel of engineering, 300 00:14:24,764 --> 00:14:27,677 more than 169 stone terraces 301 00:14:27,701 --> 00:14:29,445 spanning 88 acres. 302 00:14:29,469 --> 00:14:31,948 All built on 4,000-foot peak 303 00:14:31,972 --> 00:14:35,651 in the middle of a deeply inhospitable jungle. 304 00:14:35,675 --> 00:14:38,621 Completely overgrown when it was first discovered, 305 00:14:38,645 --> 00:14:41,390 archaeologist Santiago Giraldo and his team 306 00:14:41,414 --> 00:14:44,961 have been excavating this site for decades. 307 00:14:44,985 --> 00:14:49,031 Living and working out of their own makeshift village near the ruins. 308 00:14:49,055 --> 00:14:50,099 Oh, man, so great to meet you. 309 00:14:50,123 --> 00:14:51,634 [Santiago Giraldo] All right, good meeting you, too. 310 00:14:51,658 --> 00:14:54,370 - I love your office. Right? - Beats a cubicle anytime of day. 311 00:14:54,394 --> 00:14:56,706 - I got a lot of questions. - Go. Fire away. 312 00:14:56,730 --> 00:14:57,740 Let's start with this. When? 313 00:14:57,764 --> 00:15:01,244 The place began to be built by what we think were 314 00:15:01,268 --> 00:15:04,380 sort of like pioneers coming in to new farming areas 315 00:15:04,404 --> 00:15:05,514 around 650 A.D. 316 00:15:05,538 --> 00:15:07,717 Spanish called them all Tairona 317 00:15:07,741 --> 00:15:10,386 - but we don't know what they called themselves. - Right. 318 00:15:10,410 --> 00:15:13,022 And when does this main section of the city get built? 319 00:15:13,046 --> 00:15:14,357 This was built up 320 00:15:14,381 --> 00:15:17,727 sometime between 1100 and 1200 A.D. in a single push. 321 00:15:17,751 --> 00:15:20,897 [Josh] Okay. At its height, what do we think the population was here? 322 00:15:20,921 --> 00:15:22,832 Anywhere between 2,000 and 3,000 people. 323 00:15:22,856 --> 00:15:24,734 - Just in this-- - In just in this town. 324 00:15:24,758 --> 00:15:26,969 In the upper part of the basin, over 10,000 people. 325 00:15:26,993 --> 00:15:30,006 Now all this forest that you see wasn't here. 326 00:15:30,030 --> 00:15:31,841 So what you'd have seen would've been 327 00:15:31,865 --> 00:15:34,410 - farmland and patches of forest. - Right. 328 00:15:34,434 --> 00:15:36,612 We see these big rings and these terraces. 329 00:15:36,636 --> 00:15:38,214 Would all of these have had a structure on them? 330 00:15:38,238 --> 00:15:39,749 Yeah, all of these had structures on them. 331 00:15:39,773 --> 00:15:41,784 The smaller rings are dwellings. 332 00:15:41,808 --> 00:15:44,587 The really large rings are community spaces, 333 00:15:44,611 --> 00:15:47,356 feasting areas, workshops, and what have you. 334 00:15:47,380 --> 00:15:49,825 So kind of like the Kogi huts that I saw coming up-- 335 00:15:49,849 --> 00:15:51,794 It's very similar architecture. It would've been bigger. 336 00:15:51,818 --> 00:15:55,431 - Yeah. Got it. - But a bit more sophisticated and polished. 337 00:15:55,455 --> 00:15:57,700 [Josh] The terraced platforms we see today 338 00:15:57,724 --> 00:16:00,870 are just the foundations of this vanished metropolis. 339 00:16:00,894 --> 00:16:03,372 Radiating out from the city center 340 00:16:03,396 --> 00:16:05,608 were hundreds of interconnected plazas 341 00:16:05,632 --> 00:16:07,743 stretching far into the jungle. 342 00:16:07,767 --> 00:16:11,614 Each plaza was dotted with round thatched roof buildings, 343 00:16:11,638 --> 00:16:14,817 ranging in size from single family dwellings 344 00:16:14,841 --> 00:16:16,919 to massive multi-storied town halls. 345 00:16:16,943 --> 00:16:19,555 All landscaped with tropical fruit trees 346 00:16:19,579 --> 00:16:21,691 and fed by irrigation channels. 347 00:16:21,715 --> 00:16:25,494 Now, after two decades spent exploring these ruins, 348 00:16:25,518 --> 00:16:28,998 Santiago is just starting to map its full extent. 349 00:16:29,022 --> 00:16:31,567 That's extraordinary, you know, that we have this 350 00:16:31,591 --> 00:16:32,902 this thriving civilization here, 351 00:16:32,926 --> 00:16:36,572 building absolutely stunning things. 352 00:16:36,596 --> 00:16:38,507 And yet, I think to a lot of the world 353 00:16:38,531 --> 00:16:41,477 Tairona isn't a name that they know. 354 00:16:41,501 --> 00:16:44,880 When the Tairona culture built this mega city on a mountain, 355 00:16:44,904 --> 00:16:47,817 Europe was in the throes of the Dark Ages. 356 00:16:47,841 --> 00:16:48,784 The Maya were in decline, 357 00:16:48,808 --> 00:16:52,521 and the great Inca empire didn't even exist. 358 00:16:52,545 --> 00:16:55,891 But because the Tairona didn't have a written language, 359 00:16:55,915 --> 00:16:56,726 most of what we know about them 360 00:16:56,750 --> 00:16:59,895 comes from their greatest enemy. 361 00:16:59,919 --> 00:17:02,598 How did the Spanish talk about the Tairona in their chronicles? 362 00:17:02,622 --> 00:17:05,968 [Santiago] They described them as decked out in jewelry and finery. 363 00:17:05,992 --> 00:17:08,304 Like, most everyone had gold nose pieces, 364 00:17:08,328 --> 00:17:09,538 gold ear spools. 365 00:17:09,562 --> 00:17:11,674 That was just daily use. 366 00:17:11,698 --> 00:17:14,210 The Spanish must have really been intrigued by that. 367 00:17:14,234 --> 00:17:15,978 When we talk about El Dorado, 368 00:17:16,002 --> 00:17:19,482 the Spanish obsession with this idea that there's a golden city. 369 00:17:19,506 --> 00:17:22,651 Is part of it fueled by places like this? 370 00:17:22,675 --> 00:17:24,687 Spots that the Spanish could not easily get to. 371 00:17:24,711 --> 00:17:26,422 There's always the idea of... 372 00:17:26,446 --> 00:17:28,791 The indigenous folks are hiding something. 373 00:17:28,815 --> 00:17:30,659 - Sure. Right. Right. - That they're hiding it away. 374 00:17:30,683 --> 00:17:32,895 [Josh] Eager to get their hands on gold, 375 00:17:32,919 --> 00:17:36,999 the Spanish founded Santa Marta in 1525. 376 00:17:37,023 --> 00:17:39,602 And began raiding coastal Tairona settlements. 377 00:17:39,626 --> 00:17:41,670 But conquering this jungle citadel 378 00:17:41,694 --> 00:17:43,672 was too great a challenge. 379 00:17:43,696 --> 00:17:45,775 This is far away from Santa Marta. 380 00:17:45,799 --> 00:17:47,376 Getting here would've been 381 00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:49,278 a good eight to ten days. 382 00:17:49,302 --> 00:17:53,182 [Josh] And when they did venture deeper into Tairona territory, 383 00:17:53,206 --> 00:17:57,720 the Spanish were turned back by the harsh jungle and fierce warriors. 384 00:17:57,744 --> 00:17:59,622 The Spanish had a really hard time with the Tairona. 385 00:17:59,646 --> 00:18:01,791 Poisoned arrows, 386 00:18:01,815 --> 00:18:05,761 big stones tumbling down staircases taking people down. 387 00:18:05,785 --> 00:18:07,696 This is not a place that you would wanna attack. 388 00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:09,765 If you've got the high position 389 00:18:09,789 --> 00:18:12,668 you can defend almost every single foot of the space. 390 00:18:12,692 --> 00:18:15,805 [Josh] But despite never reaching Ciudad Perdida, 391 00:18:15,829 --> 00:18:19,041 the Spanish still sowed the seeds of its destruction. 392 00:18:19,065 --> 00:18:20,709 Why does it collapse up here? 393 00:18:20,733 --> 00:18:22,044 Why does it all go away? 394 00:18:22,068 --> 00:18:23,679 There were a number of epidemic cycles 395 00:18:23,703 --> 00:18:26,048 that were diseases brought in by the Spanish. 396 00:18:26,072 --> 00:18:28,350 Smallpox, influenza, typhoid fever, 397 00:18:28,374 --> 00:18:30,786 cholera, bubonic plague 398 00:18:30,810 --> 00:18:34,990 and indigenous populations of the Americas had no immune response to them. 399 00:18:35,014 --> 00:18:37,927 90% of the population dies. 400 00:18:37,951 --> 00:18:40,596 The Tairona ceased to exist 401 00:18:40,620 --> 00:18:42,865 as a socio-cultural entity. 402 00:18:42,889 --> 00:18:46,869 Right. So from that time period until the 1970s 403 00:18:46,893 --> 00:18:48,804 - nobody's up here? - Yeah. No one's up here. 404 00:18:48,828 --> 00:18:52,808 - It is literally lost to time. - Yeah. Absolutely. 405 00:18:52,832 --> 00:18:55,611 [Josh] When looters finally found the Lost City, 406 00:18:55,635 --> 00:18:58,914 they dug up hundreds of Tairona graves 407 00:18:58,938 --> 00:19:00,950 and stole thousands of golden artifacts. 408 00:19:00,974 --> 00:19:02,985 But Santiago is convinced 409 00:19:03,009 --> 00:19:04,820 they barely scratched the surface. 410 00:19:04,844 --> 00:19:07,389 He brings me to a Tairona monument 411 00:19:07,413 --> 00:19:11,193 that may be the key to unlocking more lost cities 412 00:19:11,217 --> 00:19:12,595 and their treasures. 413 00:19:12,619 --> 00:19:16,320 Okay, Josh. This is one of Ciudad Perdida's biggest mysteries. 414 00:19:18,524 --> 00:19:19,835 Some people like to call it the map stone. 415 00:19:19,859 --> 00:19:23,172 The map stone. So it is this huge stone 416 00:19:23,196 --> 00:19:25,875 that looks like it is completely carved. 417 00:19:25,899 --> 00:19:27,943 It's got all of these incisions on it 418 00:19:27,967 --> 00:19:29,712 and, uh, it's got it on this face. 419 00:19:29,736 --> 00:19:31,747 On the sides but not the back. 420 00:19:31,771 --> 00:19:35,784 I haven't seen any other carved stones like this walking around. 421 00:19:35,808 --> 00:19:37,786 There is nothing like this at the site. 422 00:19:37,810 --> 00:19:40,823 Nothing like the map stone has been found throughout Colombia. 423 00:19:40,847 --> 00:19:43,392 - Or throughout the Caribbean. - Wow. 424 00:19:43,416 --> 00:19:46,529 What are some of the theories as to what this thing is? 425 00:19:46,553 --> 00:19:48,597 Some people think that it's, um, 426 00:19:48,621 --> 00:19:50,933 originally the map of Ciudad Perdida. 427 00:19:50,957 --> 00:19:53,569 A city map. Welcome to Ciudad Perdida, you are here. Sure. 428 00:19:53,593 --> 00:19:54,837 - Okay. - Yeah. But, 429 00:19:54,861 --> 00:19:58,807 we've overlaid it on top of actual maps and they don't fit. 430 00:19:58,831 --> 00:20:00,976 Me and my colleagues we have a number of theories, 431 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:02,711 like some sort of constellation map. 432 00:20:02,735 --> 00:20:05,136 - Aliens. - Oh, of course. 433 00:20:06,071 --> 00:20:08,684 [Josh] Okay, so it's probably not a star map 434 00:20:08,708 --> 00:20:10,452 made by little green men. 435 00:20:10,476 --> 00:20:13,088 Santiago has a more down-to-earth hypothesis 436 00:20:13,112 --> 00:20:15,925 he's eager to test with the help of imaging expert 437 00:20:15,949 --> 00:20:17,960 Daniel Rodriguez Osorio. 438 00:20:17,984 --> 00:20:19,795 I'm Josh. Nice to meet you, man. 439 00:20:19,819 --> 00:20:21,452 Talk to me. What are we gonna do? 440 00:20:30,629 --> 00:20:34,009 So kind of help us get rid of the moss and all that and just bring out the line? 441 00:20:34,033 --> 00:20:37,001 It's get snapping. Come on. Go for it. 442 00:20:38,036 --> 00:20:40,849 [camera shutter clicking] 443 00:20:40,873 --> 00:20:42,751 Work it. Work it. 444 00:20:42,775 --> 00:20:43,652 Show me sexy. 445 00:20:43,676 --> 00:20:46,010 Okay, now you're a stone. 446 00:20:47,446 --> 00:20:51,393 Daniel snaps hundreds of pictures of the mysterious map stone. 447 00:20:51,417 --> 00:20:54,997 A few hours later, the images are rendered into a 3D model. 448 00:20:55,021 --> 00:20:56,932 Whoa! 449 00:20:56,956 --> 00:20:57,967 [Daniel Osorio] Look at that! 450 00:20:57,991 --> 00:20:59,501 That is incredible. 451 00:20:59,525 --> 00:21:01,070 [Santiago] That is very cool. 452 00:21:01,094 --> 00:21:03,539 Wow! And you can manipulate it in any direction. 453 00:21:03,563 --> 00:21:05,396 [Daniel speaking] 454 00:21:10,669 --> 00:21:11,814 [Santiago] This is really amazing. 455 00:21:11,838 --> 00:21:14,083 One of the things that jumps out, of course, 456 00:21:14,107 --> 00:21:17,753 is these long paths that we see right here. 457 00:21:17,777 --> 00:21:20,956 It appears to be representing a much larger territory. 458 00:21:20,980 --> 00:21:22,858 Well, that begs a really important question. 459 00:21:22,882 --> 00:21:24,593 Are there other cities out there? 460 00:21:24,617 --> 00:21:26,061 Oh, absolutely! Absolutely. 461 00:21:26,085 --> 00:21:27,396 - No question? - No question. 462 00:21:27,420 --> 00:21:30,032 So deeper in this jungle, farther up in this basin, 463 00:21:30,056 --> 00:21:32,034 there could be other places like Ciudad Perdida? 464 00:21:32,058 --> 00:21:33,602 Yes, I'm absolutely certain. 465 00:21:33,626 --> 00:21:35,437 - How? - Let me show you. 466 00:21:35,461 --> 00:21:37,773 [Josh] We retire to the team's mess hall 467 00:21:37,797 --> 00:21:41,277 to review new intel that could lead to undiscovered cities, 468 00:21:41,301 --> 00:21:43,234 and even Tairona gold. 469 00:21:44,936 --> 00:21:46,170 Okay. 470 00:21:47,773 --> 00:21:49,952 - So? - So very recently, 471 00:21:49,976 --> 00:21:54,957 we were able to complete a four square-mile LIDAR scan 472 00:21:54,981 --> 00:21:56,458 of the area around Ciudad Perdida. 473 00:21:56,482 --> 00:21:59,395 It's this laser-scanning technology. You did it with a helicopter or a plane? 474 00:21:59,419 --> 00:22:00,896 We did it with a helicopter. 475 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:05,367 It sends out hundreds of thousands of lasers 476 00:22:05,391 --> 00:22:07,836 and they filter through the canopy, 477 00:22:07,860 --> 00:22:09,938 hit the ground, bounce back, 478 00:22:09,962 --> 00:22:12,941 and give us a very, very precise map 479 00:22:12,965 --> 00:22:14,877 of all the terrain. 480 00:22:14,901 --> 00:22:16,378 So it's absolutely crazy. 481 00:22:16,402 --> 00:22:17,813 Did it find anything? 482 00:22:17,837 --> 00:22:20,237 Way more things than what we were expecting. 483 00:22:21,406 --> 00:22:23,207 [Daniel speaking] 484 00:22:25,577 --> 00:22:27,923 Wait a minute. Everything on here that's orange 485 00:22:27,947 --> 00:22:30,014 - is potentially a Tairona site? - [Santiago] Yeah. 486 00:22:32,417 --> 00:22:33,862 It's the whole basin. 487 00:22:33,886 --> 00:22:37,766 Everything in orange appears to be Tairona architecture. 488 00:22:37,790 --> 00:22:40,602 Hundreds of round, flat, terraces 489 00:22:40,626 --> 00:22:42,671 just like those at Ciudad Perdida. 490 00:22:42,695 --> 00:22:44,807 If these scans are accurate, 491 00:22:44,831 --> 00:22:48,143 dozens of lost cities and incalculable treasures 492 00:22:48,167 --> 00:22:49,511 lie hidden in the jungle. 493 00:22:49,535 --> 00:22:52,214 This is far from legend. 494 00:22:52,238 --> 00:22:56,719 This could be a real life El Dorado just waiting to be discovered. 495 00:22:56,743 --> 00:22:58,687 [Santiago] We knew that there were more sites. 496 00:22:58,711 --> 00:23:02,825 But then, when we saw this data, it was like, 497 00:23:02,849 --> 00:23:06,895 "Wow, okay, we've got a lot of walking to do." 498 00:23:06,919 --> 00:23:07,730 Where are we? 499 00:23:07,754 --> 00:23:09,531 [Daniel speaks] 500 00:23:09,555 --> 00:23:11,934 So you've got this impressive LIDAR data, but 501 00:23:11,958 --> 00:23:15,671 the question does remain, are these sites? 502 00:23:15,695 --> 00:23:17,873 The only way of knowing it is to go out and verify them. 503 00:23:17,897 --> 00:23:19,708 What right here looks promising to you? 504 00:23:19,732 --> 00:23:23,345 This one right here. It's located on a ridgeline. 505 00:23:23,369 --> 00:23:26,448 Very similar to the pattern that we find at Ciudad Perdida. 506 00:23:26,472 --> 00:23:29,251 - There's no paths out there, there's no... Nothing. - No paths. 507 00:23:29,275 --> 00:23:31,720 No, there's nothing up river, no one lives up river. 508 00:23:31,744 --> 00:23:34,456 So, what would it take to reach that place? 509 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:37,281 Uh, about a day or two, weather permitting. 510 00:23:38,950 --> 00:23:41,563 [Josh] But before we bushwhack into the wild jungle, 511 00:23:41,587 --> 00:23:44,321 Santiago has arranged for a scout. 512 00:23:45,190 --> 00:23:48,137 A helicopter that supplies the archaeologists here 513 00:23:48,161 --> 00:23:51,640 graciously allows me to hitch a ride to safely put boots 514 00:23:51,664 --> 00:23:52,696 on the ground, 515 00:23:52,964 --> 00:23:56,000 we first need to chart a path to the site. 516 00:23:56,735 --> 00:23:59,203 [speaking in Spanish] 517 00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:03,786 [speaking in English] 518 00:24:03,810 --> 00:24:06,989 We take off and fly toward the unknown, 519 00:24:07,013 --> 00:24:11,382 and hopefully the location of a truly lost city. 520 00:24:20,759 --> 00:24:23,093 [speaking in Spanish] 521 00:24:26,731 --> 00:24:28,265 [speaking in English] 522 00:24:31,570 --> 00:24:34,917 I'm lifting off from the ruins of Ciudad Perdida, 523 00:24:34,941 --> 00:24:36,952 searching for a real El Dorado, 524 00:24:36,976 --> 00:24:39,621 a lost Tairona city hidden in the depths 525 00:24:39,645 --> 00:24:41,979 of the Colombian jungle. 526 00:25:00,632 --> 00:25:03,579 By air, the target is just three miles away, 527 00:25:03,603 --> 00:25:05,514 but with terrain this unforgiving, 528 00:25:05,538 --> 00:25:09,340 the question becomes, can we actually hike to it? 529 00:25:55,921 --> 00:25:59,034 We turn around and fly back to Ciudad Perdida, 530 00:25:59,058 --> 00:26:01,603 the road ahead or lack thereof, 531 00:26:01,627 --> 00:26:03,394 will be beyond challenging. 532 00:26:05,030 --> 00:26:08,032 Tomorrow, we blaze a trail. 533 00:26:13,405 --> 00:26:14,816 Brutally early the next morning, 534 00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:17,786 my crew and Santiago's team gather in the clouds 535 00:26:17,810 --> 00:26:21,023 to begin our next incursion into the jungle 536 00:26:21,047 --> 00:26:24,660 and towards what we hope is another lost city. 537 00:26:24,684 --> 00:26:27,729 We go on this side of the mountain, across a creek, 538 00:26:27,753 --> 00:26:29,598 and then head up that ridge line. 539 00:26:29,622 --> 00:26:31,533 [Josh] It looked a lot easier on the LIDAR map. 540 00:26:31,557 --> 00:26:34,570 - Yes, maps do lie quite a bit. - [chuckles] 541 00:26:34,594 --> 00:26:36,738 [Josh] Yeah, this is a lot more vertical looking. 542 00:26:36,762 --> 00:26:39,408 As the crow flies, it's really not that far, 543 00:26:39,432 --> 00:26:40,776 - but... - Sure, but we're not crows. 544 00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:42,711 - As the snail crawls. - [laughs] 545 00:26:42,735 --> 00:26:43,745 It's a whole different ballgame. 546 00:26:43,769 --> 00:26:45,981 - Okay, should we get into it? - Let's go. 547 00:26:46,005 --> 00:26:49,139 You ready, everybody? Let's do it. 548 00:26:50,108 --> 00:26:52,721 We're hiking into territory that is so uncharted, 549 00:26:52,745 --> 00:26:54,890 it might as well be on another planet. 550 00:26:54,914 --> 00:26:58,260 In fact, everything you're seeing from here on out, 551 00:26:58,284 --> 00:26:59,661 you may be the first people to see it 552 00:26:59,685 --> 00:27:03,799 since the Tairona were here 400 years ago. 553 00:27:03,823 --> 00:27:05,801 Just remember, follow Santiago and Daniel, if you're following me, 554 00:27:05,825 --> 00:27:07,536 you're in trouble. 555 00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:09,393 These steps are real slick. 556 00:27:10,562 --> 00:27:12,441 The stone steps are treacherous, 557 00:27:12,465 --> 00:27:16,011 but at least there's a path that doesn't last for long though. 558 00:27:16,035 --> 00:27:19,381 And soon, we're completely on our own in the jungle, 559 00:27:19,405 --> 00:27:20,816 surrounded only by nature, 560 00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:24,219 and totally exposed to the elements. 561 00:27:24,243 --> 00:27:27,211 We're basically off trail from this point onwards. 562 00:27:28,713 --> 00:27:31,048 [grunts] 563 00:27:36,721 --> 00:27:38,033 [Santiago] Watch out. 564 00:27:38,057 --> 00:27:40,991 - You okay? - Yeah. 565 00:27:43,328 --> 00:27:45,073 It's a challenge. 566 00:27:45,097 --> 00:27:47,164 It's a real challenge. 567 00:27:47,799 --> 00:27:49,199 [sighs] 568 00:27:51,002 --> 00:27:53,782 [thunderclap] 569 00:27:53,806 --> 00:27:57,141 Hey, guys, let's get rain covers at the ready, I think it's gonna dump. 570 00:27:59,878 --> 00:28:02,491 We're gonna get wet. 571 00:28:02,515 --> 00:28:05,027 [man] Dude, it's like a slide, it's like a mudslide. 572 00:28:05,051 --> 00:28:07,896 [Josh] The rain pushes the needle on this hike 573 00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:10,254 from challenging to miserable. 574 00:28:10,622 --> 00:28:14,302 This is where things get fun. 575 00:28:14,326 --> 00:28:17,773 We're slogging down a steep ravine with zero traction. 576 00:28:17,797 --> 00:28:21,777 It's a little like descending a mountain made of warm butter. 577 00:28:21,801 --> 00:28:24,713 It's gonna get slipperier, slipperier, slipperier. 578 00:28:24,737 --> 00:28:26,915 Oh, [bleep]. 579 00:28:26,939 --> 00:28:30,919 - It's just gonna get way, way worse. - Than this? 580 00:28:30,943 --> 00:28:32,342 Than this, yeah. 581 00:28:33,111 --> 00:28:34,378 Time to go. 582 00:28:34,646 --> 00:28:36,158 [man] Let's roll. 583 00:28:36,182 --> 00:28:38,894 And if the ground sliding under our feet isn't enough, 584 00:28:38,918 --> 00:28:41,730 we find out quickly that the rainforest itself 585 00:28:41,754 --> 00:28:43,987 is capable of leaving a mark. 586 00:28:44,823 --> 00:28:47,035 [man grunts] God, cut myself. 587 00:28:47,059 --> 00:28:49,259 - You okay? - I don't know. 588 00:28:49,561 --> 00:28:51,807 [man grunts] [bleep] 589 00:28:51,831 --> 00:28:54,509 - Let me see. - Fell down, the branch got right into me. 590 00:28:54,533 --> 00:28:57,045 - [bleep] - [exclaims] 591 00:28:57,069 --> 00:28:59,181 Let's get it clean to have a look at it, but I don't think it's that deep. 592 00:28:59,205 --> 00:29:01,550 It's one of those spiny palms, spiny palms, 593 00:29:01,574 --> 00:29:03,385 don't touch. 594 00:29:03,409 --> 00:29:06,688 Everything in this jungle has evolved to play defense. 595 00:29:06,712 --> 00:29:11,081 Even the trees, many of which are covered in painful needles. 596 00:29:12,517 --> 00:29:14,563 It's astounding that the Tairona built cities 597 00:29:14,587 --> 00:29:17,599 in this environment, and easy to see why 598 00:29:17,623 --> 00:29:21,191 so many of the Spanish who searched for them never returned. 599 00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:24,339 - [exclaims] - Whoa, whoa, whoa, Brian! 600 00:29:24,363 --> 00:29:27,676 - Brian! Brian! Are you okay? - Yeah. Okay. 601 00:29:27,700 --> 00:29:31,012 After sliding off the ridge, my director of photography 602 00:29:31,036 --> 00:29:33,915 Brian was saved from a far more dangerous fall 603 00:29:33,939 --> 00:29:35,984 by a tangle of vines. 604 00:29:36,008 --> 00:29:38,553 - Okay. - Our local guides raced to the rescue, 605 00:29:38,577 --> 00:29:40,856 cutting away the vegetation. 606 00:29:40,880 --> 00:29:45,026 -Now, Rob, your first outing on Expedition Unknown, -Yeah. 607 00:29:45,050 --> 00:29:47,596 Easier or harder than you, than you were told? 608 00:29:47,620 --> 00:29:50,098 - [laughs] - I... 609 00:29:50,122 --> 00:29:52,100 I just want to survive the one, 610 00:29:52,124 --> 00:29:54,503 then we'll worry about the second one. 611 00:29:54,527 --> 00:29:56,994 Welcome to the team, man. 612 00:29:58,396 --> 00:30:01,009 Freed from the vines, we tossed Brian a rope 613 00:30:01,033 --> 00:30:03,867 and haul him back up to somewhat safer ground. 614 00:30:03,902 --> 00:30:06,948 Yay, Brian. 615 00:30:06,972 --> 00:30:11,408 - Whoo! - Crisis averted, we forge ahead. 616 00:30:11,976 --> 00:30:13,722 - Muy buen. - Come out this way. 617 00:30:13,746 --> 00:30:15,379 [Josh] Okay, right behind you. 618 00:30:16,614 --> 00:30:19,795 I gotta say, I have made a career out of going 619 00:30:19,819 --> 00:30:22,831 to very remote difficult places. 620 00:30:22,855 --> 00:30:25,967 I have never been in a jungle environment 621 00:30:25,991 --> 00:30:27,869 that was more challenging than this one... 622 00:30:27,893 --> 00:30:29,171 Ever. 623 00:30:29,195 --> 00:30:33,263 This. [pants] This is madness. 624 00:30:35,700 --> 00:30:36,800 Whoo! 625 00:30:39,337 --> 00:30:42,306 We finally find some relatively level ground. 626 00:30:43,875 --> 00:30:45,654 I'd be thrilled except for the river running through 627 00:30:45,678 --> 00:30:48,790 the middle of it. 628 00:30:48,814 --> 00:30:51,827 - You can almost do it here, but it's a little too spicy. - Yeah, I mean, 629 00:30:51,851 --> 00:30:53,628 if you, if you take a tumble right here... 630 00:30:53,652 --> 00:30:54,796 - You're going down. - Oh, you're going down, 631 00:30:54,820 --> 00:30:56,231 you're going down all the way to the river. 632 00:30:56,255 --> 00:30:58,600 And it's raining, so does that mean this thing's gonna get fatter? 633 00:30:58,624 --> 00:31:02,737 - Yeah, this is gonna swell up. - Okay, let's get moving, guys, before it gets too heavy. 634 00:31:02,761 --> 00:31:06,508 The recent rain is going to make this river impassable. 635 00:31:06,532 --> 00:31:09,299 We cross now or we don't cross at all. 636 00:31:13,705 --> 00:31:16,974 The rushing water nearly pulls me off my feet. 637 00:31:18,543 --> 00:31:20,310 A little deeper here. 638 00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:24,492 If someone gets swept up in this current, 639 00:31:24,516 --> 00:31:27,050 they'll be in Brazil by sunset. 640 00:31:29,120 --> 00:31:33,023 Something my field producer Dave Duce learns the hard way. 641 00:31:34,792 --> 00:31:36,326 [exclaims] 642 00:31:47,805 --> 00:31:50,107 All right, here we go, nice and slow, everybody. 643 00:31:56,214 --> 00:31:57,981 [exclaims] 644 00:32:05,123 --> 00:32:07,157 [grunts] 645 00:32:14,132 --> 00:32:16,066 [man speaking] 646 00:32:16,801 --> 00:32:17,879 I'm fine. 647 00:32:17,903 --> 00:32:21,383 Another close call. After cheating disaster, 648 00:32:21,407 --> 00:32:23,852 my producer Dave Duce catches his breath. 649 00:32:23,876 --> 00:32:27,088 And we soldier on in search of a lost Tairona city 650 00:32:27,112 --> 00:32:29,179 deep in the Colombian jungle. 651 00:32:35,853 --> 00:32:38,221 [thunder rumbling] 652 00:32:39,791 --> 00:32:41,770 Over the river, okay, what's the move? 653 00:32:41,794 --> 00:32:46,608 So everyone, the going is very steep, very slippery. 654 00:32:46,632 --> 00:32:48,977 If you're gonna grab anything, look before you grab, 655 00:32:49,001 --> 00:32:51,279 - 'cause there's a lot of spiny thorny stuff. - Okay. 656 00:32:51,303 --> 00:32:53,081 This is as bad as it's gonna get, right? 657 00:32:53,105 --> 00:32:57,107 Yeah, for the time being. Yeah, tomorrow, it will get worse. 658 00:32:58,676 --> 00:33:00,344 [Josh] Me no happy. 659 00:33:01,746 --> 00:33:03,758 We resume our trek into the mountains 660 00:33:03,782 --> 00:33:06,027 as the rain resumes with a vengeance. 661 00:33:06,051 --> 00:33:08,897 Fortunately, Santiago's team is equipped 662 00:33:08,921 --> 00:33:10,320 with the latest rain gear. 663 00:33:10,722 --> 00:33:12,189 Nice hat. 664 00:33:13,958 --> 00:33:15,870 This is truly insane. 665 00:33:15,894 --> 00:33:18,373 It's basically no trail at all. 666 00:33:18,397 --> 00:33:22,711 Just pull yourselves up this super muddy incline 667 00:33:22,735 --> 00:33:24,579 deeper into the jungle. 668 00:33:24,603 --> 00:33:27,304 It goes on like this for hours. 669 00:33:29,407 --> 00:33:31,820 A lot of loose rocks, be very careful 670 00:33:31,844 --> 00:33:34,177 you don't dislodge something and send it down. 671 00:33:37,849 --> 00:33:39,249 [grunts] 672 00:33:44,522 --> 00:33:47,502 Hey, guys, I just remembered 673 00:33:47,526 --> 00:33:51,673 - I left my iPhone charger back at camp. - [bleep], go back down. 674 00:33:51,697 --> 00:33:54,264 They probably sell 'em up here. It's okay. 675 00:33:56,901 --> 00:33:59,647 Here we are, equipped with the latest gear, 676 00:33:59,671 --> 00:34:01,916 struggling to trek just a few miles, 677 00:34:01,940 --> 00:34:05,387 and yet somehow more than 1000 years ago, 678 00:34:05,411 --> 00:34:07,789 the Tairona were able to build sprawling cities 679 00:34:07,813 --> 00:34:10,925 and craft elaborate gold jewelry, 680 00:34:10,949 --> 00:34:13,828 seeing where they did it makes their accomplishments 681 00:34:13,852 --> 00:34:15,285 that much more impressive. 682 00:34:16,854 --> 00:34:19,034 That was insane. 683 00:34:19,058 --> 00:34:21,870 - [exhales] Everybody good? - Yep. 684 00:34:21,894 --> 00:34:24,472 Okay, we're up the hill and it stopped raining, 685 00:34:24,496 --> 00:34:27,742 so, we got what, two hours of daylight? 686 00:34:27,766 --> 00:34:30,879 - At the most. - You don't think we're gonna make it up to location X here? 687 00:34:30,903 --> 00:34:32,580 - No, no, no, too late now. - Okay. 688 00:34:32,604 --> 00:34:33,515 We got to make camp here. 689 00:34:33,539 --> 00:34:35,784 - When you say here. - Here is... 690 00:34:35,808 --> 00:34:37,619 - Like here? - You know, this is the flattest area 691 00:34:37,643 --> 00:34:39,721 -we're gonna find. Off we go. -All right, 692 00:34:39,745 --> 00:34:42,279 -let's get into it, everybody. We're making camp. -All right. 693 00:34:43,714 --> 00:34:45,527 I see why the Tairona have built their massive 694 00:34:45,551 --> 00:34:46,961 terraced platforms. 695 00:34:46,985 --> 00:34:50,765 In these mountains, flat ground is a rare commodity. 696 00:34:50,789 --> 00:34:53,601 Our first step in setting up camp is to clear 697 00:34:53,625 --> 00:34:55,970 an area large enough for our canopy. 698 00:34:55,994 --> 00:34:57,806 That would normally take hours, 699 00:34:57,830 --> 00:35:00,975 but thankfully Santiago has brought along Beto, 700 00:35:00,999 --> 00:35:04,000 who he calls a machete ninja. 701 00:35:09,474 --> 00:35:11,975 It's cheaper than therapy. 702 00:35:17,949 --> 00:35:21,362 [Josh] Next, we construct a roof with rope, branches, 703 00:35:21,386 --> 00:35:21,963 and tarp. 704 00:35:21,987 --> 00:35:23,420 Good? 705 00:35:24,856 --> 00:35:28,024 Okay, here we go, stretch it out. 706 00:35:30,795 --> 00:35:33,330 - [thunder rumbling] - [Josh] Go! 707 00:35:38,669 --> 00:35:41,404 Just in time, rain's back. 708 00:35:42,974 --> 00:35:45,120 After a few finishing touches, 709 00:35:45,144 --> 00:35:47,177 I'd almost call it cozy. 710 00:35:50,748 --> 00:35:52,193 And it's just that simple. 711 00:35:52,217 --> 00:35:55,530 We built a hotel. Amazing. 712 00:35:55,554 --> 00:35:58,366 [laughing] 713 00:35:58,390 --> 00:36:00,034 [Josh] With shelter taken care of, 714 00:36:00,058 --> 00:36:04,261 we set to work on humanity's other basic need. 715 00:36:06,597 --> 00:36:08,776 There we go! Hey! 716 00:36:08,800 --> 00:36:11,434 - We got fire. We made fire. - Whoo! Right. 717 00:36:12,803 --> 00:36:16,751 [Josh] Our little outpost is a far cry from a Tairona city, 718 00:36:16,775 --> 00:36:19,687 but it'll do. And once the sun goes down, 719 00:36:19,711 --> 00:36:21,990 we can at least rest for the night. 720 00:36:22,014 --> 00:36:25,415 - Sort of. - [men snoring] 721 00:36:28,019 --> 00:36:31,054 [Josh] Okay, great day, everybody, sweet dreams. 722 00:36:43,568 --> 00:36:44,546 All right, on the move. 723 00:36:44,570 --> 00:36:47,682 The next morning, we pack up the camp 724 00:36:47,706 --> 00:36:50,652 and faster than you can say, "What the hell am I still doing here?", 725 00:36:50,676 --> 00:36:52,720 we're back on the hike. 726 00:36:52,744 --> 00:36:54,311 Just watch your footing and watch what you touch. 727 00:36:54,845 --> 00:36:57,280 Super sketchy up here. 728 00:36:57,815 --> 00:37:00,828 We trek all morning until we arrive 729 00:37:00,852 --> 00:37:04,087 at the last ridge we need to scale to reach our target. 730 00:37:05,523 --> 00:37:07,035 Okay. 731 00:37:07,059 --> 00:37:10,838 - So how are we doing, GPS-wise? - Um, let me check. 732 00:37:10,862 --> 00:37:11,739 [Josh] Let's take a look at where we're at here. 733 00:37:11,763 --> 00:37:14,331 Here we go, okay, so? 734 00:37:15,433 --> 00:37:17,845 Um, according to the GPS, we're sort of halfway up. 735 00:37:17,869 --> 00:37:19,781 Uh, we still have a ways to go. 736 00:37:19,805 --> 00:37:21,749 Undertaking this hike is such an education. 737 00:37:21,773 --> 00:37:24,519 I don't know why all this stuff is still off the map. 738 00:37:24,543 --> 00:37:26,988 Oh, yeah. This is where you start understanding 739 00:37:27,012 --> 00:37:29,691 why, uh, one, research is so difficult, 740 00:37:29,715 --> 00:37:31,659 even why looting was so difficult, 741 00:37:31,683 --> 00:37:34,662 and why the Spanish had such a hard time with these folks. 742 00:37:34,686 --> 00:37:36,431 One of the things I keep thinking about 743 00:37:36,455 --> 00:37:38,933 as I slip and fall and trudge up this thing 744 00:37:38,957 --> 00:37:41,469 - is there might be nothing here. - [Santiago laughing] 745 00:37:41,493 --> 00:37:44,872 Oh, for sure, you know, that's one of the risks of exploration. 746 00:37:44,896 --> 00:37:47,976 One of the benefits with the lidar data is that, uh, 747 00:37:48,000 --> 00:37:49,444 we're moving towards a target, 748 00:37:49,468 --> 00:37:51,846 whereas before we had the lidar data, 749 00:37:51,870 --> 00:37:54,616 we were just, like, moving around in the forest. 750 00:37:54,640 --> 00:37:56,384 Right, at least we've got a guide now. 751 00:37:56,408 --> 00:37:58,174 - At least we've got a target. - Yeah. 752 00:37:59,810 --> 00:38:01,723 [Josh] For the Tairona who connected all these sites 753 00:38:01,747 --> 00:38:04,125 with paths and stone stairs, 754 00:38:04,149 --> 00:38:06,794 reaching other cities was an afternoon stroll. 755 00:38:06,818 --> 00:38:10,598 400 years later, the jungle has swallowed everything. 756 00:38:10,622 --> 00:38:13,534 Now, just seeing if something is out here 757 00:38:13,558 --> 00:38:15,703 takes decades of archaeological research, 758 00:38:15,727 --> 00:38:17,972 a cutting-edge helicopter lidar scan 759 00:38:17,996 --> 00:38:21,809 and a group of people nuts enough to trek out here. 760 00:38:21,833 --> 00:38:22,977 Well, you know, maybe we find 761 00:38:23,001 --> 00:38:24,846 just a perfectly preserved staircase 762 00:38:24,870 --> 00:38:26,069 and just walk right up. 763 00:38:26,871 --> 00:38:28,950 Don't think so. [laughs] 764 00:38:28,974 --> 00:38:31,853 Be positive, Santiago, it could happen. Okay. 765 00:38:31,877 --> 00:38:33,888 - Well, I guess we keep climbing, yeah? - Yeah. 766 00:38:33,912 --> 00:38:35,590 All right, let's keep climbing, come on. 767 00:38:35,614 --> 00:38:37,380 Don't fall and die, everybody. 768 00:38:38,916 --> 00:38:41,418 The break's over and the hike starts again. 769 00:38:46,157 --> 00:38:49,459 [panting] 770 00:38:53,898 --> 00:38:54,898 Okay. 771 00:38:55,933 --> 00:38:58,546 The final push up the mountain is punishing. 772 00:38:58,570 --> 00:39:00,982 In the rain, it would be impossible. 773 00:39:01,006 --> 00:39:04,686 Thankfully, the weather holds and we keep going higher. 774 00:39:04,710 --> 00:39:06,721 It seems to go forever. 775 00:39:06,745 --> 00:39:08,556 Until it doesn't. 776 00:39:08,580 --> 00:39:11,926 We're on level ground. Whoo! Okay. 777 00:39:11,950 --> 00:39:13,995 Co-ordinates-wise, how are we doing? 778 00:39:14,019 --> 00:39:14,862 We are where we should be. 779 00:39:14,886 --> 00:39:15,730 - [Josh] We're here. - [Santiago] We are. 780 00:39:15,754 --> 00:39:16,731 - [Josh] This is it. - Yeah, this is it. 781 00:39:16,755 --> 00:39:18,666 - [Josh] Nice work. - [Santiago] Good work, man. 782 00:39:18,690 --> 00:39:22,203 - Nice job, everybody. - [Santiago] Yeah, we are on the co-ordinates. 783 00:39:22,227 --> 00:39:24,972 Okay, Santiago, I don't know how to break this to you. 784 00:39:24,996 --> 00:39:27,375 I do not see a lost city. 785 00:39:27,399 --> 00:39:30,378 Of course not. We still need to verify 786 00:39:30,402 --> 00:39:32,080 that something is actually out here. 787 00:39:32,104 --> 00:39:33,203 Right. 788 00:39:34,905 --> 00:39:35,783 - Flagstones. - Yeah. 789 00:39:35,807 --> 00:39:36,851 - Those flagstones, right. - Yeah. 790 00:39:36,875 --> 00:39:39,721 Flagstones, grinding stones, walls, 791 00:39:39,745 --> 00:39:42,690 anything that looks made by humans. 792 00:39:42,714 --> 00:39:44,659 - Okay. - That's where our verification comes in. 793 00:39:44,683 --> 00:39:45,860 Places are lost for a reason. 794 00:39:45,884 --> 00:39:47,462 - [Santiago] Absolutely. - Machetes out? 795 00:39:47,486 --> 00:39:49,152 [Santiago] Absolutely. Machetes out. 796 00:39:51,822 --> 00:39:54,969 [Josh] We get to work clearing centuries of growth 797 00:39:54,993 --> 00:39:56,104 while keeping a sharp eye out 798 00:39:56,128 --> 00:40:00,263 for any evidence of human construction underneath. 799 00:40:08,639 --> 00:40:11,252 - Josh, hear that? - [hard tapping] 800 00:40:11,276 --> 00:40:12,854 - [Josh] Is that stone? - [Santiago] It's stone. 801 00:40:12,878 --> 00:40:14,978 Are you sure? 802 00:40:18,149 --> 00:40:18,993 Oh-ho-ho-ho! 803 00:40:19,017 --> 00:40:19,894 Hear that? 804 00:40:19,918 --> 00:40:20,795 That does sound like stone. 805 00:40:20,819 --> 00:40:23,987 Here, let's tear it back. Come on. 806 00:40:28,125 --> 00:40:30,326 - Could I cut some of it? Watch out. - [woman] Yeah. 807 00:40:33,197 --> 00:40:33,875 [Josh] Okay. 808 00:40:33,899 --> 00:40:36,644 Lots of roots. 809 00:40:36,668 --> 00:40:38,946 - [Daniel] Oh, yeah. - [Santiago] Oh, there we go. 810 00:40:38,970 --> 00:40:40,515 Look. Look, look, look, look, look, look. 811 00:40:40,539 --> 00:40:41,716 Look, look. 812 00:40:41,740 --> 00:40:44,786 [Josh] Ha-ha! Look at that! Is it a wall? 813 00:40:44,810 --> 00:40:47,388 Oh, my word! Look at that! 814 00:40:47,412 --> 00:40:51,014 This is a wall. Unbelievable! Ha! 815 00:40:54,652 --> 00:40:57,865 [Josh] While climbing the 1,200 steps to Ciudad Perdida, 816 00:40:57,889 --> 00:41:01,736 my producer, Rob, thought of something so important, 817 00:41:01,760 --> 00:41:05,239 so profound, so, well, you just have to see it 818 00:41:05,263 --> 00:41:06,196 to understand. 819 00:41:10,935 --> 00:41:11,968 What? 820 00:41:15,906 --> 00:41:18,141 Oh, my word. 821 00:41:18,742 --> 00:41:20,243 This is genius. 822 00:41:21,779 --> 00:41:23,558 Who wants to break a world record? 823 00:41:23,582 --> 00:41:26,115 Back up, everybody. 824 00:41:31,021 --> 00:41:34,057 Fair thee well, brave Slinky. Fare thee well. 825 00:41:34,792 --> 00:41:37,126 [mouths] Wow. 826 00:41:49,773 --> 00:41:52,342 Okay, now who's gonna hike down to get it? 827 00:41:56,814 --> 00:41:57,792 - [Josh] Is it a wall? - [Santiago] Yeah, it is. 828 00:41:57,816 --> 00:41:59,160 [Santiago] Definitely a wall. 829 00:41:59,184 --> 00:42:01,985 - Unbelievable. It's a wall. - [Santiago] All right. 830 00:42:02,386 --> 00:42:03,798 We got pottery. 831 00:42:03,822 --> 00:42:05,600 - [Josh] What's that? Hey! - [Santiago] We got pottery. 832 00:42:05,624 --> 00:42:07,468 [Josh] Pottery, look at that. 833 00:42:07,492 --> 00:42:09,637 So it's dark in the center, sort of reddish on the outside? 834 00:42:09,661 --> 00:42:12,907 Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's a fine red type. Tairona period. 835 00:42:12,931 --> 00:42:15,409 We've got a wall, we've got pottery. We've got a site. 836 00:42:15,433 --> 00:42:16,677 This is crazy. 837 00:42:16,701 --> 00:42:20,581 The Spanish spent centuries searching for El Dorado 838 00:42:20,605 --> 00:42:22,450 and we just found traces of a city 839 00:42:22,474 --> 00:42:24,274 that may have fueled the legend. 840 00:42:24,808 --> 00:42:27,054 After clearing a portion of the wall, 841 00:42:27,078 --> 00:42:30,091 we scour the area, uncovering more evidence 842 00:42:30,115 --> 00:42:31,392 of habitation. 843 00:42:31,416 --> 00:42:34,395 Oh! We got more stone, come here. Come over here. 844 00:42:34,419 --> 00:42:36,864 - Check this out. Look at this. - [Santiago] Yep, yep. 845 00:42:36,888 --> 00:42:39,088 There is stonework everywhere. 846 00:42:39,356 --> 00:42:40,557 [Santiago] Oh, yeah. 847 00:42:42,493 --> 00:42:45,606 There's more over here at the edge of a ring, right here. 848 00:42:45,630 --> 00:42:46,707 - [Josh] Look at that. - [Santiago] Right here. 849 00:42:46,731 --> 00:42:47,775 [Josh] Look up here, there's a ring. 850 00:42:47,799 --> 00:42:50,778 [Santiago] We've got the edge of a ring right here 851 00:42:50,802 --> 00:42:52,580 and we've got another edge of a ring right there. 852 00:42:52,604 --> 00:42:53,514 All this is a terrace. 853 00:42:53,538 --> 00:42:54,682 [Josh] Just like Ciudad Perdida. 854 00:42:54,706 --> 00:42:55,650 - Just like Ciudad Perdida. - Big, open terrace. 855 00:42:55,674 --> 00:42:58,408 - [Santiago] 60 feet across, yeah. - Come on. 856 00:43:00,544 --> 00:43:03,925 These terraced platforms would have been connected by stone paths 857 00:43:03,949 --> 00:43:07,428 and covered in round, thatched roof buildings. 858 00:43:07,452 --> 00:43:09,830 The wood structures may be gone, 859 00:43:09,854 --> 00:43:12,366 but we still find traces of what life was like 860 00:43:12,390 --> 00:43:14,068 inside. 861 00:43:14,092 --> 00:43:16,370 [Santiago] We've got a grinding stone over here. 862 00:43:16,394 --> 00:43:19,373 [Josh] Oh, look at that! 863 00:43:19,397 --> 00:43:21,375 - [Santiago] See? - [Josh] Unbelievable! 864 00:43:21,399 --> 00:43:23,344 Grinding stone means people. 865 00:43:23,368 --> 00:43:24,667 [Josh] This is kitchen, this is eating, 866 00:43:24,802 --> 00:43:26,436 - this is family, this is everything. - [Santiago] Yeah. 867 00:43:27,471 --> 00:43:28,538 That's what it is. 868 00:43:28,606 --> 00:43:30,851 And it's just been sitting here waiting to be found. 869 00:43:30,875 --> 00:43:32,386 Think about the last person who touched this. 870 00:43:32,410 --> 00:43:34,522 Uh, that was 400 years ago. 871 00:43:34,546 --> 00:43:35,923 It's absolutely crazy. 872 00:43:35,947 --> 00:43:37,959 - It's awesome. - That's one of the things that I love about this job. 873 00:43:37,983 --> 00:43:40,661 This is so cool. I mean, that's history right there. 874 00:43:40,685 --> 00:43:41,862 - [Santiago] All right. - Awesome. 875 00:43:41,886 --> 00:43:43,319 All right, let's keep looking. 876 00:43:44,521 --> 00:43:46,601 Unfortunately, we soon discover 877 00:43:46,625 --> 00:43:48,869 that although this lost city is a major find, 878 00:43:48,893 --> 00:43:52,039 we aren't the first to reach it. 879 00:43:52,063 --> 00:43:53,774 [Santiago] There's a looters' trench over here. 880 00:43:53,798 --> 00:43:56,344 Yeah, these guys got into it really bad. 881 00:43:56,368 --> 00:43:58,968 More looter pits here. 882 00:44:00,471 --> 00:44:02,717 [Josh] The looters were targeting Tairona graves 883 00:44:02,741 --> 00:44:05,519 and the precious offerings left inside. 884 00:44:05,543 --> 00:44:08,589 But it's not just gold that was lost. 885 00:44:08,613 --> 00:44:12,126 Look at this. Here's another one of these 886 00:44:12,150 --> 00:44:15,496 looter pits. You can see this big depression down here 887 00:44:15,520 --> 00:44:17,398 under this fallen tree. 888 00:44:17,422 --> 00:44:20,701 This is so sad because this would have been 889 00:44:20,725 --> 00:44:22,970 the grave of a Tairona person. 890 00:44:22,994 --> 00:44:24,805 It would have had pottery, 891 00:44:24,829 --> 00:44:26,540 it would have had their bones, 892 00:44:26,564 --> 00:44:29,577 it would have had, perhaps, gold ornaments 893 00:44:29,601 --> 00:44:31,679 and things like that. It sort of robs us of 894 00:44:31,703 --> 00:44:33,414 knowing more about the Tairona, right? 895 00:44:33,438 --> 00:44:35,650 Because they didn't have a written language, 896 00:44:35,674 --> 00:44:38,753 and so their art, their gold, the things they made, 897 00:44:38,777 --> 00:44:41,322 this is how we know about them, 898 00:44:41,346 --> 00:44:43,891 and so every time a looter comes up here and takes something, 899 00:44:43,915 --> 00:44:47,316 it's something that we will never, ever get to understand. 900 00:44:50,788 --> 00:44:53,000 But thanks to cutting-edge technology, 901 00:44:53,024 --> 00:44:55,369 archaeologists like Daniel and Santiago 902 00:44:55,393 --> 00:44:58,739 are finding a way to fill in some of the blank pages 903 00:44:58,763 --> 00:45:00,775 in the lost story of the Tairona. 904 00:45:00,799 --> 00:45:02,610 What are the beach balls all about? 905 00:45:02,634 --> 00:45:06,380 They are reference targets for lidar scanning that were done. 906 00:45:06,404 --> 00:45:08,382 So we're gonna do a laser scan down here, that's what this is? 907 00:45:08,406 --> 00:45:09,439 [Daniel] Yes. 908 00:45:16,613 --> 00:45:18,259 [Josh] So it brings out the architecture. Got it. 909 00:45:18,283 --> 00:45:19,515 - [Daniel] Yeah. - [Josh] Okay. 910 00:45:19,550 --> 00:45:22,730 And even more importantly, digitizing these structures 911 00:45:22,754 --> 00:45:26,033 gives the archaeological community around the world 912 00:45:26,057 --> 00:45:27,768 virtual access to the site. 913 00:45:27,792 --> 00:45:30,237 From humble stone tools 914 00:45:30,261 --> 00:45:32,540 to massive landscape engineering, 915 00:45:32,564 --> 00:45:36,577 we are just beginning to unlock the secrets of the Tairona. 916 00:45:36,601 --> 00:45:39,980 I feel privileged to help discover a new lost city. 917 00:45:40,004 --> 00:45:41,949 But for the archaeologists out here, 918 00:45:41,973 --> 00:45:44,518 the real work has just begun. 919 00:45:44,542 --> 00:45:47,621 How big is the site? How many people lived here? 920 00:45:47,645 --> 00:45:50,391 Do any unlooted artifacts remain? 921 00:45:50,415 --> 00:45:53,360 And what will they tell us about the culture? 922 00:45:53,384 --> 00:45:55,629 - It's gonna be a lifetimes' worth of work and then some. - Oh, absolutely. 923 00:45:55,653 --> 00:45:56,630 Absolutely, absolutely. 924 00:45:56,654 --> 00:45:58,999 More like four or five lifetimes' worth of work. 925 00:45:59,023 --> 00:46:02,069 We really are just almost literally scratching the surface here. 926 00:46:02,093 --> 00:46:04,505 - Yeah. - We're just peeling away the thinnest part 927 00:46:04,529 --> 00:46:05,473 of what's here. 928 00:46:05,497 --> 00:46:07,908 With aerial lidar and with terrestrial lidar, 929 00:46:07,932 --> 00:46:11,746 we're actually beginning to tease out how it all fits together. 930 00:46:11,770 --> 00:46:13,881 I have to say, just the experience of being here 931 00:46:13,905 --> 00:46:15,282 is pretty amazing. 932 00:46:15,306 --> 00:46:16,383 It's not every day you get to go 933 00:46:16,407 --> 00:46:19,220 to some place that is off the map. 934 00:46:19,244 --> 00:46:20,387 - Absolutely. - You know? 935 00:46:20,411 --> 00:46:22,389 A city out in the middle of the jungle that, 936 00:46:22,413 --> 00:46:24,658 other than a few enterprising looters... 937 00:46:24,682 --> 00:46:25,760 - Absolutely. - ...nobody's stood here 938 00:46:25,784 --> 00:46:27,661 - in hundreds of years. - No. no. 939 00:46:27,685 --> 00:46:29,663 - Another pin on the map. - Another piece of the puzzle. 940 00:46:29,687 --> 00:46:32,321 - All right, let's keep putting it together. - All right. 941 00:46:35,058 --> 00:46:37,671 [Josh] The Spanish came to the new world for gold, 942 00:46:37,695 --> 00:46:39,974 glory and God. 943 00:46:39,998 --> 00:46:42,676 They encountered cultures who prized gold, 944 00:46:42,700 --> 00:46:44,211 not for its material worth, 945 00:46:44,235 --> 00:46:46,302 but for its spiritual value. 946 00:46:48,839 --> 00:46:53,242 This fundamental disconnect is at the heart of the El Dorado myth. 947 00:46:56,613 --> 00:46:59,894 Hiding offerings was seen as hoarding wealth. 948 00:46:59,918 --> 00:47:02,596 The 'Golden Man' ceremony was misunderstood 949 00:47:02,620 --> 00:47:04,365 as a golden city. 950 00:47:04,389 --> 00:47:07,902 The conquistadors dreamed El Dorado into existence 951 00:47:07,926 --> 00:47:11,705 and saw inaccessible sites like Ciudad Perdida 952 00:47:11,729 --> 00:47:15,298 as proof that it was real, but just out of reach. 953 00:47:16,900 --> 00:47:18,712 For centuries, their quest 954 00:47:18,736 --> 00:47:21,816 justified theft and outright genocide. 955 00:47:21,840 --> 00:47:25,419 Even today, gold lust lures desperate looters 956 00:47:25,443 --> 00:47:28,856 to steal clues that could help us understand 957 00:47:28,880 --> 00:47:31,347 the pre-Colombian cultures of the Americas. 958 00:47:32,816 --> 00:47:35,696 Thankfully, archaeologists are working tirelessly 959 00:47:35,720 --> 00:47:37,298 to unearth the secrets 960 00:47:37,322 --> 00:47:39,500 of these mysterious civilizations. 961 00:47:39,524 --> 00:47:42,837 Because the real El Dorado isn't some golden city, 962 00:47:42,861 --> 00:47:47,330 it's the places, peoples and stories that we've lost. 963 00:47:48,966 --> 00:47:51,400 And while they may not always glitter... 964 00:47:54,304 --> 00:47:58,274 those discoveries are worth far more than gold.