Why Does Nobody Travel to South America's Strangest Countries?

Welcome to Guyana, South America's least visited country. And the stretch of countries we're about to explore in the coming few days are some of the strangest in the Americas. And we'll be aiming to go deep into these countries, meeting the locals, seeing what we can find, and understanding why this place is so strange and unusual. It is impossible to deny that these countries have some of the biggest mysteries of South America hiding in them. Which languages do you speak? — Dutch. — Life. Life on a beach here. — Join us over the next 5 days as we road trip across these nations and hopefully capture a very unique part of the world in a way that it's never been done before. Let's go. We are walking on the streets of Gana. — Well, we landed at 3:00 in the morning, so we're staying at the airport hotel, which is right here. There was no shuttle to pick us up, so we're walking. — Do you work here? — Pick the guys up. — We tried phoning and no one answered. — If you're wondering how we're staying connected on our phones while jumping between all these countries, that's thanks to our sponsor, Aerolo, who actually brought us to South America for this trip. But more on that later. Welcome to a set of countries most people don't know exist. Our goal on this trip is to make our way from the capital of our first country, Guyana, all the way across to its neighboring country, Surinam's capital, by land. The problem is they don't seem to be the safest places. — We're just here to explore. You know, we just didn't know if it's like if we could just walk from here and find all the cool places. Not really. Is it like is it like sketchy or is it just like sketchy? — At some point along the way, we're going to surprise a stranger with a once in a-lifetime experience in their own home country. But first, we needed a taxi to join us for the day because we were told by several people that just walking out of the hotel with all our camera gear would put a pretty big target on our backs. Our lovely waitress here at the hotel introduced us to her friend who is a taxi driver, I guess. How you doing, sir? I'm — okay. — What's your name? — Lloyd. Nice to meet you. I'm Thomas. — Super excited to explore your beautiful country here. I'm a little bit nervous as well, you know, because I've read about this, you know, be dangerous. And your friend Jess warned us as well that, — you know, maybe — always alert. Always be on your alert — cuz people seem very friendly, but there is a risk that someone on a what motorcycle. No matter where you're going, there's always a risk. — Really, no matter where you go, — petty thieves are, they would try to snatch your phone and jewelry. Okay. Like a smaller camera with us as well. You know, if it's better to be a bit discreet, — so what was it about these neighboring countries that made them the strangest in South America? Well, a few things. First was the fact that even though they sit on the northern edge of the continent, Guyana and Surinam looked toward the Atlantic, cut off from much of South America by vast stretches of dense rainforest. As a result, their culture, history, and identity often feel more Caribbean than traditionally South American. We started this adventure by driving along the coastline. Ready to learn more about what made Guyana so unique? Well, welcome to Guyana. This is the only English-speaking country in South America. It is also the least visited country in South America. It's like hard to understand what this place is. people are a mix of Indian and African and Caribbean and native to this land. It's one of the more surprising I think mixes of people that came as a result of colonialism. And this red you looking at these birds. — Let's try to capture here. — I've been practicing on safari. — Knife on the beach here. Nice. That's good. That's a good sign. — It's just like I really dislike the version of myself when I'm afraid, you know, but that's reality. — So far, not looking super promising. This place feels very forgotten. It's hard to say really what's going on in this city. Nine out of 10 people live on this very thin stretch of coastline. And when you look at the map, it's there's city and then as soon as you scroll down a little bit, it's just straight up dense jungle. So, it's um going to be a very interesting trip to figure out what these countries are and who are the people who live here. — Georgetown itself is a sturdy, clean British city where natives of India, England, Africa, and the aboriges of South America congregate and trade on its many streets and marketplaces. The story of Guyana and Surinam's cultural identities begins in the complicated colonial history of South America. From the late 1400s onwards, European powers

gradually took control of much of the continent. And over centuries of shifting colonial rule, the Dutch established settlements in the territories that would later become Guyana and Surinam. It wasn't until 1814 that the British formally acquired the colonies that became modern-day Guyana, while Surinam remained under Dutch control. This would lead to the two neighboring countries branching off culturally, developing similar but separate identities. It's always tough when you're in a completely new place and you don't really know which direction to go and locals are telling you to be careful. There's some locals hanging out over here. Good. Thank you. — Very good. — Are you from Gana? — Uh yes. Where are you guys from? — Sweden. — Oh, Sweden. Very nice. — What is Gana for you? Like what does it home? — Yeah. Paradise. — Paradise. If you would say like in a short sentence or one word or what's so like who — who are the Gana people for you would you say? — So we were discovered by Christopher Columbus. You guys know that right? So uh the indigenous people are the ones who are you know the people of the land. Our fore parents came from India and the Africans their fore came from Africa. And then you have the Europeans, the British, the French, and the Dutch. And so Ghana is like a little melting pot also of different, you know, cultures. Be safe and immerse yourself. — All right. Have fun. — So much. We are going to keep driving with our lovely new friend Lloyd and see what we can find. The thing is they are forecasting Gana to be one of the fastest growing economies in the world because of the recent oil discoveries that they've made off the coast. — Interesting. So it's possible that this country was going to change radically in the coming decade. We're here right before it happens. So maybe 10 years from now, 20 years from now, this country will be much more known in the world. What's up, man? How you doing? — Yeah. I used to work on the I rig. — Okay. — The drill ship. — Wow. Is it a big boom now with oil? — You know, — it's booming. — Yeah. — So, a lot of money being made. — A lot of money, man. Yeah. — You're feeling hopeful about the future of Piana? — Yeah. It have a bright future, man. It just need the people just to come together, you know. — Yeah. — Because we separated, you know, it going to be chaos. you come together, it gonna be more unity and more work. And it's good to see you guys here, man. — Got a lot of loving people, man. — You know, — thanks for the good vibes. Appreciate it. — And you filming what? Why you What you — just for fun meeting people? — Taking photos. — Yeah. — Oh, this is — Yeah, exactly. Our friend — coming you coming up. — Okay, that's a little weird, but — not everybody you meet, right? — Yeah. It's friendly. Yeah, — they might seem friendly. — Yeah, — but they got your attentions up. — Yeah. — Right. — As we were beginning to interact with more locals, we kept having conflicting encounters. We'd have a really wholesome conversation with one person, followed by a concerning one that reminded us to remain cautious. However, on our way to see Lloyd's local market, we stumbled into another place we maybe should have avoided. — How are you today? — Good to meet you. — Good. — Oh, wow. This is a whole guy. — Nice to meet you, brother. — Me from Guyana. We from Guyana. — Ah, nice boys. Nice. — You got to take pictures with all of you. — Yeah. Yeah. — There's an explosion in my brain to meet people that are technically from India, but speak with a Caribbean accent. It's like so cool. Do you like living here? — It's a free country. — But fairly quickly, it got a little rough. Lot of cameras, man. He's on video right now. Not yet. — Yeah, I can. You want to stay? — We are staying hotel. — Hotel name. Forget the name. — Come here, baby. — Oh, yeah. We should probably — We can probably move. — So, we decided it was probably best to keep moving along. — Yeah. Nice, nice shot, boy. There's a lot of things happening in here. I think we might have to edit out a thing or two. The very reason we are in South America right now is because Arrow invited us on a trip to Machu Picchu and we are right now standing at the very top of it. I can't believe I even have service all the way up here. Aero is the world's leading eim provider and eim is the absolute easiest way to get data and connection whenever you travel and it's been our biggest travel hack wherever we go. 20 million people are using air around the world and it gives you access to 200 different countries and regions. Spares you from the crazy data roaming fees that you inevitably get whenever you land. I've been screwed by that more than I can count. But now instead of dealing with that, I just download the right ESIM before I even go and then when I land, I activate it and I get

data before the airplane has even reached the airport. I know many of you might not be traveling tomorrow. But we have a limited deal with Aerolo right now. If you use the code yes 20 at checkout, you get 20% off your first Eim. And a tip is to use that code right now and then wait to install it for once you reach your destination, maybe later in the summer. Okay, now let's get back to the video and we'll get back to exploring the magnificent ruins of Machu Picchu. Wanting to shift the energy a little, we decided to head to Lloyd's local market in the hopes of meeting more people and experiencing another side of the city. — Is this where you buy your groceries, like food and food? — Oh, nice. — Yeah, it's a very raw and real experience here. You can feel it in the air. It's not too many tourists walking on these streets here. Music from cars. It's a little bit intimidating, but think often many times when you travel, not only being a tourist, but actually a traveler and go a bit further, you get to really feel the local community. And I'm happy that we're having Lloyd with us. — What do you like with Gayana? What is your favorite thing personally for you? — Freedom. You want freedom, honey? — So, you want us to try this? Yeah, try it. — Thank you. — How do we try it? — Pop the car. — I just drink it. — It's a little like citrusy. — It's really good. — How you doing, sir? — Hi. Good. How are you? — Good. Thank you. We love this country. — Yes. — Beautiful country, man. — It's a cool market here. Nice market. — Yes. — You come here many times. And — no, the area we are living, we selling we selling products. Shoot them. Show them in the market. You have fish? — Yeah. — Oh, you have fish in the car. — She packing up now. — Ah, yeah. — Did you wait for this fish? — Oh, wow. — Hassa fish. — Oh, they're like alive. — Yes. — Oh my god. You caught this? — Yeah. Creek. In the creek. — Yeah. Money. — Thanks for showing us. — Yeah. What's the like biggest uh similarity and biggest difference with like Gana and Surinam? Would you say? — Yeah. is a favorite from the map, right? — Guyana is the favorite. — The food is the best. Everything is organic. — Welcome to Guyana. Thank you. Thank you so much. — You know, one thing I just realized — Mhm. — when you ask people what they like about Guyana — Mhm. — they say freedom. And most people here were brought through slavery. — So what they appreciate the most is the freedom. — Very true. You know, we I don't think it fully registered the first time I heard it, but when the woman said it at the market, it really hit that they their ancestors were forced to come here. Yeah. — And now what they're most grateful for. I think even Lloyd said it. We're a free country. It's so easy to take that for granted. I grew up in a free country. All my ancestors were free. But for them here, freedom is the most important because one day, not so long ago, they didn't have it. When slavery was abolished, this was the guy that fight for the slavery. — He was fighting for it. — He was fighting. — It's a real person representing of someone who — was a real person. — And who is this person? — Coffee. — Okay. Coffee. — The 1763 monument represents one of the most important rebellion uprisings in Guyana's history. In 1763, enslaved Africans in the Dutch colony of Burbese rose up against the brutal plantation system until rebels controlled much of the colony. Their most famous leader was Cuffy, an Akan man who had tried to turn the uprising into something more organized. Eventually, Dutch reinforcements arrived and the rebellion was crushed. Today, Cuffy is remembered as a national hero in Guyana. Eventually, the British abolished slavery in Guyana in 1834. But the plantation labor system did not simply disappear. Instead, colonial authorities turned to indentured workers brought from other parts of the world, mainly India, a practice now largely banned under international human rights laws, but is part of the reason why Guyana has such a wide mix of cultures today. Eventually, in 1966, Guyana finally gained its independence. What do you feel when you see this monument here? — It represents the freedom that we have in Guyana. — Because if it wasn't for this guy, we would have probably still been under slavery. — Yeah. — One of our main things we wanted to see in Guyana was the Kaiur Falls, the largest single drop waterfall in the world, only accessible by plane. We've been trying for weeks to get tickets, but all planes were sold out. Speaking with Lloyd, he opened up about the realities of life here in Guyana for the locals. And despite years of hard work, he had never had the opportunity to go see this wonder of his own country. — Have you ever left Guyana? — No, — never left. — Never. They said I wasn't qualified to apply the visa. So, — how many times have you been denied

visa? — Three times. — Three times to go to the US. — So, when was the first time you applied to go? — In 2014, I think. Oh, so for 12 years you've been trying to go for your first trip abroad but been denied every time. — Oh, damn. Sorry to hear you, man. — Well, you have not been to the vaults. Never been. — Never. — Oh, wow. — Why not? — It's too expensive. — It's expensive. — Usually, it's more foreigners that go than locals. — Really? — And after a lot of calls and a bit of luck, we finally managed to secure four spots on a plane. And we realized we probably already found the perfect person to take with us. We are thinking what if we take Lloyd to the waterfall would be a pretty epic experience. He's expressed very clearly that he would love to go. You can feel it in the local community as well, right? That it's the gem, right? It's like magnificent this waterfall. It's about time for a local to see it. Let's just ask him. — We ask him. We have a question to you. — Yes. — You have showed us your beautiful community and your beautiful town. So, we would like to wonder if you would like to have the fourth seat on the plane tomorrow. So, we would love to take you to the waterfall tomorrow. — Definitely. — Do you want to go? — Okay. Thank you. — Thank you, man. — Thank you. Thank you so much. — Of course, man. Of course. Okay. You down for it? — Yep. — Yeah. — Well, looks like we got a day tomorrow then. — Okay. — Let's go, man. — So, it's my first time tomorrow. — Let's go. Oh, — first time on a plane. — I'm very excited. — Nice. Yeah, we're excited. — Hope it's not the first and the last. — Exactly. — Waterfall day begins. — How we feeling? — Good. — Ready. — Yeah. You, man? Yep. I see that big smile on that face. — To the airport we go. You're about to enter your first ever plane. — How does it feel? — Exciting. — Okay, here we go. — Small and cozy. 1 hour ride straight off. Take a couple people straight. — Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's a good comparison. We're flying, man. Living our dream. — Yeah, man. Oh, that's a waterfall. There's some waterfall. It's so much bigger than I thought that was. We did it. Yeah. — Yeah. Let's go. — Wow. Oh my god. I can feel that in the belly. — Did you feel it? — Yeah. You're playing cool, man. You're playing cool. Let's see what you're doing. It's pretty surreal to think that we it's only our plane here right now because there's only nine people at this waterfall. It's uh not many places in the world where you can come to such a spectacular place — and be by yourself. We are truly walking though in the most dense rainforest I've ever seen. I've been in quite some wild places before, but looking around here, imagine trekking through this. There is no path. There's It's just straight up vegetation. We are about to see it from land for the first time. Holy — Stefan, be careful. Oh my lord. Careful, Lloyd. Wow. Oh my god. This is one of the craziest things I've ever seen in my life. There's nobody else here. No offense and barely anyone knows about this place, but it is one of the most magical places on the planet. — This is a one of a lifetime opportunity. I don't have words to express you right now. Just — just take it in, man. Just take it in. Does it make you go want to go for a swim? Hell no. — Oh man.

— It is — tremendous. — If you look at the water, it looks like unreal. You know how it like comes out and how it falls down. But every single water drop is like on its own journey. — Guyana and Kitur Falls had only been the beginning of our trip so far. As we now continued towards our next mysterious neighbor, Surinam. — Here we are, sir. — Back where we started. — Thanks for a great day, man. I'll give you the memories. I follow the YouTube channel that you guys have read your thumbs up. — Thank you million times. — Thank you. — Remember to call me up sometime. — For sure. — Or maybe we can just capture uh like do a matching tattoo. — Yeah. — Matching tattoo. Four of us. — Okay. Let us know in the comment section if we should do matching tattoos with Lloyd. — With Lloyd. — So, after saying goodbye to Lloyd, we prepared for our early morning trip to cross the border. Well, it is currently 4:08 in the morning and we begin our days long journey to Surinam. People have told us this is quite brutal. We have to drive and then take a ferry and then drive four or 5 hours more. Hopefully — hopefully we make it — to Suram we go. Well, it is around 7:00 a. m. We are at the border now. We're going to take a ferry across. There's a very small river that separates the two countries. You need to take a ferry there. And on the other side, we should have another car waiting for us to take us the rest of the way. I think we're the only foreigners here. Yeah. — But here is the ferry to one of the least known and least visited countries in the world. We have now officially departed from Guyana to Surinam. They said it's about 20 minutes, but it's basically just straight across the river. Pretty iconic way to cross. Do you have any advice for us for our trip to Surinam? — Surinam is very clean. — Yeah. — The people are very warm and welcoming. — Yeah. — Very helpful. — Hi sir. I'm from Stockholm on your t-shirt. Yeah. — Oh, are you from there? — Yes. — Okay. — Nice to meet you. — Thank you so much, man. Thank you. — Any visitor from around the world come to Guyana and you got the tastes of fresh food. You don't want to go back. — Yeah. I — This is a very unique experience to just ferry and then walk across a border. The next morning, we linked up with another local taxi driver, hoping they could show us a side of Surinam most visitors don't get to see. Surinam adventure begins. What's up, man? — How you doing? — I'm good. — Yeah, nice to meet you, too. — What's your name? — Regul. — Yeah. From man. — Yeah. — Okay. Here we go. — What does your name mean? It's a very cool name. Beautiful name. — Does it mean something? — No. — I don't think so. No. — Yeah. My father and my brother. — Yeah. — They had two names. — Mhm. — And they split it and they put it together. That's how it come. — Really? — It's a beautiful story. — Yeah. That's cool. I — I used to like to be a bit philosophical sometimes. And you had a beautiful answer, man. — Yeah. While there were many similarities between the neighboring countries, Surinam remaining under Dutch rule heavily shaped its cultural identity. Dutch is still the country's official language today, and many of its buildings and architecture remain visibly Dutch influenced. Slavery remained in place here until 1863, almost 30 years longer than in Guyana. And afterwards, Surinam similarly turned to indentured workers brought from abroad, from India, but also from Indonesia, particularly the island of Java. Over generations, these communities became a major part of Surinam's cultural identity. Today, much of the country's cuisine carries strong Indonesian influence, and more than a dozen languages are commonly spoken across its diverse population.

Yeah, we have a synagogue to the right here and a mosque to the left. — Any church as well here? — Yeah, it's a church. — Yes, sir. This is the only place where these two — next to each other. Yeah. — Next to the other. Yeah. — At many places there is some conflict here. But — yes, but here in they have peace. — Red. Do they have as much peace — as Thomas is having now? — Yes. Much peace. — Thomas is sleeping. — Wasn't sleeping. — I really think this is coexistence. How it looks like when religions can stand side by side. It's literally like four different very close to each other. It's a Christian church. It's a Muslim mosque. It's a Jewish synagogue and it's Hindu temple all in the same capital. Makes me think about you know that yeah there is quite some division in the world. But uh it seems people can coexisted together uh without yeah interfering with each other's life too much. makes me think and reflect about that and wish that it can maybe be like that at um yeah at more places as well. — Where you from? — Uh from Sweden. — Yeah, man. — Long way from home. — Oh, long way from home, man. Nice. — How is Zlatan Ibrahim offic man? You speak my language. — Oh, you okay? — Yeah, I love Zlatan. — So, you on a vacation? — Uh yes, exploring. — Exploring. Yeah. — Who are the people of Surinam? If you will encapsulize like the core, the essence, the soul of — Yeah. You're wonderful people. — We are a melting pot of cultures, man. We have uh Asians, Africans, Europeans, Americans, uh South Americans, Indians as the native people. We share everything. — What's the proudest thing in your heart when you think about your country and your people? — We accept each other, you know, — as a kid. So, you learn to grow up with accepting all the people around you, even if they are different, even if they look different — or have uh different uh beliefs. That's our DNA, man. — Yeah. Yeah, — that's our DNA. And you also see it in the flag, you know, red, green, white, yellow. — So everything is there, man. — Say, man, you're a lyricist. You're a poet. You're good with words, man. — Hey, thanks, man. Hey, have a nice day. — Yeah, thank you, brother. — And what's your name? — I'm Stefan. — Stefan, — Jovian. — This is the energy we — This is Sudin, man. This is I saw you walking. I was like, hey, let me check on the guy. — Yeah. Yeah, that's cool. Okay. Amazing. Nice to meet you, man, man. As we made our way around Paribbo, we started building a friendship with Raquel and learning about his life. — You've never left Suro? — No, never. — What would be your biggest dream? — Fully free. — Yeah. Uh, one year that I drive, I was do I was selling, you know, let — go to jail. — Oh, wow. Why did you go to prison? Or maybe don't want to talk about it. — No, I talk about it. M — I was selling drugs, sweet and harsh. That was my work. Going back and when I was in jail and think hey what I'm going to do with my life. — Yeah. How long were you in prison? — Uh maybe 8 months. — Oh 8 months. — Yeah. Okay. — Not long but it's long. — Yeah. — One day is long too. — You know we used to be free — cuz when I get from jail — then I go we're pumping gas. Yeah. I work one year, then I put the money on a side, — then I go make my driver's license. — Nice. — Yeah. Then I go drive taxi. — Building a new life. Nice, man. Proud of you. Proud of you, man. — Yeah, man. Thank you. — You will travel one day. We know it. — Yeah, I know it, too. — Yes, I know it. Yeah, man. — We now arrived in the old town of Paramaribo. World Heritage listed and one of the most significant historical sites in all of South America. This place here does not feel like South America at all. It feels like we've just entered a different reality. All the street signs and the signs here are in Dutch. It's very strange that these ancient Dutch colonial buildings are still maintained. Really does feel very unusual and different than anywhere else I've ever been. Cerninam only became an independent nation in 1975, which was when my parents were essentially teenagers. So, not that long ago. In their lifetime, this country became a country. And today, it's standing here with relics of the past surrounding us everywhere. The main draw of this area was Fort Zelandia. This fort behind us here was the center point of colonialism in Surinan. It was built by the British initially, then taken over by the Dutch and this is where all of the slave

trade, political power, economic center was ruled and managed from. Feels very strange to be here in such a peaceful location, but also to know that this fort behind us is home to some of the darkest history in the region. The mix of culture here makes it impossible to ignore the fact that this nation was not born like any other. We spent the rest of the day driving around Paribbo with Raal and ended up in a neighborhood that was home to mostly people of Indonesian descent. Seeing a local home here going to say hi to him. — Hello, sir. Yeah. Nice to meet you, man. Nice to meet you. — Yeah. — What does his country mean for him? — Nice. — How you feel? So good. — Yeah. Good. — Can we get him something from the supermarket? Does he want something to drink or — Yeah. You're from Ser. But no, she's Thank you. We are in a neighborhood now that they say it's Japanese people, but I don't know if he means Japanese from Japan or that's just — Japanese black people. — And you? — I'm Japanese. — Japanese? — Yeah. — Okay. Interesting. But your family, your ancestors, they're from Japan. — I'm from Indonesia. — Indonesia. Okay. But people call you Japanese. — Yeah. Ah, so they call you Japanese, but your family heritage from Indonesia. — Yeah, Indonesia. — Okay. — I just understood. I thought people were saying Japanese. You're saying Javanese — from the island of Java in Indonesia. — Javanese. That makes way more sense. Actually, when you woke up this morning, could you see yourself being a master translator as you've been today? — No. No. I had no idea. John, we we'll remember you, man. — Okay. Thank you. — As travelers, it's rare to find a set of countries that feel truly unexplored. These places have an unapologetic rawness to them, not curated and altered to be more comfortable for tourists, but instead just existing as they are. Sometimes when we travel, it feels like it's becoming easier to find familiar comforts everywhere. coffee shops that look the same, Uber to take you where you want to go, and restaurants at walking distance. But here, it was the opposite. We had to search for it. And with the unexpected help of our two taxi drivers, we opened doors into the local life that we would never have been able to find otherwise. And beyond the shadow of Guyana and Surinam's dark past, a rare light of coexistence is shining. — This is the love. love every single people can be of black, blue or white. If you look at the Sudinamese people, you see a little bit of the world, you know, everything comes. It's the only part of the world where that can happen, you know, — transforming a story of colonialism and slavery into one of peace and tolerance for one another. With only a few days traveling across these countries, we can't claim to have understood them in their full depths. But we do feel that these small forgotten nations certainly had wisdom to share with the rest of the world. With 90% of these countries being covered by jungle, it feels like there are many more mysteries hiding in the forests here for us to find. However, the Amazon jungle was already awaiting us across the border in Brazil, where we are heading to next in the search of one man living in the world's largest rainforest completely on his own.