Name: Tropic of Cancer
Genre: Documentary
Released: 2010-03-14
Rating: 9
Cast: Simon Reeve

Episodes

1. Mexico to the Bahamas

2010-03-14 | 60m

From Mexico's beautiful Pacific coast to the coral paradise of the Bahamas, this first leg of Simon Reeve's epic circumnavigation of the globe is a spectacular journey revealing much about life on the northern edge of the Tropics. Simon starts his journey in Baja California, Mexico, where he discovers a region living in the shadow of the United States, its giant northern neighbour, and visits a new holiday resort with $12,000-a-night rooms. It is just the first example Simon encounters of American influence on this leg of his trip, as he then takes a ferry across the Sea of Cortez to the infamous city of Culiacan, headquarters of the fearsome Sinaloa drug cartel, where he goes on patrol with an elite police unit engaged in a brutal and violent struggle against drug gangs. The war is being fought to stem the flow of cocaine to the United States, and it threatens the very stability of the Mexican state. Simon heads east, over-nighting in a bizarre abandoned Western film set once owned by John Wayne, discovering villages emptied as Mexicans have headed north to work in the US, and visiting a picturesque community split by a huge mine. He experiences the joys of Lucha Libre, a hugely popular form of masked wrestling, and gets a battering during a training session with a female wrestler called The Princess. The Tropic of Cancer skirts Cuba and, in Havana, Simon learns how city allotments have transformed agriculture in Cuba and countered the effects of the US trade embargo against the country. This first stage of the journey ends in the Bahamas, where Simon peers behind the wealthy poster images of these paradise islands, and finds slums inhabited by Haitians who fled violence and poverty in their homeland in search of a better life. Finally, he discovers a hidden menace lurking in the tropical waters that make these islands famous: a plague of beautiful but deadly lion fish have escaped from American aquariums and are now devouring the local sea life in this corner of the Tropics.

2. Western Sahara to Libya

2010-03-21 | 60m

Simon Reeve continues his epic journey around the world following the Tropic of Cancer, the northern border of the tropics region. The second leg of the journey sees Simon dodge the Moroccan secret police in Western Sahara, travel on one of the world's longest trains in Mauritania, visit a forgotten refugee camp in the Algerian desert where more than 100,000 people live, and take a swim in a Libyan oasis with a government minder who bears an uncanny resemblance to Colonel Gaddafi. After travelling around the Tropic of Capricorn and the Equator, this series completes Simon's trilogy of journeys exploring the amazing tropics region with his toughest, longest, most ambitious challenge yet.

3. Egypt to Oman

2010-03-28 | 60m

Simon Reeve continues his epic journey around the world following the Tropic of Cancer, the northern border of the tropics region. Simon rejoins the Tropic of Cancer in Egypt and follows it through Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Oman. In Southern Egypt, next to the ancient temple of Abu Simbal, Simon meets Nubians struggling to maintain their culture following the damming of the Nile and dives in the pristine reefs of the Red Sea. In Saudi Arabia he goes racing with the Jeddah Boyz; and in Dubai he meets construction workers suffering in the economic downturn and he watches as rare baby green giant turtles start their own epic journeys as they head into the Arabian Sea from the beaches of Oman.

4. India

2010-04-04 | 60m

Simon Reeve continues his epic journey around the world following the Tropic of Cancer, the northern border of the tropics region. In India, Simon's journey takes him from the coast of Gujarat in the west to Kolkata in the east. Along the way he spots the shy and beautiful Indian wild ass, learns of the violence between Hindus and Muslims in Gandhi's home city of Ahmedebad and visits the site of one of the world's worst industrial accidents in Bhopal, where people still claim to be suffering from chemical spills. In the setting for Kipling's Jungle Book, Simon bathes an elephant and in Kolkata he ponders a new car that is so affordable that it could add to the city's already unbelievable congestion.

5. Bangladesh to Burma

2010-04-18 | 60m

This episode takes Simon through Bangladesh and on a perilous covert journey into Burma, where western journalists are banned. In Bangladesh Simon sails down the mighty Padma River and visits fishermen who use trained otters to drive fish into their nets. Further on he sees the river banks crumbling before his eyes - increased river erosion is thought to be caused by global climate change - and in the capital Dhaka he meets some of the millions of child workers. From North East India, Simon treks through jungles and across rivers into Burma to meet the Chin people - an ethnic group who are brutalised and oppressed by the Burmese government. After travelling around the Tropic of Capricorn and the Equator, this series completes Simon's trilogy of journeys exploring the amazing tropics region with his toughest, longest, most ambitious challenge yet.

6. Laos to Hawaii

2010-04-25 | 60m

The last leg of Simon's journey begins in the jungles of Southeast Asia and ends in the tropical paradise of Hawaii. Prevented from following the tropic through China by the Chinese government, Simon instead discovers the increasing Chinese influences in neighbouring Laos and Vietnam. And in Laos, he samples some local delicacies - roast squirrel (or is it rat?) and caterpillars. In Vietnam, he discovers cruelly caged moon bears, farmed for their bile, which is used in traditional medicines. Next stop is Taiwan, and in the Tropic of Cancer primary school he meets some of the world's highest achieving children. The journey around the world ends in Hawaii - a tropical paradise blighted by environmental problems, including some of the dirtiest beaches on the planet. After travelling around the tropic of Capricorn and the equator, this series completes Simon's trilogy of journeys exploring the amazing tropics region with his toughest, longest, most ambitious challenge yet.