PROGRAMMES
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Show Synopsis
In this adventure travel series, author of numerous books on 4x4 exploration, avid conservationist and passionate four-wheeler, Andrew St.Pierre White presents a lively, uplifting show. He takes us on adventurous journeys in four-wheel drive vehicles to some of the most remote and beautiful locations in Southern Africa. His approach is easygoing, often humorous and always unpredictable.
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Take a Deep Breath - Episode Guide
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| 23 & 24 April |
. Windswept Cape Coast
At the south-west tip of Africa, the series begins with Andrew standing on top of Table Mountain from where he views the journey ahead. Over the following weeks he tries land yachting on a clear wind-swept beach, flies a glider over rugged, forbidding mountains and visits a dune playground where he meets some high-fliers in their modified off-roaders and is taught sand-storming tricks.
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| 30 April & 01 May |
World Heritage Site: Richtersveld
From the West Coast the expedition heads further north to reach South Africa’s only desert Mountains, the UNESCO World Heritage site, The Richtersveld. Beautifully photographed, Andrew is joined by Richtersveld expert Greg Van der Reis, who takes him deep into little known territory. With the help of Greg van der Reis, Andrew travels deeper and deeper into the wilderness, where the tracks get rougher and while the pace slows, the heart-rate quickens. All along, Andrew, in a street-smart 4x4 must keep up with Greg's highly modified off-road truck. He does… just. They discover weird-shaped prehistoric carvings, a water hole with a legend, baboon bones at The Place of the Skulls, a lone biker, a granite miner called Shirley, primitive dwellings and a strange growth that is thought to be half man, half plant. The jewel in the Richtersveld’s crown is the Orange River and after a cool swim, the episode concludes when they discover an unmapped meteorite crater.
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| 07 & 08 May |
Sand Sea of the Namib
Namibia is arguably the most photogenic place on earth. This time Andrew takes his entire family, in a family 4x4, which does not cope with what it asked of it. He travels from the Orange River northward, again hugging the coast all the way to the coastal town of Walvis Bay. En route he finds wild horses of Klein Aus, a ghost town and takes an unforgettable ride over the Namib in a hot air balloon. From there he ventures into the vast wastes of the Namib Sand Sea, where he encounters shipwrecks and drives down the steepest sand dunes in the world. It concludes with a visit to the seal colonies accompanied by the pelicans of Walvis Bay. With stunning photography and stirring music, this is perhaps the most emotive and beautiful of all these programs.
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| 14 & 15 May |
All Alone, part-1
Andrew takes on the desert as he attempts to cross the great Kalahari thirstland on his own. He clearly explains that there is no camera crew and nobody to help him, as he sets off into Southern Africa’s least populated area, through the great Central Kalahari Game Reserve. His first attempt fails due to tyres that are ripped apart after Andrew experiences a close encounter with a lion, at night, which scares him half to death. The show ends is failure, with the promise of another attempt ahead.
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| 21 & 22 May |
All Alone, part-2
In the second half, a year later, Andrew makes a second and this time successful attempt, ending in the enigmatic Makgadikgadi Salt Pans, the largest flat place on planet earth. Beautifully photographed and absorbing viewing.
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| 28 & 29 May |
Endangered biosphere
Not three hours from the metropolis of Johannesburg is the pristine biosphere known as the Waterberg. Here Andrew takes some off-the showroom floor luxury 4x4s into the wilderness and experiments with luxury lodge living. First he is taught some high-speed driving techniques on a race track with the 4x4, followed by the journey with the same vehicle and trailer combination. The purpose of the trip is to investigate a dire conservation challenge in the area, that of the demise of the leopard population. Using every means at his disposal; caravans, trackers, helicopters he and conservationist Fred Berange track and capture a leopard for collaring. The convoy head for the Kruger National Park.
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| 04 & 05 June |
Kruger National Park
In the far eastern edge of South Africa lies the Kruger National Park, a wilderness measuring a staggering two million acres.
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| 11 & 12 June |
Mozambique.
The show opens on the Mozambique coastal dune field and it's stunning coastline where Andrew joins a conservation project mapping the reefs run by an Australian professor who looks more like a teenager on a surfing binge. Further northward a fish eagle catches its dinner right in front of him and Andrew ends the show by diving in a pristine marine sanctuary surrounded by fish.
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| 18 & 19 June |
Trills.
Andrew gets beaten up in a Toyota Hilux rally car, then in a Ferrari on a race track and finally in a 1500HP Lamborghini Gallardo. The series concludes with a brief recap on the whole Take A Deep Breath adventure.
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