(energetic music) (voices chattering)
- This trip is gonna be a wild one,
and we've got a video sponsor.
It's Insta360.
This is the X3, a 360 camera,
and it's gonna allow us to capture Angola
in a way no one's done before.
But I'm a shower, not a teller.
So let's get started.
(Mike chuckles)
Angola is a country in southern Africa
that really only opened to tourism in 2019.
And we've got a 10-day road trip planned.
Along the way,
you'll see how we shoot with the Insta360 X3,
this lightweight and easy-to-use camera
that provides a thousand different creative options
and a unique third-person perspective.
With 5.7 K resolution, 10-meter waterproofing,
and amazing stabilization,
it's become one of my favorite travel cameras.
Buckle up,
because our adventure is starting
just 40 kilometers outside the capital city of Luanda.
First stop on the road trip is,
if you peer through these baobabs...
Look, by the way, incredible.
There's a spot, it looks like the surface of the Moon.
That's because this location is called Miradouro da Lua.
Is that right? - [Ben] Smashed it.
- Smashed it.
This is Ben, videographer on the trip.
Also a good friend.
And we're looking for a path, Ben.
Do you see one, to the viewpoint?
- [Ben] That feels semi-pathy.
- Yeah. - Yeah?
- We're a little bit on snake watch.
Not gonna lie.
There is a viewpoint location at the top,
where you park your car.
That's not what we do.
We make the path.
Two problems.
Number one, there could be some snakes, right?
We spoke about that.
Number two, there's a lot of branches for the drone,
which was the idea.
Luckily, I got a tool that can help both of those.
A four-meter-long selfie stick.
First, we'll use it to get the snakes outta the way.
Then put the camera on top.
Lemme show you.
(intriguing music)
All right, out you go.
Come on.
There's definitely at least one in this patch of grass.
A guy gets attacked by a green mamba once in Africa,
it ruins him forever.
(bystanders shouting)
Remember that adventure in Congo?
Rather not repeat that. - I think it's a mamba.
- It tasted good though.
With all the vile serpents cleared,
we take a walk through the baobabs.
(intriguing music)
- That is deep stuck.
- The landscape is aggressive.
Dude, it's all the way in my skin.
It's, there's like four of them, though, so-
- [Ben] One sec. (Mike exhales)
(Mike exhales slowly)
- I'm too old for piercings, guys.
I got tattoos, but I got rid of all my piercings.
- [Ben] Oh yeah. - Just pull it out
like a Band-Aid.
- [Ben] You think? (Mike groans)
Are you good? - Yeah. Okay.
- [Ben] Ah. (Mike laughs)
- Look at this place, though.
Oh ho ho.
Incredible, right?
You can see...
Whoa, there's a big bug.
Let's see if we can walk along this ridge.
Looks like we can.
Welcome to the Moon!
(tense music)
(upbeat music)
Places like this one are created by erosion.
The wear and tear of wind and water
carving small canyons
that widen as rain flows through them.
This rock is composed of hard-pressed sand and dirt,
making it brittle and easily carved by Mother Nature.
Ooh hoo hoo, it's a long way down, ladies and gentlemen.
How incredible is this erosion though?
Looks like primeval, right?
Like the teeths of a dinosaur.
The "teeths." (laughs)
When you're jet-lagged, sometimes you forget English.
We have to be really careful, though.
I don't want to go up on any of these peaks.
They're very fragile.
The last thing I wanna do is break anything.
As well as, I don't want to go down towards the edge,
because here the erosion's real, the soil's soft,
it'll easily break and all collapse.
It'll hurt me, it'll hurt the landscape.
Not things I'm interested in.
We're just getting started in Angola.
It's day one,
but I can already tell
it's gonna be a hell of a trip, right?
Up next, Kalandula Falls.
The second biggest in Africa.
Ben and I arrive with high hopes we can get close to it.
But we'll have to see.
We drove six hours for this.
- [Ben] Let's go, baby! - The number-one attraction.
- [Ben] Woo.
- [Mike] In Angola!
I'm gonna beat you, bro. (laughs)
Gotta work on those hobbit feet.
Ooh hoo hoo.
Is it worth it? Is it worth it? Is it...
(Mike bellows with laughter) - [Ben] Oh, baby.
(water roars) (gentle music)
(upbeat music)
- Kalandula Falls is 340 feet high
and about 1,300 feet wide.
The question that's on my mind is,
can we get down to the bottom?
Can you hear it? Can you hear it?
We're almost to the bottom.
Ah, the river.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
(water roars)
(Mike laughs)
(water roars)
We made it!
(bright music)
Wow!
(bright music)
So yeah,
flying the drone is probably a bad idea.
But we got this nice pole.
It's the next best thing!
(bright music)
(indistinct chanting) (bright music)
Okay!
Stop it!
Relax, we'll leave.
- [Ben] Christ!
(Mike laughs)
- Oh my God!
It's only getting stronger.
Okay, I think we've overstayed our welcome.
Let's get back to where we actually can see
what's happening.
It's hard to edit in the back of a 4-by-4,
but I wanted to show you the snap / record feature
in the Insta360 app.
(truck rattling)
(Ben chuckles)
This is the footage of us walking with the baobabs,
but I can look at the footage
like I'm viewing it in augmented reality,
in the sense that I can turn the camera
and look at the footage
like I'm there, like it's around us.
And I can set keyframes.
So here we are walking,
I can press Record,
and then I can say, "Oh, look at the trees."
Sun going through the baobabs.
And then back to me,
and back to you.
Back to this drive, bro. (Ben chuckles)
Two more hours of these bumpy roads.
Our next adventure is Tundavala Gap,
and it's a casual 14-hour drive away.
The best view in the country, they say.
But it's windy as all hell here.
We kick the drone into the sky anyway,
only for it to get stuck in the wind,
then for it to lose reception.
And then we run around like lost ants on hot tar,
and then we're lucky to get it back.
Let's try Plan B.
We almost lost a teammate today.
(Ben chuckles)
It wasn't me, it wasn't Ben.
It was this little guy.
If you look up the top things to see in Angola,
there's a list of maybe like five different places.
Tundavala is one of those things on the list,
and (chuckles) by the photos it looks sick.
In real life, even more sick.
Holy crap. That is a drop.
You wanna see?
How about you go in the sky?
It's called the "no drone, no problem" pole.
So when you can't fly, you use this.
But where does the pole go?
The X3 uses two 200-degree lenses.
But 200 plus 200 doesn't equal 360, does it?
That's because the cameras actually capture
more than 360 degrees.
These two lenses overlap,
and the camera automatically stitches out
the part with the selfie stick,
making it invisible.
You don't have to do a thing but enjoy the view.
Cool, right?
Another perk of a 360 camera
is that if it's there, it captures everything.
Even the things you didn't expect.
What the heck?
The wind blew my flip-flop off the cliff.
It just blew both of them off the cliff.
Well, so I think that's confirmation
that it might be a little bit too windy.
Experiences over possessions.
That's the motto. Who needs 'em, right?
Who needs 'em?
Experiences over possessions.
I'd much rather live my life
collecting stories, moments, and lessons.
These themselves are treasures
that can't be taken from you,
and they don't take up space.
Yet they do add beauty to those who wear them.
And I say "wear" experiences,
because you can see them on the people who have them.
In their character, in their understanding, their empathy,
and in the way they carry themselves through life.
There's a place for fancy things, even flip-flops.
But don't underestimate the power
of building your own story,
because good stories
are perhaps the most valuable thing you can own.
Let's continue.
Day five in Africa?
Day six?
It's all a blur sometimes.
You don't come to this continent
to have things always go according to plan.
You come for the adventure,
and that's what we're all about, right?
I'm here with my driver.
Say hello.
- Mr. Lopes. - To Lopes.
We got Ben in the back. - [Ben] Yo.
- And we're coming to a place
that's called Serra da Leba, right?
- Yes.
- And I guarantee your minds are gonna go.
(speaking in foreign language)
- Boom!
- Boosh!
- Boom! (Mike laughs)
Watch your brains, folks. It's gonna be cool.
(bright music)
Yeah, just a quick note.
Please always watch your step when using Insta360 products.
(test pattern beeps) - [Ben] 3, 2, 1, action.
(bright music)
- [Mike] In the background,
that's called Serra da Leba pass.
It's the only road down to the coast,
where there's many tribes.
And we're headed that way next.
Time and time again,
when we come to these top sites here in Angola,
there is nobody here.
We've seen a couple of 'em already,
and on a top-five list, they're all ranked.
They're all at the top.
Hoo, watch that step.
I mean, they're not exactly accessible.
It was a long time in a car to get here.
But damn. What do you think, Ben?
- [Ben] Spiffy, bro. - Yeah.
Help me. (Ben laughs)
Help me up.
(Mike grunts)
I think "epic"'s the right word.
We got some fun toys.
Maybe you've seen them already.
(bright music)
It's a bullet-time attachment for the pole.
And yeah, it might look funny,
but damn, I feel like Neo.
(ethereal droning music)
And so does Ben.
(ethereal droning music)
(lively strumming music)
Back in the back of the 4-by-4.
But Ben's in the front, and he's got the three-meter stick.
And I was thinking,
I was thinking,
why don't we stick it out the window?
(bright music)
Damn, these turns, though. (both laugh)
How's it looking?
- I live for this shit, man. (Mike laughs)
- [Mike] Ah.
(bright music)
Did you get it?
- [Ben] I think so, mate.
- All right.
- [Ben] That was sick, man.
- We're racing the sun now.
We got maybe three hours to sunset,
maybe two hours to Namibe.
Then we're on the coast.
You don't wipe the surface, it falls off.
Gotta do this fresh and clean.
(upbeat music) (engine rumbles)
I guess I'm trying to center it,
and make it look like it's straight.
It doesn't have to be straight, it's 360.
So in 3, 2, 1, we're gonna go hyper-speed.
Ready?
(bright music)
On the coast there are many tribes.
Mucubal,
Himba,
and Mwila.
We don't really have a plan, but we do have an idea.
(bystander speaks in foreign language)
- If you're looking for off-the-beaten-path adventures,
ones that no one has done before,
how exactly do you find them?
Do you type in "off the beaten path" into Google,
because then you're gonna be back on the path again,
aren't you?
So that's the eternal battle
of the channel "Fearless & Far."
It's to find the adventures that no one has done before,
and show them to you.
So we're in Angola right now, in a market,
and if I could pronounce the name, I would tell you,
but it's in Namibe in the south,
and we're looking to hang out with the Mucubal tribe,
who are a very interesting people
living in the deserts here.
But there's not much content about them.
The plan is to make some friends at the local market,
and see if we can get an invitation back to their village.
We'll see. At the very least, it's gonna be an adventure.
Hi.
We got some smiles.
(vendor speaking in foreign language)
- [Mike] We got some smiles.
(vendor speaking in foreign language)
(vendor laughing) - [Mike] Hey-heh.
(speaks in foreign language)
- [Mike] What is this?
Is it, it's a tree fruit?
(vendor speaks in foreign language)
- Nom-bey.
Me-nom-bey.
(Mike speaks Spanish) (vendor laughs)
That's Spanish, I'm trying my best.
- [Bystander] Excuse us, want to go.
- [Mike] Oh yeah, yeah, for sure.
You speak English? Yeah, a little bit.
We're in the way.
It's a busy market, there's a lot happening.
And we've definitely attracted a crowd. (laughs)
Yeah. We found some friends, actually, at the market.
We also have some gifts for the chief.
We're on our way to a Mucubal village here in Moo-nyee-moo.
- [Passengers] Munhino. - Moo-nyee-moo.
- [Passengers] Munhino!
- Oh, guys. - [Ben] Moo-nyee-noo.
- Moo-nyee-moo.
We arrive,
and the guys take us to their village in "Mnee-moh."
Yeah, you get it.
Anyway, we arrive,
and it's time to milk the cows.
So we get to it.
(milk hissing and splashing)
Maybe some things don't need to be shot in 360. (laughs)
Then after some breakfast,
some of the guys start practicing stick fighting.
In many tribes across Africa this is called donga.
And you need to be good at it to get a wife.
I don't have a wife yet.
Maybe it's because I suck at donga.
So I guess it's time to practice.
(bright music)
- [Opponent] Hai-ya! Hai-ya!
(everyone laughing)
- [Mike] Come here! (opponent laughing)
Unfazed by my special attacks, I get hit.
(everyone laughs)
Fatality. (bystanders laughing)
But let me try with my own stick.
(indistinct chanting) (bright music)
Okay. (speaks in foreign language), okay.
The thing about this camera is
I always thought a 360 camera,
you had to put on some goggles
and you'd look around and get all disoriented.
The beauty of this,
which I never thought about until I got it,
you just jam it anywhere
and you can get the shot,
and you can frame it after.
So in this one month in Africa,
we've been able to capture things I've never,
or people, just no one's ever been able to capture before,
with this camera.
If you want one, and I definitely recommend it,
I've got an affiliate link.
Check it out, give them some love,
'cause without Insta360,
this whole Africa series would not have happened.
I'm Mike of "Fearless & Far,"
the most adventurous channel on YouTube,
and I'll see you in the next adventure.
(imitates "pew!" sound)
Credit. - [Ben] Nailed it.
It's also true, bro. - [Mike] Yeah.
- [Ben] I cannot wait to buy one of these.
It's sick. - Yeah.
(bright music)