Hi, I'm Karin, and welcome to Our Human Planet.
We're heading into Ecuador's Oriente
in search of gold.
This is going to be a wild ride
to an even wilder place...
Deep into the Oriente -
Ecuador's southern rainforest.
Where patience is a definite plus.
We're heading out beyond the reach of any laws
to a place where life is cheap.
Nambija.
Once the source of Inca gold
today a frontier mining town.
Not a place you want to get to after dark.
Nambija as few visitors
and no hotels.
The local boarding house is reserved
for women with a very particular clientele.
"Miners quarters. That's all they've got."
Carved out of a tropical rainforest
Nambija is a long way from paradise.
The only thing that matters here is gold
and how to spend it.
Unlike in Inca times when they panned for gold
Now they have to dig deep into the bowels of the mountain.
A daunting prospect.
No hard hats
no shoring
and only a narrow tube of compressed air.
Both men and women work 14-hour shifts
breaking up rocks to feed the machinery outside.
The only way to protect their turf is to sleep on it.
This man came here looking for a better life
8 long years ago.
The easiest way to get at the gold
is to blast it loose
with homemade dynamite.
The frequent explosions cause rockfalls
throughout the mine
and sometimes tragedy.
"A thousand souls dwell here," they say.
A two-minute fuse.
Just time enough to hide.
The men use newspapers to burn off the toxic fumes.
And then the hunt is on.
For a little while nothing matters but the gleam of gold.
But that wasn't the most dangerous thing about Nambija.
You'll see you next time.
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