On your own, man

About 50,000 years ago, during the early days of modern humans, survival must have been difficult.

But today, in our concrete jungle, are there still places without McDonald’s, Pizza Hut or cell phone towers? Seems unlikely, but there are such places — Tierra Del Fuego in Argentina, Temagami in Canada and Frigate Island in Grenada. There might even be a couple of large animals waiting to be discovered, like the Yeti and the Bigfoot.

So what might a lone human being experience there, without any modern amenities? This is the focus of Survivorman, a television series in which Les Stroud, the original creator of ‘Survival TV’, shows us how it feels to survive on unforgiving terrains and harsh conditions, with no packed food, shelter, fresh water or tools, and — most importantly — no camera crew.

Completely solo, Les lugged around 50 kg worth of camera gear in his bid to live off the land, and in a bid to make the most extreme survival series yet.His long-standing passion for adventure prompted him to attend survival courses and travel the world. During this series, he faced challenges all the time. On the Mitre Peninsula in Tierra Del Fuego, there were no roads or paths, just cliffs, peat bogs, forest and valleys. There were thick forests en route to the peak of Grenada’s Mount Saint Catherine. In the dense forests of Northern Alberta, there were rattlesnakes, bullsnakes and mountain short-horned lizards.

However, he says that the forests of Ontario’s Temagami were harrowing, challenging several survival experiences. “In the Arctic I woke up at one point on a flat rock and thought, ‘I may have this loaded rifle beside me, but if I wake up and a polar bear is breathing down on my face, I don’t stand a chance,” he says. (We all know what that feels like, right?)

How does one get through a survival ordeal? “In a survival situation, if you can feel comfortable and do things that are familiar, psychologically you’re a little stronger,” Les says. “Lost victims are motivated to keep moving by many things — fear, longing to see their family again, even embarrassment. Whatever it takes, sometimes you have to just keep moving.”

Having been alone in the wilderness, Les has the experience of how things can change. He says that one turnaround of circumstances can make a situation an ordeal, even a nightmare of epic proportions. Sometimes, it’s not a bad injury but something simple like mouth ulcers or stomach ache or a sprain that make the situation worse. To know a few medicinal plants can make a difference. “Survival is still about adapting and using whatever means you can to make it through.”

On a couple of episodes, Les took his son Logan along to the Bella Coola Valley in British Columbia and Wabakimi in Ontario, both in Canada. Being together, they were twice as strong, but they had two mouths to feed. Certain tasks were much easier to accomplish since they could work together. “But I underestimated the effort I needed to keep my son motivated,” he admits.

Les has this to say about surviving in our concrete jungle. “It’s about calculated risks to make your situation better. You need to work your skills and find out a way to overcome them, and in the end, come out as a winner.” Les has one final message: “I really want people to take their shoes off and walk on the grass. They don’t have to go to the jungle like I do. One can experience nature and wildlife in a neighbourhood, in parks. Let children get dirt under their fingernails in parks, let them get out and get muddy.” Let’s try it, shall we? Catch Survivorman every Tuesday at 10 pm, on Discovery Real Heroes.