Pole to Pole with Will Smith

So, how you gonna try to kill me today, Bryan?

We're heading way upriver into the Ecuadorian rainforest,

where we'll find the largest of all snakes, the anaconda.

Maybe the anaconda will find us first.

Oh, man.

When they pull this camera out of an anaconda

100 years from now, I just want you to know

-um, it's his fault. -

The Amazon has long been the home

of the giant reptiles, and in fact, is rumored

to be home to the biggest of all the anacondas.

So, really, like, how big do they get?

A full-grown anaconda is about 15 to 18 feet.

So, you're not too big to be food.

Bro, all right.

This is gonna go all bad.

I've been inspired to explore the extremes of our planet,

because that's where we can find the answers

to some of life's biggest mysteries.

Now, I'm heading even deeper into the Amazon...

the world's largest rainforest...

to search for a snake the size of a school bus.

I've only ever seen an anaconda

in a Jennifer Lopez movie.

And, I mean, J.Lo survived, but it wasn't fun.

She didn't enjoy that.

But I'm still trying to get my head around the idea of

looking for an anaconda, and why we would do that.

No, it's really important work

because we're gonna use the anaconda to study the health of the ecosystem.

I've been fascinated by snakes since I was a little kid,

so the opportunity to go after the world's biggest snake

is frankly a dream come true.

The reason I'm doing it is that there are fears

that this part of the Amazon is becoming polluted.

And the best indicator of the health of an ecosystem

are its biggest predators.

So, how many people does it take to grab an anaconda?

The anaconda is a big animal, but we are lucky

because we are going to meet

-an indigenous group... -Mm-hmm?

...that lives in this deep jungle, the Waorani.

They know how to track the anaconda, how to handle it right.

-Mm-hmm. -So we really need these people.

They are the real experts of the jungle.

So, we got one of the world's best snake guys

and a world-class expedition leader,

and we still need help?

Yeah... no.

-Okay. - All right.

-All right. -

- - Wow.

- Hola. - Hey.

Waponi!

Oh, okay, I come with you.

Vamos, vamos, vamos.

- -

They get up this hill a lot easier than me.

Hola, hola.

- Wow. -

What's the proper greeting?

- Waponi. -Waponi, waponi.

The Waorani call the jungle home.

And they have been living there for thousands of years.

I really hope that Will can learn from these people.

Because they have this deep connection with Mother Nature.

Fantastic.

Waponi, waponi, waponi.

That's a powerful welcome here.

Yes, goodness.

-Waponi. Waponi. -Waponi.

This is Penti, the leader of the community.

- Waponi. -Waponi.

Now come with me into my home.

- Okay. - Let's go.

Scientists rarely get to work

with remote indigenous communities in the Amazon.

Please sit down.

Their vast understanding of these snakes

is going to be vital for the success of the expedition.

First of all I want to thank you

for coming to my home

my territory, my land.

I'm very happy to be here.

I'm really looking forward to seeing an anaconda in person.

My son Tepeña is good at capturing them.

He's out looking for one now.

Yeah, my son cannot catch an anaconda.

How do you feel about working with people

from outside of your family and community?

This project is important.

All animals

and the anaconda

share a life with us in the jungle.

The land gives us life.

Living in harmony with the animals,

this seems like a difficult environment to do that in.

No.

Living here makes us proud.

I'm really humbled to be here to spend this time with you.

And you talked about living with the forest.

Can you show me around and give me a sense

of what you mean by that?

Of course.

Before we catch an anaconda

I'll show you how we live.

Absolutely, yes, please.

This is our community.

We live really close to the jungle

with animals everywhere.

Our land is life.

Wow.

We call her Tite.

Tite, Tite, Tite.

Tite.

This baby tapir is free.

She comes and goes as she pleases.

Look, there she goes into the jungle.

There are 28 families living here.

We have a little school.

A community house where we work.

Nice to meet you.

- - Waponi.

This is how they weave the fiber

taken from a palm tree.

Ah, and it turns into this?

Yes, this turns into a hammock.

The jungle has everything we need.

That's fantastic.

I noticed there's some things that you let in from the outside world.

Yes.

For thousands of years

we have kept this work and culture,

but now, it's very different.

My first memories when I was a child.

I was so happy

living in this wonderful place.

We knew nothing of the outside world.

Then, when I was 4 or 5 years old

there was first contact.

They wanted to change us really fast.

We were caught in two worlds.

Their footprint of colonization went deep into our land.

So, I noticed some people have t-shirts and shorts,

then some people are, you know, more traditional.

Everyone decides their way of life.

Mm-hmm.

But for me it's normal to be like this

because we were born without clothes.

Mm-hmm. Does the-- 'cause, you know, that thing looks like it might hurt.

Like, does that hurt at all to have it on?

This is just like when you put on shorts.

I'm gonna want one of those when-- before I go.

I'll show you how to put one on tomorrow.

Waponi. Waponi.

I think I understand Penti a little better.

I started off-- I was gonna say nervous, but I was scared.

You know, really uncomfortable.

- - Uh-oh.

Oh, hey, all right. Okay. Hey!

You know, it's really beautiful to be out here.

But for me, it's like outside of my comfort zone.

It's such an extreme environment.

Bryan, what are you doin'?

I leave you alone for five minutes, and you find a snake?

See it right there, it's hidden.

- Mm-hmm. -It's called a vine snake.

And if you're walking on by and it doesn't move,

-you won't see that. -You will not see that.

Whoa. I'm looking at that,

and I see I'm really uncomfortable with snakes.

- -I just got really clear.

-Like, the snake thing. -Which is good.

You know, it's good to know your comfort zones

so we can shatter them.

Hey, hey, hey. Buddy, Bryan.

So, if you remain calm...

-Mm-hmm. -...they remain calm.

Whoa.

So, look at how attuned to motion he is.

-So he's a visual hunter. -Mm-hmm.

Mm, he's looking at me, Bryan.

-Hey, Bryan. -Like I said, remain calm.

Bryan just showed me the snake.