The start of the TROPIC OF CAPRICORN series, broadcast 10 Feb 2008:
TROPIC OF CAPRICORN:
In this exciting new series, Simon Reeve finds giant rats detecting landmines and is forced to eat penis soup by Madagascan royalty. Simon meets miners scrabbling for gems in dark, dangerous tunnels and the British anthropologist fighting to save forest communities in South America. He goes hunting with a legendary tribe of former cannibals, struggles the equivalent of half-way up Everest, survives on ‘piss pills’ and coca leaves, eats dried caterpillars, grilled llama, sheep eyes, and searches for wild honey in the forests of northern Argentina.
While following Capricorn Simon is surrounded by a pack of hungry cheetahs, finds flamingoes 4km up in the Andes, a pregnant humpback whale off Australia, lemurs in Madagascar and elephants under threat of culling in southern Africa. He witnesses the age-old ceremony that sparks the Holy Fire of the Herero tribe, discovers desperate Zimbabweans jumping razor wire to get into South Africa, meets a traditional healer now becoming part of the Botswanan NHS and is taught to shoot an AK-47 by Afrikaaner farmers.
Along Capricorn Simon visits a diamond mine described as the most lucrative hole on the planet, but discovers villagers living in poverty next to luxury hotels, squalor in the shadow of Uluru (Ayers Rock) and bleached coral on the Great Barrier Reef. He meets the French ‘Catman’ saving cheetahs in Namibia, Chinese businessmen making their fortune in Africa, prostitutes ravaged by AIDS and surviving Bushmen who live deep inside the Kalahari desert alongside their lion ‘cousins’.
Next to the worst asbestos-contaminated site in the world Simon finds a devoted couple refusing to leave their home. He travels along Capricorn by van, car, train, boat, horseback, helicopter, plane, and roars through the Australian Outback in a 50-metre-long $1m road train. Simon learns how ‘tavy’ has destroyed the forests of Madagascar, and visits the Great Barrier Reef, the Kruger National Park, and the Iguaçu falls, the most impressive waterfalls in the world.
Tropic of Capricorn presenter Simon Reeve reveals his travel passions in an exclusive interview with Wanderlust Travel magazine:
PLACES THAT DON'T EXIST: SOMALILAND 1of3
Simon won a One World Broadcasting Trust Award for this series - "for an outstanding contribution to greater world understanding"
There are almost 200 official countries in the world. But there are dozens more breakaway states which are determined to be separate and independent.
The breakaway states have their own rulers, parliaments or warlords, and are home to millions of people, but they're not officially recognised as proper countries by the rest of the world.
Several have their own armies and police forces, and issue passports and even postage stamps which the rest of the world ignores. All of the breakaway states have declared independence after violent struggles with a neighbouring state.
Some now survive peacefully, but others are a magnet for terrorists and weapons smuggling, and have armies ready for a fight. Several could be at the centre of future wars which threaten their regions and the wider world.
In a world of easy adventure tourism, Simon visits breakaway states & unrecognized nations which don’t usually feature on the tourist trail: Somaliland, Transniestria, South Ossetia, Taiwan, Abkhazia, Ajaria and Nagorno-Karabkh
Welcome to Places That Don't Exist...
PLACES THAT DON'T EXIST: SOMALILAND 2of3
PLACES THAT DON'T EXIST: SOMALILAND 3of3
Clip from the BBC series TROPIC OF CAPRICORN:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/capricorn
Sundays, 8pm, BBC Two.
The second leg of Simon Reeve's journey begins in the northern part of South Africa, a white stronghold during the apartheid era. Simon meets a group of white Afrikaaner farmers who are armed and ready to defend their land in what feels like an increasingly hostile world. The farmers still own the best land and fear it may one day be taken from them, just like in collapsing Zimbabwe, a short drive to the north. Thousands of Zimbabweans cross illegally into SA every week, fleeing hunger and persecution, and at the border Simon witnesses a dramatic human tragedy as young men struggle past thick rolls of razor wire.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/capricorn
Sundays, 8pm, BBC Two
Simon Reeve flies across the Indian Ocean to Madagascar, the world's fourth largest island. After the BBC team's baggage fails to arrive Simon heads out to explore the capital, Antananarivo, known by all as Tana, a unique blend of African, Indian Ocean, and French colonial influences. In the main market Simon's guide encourages him to eat zebu penis soup, an acquired taste, before the bags finally arrive and they fly to the remote south of the island.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/capricorn
Sundays, 8pm, BBC Two
In Namibia, Simon Reeve has an amazing encounter with a pack of hungry cheetahs and a French conservationist nicknamed 'Catman'.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/capricorn
Sundays, 8pm, BBC Two.
Heading east along Capricorn, Simon Reeve encounters awesome wildlife around the Kruger National Park, where proposals to cull the booming elephant population are causing huge controversy, before he enters Mozambique. This beautiful country is still recovering, 15 years after a brutal civil war. Landmines still litter the country, but Simon encounters an unusual project to clear them quickly using Giant Gambian Pouched Rats, whose keen sense of smell can detect explosives under the ground.
Moldova, sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine, gained independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Two-thirds of the people are of Romanian descent, and wanted closer ties with neighbours to the West. But the eastern side of the country wanted to stay close to Ukraine and Russia. War broke out, and the east split to form Transniestria, a new country which – even now - remains unrecognised by the world.
Simon begins his journey by meeting the Moldovan President. Simon expects a formal conversation, but the President is in casual clothes, and takes him fishing. After warning that Transniestria is a “black hole” of arms trafficking, the President offers Simon cognac. As the President’s wife returns with the weekly shopping, Simon and the President are finishing their second bottle.
Outside the capital, Simon discovers Moldova is beautiful but is also the poorest country in Europe. He finds villages with men who sold a kidney to buy a cow.
Simon then heads east to Transniestria, and discovers a country of 600,000 people where Soviet statues still stand, and a mysterious firm called Sheriff runs much of life. He watches the Transniestria Independence Day celebrations, with the whole Soviet-era army and children singing “our army is the best army”.
Simon visits a major steel plant, once the pride of the Soviet Union, but now rumoured to be producing arms, before wandering into Ukraine to show the lax security of a country on the eastern edge of Europe.
Finally, Simon heads through undergrowth towards a secret Russian military base containing an ammunition stockpile that Western spies fear is reaching terrorists. As Simon gets closer, police arrive. Simon and his crew are held by the KGB as spies, questioned, and their equipment is confiscated. Eventually everything is returned, but they realise it’s time to leave.
Places That Don't Exist: Trans-Dniester - Part 1 of 4
Places That Don't Exist: Trans-Dniester - Part 2 of 4
Places That Don't Exist: Trans-Dniester - Part 3 of 4
Places That Don't Exist: Trans-Dniester - Part 4 of 4
Meet the Stans: Kazakhstan
Inside a secret plague and anthrax laboratory in Kazakhstan
Please visit Please visit www.simonreeve.co.uk for more information. Simon Reeve visits a secret plague and anthrax laboratory in Kazakhstan, Central Asia, while making his TV series ‘Meet the Stans’. The ‘Meet the Stans’ series, shown on BBC2, BBC World and by broadcasters internationally, took Simon from the far north-west of Kazakhstan, by the Russian border, east to the Chinese border, south through Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the edge of Afghanistan, and west to Uzbekistan and the legendary Silk Road cities of Samarkand and Bukhara.
The Guardian said it was “…a thrilling postcard from the edge”
The Times said: “Simon Reeve’s journey through Kazakhstan is a first-class Boy’s Own adventure on film and illuminating too. I can’t imagine anyone switching off who stays for the first five minutes.”
Simon Reeve is a bestselling author and broadcaster. In recent years he’s travelled to scores of countries around the world for a series of BBC television documentaries.
The 2008 BBC TV series Tropic of Capricorn took Simon around the line marking the southern border of the tropics. His accompanying book, also called Tropic of Capricorn, is published by BBC Books.
In the BBC series Equator, Simon followed the equator through troubled areas of Africa, Asia and Latin America, including Colombia and the Congo.
In Places That Don’t Exist, Simon travelled through a group of unrecognised nations – countries so obscure they don’t officially exist.
And in Meet the Stans, Simon visited the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Simon’s book The New Jackals: Ramzi Yousef, Osama bin Laden and the future of terrorism, which warned of a new age of apocalyptic terrorism, was the first in the world on bin Laden and al Qaeda. Originally published in 1998 it has been a New York Times bestseller.
Simon has contributed to other books on organised crime, terrorism and biological warfare. His book One Day in September: the story of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, is also an Oscar-winning feature documentary film narrated by the actor Michael Douglas.
Simon has received a One World Broadcasting Trust award for an ‘outstanding contribution to greater world understanding’.
You can find out more information on Simon’s journeys, and see more of Simon’s films, at his website: www.simonreeve.co.uk or at www.youtube.com/shootandscribble
Thanks for watching!
Camels and rusting ships on the bed of the Aral Sea
Please visit Please visit www.simonreeve.co.uk for more information. Simon Reeve sees camels and rusting ships on the bed of the Aral Sea in Kazakhstan, Central Asia, while making his TV series ‘Meet the Stans’. The ‘Meet the Stans’ series took Simon from the far north-west of Kazakhstan, by the Russian border, east to the Chinese border, south through Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the edge of Afghanistan, and west to Uzbekistan and the legendary Silk Road cities of Samarkand and Bukhara.
The Guardian said it was “…a thrilling postcard from the edge”
The Times said: “Simon Reeve’s journey through Kazakhstan is a first-class Boy’s Own adventure on film and illuminating too. I can’t imagine anyone switching off who stays for the first five minutes.”
Simon Reeve is a bestselling author and broadcaster. In recent years he’s travelled to scores of countries around the world for a series of BBC television documentaries.
The 2008 BBC TV series Tropic of Capricorn took Simon around the line marking the southern border of the tropics. His accompanying book, also called Tropic of Capricorn, is published by BBC Books.
In the BBC series Equator, Simon followed the equator through troubled areas of Africa, Asia and Latin America, including Colombia and the Congo.
In Places That Don’t Exist, Simon travelled through a group of unrecognised nations – countries so obscure they don’t officially exist.
And in Meet the Stans, Simon visited the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Simon’s book The New Jackals: Ramzi Yousef, Osama bin Laden and the future of terrorism, which warned of a new age of apocalyptic terrorism, was the first in the world on bin Laden and al Qaeda. Originally published in 1998 it has been a New York Times bestseller.
Simon has contributed to other books on organised crime, terrorism and biological warfare. His book One Day in September: the story of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, is also an Oscar-winning feature documentary film narrated by the actor Michael Douglas.
Simon has received a One World Broadcasting Trust award for an ‘outstanding contribution to greater world understanding’.
You can find out more information on Simon’s journeys, and see more of Simon’s films, at his website: www.simonreeve.co.uk or at www.youtube.com/shootandscribble .
Thanks for watching!
The Kazakhstan Beatles part 1
Please visit Please visit www.simonreeve.co.uk for more information. Simon Reeve meets ‘The Kazakh Beatles’ in Kazakhstan, Central Asia, while making his TV series ‘Meet the Stans’. The ‘Meet the Stans’ series took Simon from the far north-west of Kazakhstan, by the Russian border, east to the Chinese border, south through Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the edge of Afghanistan, and west to Uzbekistan and the legendary Silk Road cities of Samarkand and Bukhara.
The Guardian said it was “…a thrilling postcard from the edge”
The Times said: “Simon Reeve’s journey through Kazakhstan is a first-class Boy’s Own adventure on film and illuminating too. I can’t imagine anyone switching off who stays for the first five minutes.”
Simon Reeve is a bestselling author and broadcaster. In recent years he’s travelled to scores of countries around the world for a series of BBC television documentaries.
The 2008 BBC TV series Tropic of Capricorn took Simon around the line marking the southern border of the tropics. His accompanying book, also called Tropic of Capricorn, is published by BBC Books.
In the BBC series Equator, Simon followed the equator through troubled areas of Africa, Asia and Latin America, including Colombia and the Congo.
In Places That Don’t Exist, Simon travelled through a group of unrecognised nations – countries so obscure they don’t officially exist.
And in Meet the Stans, Simon visited the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Simon’s book The New Jackals: Ramzi Yousef, Osama bin Laden and the future of terrorism, which warned of a new age of apocalyptic terrorism, was the first in the world on bin Laden and al Qaeda. Originally published in 1998 it has been a New York Times bestseller.
Simon has contributed to other books on organised crime, terrorism and biological warfare. His book One Day in September: the story of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, is also an Oscar-winning feature documentary film narrated by the actor Michael Douglas.
Simon has received a One World Broadcasting Trust award for an ‘outstanding contribution to greater world understanding’.
You can find out more information on Simon’s journeys, and see more of Simon’s films, at his website: www.simonreeve.co.uk or at www.youtube.com/shootandscribble .
Thanks for watching!
The Kazakhstan Beatles part 2
Please visit Please visit www.simonreeve.co.uk for more information. Simon Reeve meets ‘The Kazakh Beatles’ in Kazakhstan, Central Asia, while making his TV series ‘Meet the Stans’. The ‘Meet the Stans’ series took Simon from the far north-west of Kazakhstan, by the Russian border, east to the Chinese border, south through Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the edge of Afghanistan, and west to Uzbekistan and the legendary Silk Road cities of Samarkand and Bukhara.
The Guardian said it was “…a thrilling postcard from the edge”
The Times said: “Simon Reeve’s journey through Kazakhstan is a first-class Boy’s Own adventure on film and illuminating too. I can’t imagine anyone switching off who stays for the first five minutes.”
Simon Reeve is a bestselling author and broadcaster. In recent years he’s travelled to scores of countries around the world for a series of BBC television documentaries.
The 2008 BBC TV series Tropic of Capricorn took Simon around the line marking the southern border of the tropics. His accompanying book, also called Tropic of Capricorn, is published by BBC Books.
In the BBC series Equator, Simon followed the equator through troubled areas of Africa, Asia and Latin America, including Colombia and the Congo.
In Places That Don’t Exist, Simon travelled through a group of unrecognised nations – countries so obscure they don’t officially exist.
And in Meet the Stans, Simon visited the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Simon’s book The New Jackals: Ramzi Yousef, Osama bin Laden and the future of terrorism, which warned of a new age of apocalyptic terrorism, was the first in the world on bin Laden and al Qaeda. Originally published in 1998 it has been a New York Times bestseller.
Simon has contributed to other books on organised crime, terrorism and biological warfare. His book One Day in September: the story of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, is also an Oscar-winning feature documentary film narrated by the actor Michael Douglas.
Simon has received a One World Broadcasting Trust award for an ‘outstanding contribution to greater world understanding’.
You can find out more information on Simon’s journeys, and see more of Simon’s films, at his website: www.simonreeve.co.uk or at www.youtube.com/shootandscribble .
Thanks for watching!
Playing polo with the corpse of a headless goat
Please visit www.simonreeve.co.uk for more information. Simon Reeve plays polo with the corpse of a headless goat in Kazakhstan, Central Asia, while making his TV series ‘Meet the Stans’. The ‘Meet the Stans’ series took Simon from the far north-west of Kazakhstan, by the Russian border, east to the Chinese border, south through Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the edge of Afghanistan, and west to Uzbekistan and the legendary Silk Road cities of Samarkand and Bukhara.
The Guardian said it was “…a thrilling postcard from the edge”
The Times said: “Simon Reeve’s journey through Kazakhstan is a first-class Boy’s Own adventure on film and illuminating too. I can’t imagine anyone switching off who stays for the first five minutes.”
Simon Reeve is a bestselling author and broadcaster. In recent years he’s travelled to scores of countries around the world for a series of BBC television documentaries.
The 2008 BBC TV series Tropic of Capricorn took Simon around the line marking the southern border of the tropics. His accompanying book, also called Tropic of Capricorn, is published by BBC Books.
In the BBC series Equator, Simon followed the equator through troubled areas of Africa, Asia and Latin America, including Colombia and the Congo.
In Places That Don’t Exist, Simon travelled through a group of unrecognised nations – countries so obscure they don’t officially exist.
And in Meet the Stans, Simon visited the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Simon’s book The New Jackals: Ramzi Yousef, Osama bin Laden and the future of terrorism, which warned of a new age of apocalyptic terrorism, was the first in the world on bin Laden and al Qaeda. Originally published in 1998 it has been a New York Times bestseller.
Simon has contributed to other books on organised crime, terrorism and biological warfare. His book One Day in September: the story of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, is also an Oscar-winning feature documentary film narrated by the actor Michael Douglas.
Simon has received a One World Broadcasting Trust award for an ‘outstanding contribution to greater world understanding’.
You can find out more information on Simon’s journeys, and see more of Simon’s films, at his website: www.simonreeve.co.uk or at www.youtube.com/shootandscribble
Thanks for watching!
Marijuana growing wild by the roadside
Please visit www.simonreeve.co.uk for more information. Simon Reeve finds marijuana growing wild by the roadside in Kazakhstan, Central Asia, while making his TV series ‘Meet the Stans’. The ‘Meet the Stans’ series took Simon from the far north-west of Kazakhstan, by the Russian border, east to the Chinese border, south through Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the edge of Afghanistan, and west to Uzbekistan and the legendary Silk Road cities of Samarkand and Bukhara.
The Guardian said it was “…a thrilling postcard from the edge”
The Times said: “Simon Reeve’s journey through Kazakhstan is a first-class Boy’s Own adventure on film and illuminating too. I can’t imagine anyone switching off who stays for the first five minutes.”
Simon Reeve is a bestselling author and broadcaster. In recent years he’s travelled to scores of countries around the world for a series of BBC television documentaries.
The 2008 BBC TV series Tropic of Capricorn took Simon around the line marking the southern border of the tropics. His accompanying book, also called Tropic of Capricorn, is published by BBC Books.
In the BBC series Equator, Simon followed the equator through troubled areas of Africa, Asia and Latin America, including Colombia and the Congo.
In Places That Don’t Exist, Simon travelled through a group of unrecognised nations – countries so obscure they don’t officially exist.
And in Meet the Stans, Simon visited the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Simon’s book The New Jackals: Ramzi Yousef, Osama bin Laden and the future of terrorism, which warned of a new age of apocalyptic terrorism, was the first in the world on bin Laden and al Qaeda. Originally published in 1998 it has been a New York Times bestseller.
Simon has contributed to other books on organised crime, terrorism and biological warfare. His book One Day in September: the story of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, is also an Oscar-winning feature documentary film narrated by the actor Michael Douglas.
Simon has received a One World Broadcasting Trust award for an ‘outstanding contribution to greater world understanding’.
You can find out more information on Simon’s journeys, and see more of Simon’s films, at his website: www.simonreeve.co.uk or at www.youtube.com/shootandscribble .
Thanks for watching!
Life on a US base in Central Asia
Please visit www.simonreeve.co.uk for more information. Simon Reeve visits a US base in Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia, while making his TV series ‘Meet the Stans’. The ‘Meet the Stans’ series took Simon from the far north-west of Kazakhstan, by the Russian border, east to the Chinese border, south through Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the edge of Afghanistan, and west to Uzbekistan and the legendary Silk Road cities of Samarkand and Bukhara.
The Guardian said it was “…a thrilling postcard from the edge”
The Times said: “Simon Reeve’s journey through Kazakhstan is a first-class Boy’s Own adventure on film and illuminating too. I can’t imagine anyone switching off who stays for the first five minutes.”
Simon Reeve is a bestselling author and broadcaster. In recent years he’s travelled to scores of countries around the world for a series of BBC television documentaries.
The 2008 BBC TV series Tropic of Capricorn took Simon around the line marking the southern border of the tropics. His accompanying book, also called Tropic of Capricorn, is published by BBC Books.
In the BBC series Equator, Simon followed the equator through troubled areas of Africa, Asia and Latin America, including Colombia and the Congo.
In Places That Don’t Exist, Simon travelled through a group of unrecognised nations – countries so obscure they don’t officially exist.
And in Meet the Stans, Simon visited the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Simon’s book The New Jackals: Ramzi Yousef, Osama bin Laden and the future of terrorism, which warned of a new age of apocalyptic terrorism, was the first in the world on bin Laden and al Qaeda. Originally published in 1998 it has been a New York Times bestseller.
Simon has contributed to other books on organised crime, terrorism and biological warfare. His book One Day in September: the story of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, is also an Oscar-winning feature documentary film narrated by the actor Michael Douglas.
Simon has received a One World Broadcasting Trust award for an ‘outstanding contribution to greater world understanding’.
You can find out more information on Simon’s journeys, and see more of Simon’s films, at his website: www.simonreeve.co.uk or at www.youtube.com/shootandscribble .
Thanks for watching!
Walking into a radioactive waste dump
Please visit : www.simonreeve.co.uk for more information. Simon Reeve walks into a radioactive waste dump in Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia, while making his TV series ‘Meet the Stans’. The ‘Meet the Stans’ series took Simon from the far north-west of Kazakhstan, by the Russian border, east to the Chinese border, south through Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the edge of Afghanistan, and west to Uzbekistan and the legendary Silk Road cities of Samarkand and Bukhara.
The Guardian said it was “…a thrilling postcard from the edge”
The Times said: “Simon Reeve’s journey through Kazakhstan is a first-class Boy’s Own adventure on film and illuminating too. I can’t imagine anyone switching off who stays for the first five minutes.”
Simon Reeve is a bestselling author and broadcaster. In recent years he’s travelled to scores of countries around the world for a series of BBC television documentaries.
The 2008 BBC TV series Tropic of Capricorn took Simon around the line marking the southern border of the tropics. His accompanying book, also called Tropic of Capricorn, is published by BBC Books.
In the BBC series Equator, Simon followed the equator through troubled areas of Africa, Asia and Latin America, including Colombia and the Congo.
In Places That Don’t Exist, Simon travelled through a group of unrecognised nations – countries so obscure they don’t officially exist.
And in Meet the Stans, Simon visited the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Simon’s book The New Jackals: Ramzi Yousef, Osama bin Laden and the future of terrorism, which warned of a new age of apocalyptic terrorism, was the first in the world on bin Laden and al Qaeda. Originally published in 1998 it has been a New York Times bestseller.
Simon has contributed to other books on organised crime, terrorism and biological warfare. His book One Day in September: the story of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, is also an Oscar-winning feature documentary film narrated by the actor Michael Douglas.
Simon has received a One World Broadcasting Trust award for an ‘outstanding contribution to greater world understanding’.
You can find out more information on Simon’s journeys, and see more of Simon’s films, at his website: www.simonreeve.co.uk or at www.youtube.com/shootandscribble .
Thanks for watching!
An illegal game of pool in Uzbekistan
Please visit www.simonreeve.co.uk for more information. Simon Reeve plays an illegal game of pool in Uzbekistan, Central Asia, while making his TV series ‘Meet the Stans’. The ‘Meet the Stans’ series took Simon from the far north-west of Kazakhstan, by the Russian border, east to the Chinese border, south through Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the edge of Afghanistan, and west to Uzbekistan and the legendary Silk Road cities of Samarkand and Bukhara.
The Guardian said it was “…a thrilling postcard from the edge”
The Times said: “Simon Reeve’s journey through Kazakhstan is a first-class Boy’s Own adventure on film and illuminating too. I can’t imagine anyone switching off who stays for the first five minutes.”
Simon Reeve is a bestselling author and broadcaster. In recent years he’s travelled to scores of countries around the world for a series of BBC television documentaries.
The 2008 BBC TV series Tropic of Capricorn took Simon around the line marking the southern border of the tropics. His accompanying book, also called Tropic of Capricorn, is published by BBC Books.
In the BBC series Equator, Simon followed the equator through troubled areas of Africa, Asia and Latin America, including Colombia and the Congo.
In Places That Don’t Exist, Simon travelled through a group of unrecognised nations – countries so obscure they don’t officially exist.
And in Meet the Stans, Simon visited the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Simon’s book The New Jackals: Ramzi Yousef, Osama bin Laden and the future of terrorism, which warned of a new age of apocalyptic terrorism, was the first in the world on bin Laden and al Qaeda. Originally published in 1998 it has been a New York Times bestseller.
Simon has contributed to other books on organised crime, terrorism and biological warfare. His book One Day in September: the story of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, is also an Oscar-winning feature documentary film narrated by the actor Michael Douglas.
Simon has received a One World Broadcasting Trust award for an ‘outstanding contribution to greater world understanding’.
You can find out more information on Simon’s journeys, and see more of Simon’s films, at his website: www.simonreeve.co.uk or at www.youtube.com/shootandscribble .
Thanks for watching!
Why they can't find Osama bin Laden
Please visit www.simonreeve.co.uk for more information. Simon Reeve discovers why the US can’t find Osama bin Laden while making his TV series ‘Meet the Stans’. The ‘Meet the Stans’ series took Simon from the far north-west of Kazakhstan, by the Russian border, east to the Chinese border, south through Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the edge of Afghanistan, and west to Uzbekistan and the legendary Silk Road cities of Samarkand and Bukhara.
The Guardian said it was “…a thrilling postcard from the edge”
The Times said: “Simon Reeve’s journey through Kazakhstan is a first-class Boy’s Own adventure on film and illuminating too. I can’t imagine anyone switching off who stays for the first five minutes.”
Simon Reeve is a bestselling author and broadcaster. In recent years he’s travelled to scores of countries around the world for a series of BBC television documentaries.
The 2008 BBC TV series Tropic of Capricorn took Simon around the line marking the southern border of the tropics. His accompanying book, also called Tropic of Capricorn, is published by BBC Books.
In the BBC series Equator, Simon followed the equator through troubled areas of Africa, Asia and Latin America, including Colombia and the Congo.
In Places That Don’t Exist, Simon travelled through a group of unrecognised nations – countries so obscure they don’t officially exist.
And in Meet the Stans, Simon visited the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Simon’s book The New Jackals: Ramzi Yousef, Osama bin Laden and the future of terrorism, which warned of a new age of apocalyptic terrorism, was the first in the world on bin Laden and al Qaeda. Originally published in 1998 it has been a New York Times bestseller.
Simon has contributed to other books on organised crime, terrorism and biological warfare. His book One Day in September: the story of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, is also an Oscar-winning feature documentary film narrated by the actor Michael Douglas.
Simon has received a One World Broadcasting Trust award for an ‘outstanding contribution to greater world understanding’.
You can find out more information on Simon’s journeys, and see more of Simon’s films, at his website: www.simonreeve.co.uk or at www.youtube.com/shootandscribble .
Thanks for watching!
Vodka terrorism
Please visit www.simonreeve.co.uk for more information. Simon Reeve endures ‘vodka terrorism’ in Tajikistan, Central Asia, while making his TV series ‘Meet the Stans’. The ‘Meet the Stans’ series took Simon from the far north-west of Kazakhstan, by the Russian border, east to the Chinese border, south through Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the edge of Afghanistan, and west to Uzbekistan and the legendary Silk Road cities of Samarkand and Bukhara.
The Guardian said it was “…a thrilling postcard from the edge”
The Times said: “Simon Reeve’s journey through Kazakhstan is a first-class Boy’s Own adventure on film and illuminating too. I can’t imagine anyone switching off who stays for the first five minutes.”
Simon Reeve is a bestselling author and broadcaster. In recent years he’s travelled to scores of countries around the world for a series of BBC television documentaries.
The 2008 BBC TV series Tropic of Capricorn took Simon around the line marking the southern border of the tropics. His accompanying book, also called Tropic of Capricorn, is published by BBC Books.
In the BBC series Equator, Simon followed the equator through troubled areas of Africa, Asia and Latin America, including Colombia and the Congo.
In Places That Don’t Exist, Simon travelled through a group of unrecognised nations – countries so obscure they don’t officially exist.
And in Meet the Stans, Simon visited the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Simon’s book The New Jackals: Ramzi Yousef, Osama bin Laden and the future of terrorism, which warned of a new age of apocalyptic terrorism, was the first in the world on bin Laden and al Qaeda. Originally published in 1998 it has been a New York Times bestseller.
Simon has contributed to other books on organised crime, terrorism and biological warfare. His book One Day in September: the story of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, is also an Oscar-winning feature documentary film narrated by the actor Michael Douglas.
Simon has received a One World Broadcasting Trust award for an ‘outstanding contribution to greater world understanding’.
You can find out more information on Simon’s journeys, and see more of Simon’s films, at his website: www.simonreeve.co.uk or at www.youtube.com/shootandscribble .
Thanks for watching!
Buying a diplomatic passport from Mr. Big Beard in the most dangerous city in the world
Please visit www.simonreeve.co.uk for more information.
Simon Reeve buys a diplomatic passport from a man called Mr Big Beard in Mogadishu, the most dangerous city in the world, while making his TV series ‘Places That Don’t Exist'. In the ‘Places That Don’t Exist’ series Simon travelled to a group of unrecognised nations – countries so obscure they don’t officially exist. Among the countries he visited are Somaliland and Somalia, South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Georgia, Taiwan and China, Transdniestria and Moldova, and Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The Daily Telegraph said the series was ‘exemplary…riveting…eye-opening…remarkable…superb’. Radio Times said: ‘Delightful…sharp…first class’; and the Daily Mail said it was: ‘Unmissable’.
Simon Reeve is a bestselling author and broadcaster. In recent years he’s travelled to scores of countries around the world for a series of BBC television documentaries.
The 2008 BBC TV series Tropic of Capricorn took Simon around the line marking the southern border of the tropics. His accompanying book, also called Tropic of Capricorn, is published by BBC Books.
In the BBC series Equator, Simon followed the equator through troubled areas of Africa, Asia and Latin America, including Colombia and the Congo.
And in Meet the Stans, Simon visited the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Simon’s book The New Jackals: Ramzi Yousef, Osama bin Laden and the future of terrorism, which warned of a new age of apocalyptic terrorism, was the first in the world on bin Laden and al Qaeda. Originally published in 1998 it has been a New York Times bestseller.
Simon has contributed to other books on organised crime, terrorism and biological warfare. His book One Day in September: the story of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, is also an Oscar-winning feature documentary film narrated by the actor Michael Douglas.
Simon has received a One World Broadcasting Trust award for an ‘outstanding contribution to greater world understanding’.
You can find out more information on Simon’s journeys, and see more of Simon’s films, at his website: www.simonreeve.co.uk or at www.youtube.com/shootandscribble .
Thanks for watching!
The busy port of Mogadishu, Somalia
Please visit www.simonreeve.co.uk for more information.
Simon Reeve visits the busy port in Mogadishu, Somalia, the most dangerous city in the world, while making his TV series ‘Places That Don’t Exist’. In the ‘Places That Don’t Exist’ series Simon travelled to a group of unrecognised nations – countries so obscure they don’t officially exist. Among the countries he visited are Somaliland and Somalia, South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Georgia, Taiwan and China, Transdniestria and Moldova, and Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The Daily Telegraph said the series was ‘exemplary…riveting…eye-opening…remarkable…superb’. Radio Times said: ‘Delightful…sharp…first class’; and the Daily Mail said it was: ‘Unmissable’.
Simon Reeve is a bestselling author and broadcaster. In recent years he’s travelled to scores of countries around the world for a series of BBC television documentaries.
The 2008 BBC TV series Tropic of Capricorn took Simon around the line marking the southern border of the tropics. His accompanying book, also called Tropic of Capricorn, is published by BBC Books.
In the BBC series Equator, Simon followed the equator through troubled areas of Africa, Asia and Latin America, including Colombia and the Congo.
And in Meet the Stans, Simon visited the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Simon’s book The New Jackals: Ramzi Yousef, Osama bin Laden and the future of terrorism, which warned of a new age of apocalyptic terrorism, was the first in the world on bin Laden and al Qaeda. Originally published in 1998 it has been a New York Times bestseller.
Simon has contributed to other books on organised crime, terrorism and biological warfare. His book One Day in September: the story of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, is also an Oscar-winning feature documentary film narrated by the actor Michael Douglas.
Simon has received a One World Broadcasting Trust award for an ‘outstanding contribution to greater world understanding’.
You can find out more information on Simon’s journeys, and see more of Simon’s films, at his website: www.simonreeve.co.uk or at www.youtube.com/shootandscribble .
Thanks for watching!
NASA Space Shuttle emergency landing strip
Please visit www.simonreeve.co.uk for more information. Simon Reeve discovers NASA’s secret emergency landing strip for the space shuttle in Somaliland while making his TV series ‘Places That Don’t Exist’. In the ‘Places That Don’t Exist’ series Simon travelled to a group of unrecognised nations – countries so obscure they don’t officially exist. Among the countries he visited are Somaliland and Somalia, South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Georgia, Taiwan and China, Transdniestria and Moldova, and Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The Daily Telegraph said the series was ‘exemplary…riveting…eye-opening…remarkable…superb’. Radio Times said: ‘Delightful…sharp…first class’; and the Daily Mail said it was: ‘Unmissable’.
Simon Reeve is a bestselling author and broadcaster. In recent years he’s travelled to scores of countries around the world for a series of BBC television documentaries.
The 2008 BBC TV series Tropic of Capricorn took Simon around the line marking the southern border of the tropics. His accompanying book, also called Tropic of Capricorn, is published by BBC Books.
In the BBC series Equator, Simon followed the equator through troubled areas of Africa, Asia and Latin America, including Colombia and the Congo.
And in Meet the Stans, Simon vis
Books
Six of my favourite books, all for different reasons…
Schindlers Ark by Thomas Keneally.
Keneally is a brilliant writer, and this is his triumph. He takes a thousand painful memories and weaves them into a astonishing tale of evil, survival and heroism. It's a stunning work of non-fiction.
History of the Twentieth Century by J.M. Roberts.
Roberts’ landmark History of the World was followed by this sweeping overview of our most turbulent century. He takes a long-term view, but includes dramatic events with the more gentle underlying trends, such as the declining power of Europe, the social and economic advance of women, and the rise of Asia.
The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes.
At 800 pages this is a weighty doorstopper of a book, but it really holds the reader. Rhodes has tales of commandos destroying heavy-water plants in Norway, along with the personalities, politics, and of course the physics.
A River Sutra by Gita Mehta
A sequence of delicate stories set on the banks of the Narmada river, India’s holiest. I never normally read anything that could be described as ‘life-enhancing’, but this one is a gem.
Molvania: A Land Untouched by Modern Dentistry by Santo Cilauro
A frighteningly accurate guide to a fictitious East European state. Molvania is a land of garlic brandy somewhere east of Romania, where it is sensible to greet people with a shout of ‘Don’t shoot!’. The book mentions thermal springs that cure ailments of the skin by stripping much of it from the body. I think I might have visited Molvania...
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Capote pretty much invented the non-fiction novel with this chronicle of simple murder in 1950s Kansas. There have been countless books detailing more gruesome crimes and more complicated police investigations, but few are better written than In Cold Blood.
About me: Hello -- I'm a writer, author and a telly presenter. I've spent the last few years travelling around little-known regions of the world for the BBC TV series Tropic of Capricorn, Equator, Places That Don't Exist and Meet the Stans.
My most recent book and TV series is Tropic of Capricorn, a journey that took me around the globe through 10 extraordinary countries.
The 22,835-mile Tropic of Capricorn marks the southern border of the tropics, and crosses some of the wildest and most spectacular parts of our planet. I started on the coast of Namibia and headed east through Africa, Australia and South America, discovering breathtaking sights, strange rituals, desperate poverty and exotic wildlife.
Here's a few media reviews of the Capricorn series:
Daily Telegraph: "like all the best travellers, Reeve carries out his investigations with infectious relish, and in the realisation that trying to understand the country you're in is not just fascinating, but also hugely enjoyable."
Daily Mail: "Five Stars...Brilliant...a fascinating, illuminating journey...much more than a travelogue."
Radio Times: "moving stories and remarkable sights"
The BBC website for the series is at www.bbc.co.uk/capricorn
You can find out more about the book at our website:
www.shootandscribble.com
Country: United Kingdom
Here is our video for Critical which is released in Noevmeber http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AptagRqy6EA We are touring in October, let us know if you are coming to party! x
really enjoyed watching Places That Don't Exist and looking forward to seeing more of your work..I'll be going to Bulgaria next month, so, who knows, maybe I'll bump into you somewhere :) POZDRAV from Croatia
Hiya, I absolutely loved Tropic of capricorn, it was such eye-opening journalism. You must have had so many great experiences. When is Tropic of cancer being shown?
Tropic of Capricorn was such fantastic viewing, so original and great to see areas off the beaten track so intelligently observed. Looking forward to more of the same! X
How come no comments? well, in that case, let me be the first to say that your books and programmes are fab and am very jealous! keep it up for all of the rest of us who need to travel more....
