In the extra-long first episode of 'Beagle, in the wake of Darwin' we see the preparations for the big trip and we get to know the most important crew members.
After the departure from Plymouth, peace has returned and the people on board are considering the main problem of the series: is man busy destroying life on earth or is this greatly exaggerated?
The Clipper Stad Amsterdam sails through the area of the Canary Islands. The once explosive volcanic area is the perfect backdrop to talk about extinction. Could humans die out themselves?
The Clipper sails to Cape Verde. On Sao Vicente, Sarah looks at the animals, plants and landscape that Darwin also marveled at. Anna Gorbushina and Bill Broughton are researching Sahara dust.
The Clipper Stad Amsterdam makes the crossing to South America. Across the ocean 1255 nautical miles from Cape Verde to Fernando de Noronha off the Brazilian coast.
The Clipper Stad Amsterdam has arrived in Fernando de Noronha, off the Brazilian coast. Over time, this divine island has undergone a true metamorphosis.
The Clipper Stad Amsterdam has arrived in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil. It is the place where Charles Darwin first became acquainted with the 'overwhelming tropics'.
The Clipper Stad Amsterdam is located in Salvador de Bahia in Brazil. It is where Darwin first faced slavery. A shocking phenomenon in his eyes. It sparked fierce debate with FitzRoy and Darwin almost had to disembark.
How big are the differences within the human species really? How did homo sapiens develop over the course of history? And how exactly does such an adjustment process proceed? Adapt and survive, that's what this is about.
The Clipper Stad Amsterdam sails from Montevideo to Buenos Aires. In these cities, Charles Darwin once again became captivated by a typically South American phenomenon in his eyes, the feminine beauty.
The Clipper Stad Amsterdam sails from Buenos Aires to Bahia Blanca. A route that Darwin mainly explored on land. Along the way, he found some intriguing fossils of extinct species: a giant sloth and a giant armadillo.
The Clipper Stad Amsterdam sails from Bahia Blanca to Puerto Madryn. It is the domain of, among others, the Zuidkaper, a whale species that used to be intensively hunted.
The Clipper Stad Amsterdam sails from Puerto Madryn to Punta Arenas. At the time, Darwin was amazed at the animal kingdom he found in the sea. And it is still one of the most important fishing areas in the world. But for how long?
The Clipper Stad Amsterdam sails in the Magellan Strait and Sarah Darwin makes a journey through Tierra del Fuego. The Captain of the Beagle, Robert FitzRoy, was on a personal mission in this area.
The Clipper Stad Amsterdam sails along the southern tip of South America. It is an area full of legendary names: Cape Horn, Magellan Strait, and the Beagle Channel.
The Clipper Stad Amsterdam is on its way to Valparaiso, Chile. The place where Charles Darwin experienced one of the most severe earthquakes ever in 1835. The country is still regularly hit by earthquakes.
The clipper Stad Amsterdam is on its way to Callao, near the Peruvian capital Lima. On board is Gregory Cushman, climate historian specialized in the impressive natural phenomenon El Niño.
Why are Tahitian women always portrayed with bare breasts and a flower garland carefully draped over them? And why is the French painter Gauguin partly to blame for this carefully cherished image?
According to some, not Darwin, but Alfred Russel Wallace was the patriarch of the theory of evolution. We continues to search for the spirit of this British naturalist, without whom Darwin would never have published The Origin of Species.
The clipper Stad Amsterdam finally arrives in Australia after a three-week journey. Tim Flannery awaits his old friend Redmond O'Hanlon in Sydney. He wants to show him the 'real' Australia.
When Darwin visited Australia in 1836, he particularly noticed the character of the inhabitants. He didn't have a good word for it. They are only concerned with one thing, he thought: to make as much money as possible.
"If criminal behavior is genetic, then Australia must be full of crooks," is a slogan about both Australia and genetics. It is funny that in Australia, science is at the forefront of the use of genetic knowledge and technology.
The essential difference between humans and robots: life. What is that life really? And can't we also bring that robot to life? Is man being overtaken and gradually becoming obsolete?
We visit the Nhandas and are taken to their land of hope and glory. The Aboriginal tribe from Western Australia claims to have Dutch blood in their veins.
How fast is the earth really heating up? And how bad is that really? Is there still enough time to save it all? Now that climate science has come under fire for errors in the IPCC report, Beagle is looking for the facts.
Mauritius, the island of the famous extinct flightless bird: the dodo. The Mauritians have had enough of that reputation and want to be seen as saviors of nature. Unfortunately, a monkey is in the way.
In the previous episode, we saw how the macaque was sacrificed in Mauritius to save endemic species withering away. However, the sacrificed species is a monkey. And monkeys, weren't they our closest relatives in the animal kingdom?
Charles Darwin sailed the oceans for five years, but never really dived into it. In his day no one actually did that; sea was sea and there was fish in it, period.
Man is originally from Africa; our ancestors were black. How is it then that part of us is 'whitewashed'? And will we all soon be 'mocha brown' again, in these times of globalization?
After eight long, wonderful months, the journey comes to an end in Cape Town. The world tour in Darwin's wake was overwhelming, the differences between the world he described and the one the makers saw were immense.
