Between steep mountain ranges, dense rainforests, stark deserts and other spaces, the Earth is home to inconceivably inhospitable environments, where survival is challenging for any creature.
In a new series, adventurer Dwayne Fields takes on the planet’s most hostile environments during the most challenging times ― a “deadly window” when epic natural forces combine.
In 7 Toughest Days, that premieres on Sundays at 21:00, from 19 March 2023 on National Geographic (DStv 181, StarSat 220), Fields has just seven days to guide himself and his camera operator to the safety of civilization, overcoming epic physical and psychological challenges that lie in his path.
Venturing across Gabon, Oman and Kyrgyzstan, he will face nature’s might as epic natural forces combine with supersized external threats.
Episodes include:
Gabon
Dwayne takes on the deadly rainforests and rivers of Gabon. Avoiding raging waterfalls, snakes and crocodiles, he encounters the Baka tribe, who direct him to an underground cave system that he hopes will help him reach his extraction point. Getting out of the impenetrable jungle helps him cover more ground on his journey, but the caves bring new and unexpected dangers.
Oman
Dwayne has just seven days to cross the arid Omani desert in a desperate quest for water. Starting from the coast, he heads inland to a high plateau. There, a vast underground sinkhole leads him to an oasis where he can recharge before his final challenge. A seemingly endless sea of sand dunes stretching for hundreds of miles. In this desolate wilderness, a Bedouin tribe awaits to rescue him.
Kyrgyzstan
Dwayne is in Kyrgyzstan in winter, where temperatures reach minus 40, blizzards set in for weeks and avalanches are a constant threat. He must descend the 5000-meter-high peaks of the Tien Shan mountain range, survive nights in deep crevasses, and cross a vast wind-swept valley to reach a seasonal encampment of nomads before the last leaves for winter.
Born in Jamaica, Dwayne moved to the United Kingdom at the age of six. His formative years were wrapped up in a world of street gangs in inner London. However, after an attempted shooting, he decided to change his life forever and escape into nature. He set himself on the first of many wilderness challenges: walking over 400 miles to the magnetic North Pole.
Dwayne became the second Black man ever to reach the Pole after Matthew Henson in 1909 and is committed to inspiring other young people to follow in his footsteps. He co-founded the #WeTwoFoundation to mentor and empower underprivileged young people from disadvantaged backgrounds by providing life-changing experiences, such as expeditions both overseas and in their home country, to show that no matter where they come from, they can achieve their goals. in 2022, he led the inaugural trip taking a group of young people to Antarctica.
How to tune in:
DSTV: Channel 181
StarSat: 220 on DTH, 220 on DTT (249 on DTT in Uganda)
