Where the Wild Men Are with Ben Fogle

Where the wild man are

Adventurer Ben Fogle meets more people who’ve turned their back on the rat race and set up home in some of the most remote locations on Earth. He meets adventurous souls including a 70-year-old master craftsman who’s been living in the Arkansas woods for 20 years, a Canadian who lives as a Buddhist monk in the jungles of Thailand, and a nomadic family exploring New Zealand’s wild landscapes.

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Where the Wild Men Are with Ben Fogle on BBC Select

Series 6: 

Episode 1: Arkansas
Ben journeys to the Ozark National Forest in Arkansas, to live with craftsman Robert.

Ben Fogle journeys to the Ozark National Forest in Arkansas, to live with master craftsman Robert. He learns why this 70-year-old former medical student ditched his education for America’s counterculture 20 years ago, bought 200 acres of land deep in the woods, and raised a family of six children. Ben sees how far-reaching Robert’s skills are, and how his family have supported him in his dream.

Episode 2: New Zealand
Ben travels to New Zealand’s North Island, where he meets a young nomadic family.

Ben travels to New Zealand’s North Island, where he meets a young nomadic family led by Amber and Andy, who spend their life exploring the country’s wild landscapes. He hears how the family’s lives changed forever after one fateful day, how they swapped the stress of the city for a life on the open road, the price they paid for chasing their dream and how the horrors of the past still haunt them.

Episode 3: Thailand
Ben spends time with 40-year- old French- Canadian Julien, on the Thai border with Myanmar.

Deep into the jungle mountains of Thailand on the border with Myanmar and far off any conventional map, Ben spends time with 40- year – old French-Canadian Julien. He’s been a Buddhist monk for almost half his life, living in a remote monastery. Ben learns why this former teenage student from the West stripped away all complications of a modern life style for a primitive Eastern religious existence.

Episode 4: Norway
Ben Fogle joins adventurer Randi, who was the first Norwegian woman to climb Everest.

In the Arctic Circle, Ben Fogle meets Randi Skaug, the first Norwegian woman to climb Everest. Ben is planning to scale the world’s highest mountain himself and needs some tips and advice. He embraces the tough and basic life on Randi’s 8.5-acre island by sleeping outdoors and collecting raw building materials. Ben also has a sea kayaking adventure and witnesses the Northern Lights.

Episode 5: Bulgaria
Ben travels to the vast forests of Bulgaria’ s Rhodope Mountains to meet a nomad couple.

Ben travels to the vast forests of the Rhodope Mountains in Bulgaria to join Miriam and Peter, a couple who have chosen to live as nomads, hiking through some of the world’s most striking wildernesses. The couple have decided to live without a permanent home, carrying their only possessions on their backs. Ben helps them forage and hunt for food and even undertakes some unusual washing techniques.

Episode 6: Canada
Ben meets Jeff and Rose and their five daughters who live in the Canadian wilderness.

Ben meets Jeff and Rose and their daughters who live in the vast wilderness of north-west Canada. It’s late autumn, and before long the family will be locked in by two meters of snow, in a region where temperatures often hit -30C. Ben joins them on a moose hunt adventure and discovers that one animal will sustain them all year. And he learns that even the youngest children are expected to work.

Episode 7: Ireland
Ben journeys to Ireland’s rugged Atlantic coastline to meet an intrepid 80-year-old.

Ben Fogle travels to Ireland’s rugged Atlantic coastline in the bleak midwinter. He stays with Judith, an 80-year-old who rejected a modern lifestyle for one closer to nature. Ben learns how she and her late husb and created a unique utopia and discovers how, even at an advanced age, she is determined to remain alone in her solitary cottage nestled in a remote hillside.

Episode 8: Brazil
Ben Fogle travels to Brazil to meet Chris who lives in the jungle near the Amazon River.

Adventurer Ben Fogle travels to Brazil to meet Chris, a Scotsman who has chosen to make his home in one of the most remote areas of the jungle near the Amazon River. He discovers how Chris’s love affair with the rainforest began when he had a near-death experience, and how he fought for almost three decades to protect this part of the world. Ben also has a close encounter with a tarantula.

Series 5

Episode 1: Washington State
Adventurer Ben Fogle journeys to the Pacific Northwest and meets a prehistoric punk.

Adventurer Ben Fogle journeys to the Pacific Northwest to live with British-born Lynx Vilden. As this intriguing travel documentary reveals, this former punk-rock wild-child has spent more than half her life hunting, eating and sleeping in the wilderness. Lynx teaches Ben the tricks of surviving this Stone Age lifestyle and discovers her mission to convince the rest of us to ‘become prehistoric’.

Episode 2: Tanzania
Ben Fogle travels to Tanzania and lives nomadically in an unexplored African landscape.

Adventurer Ben Fogle heads to Tanzania, living nomadically with Brit-born Moli and his wife Noelle. As this engrossing travel documentary reveals, they swapped a city life style for a vast wilderness and a new safari guiding business. In one of the wildest and least visited parks in the area, Ben experiences living alongside some of the most fearsome animals on Earth.

Episode 3: Hungary
Ben travels to remote Hungary and meets a couple who bought a derelict farmhouse online.

In 2015, Julia from South Africa and her British husband Gareth bought a derelict farmhouse online. They had never visited Eastern Europe before but wanted a new low-impact, self-sufficient life style. In this fascinating travel documentary, Ben Fogle meets them at the property in the Hungarian countryside, helps install a window and assists as they try to buy chickens in the local market.

Episode 4: Canada
Ben Fogle journeys into the Canadian wilderness to meet renowned grizzly bear guides.

Ben Fogle journeys into the Canadian countryside and meets Julius and Kristin in a remote mountain valley lodge. In this eye-opening travel documentary, he discovers how the former war correspondent became one of North America’s top grizzly bear guides. Ben joins his hosts as they prepare for the adventure of bear viewing season and heads out on a 24-hour trek to find new ground away from hunters.

Episode 5: Ibiza
Ben Fogle joins a remarkable commune in a secluded valley on the Spanish island of Ibiza.

In the secluded Ibizan countryside, Ben Fogle visits a commune, the brainchild of ex-navy officer Chris. For 30 years, he has lived in the untamed heart of this Spanish island. In this revealing travel documentary, Ben discovers why this self-confessed playboy has shunned a life of excess for a back-to-basics lifestyle and why he’s built a commune from the
rubbish that partygoers leave behind.

Episode 6: Mongolia
Ben ventures deep into the freezing tundra of Mongolia to meet remarkable missionaries.

Ben ventures deep into the freezing tundra of Mongolia on the longest adventure he’s experienced. In this intriguing travel documentary, he meets Micky and Trina, who left behind American comforts for a new life style as missionaries in a country they knew nothing about. Despite freezing conditions and near-death experiences, Ben discovers they have made a huge impact in this remote area.

Episode 7: North Carolina
Ben heads to a secret location in the Appalachian Mountains to meet a wild community.

Ben heads to a secret location in the USA’s Appalachian Mountains to live with forest dweller, Tod and his own wild community. In this engrossing travel documentary, Ben finds out why his host stripped away all the complications of modernity for a life in the woods following his own rules. Ben embrace the forest lifestyle life, making fires, digging clay for pots, processing bear and foraging.

Episode 8: Morocco
Ben is in rural Morocco, with a couple whose dream of a simple life is collapsing.

Ben is in the Moroccan countryside, near the Atlas Mountains, staying with Dina and Mostafa, who shunned the American dream to live a simple life style in a mud house. In this revealing travel documentary, Ben meets them at breaking point, as they have no money left and the land they’ve purchased can’t sustain them. Ben tries to play apart in improving their chances of surviving.

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