Michael starts the second leg of his epic journey into Venezuela by flying to a stunningly beautiful cluster of coral islands in the Caribbean Sea called Los Roques. Meeting local Germán Olavarría, Michael is taken on a journey across the stunning archipelago with azure seas - it's a hidden paradise. He sees first-hand how Venezuela's unstable political situation has devastated the area's tourism industry and kept the country's beauty a secret. Most countries now tell their citizens not to travel to Venezuela as it's so high risk, so Michael is baffled when he sees the construction of new hotels on the main island... so who is coming here?
Back on the mainland, Michael embarks on a 1,000-mile road trip into the heart of Venezuela. His first stop is a huge rum distillery in Aragua state, the home of the notorious Tren de Aragua gang. Alberto Vollmer, the owner of Santa Teresa rum, has a unique way of tackling the gang culture, as a coachload of prisoners (many of them murderers) from a nearby jail arrive, to play a game of…rugby! Named 'Project Alcatraz', the hard knocks of rugby seem to be bonding these killers and giving them new hope.
The next day, Michael arrives in Sabaneta, the hometown of Hugo Chávez, the radical socialist President of Venezuela, who died in 2013. Arriving in the town square, Michael tries to get permission to film a statue of Chavez, but then a group of heavily armed officers from SEBIN - the country's intelligence service - arrive. The crew and Michael are detained, and things get very serious. Detained for seven hours with their passports confiscated, Michael and the team are finally released, but he fears they will now be monitored for the rest of the journey.
The next morning, Michael wakes up in Los Llanos, the agricultural heartland of Venezuela. The park ranger, Armando Machado, and Michael have a challenging job - releasing a wild 10-foot long anaconda back into the wild, before a highly tense encounter with an endangered Venezuelan crocodile.
Driving high into the Andes on a terrifying road that just about hugs the mountain, Michael arrives in the colonial town of Mérida. There, local activists, bravely talking in secret, explain the challenges of living in a country where civil liberties are constantly being eroded.
Finally, Michael embarks on a journey up the tallest cable car in the world, towards the Pico Bolívar, which rises almost three miles above sea level. The views are spectacular and it's time to look forward to the final leg of this epic journey.
