Skip to main content

tv   The Travel Show  BBC News  August 29, 2022 11:30am-12:01pm BST

11:30 am
not sure to get them to spend. i'm not sure how much attention the conservative candidates will way to a former labour chancellor. we will have a new prime minister a week today. police believe a teenage boy who died after collapsing at the leeds festival had taken ecstasy. the 16—year—old fell ill on saturday night and died yesterday in hospital. west yorkshire police is investigating whether he had taken a particular type of ecstasy tablet, described as a grey or black oblong. united nations nuclear experts are on their way to the zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in the south of ukraine. members of the iaea group will monitor the security and safety of the plant, which has been occupied by invading russian forces, since early march. (tx kyiv and moscow have repeatedly traded accusations kyiv and moscow have repeatedly traded accusations of shelling at the plant, and its operator has warned of the risks of a radioactive leak. the former manchester united footballer paul pogba has told french police he's the victim
11:31 am
of a blackmail plot. the midfielder, who left united forjuventus this summer, claims he's being targeted by an organised gang. it comes after his brother posted a video online in which he promised to publish "great revelations" about the player. french police are investigating. gibraltar can officially call itself a city, 180 years after it was first granted the status by queen victoria. the british overseas territory had bid to become a city earlier this year as part of the queen's platinum jubilee. but when researchers looked through the national archives, they found it had already been recognised as one in 1842. i'm joined now by the head of the government, chief minister of gibraltar, fabian picardo. welcome, thank you forjoining us. this is an extraordinary turnabout in events? it
11:32 am
this is an extraordinary turnabout in events? , ., , ., this is an extraordinary turnabout inevents? , ., , ., ., , in events? it is really not anything new. the gibraltar _ in events? it is really not anything new. the gibraltar constitution - in events? it is really not anything new. the gibraltar constitution in | new. the gibraltar constitution in the second section of its dispatch refers to gibraltar as being known as the city of gibraltar. our application was always about that formal recognition on the list of uk cities, something queen victoria had seen fit to do. i am so pleased in thisjubilee year we having the formal recognition and i'm grateful formal recognition and i'm grateful for the kind words of prime minister johnson as this has finally been taken on board by the united kingdom government. mit? taken on board by the united kingdom covernment. ~ , ., , taken on board by the united kingdom covernment. ~ , . , ., ~ ., government. why has it taken long then? i think _ government. why has it taken long then? | think it— government. why has it taken long then? | think it is _ government. why has it taken long then? i think it is a _ government. why has it taken long then? i think it is a question - government. why has it taken long then? i think it is a question of - then? i think it is a question of somebody _ then? i think it is a question of somebody not _ then? i think it is a question of somebody not compiling - then? i think it is a question of somebody not compiling the i then? i think it is a question of| somebody not compiling the list accurately when it was first compiled. and when gibraltar has been referred to as a city since 1842. i think it is great this has finally happened, we will be on the list and it is a moment for people to reflect on the fantastic
11:33 am
relationship between gibraltar and the united kingdom. perhaps an opportunity to come and visit the city of gibraltar as soon as possible. city of gibraltar as soon as possible-— city of gibraltar as soon as ossible. ~ ., ., , , . ., , possible. what does difference does it make having _ possible. what does difference does it make having city _ possible. what does difference does it make having city status? - possible. what does difference does it make having city status? very - it make having city status? very little difference, _ it make having city status? - little difference, because the relevant parts that recognise gibraltar as a city have taken effect since 1842. we have a separate dioceses than europe, as part of the anglican faith, the reason queen victoria created that in setting it out in the london gazette at the time. the gibraltar constitution, since the first post—war constitution has recognised gibraltar�*s reference as a city. there is little practical reference but it is a symbolic significance in this recognition.—
11:34 am
this recognition. thank you for “oininu this recognition. thank you for joining us- _ now on bbc news, the travel show. each day, before the sun rises in northern chile's atacama desert, people venture up and up. across bumpy terrain to where the altitude is high enough to make you light—headed. the air is thin and even in summer, the temperatures are near freezing. so, these are one of the main draws for tourists coming here to the atacama desert. an incredible place, it is the largest geyser field in the southern hemisphere. and here in the andes mountains, at over 4,000 metres, it's the highest in the world. but what i find especially incredible is that we're in the atacama desert — i'm sure you've heard of it — the driest place on earth. but i'm notjust in chile sightseeing. i've come because bubbling up
11:35 am
in this country has been an appetite for change. sirens wail. 30 years on from the era shaped by dictator augusto pinochet, many here still want change and in 2019, millions took to the streets, angry at inequality and poor public services. but by 2020, there were celebrations. a once—in—a—generation rewrite of their constitution was voted for. i visited as the finishing touches were being put on the new draught, which, if voted in next week, supporters say will bolster public services, give environmental protections and recognition to chile's indigenous communities for the first time. i wanted to see for myself some of the ways that the country is changing as it considers reshaping not only its constitution, but also its fundamental identity.
11:36 am
which is why, 18 hours later, ifind myself in the middle of the desert as night presses in. so, it's half 11 at night. ifeel like i am in the middle of nowhere. i'm not quite sure what i'm getting myself into. the new constitution would also enshrine individuals' rights to water — a precious resource in a country suffering droughts, and something crucial for the indigenous community of the atacama.
11:37 am
this ceremony brings together members of the atacamenos indigenous people, who live around northern chile, and have a deep respect for nature, having adapted to life around the desert. they've given us special permission to come along.
11:38 am
mabel passes aguacoya around the group — a drink with hallucinogenic effects that's made from the cactus plant.
11:39 am
singing. it was quite a serene experience and it was amazing, just to see these local people and how they were so passionate and so emotional about this ceremony. she sighs. i feel really privileged that we were able to be invited to something like this. you can still hear the drums in the background. it's after four in the morning. i might leave them to it. drums beat, singing.
11:40 am
but a community rooted in tradition has been rubbing up against a world evolving at pace. like at the nearby town of san pedro de atacama, which has expanded significantly over the last two decades due to tourism. 0k, look at this. there's a restaurant here, there's a tour operator over there, cute little gift shop and a store selling hiking boots over there, buskers on the street, hotels with all of their swimming pools. this is a town thatjust revolves around tourism. i can't imagine how much water that uses up. outside of the town, here in this hostile, barren desert, there isn't much that grows. but still, techniques passed down by the indigenous people allowed them to live
11:41 am
here in harmony with nature. i wanted to catch up with rosa, the water—bearer from last night's ceremony, to find out a little more about how their position in the modern world here is changing. rosa, how is it so green here? this is crazy! it's like magic, thanks to the water. they chuckle. the idea is we respect the cycle. in winter, the mother earth rest. some of the techniques here use ancient atacamenos methods, like irrigation channels, which allow these plants to be watered sparingly — just once a month. the idea of this project teach to the world how important is preserve and protect the mother earth. when you come to the desert, not only is landscape and picture, it's introduce and understand how live the local people, how important is the water.
11:42 am
and we can live and we can protect the wildlife, too. there are other big changes afoot for the wider community here. can you talk me through what this will mean for your people? well, this is good opportunity for recognise the indigenous people in chile, in the constitution. we have other concepts for life and that is very important because they give more tools for protect the area, especially the water. recognition is beginning to take shape. some tourist sites, like the geysers, are now co—managed by the indigenous community, allowing them to take an active role in their changing world. but the atacamenos weren't
11:43 am
the first indigenous people to call chile home. i left rosa and headed further up the coast to arica. between 7000 and 1500 bc, the hunter gatherer chinchorro people lived here and developed complex mummification practices which have astounded 21st—century researchers. last year, chinchorro burial culture was officially recognised by unesco, who placed it on their world heritage list. but despite this, the chinchorro still haven't entirely caught the public�*s imagination. the small fishing village of caleta camarones is the closest town to one of the world's top sites where the chinchorro mummies have been found. but here, chinchorro enthusiasts will find little more than a themed restaurant and some statues.
11:44 am
so, before we came here, some people said you could see the mummies in the ground and some said you couldn't, so i wasn't really sure what we'd find. but while we were having lunch, we got talking to the guy who runs the place and he says he can show us some mummies in the ground, so — and it's two minutes down the road, so we're on our way. currently, the mummies buried in the ground are being left there by archaeologists for their protection. 0k. here? and as we approach, we take great care not to disturb any of the remains. wow. it's so close to the road. what was it like growing up here? did you see many mummies
11:45 am
when you were a child? there are thought to be thousands of mummies still in these hills and evidence of the chinchorro is scattered all around the area.
11:46 am
behind the scenes of the san miguel de azapa museum, the careful study and preservation of the majority of the chinchorro mummies takes place. there's so many mummies here, vivien! how many? yes, we have about 70 mummies, chinchorro mummies, in this store. let me show you a chinchorro mummy. it's quite small. what can you tell me about this mummy?
11:47 am
because if it was me, i would be very scared to work here. what do you love about yourjob? oh, it's very interesting. but these fragile relics, which date back as much as 2000 years before the egyptian mummies, are deteriorating at an increasing rate, in part due to climate change. there's no air conditioning here, and rising humidity levels are a big threat to the mummies.
11:48 am
but it's hoped that a new $25 million museum will help protect them. is the local people's relationship with these mummies starting to change? do you know, what i find really amazing, is that i'd never even heard of the chinchorro mummies until i came to chile. now, this is crazy because they're the old mummies in the world,
11:49 am
and everyone of course has heard of the egyptian mummies, but not the chinchorro mummies. so i get the feeling that things here are slowly changing and maybe in the future they'll get the recognition that they deserve. and along with this renewed appreciation of ancient chilean culture, there's also a greater focus forming on the stunning and unique landscapes and wildlife that you'll find here. i headed south to patagonia's new route of parks. here, 17 old and new national parks are joined together to create a huge network of wild areas to explore, an area the size of switzerland. it's been one outcome from the largest private land donation in history to create a conservation project on a vast scale. myjourney to its heart
11:50 am
takes me six hours in a 4x4. so, we've blown a tire and, as you can see behind me, the road is pretty rough. we've hit one of these huge potholes and i guess that's part of the story of tourism here. you know, the infrastructure is still a work in progress. but, fortunately, all the locals have been super helpful. for two american philanthropists, doug and kris tompkins, the route of parks was just one part of a decades—long project in both chile and argentinian patagonia. over the course of 30 years, doug, kris and the tompkins conversation 0rganisation bought 2 million acres of land across chile and argentina. i am very proud of what we do because every hectare we have ever purchased goes right back to the people of the country.
11:51 am
if you want to conserve a territory and bring back species who've gone toward a point where their numbers are quite low, you have to, a, consult the geniuses of the place who are the people who've lived here for a very long time, because we're coming in and we don't really know that much about how these areas function, and they do. the chilean gaucho traditionally is a horseman skilled at protecting cattle and sometimes hunting predators. but gaucho don daniel now has a wider view of predators which are an important part of the wildlife ecosystem. he now monitors and protects native deer.
11:52 am
today, he uses modern techniques to track the huemuls nearby. so, the signal's quite strong when we point the antenna that way. it's like one of those tv antennas from the �*70s or �*80s that you had on your roof. but it seems to be doing the job. 0h, yep. i can hear it. 99% of the original huemul population are thought to have been lost, placing the breed
11:53 am
on the endangered list. with don daniel's help, we soon spot something in the distance. gosh, look at don daniel go. so, we've actually found a huemul deer. can you see him in the distance? he's just sitting there in the grass and he's quite well camouflaged. we move for a closer look and quickly see that there are in fact three huemul together. so we're approaching the deer from a lower ground angle so we don't scare them.
11:54 am
it's unbelievable that now the numbers have grown and we've been able to track them within the space of a quarter of an hour, and here we are, and we're able to get this close to them. doug tompkins sadly never saw his plan with kris finalised, as he passed away in 2015.
11:55 am
a good friend of mine from new york city wrote to me just a few days after he died and she said, "look, you have a choice here. you can be the long—suffering widow or you can get out of bed and go do these things." and she was right. ihad... that was a conscious decision i was going to have to make, and so, ijust thought, "ok, let's go for it." and that's when i started trying to tie up everything, and within two years, we had them all donated. wow. and that was a lot of work. and i think it saved my life, needing to do that. yeah. i think there's a tremendous amount of enthusiasm in chile right now, young and old. and, certainly, the environment is one of the big platforms of this new administration.
11:56 am
ijust don't think i was expecting what an amazing place of contrast this country is. but at the same time, there's lots bringing it together at the moment, like a new focus on the environment and conservation, an ambition to set a new course to the future, treasuring their common heritage and their common land for generations to come. hello. this week for the first half high pressure is firmly in charge, so things are fairly quiet. but for the second half low pressure
11:57 am
moves in from the west and south, so there is a chance of rain. for most this week to start with it will be mostly dry. here is our high pressure in the north. the air is moving in a clockwise direction, so along the north sea coastline and english channel coastline there will be a brisk breeze and that will take the edge off the temperatures. today a fair bit of cloud in scotland and central and eastern england producing some showers. they are fairly isolated, some get into wales and northern ireland. a sharp one in the grampians. brighter skies in south wales and south—west england. this is where we could see highs of 24 degrees. this evening and overnight, showers in scotland sink a bit further south. we still have quite a lot of cloud in parts of eastern england, still producing showers as well. 0ut towards the west we have clearer skies. these are the overnight lows. some parts could see temperatures fall away to about 7 or 8 degrees. on tuesday we still have a similar
11:58 am
setup, high pressure to the north, so still brisk winds coming down the north sea and the english channel coast, pegging back the temperatures. still all this cloud in scotland with a few showers in western areas. the showers in the east will be blown further inland, so we could see some in the midlands and central—southern england. once again the west is best in terms of sunshine. temperatures 19 to 24 and in the north sea coastline, 13 to 18. into wednesday and we still have that high pressure in charge, still a fair bit of cloud coming into the east with some showers at times, but it will break up across southern england. there will be more sunshine than we are looking at today and tomorrow. temperatures will be that bit higher here, but where there is a breeze on the coast it will be cooler. as we head towards the end of the week we have low pressure
11:59 am
coming in from the west and the south, so some of us will see some rain and, generally speaking, the weather will turn more unsettled at the weekend.
12:00 pm
this is bbc news. the headlines: mission to the moon — america prepares to test—launch a rocket, heralding a new era of space exploration. these are live pictures from kennedy space center where lift off is due in the coming hours. pakistan is set to launch a global appeal for the flooding catastrophe that's killed more than a thousand people and affected 30 million. the head of the institute for fiscal studies labels some of liz truss's tax cutting policies as worrying and inadequade for dealing with rising energy costs. french police launch an investigation after former manchester united footballer paul pogba claims he's the victim of a blackmail plot by an organised gang. and gibraltar can officially call itself a city, 180 years after it was first granted the status by queen victoria.

38 Views

info Stream Only

Uploaded by TV Archive on