1 00:00:02,840 --> 00:00:07,680 Speaker 1: School of humans. Just be clear, I'm an absolute idiot, 2 00:00:08,200 --> 00:00:10,760 Speaker 1: and so's my friend that was with me. We should 3 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: never have gone, and obviously not recommending the experience because 4 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:15,680 Speaker 1: you know you're going to die. 5 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:20,079 Speaker 2: That's Tom Heartdyke. And Tom Well, he's an orchid lover. 6 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:24,000 Speaker 2: Back in two thousand, his zeal for these precious blooms 7 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:27,560 Speaker 2: even got him into I'd say a little bit of trouble. 8 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:33,280 Speaker 2: I'll let him tell the story. 9 00:00:33,479 --> 00:00:35,800 Speaker 1: Where I met this chap called Paul Winder, also from 10 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:38,239 Speaker 1: England and not a plant man so much, but more 11 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:40,839 Speaker 1: of a mountaineer at heart, and we agreed across this 12 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:44,960 Speaker 1: area called the Darien Gap on the Panamanian Colombian border, 13 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:48,360 Speaker 1: an area that we knew wasn't that safe, but Paul 14 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:51,519 Speaker 1: knew there were wonderful mountains to be discovered, and for me, 15 00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:54,639 Speaker 1: I knew it was a honeypot for orchids. 16 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:57,880 Speaker 2: So the two decided to buddy up and travel through 17 00:00:57,920 --> 00:00:58,600 Speaker 2: the gap together. 18 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:03,240 Speaker 1: Get up beginning of March of the year two thousand 19 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:06,720 Speaker 1: to catch the six hour, bum bruising, potholed field bus 20 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:10,280 Speaker 1: ride down the remainder of the Pan American Highway as 21 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:13,360 Speaker 1: it fizzles out and the little hamlet, very very small 22 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:16,280 Speaker 1: village of Javisa. You get off the bus, don you 23 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:18,800 Speaker 1: rucksacks in your three foot long machettes. We bought a 24 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:22,119 Speaker 1: few days earlier mosquito nets enough food for about two 25 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:24,759 Speaker 1: and a half weeks. We reckoned, which was the time 26 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:28,039 Speaker 1: to cross the Darien Gap according to our Lonely Planet guidebook, 27 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:31,760 Speaker 1: and we followed the map in that guidebook, and we 28 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:33,960 Speaker 1: made fabulous. 29 00:01:33,319 --> 00:01:37,080 Speaker 2: Progress, following paths made by the wild pigs. The two 30 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:40,080 Speaker 2: explorers weaved through the gap with unexpected ease. 31 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:43,560 Speaker 1: You are in the middle of absolutely nowhere, and the 32 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:46,319 Speaker 1: wild boar and the very few people in the area 33 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:54,640 Speaker 1: has rendered into this clearing full of air plants orchids. 34 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:57,640 Speaker 1: I mean, it was a lovely place and no orchids 35 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:00,000 Speaker 1: really worthy of Granny's name, and once to name it 36 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:02,320 Speaker 1: new species. Walking after my dear granny. That was my 37 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:05,720 Speaker 1: main drive, to see orchids and finding new species for her. 38 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:13,120 Speaker 2: It was a wonderland of plants. And then suddenly Tom 39 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 2: noticed something out of the corner of his. 40 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:18,400 Speaker 1: Eye, and we got our rucksacked on our backs and 41 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:22,040 Speaker 1: started to walk through this clearing. When our guides just 42 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:24,200 Speaker 1: stood in front of us and fell to the ground. 43 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:27,560 Speaker 1: It was quite weird as these figures just ran at us. 44 00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:31,679 Speaker 1: Three girls really were fifteen sixteen year olds with big 45 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:35,799 Speaker 1: M sixteen's and three chaps, so six in total, running 46 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:38,880 Speaker 1: at us with all their all their machine guns, bandannas 47 00:02:38,919 --> 00:02:42,400 Speaker 1: on their heads and combat gear. Our guides just fell 48 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:45,520 Speaker 1: to the floor and offered their hands behind their backs 49 00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:48,560 Speaker 1: and they were tied up in Paul just stared these people. 50 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:51,160 Speaker 1: I mean we were in a film set or something, 51 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:54,960 Speaker 1: We're in the TV screen. It was extraordinary and that 52 00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:59,720 Speaker 1: amazing feeling of those wonderful orkids. Oh you're screwed, You're 53 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:03,160 Speaker 1: going to in split second, this happened on the hands 54 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 1: and knees. We went rock saxel, ripped off us, tied 55 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:08,360 Speaker 1: up with what looked like garden string behind our backs. 56 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:11,919 Speaker 1: These big M sixteen stuck to our heads. Our guides 57 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:16,000 Speaker 1: dragged off into the woods. Probably one was executed. Even 58 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:20,040 Speaker 1: to this day they completely and aftere vanished basically, and 59 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:22,840 Speaker 1: Na and Paul marched to our feet and dragged off 60 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:32,360 Speaker 1: into the woods for ten months in captivity. 61 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 2: In this episode, the passion for plants gets dangerous. I'm 62 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:42,720 Speaker 2: Summer rain Oaks from School of Humans and iHeart podcasts. 63 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:51,200 Speaker 2: This is bad Seeds. 64 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:54,920 Speaker 1: My name is Tom Hartdyke and I'm curator of the 65 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:58,400 Speaker 1: World Garden at Lallingston Castle in Kent in southeast England. 66 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:02,400 Speaker 2: Tom is a forty six year old horticulturalist, but to 67 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:06,040 Speaker 2: be honest, after interviewing him, it's more apt to describe 68 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:10,080 Speaker 2: him as a plant evangelist. His passion for plant life 69 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:11,800 Speaker 2: pours from him. 70 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:14,000 Speaker 1: Hyper enthusiastic. I's called the other day. 71 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:17,440 Speaker 2: His property in Kent, which by the way has been 72 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:19,440 Speaker 2: in the family for twenty generations. 73 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:22,760 Speaker 1: We moved here in thirteen sixty. 74 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:26,000 Speaker 2: One, has been converted into a world Garden with more 75 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:28,680 Speaker 2: than seven thousand different types of plants. 76 00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:32,120 Speaker 1: Laid out as a miniature map of the world. That 77 00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:35,480 Speaker 1: North and South America are represented, and we've got the 78 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:39,640 Speaker 1: Canary Islands, we've got Africa, Europe, Asia, UK and Ireland 79 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:43,640 Speaker 1: included in't that and Australia one of my favorite areas, Australasia. 80 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:46,920 Speaker 1: And it's totally bonkers, but it's looking brilliant. 81 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:50,160 Speaker 2: To say the least. Tom is something of a plant addict, 82 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:53,200 Speaker 2: and he's been one for a long time. 83 00:04:54,279 --> 00:04:56,800 Speaker 1: And my passion to plants started at the age of three. 84 00:04:57,000 --> 00:04:59,600 Speaker 1: Sun in nineteen eighty when my granny gave me a 85 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:02,240 Speaker 1: packaging carrots eats and a trowel. She was an amazing 86 00:05:02,360 --> 00:05:05,440 Speaker 1: character and she gave me my green blood cells and 87 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:07,640 Speaker 1: everything else's horticultural history. 88 00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:10,920 Speaker 2: Tom has traveled all over the world in the pursuit 89 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:15,960 Speaker 2: to see the world's most spectacular plants. He's also, if 90 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:21,000 Speaker 2: it isn't already obvious, an avid collector, but one plant 91 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:23,720 Speaker 2: group has a special place in his heart. 92 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:28,400 Speaker 1: Orchids. Oh, it's just euphoric. It is spined even now 93 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:31,640 Speaker 1: talking about its spine tinkling. It's Granny's fault all of this. 94 00:05:31,839 --> 00:05:34,560 Speaker 1: She had to sing about them. It was more unnative 95 00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:37,520 Speaker 1: orchids that really inspired me and granny and I think 96 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:40,440 Speaker 1: they're absolutely majestic, and seeing them in the wild ear 97 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:43,080 Speaker 1: then inspired me to grow some of their cousins in 98 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:46,039 Speaker 1: a greenhouse here as a youngster. And then it was 99 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:49,279 Speaker 1: the inevitable, the itchy feet. What was it like to 100 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:52,559 Speaker 1: go abroad to see these plants in the wild. There's 101 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:56,800 Speaker 1: something about them, and it's also their rarity, and it's 102 00:05:56,839 --> 00:05:59,359 Speaker 1: something about seeing them in the wild and some just 103 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:03,479 Speaker 1: growing on the edge of extinction because there're only just 104 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:06,640 Speaker 1: a handful of certain species of work. It's growing on 105 00:06:06,839 --> 00:06:11,560 Speaker 1: a rock in a certain specific sight in whether it 106 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:15,200 Speaker 1: might be and that's fascinating, absolutely fascinating. 107 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:21,880 Speaker 2: In two thousand, when Tom was in his early twenties, 108 00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:24,960 Speaker 2: he made plans to visit one of the world's great 109 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:31,760 Speaker 2: orchid hotspots, the Darien Gap, a dense rainforest between Colombia 110 00:06:31,839 --> 00:06:35,479 Speaker 2: and Panama. The Gap is widely considered one of the 111 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:39,960 Speaker 2: most dangerous patches of wilderness on the planet. Now forget 112 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:44,000 Speaker 2: the snakes, poisoned dart frogs, and jaguars. For decades, the 113 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:48,560 Speaker 2: dense jungle has been a hideout for drug traffickers, paramilitary forces, 114 00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:52,320 Speaker 2: and guerrilla fighters. In the Lonely Planet guide to the region, 115 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:57,120 Speaker 2: the editors provide one simple admonishment to travelers considering a journey. 116 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:04,080 Speaker 2: Don't even think about it. But Tom, he didn't listen. 117 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:12,240 Speaker 2: He had orchid fever. It's the nineteenth century and a 118 00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:16,480 Speaker 2: new plant craze is sweeping Britain. It's not tulips or ferns. 119 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:21,280 Speaker 2: This time, the rich are paying explorers top dollar to 120 00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:26,720 Speaker 2: pluck orchids from the jungle. Tom Arenda, previously the orchid 121 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:30,440 Speaker 2: collection specialist at the Smithsonian Gardens explains that at the 122 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:32,960 Speaker 2: time there were a lot to choose from. 123 00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:37,560 Speaker 3: There's probably more species of orchid than there are any 124 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:41,520 Speaker 3: other type of plant in newarkids are discovered all the time. 125 00:07:41,880 --> 00:07:46,240 Speaker 3: I think that it's approaching about thirty thousand species. The 126 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:50,600 Speaker 3: closest plant family to that number would be the composites, 127 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:52,040 Speaker 3: which is the daisy family. 128 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:56,000 Speaker 2: Like Tom Hartdike Mirenda has been obsessed with orchids for 129 00:07:56,040 --> 00:07:59,080 Speaker 2: a long time. He understands the allure. 130 00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:04,640 Speaker 3: They're so beautiful that we get seduced by them, and 131 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:08,160 Speaker 3: so many of us that get fascinated with orchids end 132 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:12,040 Speaker 3: up addicted to them and having these huge collections. They 133 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:18,360 Speaker 3: are just mind bogglingly diverse, and they kind of have personalities. 134 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:22,680 Speaker 3: For example, orchids are what we call bilaterally symmetrical, So 135 00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:24,920 Speaker 3: if you were to take my face and cut it 136 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:27,200 Speaker 3: in half, you could fold it over onto itself and 137 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:30,680 Speaker 3: it'd be a mirror image. Orkids are the same way. 138 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:33,120 Speaker 3: When you're looking at an orkid, it's kind of like 139 00:08:33,160 --> 00:08:36,080 Speaker 3: looking at a face. You see something that kind of 140 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:38,760 Speaker 3: looks back at you with a personality. 141 00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:45,880 Speaker 2: Those seductive personalities led dozens of Victorian orchid hunters to 142 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:49,920 Speaker 2: dive into the tropics, to Sierra Leone, to Brazil, to 143 00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:54,880 Speaker 2: Ecuador and Madagascar, to the Andes and beyond. It was 144 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:59,679 Speaker 2: a scientific bonanza. They found thousands of species that previously 145 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:02,319 Speaker 2: had been known only to locals. 146 00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:08,200 Speaker 3: People were seeing plants that they never imagined did. It 147 00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:11,600 Speaker 3: was very exciting at the time, but it was also 148 00:09:12,559 --> 00:09:16,600 Speaker 3: before we really knew a whole lot about orchids in 149 00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:18,760 Speaker 3: particular and ecology in general. 150 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:23,480 Speaker 2: What followed was a botanical smash and grab. The wealthy 151 00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:28,080 Speaker 2: of Europe wanted orchids to show off, and competition was brutal. 152 00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:33,960 Speaker 2: With thousands of dollars on the line, orchid hunters swiped 153 00:09:34,080 --> 00:09:37,400 Speaker 2: every plant they could find and then would burn down 154 00:09:37,480 --> 00:09:41,920 Speaker 2: the surrounding forest to prevent competitors from finding new growth. 155 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:47,359 Speaker 3: They did a lot of dumb things. They would take everything. 156 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:50,360 Speaker 3: If they found a new species, they would collect them 157 00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:54,240 Speaker 3: all and ship them all back to the Old World 158 00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:58,200 Speaker 3: to be grown. They would often lie about where a 159 00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:01,120 Speaker 3: plant was collected so that they could have it as 160 00:10:01,160 --> 00:10:05,760 Speaker 3: an exclusive plant for their nursery. A lot of misinformation 161 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:09,320 Speaker 3: was promulgated from that where so people wouldn't know where 162 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:12,480 Speaker 3: to find these plants in the future, and sometimes this 163 00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:15,880 Speaker 3: took like thirty forty years to figure out where the 164 00:10:15,880 --> 00:10:17,600 Speaker 3: plants were actually from. 165 00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:24,720 Speaker 2: That's if any were left. Orchid hunting stripped the tropical 166 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:30,360 Speaker 2: countryside within decades. Many species disappeared entirely from the wild, 167 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:33,360 Speaker 2: only to be found in the gardens of the rich 168 00:10:33,480 --> 00:10:34,040 Speaker 2: and trendy. 169 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:38,080 Speaker 3: People think that it's a renewable resource, that there's just 170 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:41,920 Speaker 3: thousands and thousands of these plants out in nature, and 171 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:45,199 Speaker 3: it may seem that way, but it's very, very easy 172 00:10:45,240 --> 00:10:49,360 Speaker 3: to make a serious dent in a population by overcollecting. 173 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:54,680 Speaker 2: These plants would soon be called the lost orchids, but 174 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:59,560 Speaker 2: rarity just enhanced the flower's mystique and boosted its asking price. 175 00:11:00,679 --> 00:11:07,120 Speaker 2: Orchid hunters kept combing the tropics, ransacking everything along the way. 176 00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:11,880 Speaker 2: Decency meant nothing. Susan Orlean in her book The Orchid Thief, 177 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:15,120 Speaker 2: tells the story of one flower hunter in New Guinea 178 00:11:15,200 --> 00:11:20,600 Speaker 2: who discovered some orchids blooming from human remains, collected the 179 00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:23,600 Speaker 2: plants and sent them to England, still attached to ribs 180 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:27,360 Speaker 2: and shin bones. That kind of behavior prompted one Swiss 181 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:30,920 Speaker 2: botanist in eighteen seventy eight to write, these modern collectors 182 00:11:30,920 --> 00:11:35,200 Speaker 2: spare nothing. This is no longer collecting. It is wanton robbery. 183 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:40,239 Speaker 2: Worse yet, few of those stolen plants survived. 184 00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:43,040 Speaker 3: They brought them back to England and they put them 185 00:11:43,040 --> 00:11:46,600 Speaker 3: in what they call stove houses. These stove houses were 186 00:11:46,679 --> 00:11:51,760 Speaker 3: terrible for those plants. They perished. So entire populations of 187 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:56,559 Speaker 3: plants from Colombia and Brazil and Venezuela and stuff all 188 00:11:57,200 --> 00:12:01,720 Speaker 3: died there with very very few survivors. So even though 189 00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:05,840 Speaker 3: all of this incredible diversity was being discovered, a lot 190 00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:10,440 Speaker 3: of damage was done to the tropical environments that these 191 00:12:10,480 --> 00:12:15,520 Speaker 3: things came from, and it can take, you know, hundreds 192 00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:18,280 Speaker 3: of years for those populations to recover. 193 00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:28,280 Speaker 2: Eventually, the pillagings spread home to Britain too. Take the 194 00:12:28,360 --> 00:12:33,040 Speaker 2: lady slipper orchid siper Pedium calciolis. It bloomed across the 195 00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:37,360 Speaker 2: north of England until local hunters wiped it out in 196 00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:40,920 Speaker 2: twenty ten. The last remaining wild orchid in the country, 197 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:44,680 Speaker 2: which was one hundred years old, had to be protected 198 00:12:44,679 --> 00:12:49,439 Speaker 2: by its own police detail. Even the country's botanical gardens 199 00:12:49,480 --> 00:12:53,600 Speaker 2: are extra vigilant with these prized plants, locking many of 200 00:12:53,640 --> 00:12:58,160 Speaker 2: the rarest orchids under cages. But during the height of 201 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:01,880 Speaker 2: orchid fever, the flower weren't the only thing in danger. 202 00:13:02,559 --> 00:13:11,240 Speaker 2: The hunters were too. Guns, machetes, knives. These were the 203 00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:16,120 Speaker 2: orchid hunters go to tools. They trapes the forest, knowing 204 00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:19,040 Speaker 2: that at any moment they might have to fend off 205 00:13:19,040 --> 00:13:26,040 Speaker 2: wild animals, hostile locals, and other orchid hunters. One young 206 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:29,720 Speaker 2: German hunter named William Arnold bragged that he once turned 207 00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:32,960 Speaker 2: down a high paying orchid hunting job because his client 208 00:13:33,040 --> 00:13:37,400 Speaker 2: failed to give him a trustworthy pistol. The gun wouldn't 209 00:13:37,440 --> 00:13:42,240 Speaker 2: have saved him. Arnold ended up drowning in Venezuela's Orinoco River. 210 00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:57,200 Speaker 2: His death was typical orchid hunters. Died of dysentery and malaria. 211 00:13:57,800 --> 00:14:01,839 Speaker 2: They fell off cliffs and had their heads shrunken. Many 212 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:06,040 Speaker 2: stepped into the mists of the jungle and simply never returned. 213 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:11,120 Speaker 2: Some were murdered by local rebel groups, others by competing 214 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:15,760 Speaker 2: orchid hunters. Orchid hunting was a job for the few, 215 00:14:16,280 --> 00:14:23,680 Speaker 2: the proud, and the very very reckless, but the potential 216 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:27,280 Speaker 2: for striking it rich was two appealing, and the orchid 217 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:30,760 Speaker 2: beef Orlean describes the fate of one cursed orchid hunting 218 00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:34,960 Speaker 2: party in the Philippines, writing within a month, one of 219 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:37,880 Speaker 2: them had been eaten by a tiger, another had been 220 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:41,840 Speaker 2: drenched with oil and burned alive, five had vanished into 221 00:14:41,880 --> 00:14:45,040 Speaker 2: thin air, and one had managed to stay alive and 222 00:14:45,160 --> 00:14:49,360 Speaker 2: walk out of the woods, carrying forty seven thousand Fallinopsis plants. 223 00:14:50,720 --> 00:14:54,080 Speaker 2: To pursue the plant was to embrace a curse to 224 00:14:54,240 --> 00:14:59,000 Speaker 2: chase a blood diamond laced with petals. Few survived its seduction. 225 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:05,960 Speaker 2: Those who did reaped life changing rewards. Decades later, Tom 226 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:22,800 Speaker 2: hart Dyke heard the same siren call. Minutes before the ambush. 227 00:15:23,120 --> 00:15:25,880 Speaker 2: Tom hart Dyke and his hiking buddy Paul had been 228 00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:30,800 Speaker 2: making jokes about lollipops. Then their world is turned upside down. 229 00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:37,040 Speaker 2: People in full camouflage rush out from the jungle foliage, 230 00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:40,360 Speaker 2: and suddenly Tom is staring down the barrel of an 231 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:45,080 Speaker 2: automatic rifle. The armed strangers command that Tom and Paul 232 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:48,480 Speaker 2: come with them. As the young men are ushered through 233 00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:52,080 Speaker 2: the jungle, their hands tied and guns jammed into their backs, 234 00:15:52,520 --> 00:15:57,480 Speaker 2: they are convinced they are about to die. Then the 235 00:15:57,480 --> 00:16:00,760 Speaker 2: group stops its trek and the gorillas ask the hikers 236 00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:05,000 Speaker 2: to empty their pockets. The only thing that tumbles out 237 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:11,360 Speaker 2: are a few seeds. Now this is a pretty good 238 00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:15,840 Speaker 2: indication that Tom and Paul are harmless. Still, the gun 239 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:19,720 Speaker 2: toting kidnappers keep the two men captive in the forest 240 00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:22,359 Speaker 2: for ten long months. 241 00:16:22,880 --> 00:16:25,240 Speaker 1: So we spent from March to Christmas of the year 242 00:16:25,280 --> 00:16:27,880 Speaker 1: two thousand with this Colombian gorilla. 243 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:31,200 Speaker 2: Group, and it was unclear exactly who the gorillas were. 244 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:34,440 Speaker 2: They might have been rebels fighting the Colombian Civil War, 245 00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:38,280 Speaker 2: like members of Marxist Leninist group FARK, then a recognized 246 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:42,760 Speaker 2: terrorist organization. All Tom could make out was they were 247 00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:43,640 Speaker 2: very young. 248 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:45,880 Speaker 1: To this day, we don't really know who they were 249 00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:50,120 Speaker 1: or what they wanted, at average age of fifteen sixteen 250 00:16:50,200 --> 00:16:54,320 Speaker 1: years of age. A third girls, two third boys, I 251 00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:57,480 Speaker 1: suppose made up the units, about seven hundred of them 252 00:16:57,560 --> 00:17:01,360 Speaker 1: in total, seven hundred different faces he saw during the 253 00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:02,040 Speaker 1: whole time. 254 00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:06,439 Speaker 2: Over the months, the duo started to get used to 255 00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:10,399 Speaker 2: the feeling of having automatic weapons pointed at them, even 256 00:17:10,440 --> 00:17:13,080 Speaker 2: when they had to squat behind a bush or strip 257 00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:16,920 Speaker 2: in a creek in private moments. The guys give their 258 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:21,679 Speaker 2: captors nicknames, Will Smith, Lucy M sixteen to name a 259 00:17:21,680 --> 00:17:26,040 Speaker 2: few they create a secret code to communicate, dream up 260 00:17:26,080 --> 00:17:30,440 Speaker 2: imaginary escapes, and even steal from their hostile hosts. 261 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:33,720 Speaker 1: We stole food from them. We stole a machete from them. 262 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:37,000 Speaker 1: Paul was an amazing thief, so subtle and so cool 263 00:17:37,040 --> 00:17:37,600 Speaker 1: about it. 264 00:17:38,119 --> 00:17:41,119 Speaker 2: One day, one of the gorillas, the one named M sixteen, 265 00:17:41,560 --> 00:17:43,919 Speaker 2: asks Tom why he was in the Darien Gap in 266 00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:48,120 Speaker 2: the first place. Tom tells them, I'm in love with plants. 267 00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:51,320 Speaker 1: I thought to extend my life as much as possible. 268 00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:54,320 Speaker 1: My tactic was to show them who I was, a 269 00:17:54,359 --> 00:17:58,440 Speaker 1: gardener from Kent in southeast England and paul a mountaineers. 270 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:01,480 Speaker 1: And that was a tactic we employed because inside, you're 271 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:05,040 Speaker 1: absolutely peeing yourself. I mean, you are going to die, 272 00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:08,119 Speaker 1: so your survival strategy kicks in and you have this 273 00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:11,400 Speaker 1: faulty fact sort of thing. So on the inside you're like, oh, 274 00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:15,320 Speaker 1: we're screwed. On the outside, excuse my language, on the outside, 275 00:18:15,359 --> 00:18:18,159 Speaker 1: you're very much like, look at that wonderful butterfly flying, 276 00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:21,000 Speaker 1: but oh, thanks for the tarantula. The hair's got stuck 277 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:22,960 Speaker 1: in my throat. But it was good to eat. The 278 00:18:23,040 --> 00:18:27,160 Speaker 1: armadillo and the hell the monkeys were absolutely gorgeous, they weren't. 279 00:18:27,160 --> 00:18:30,199 Speaker 1: They were awful and they're all protected. But it was 280 00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:32,560 Speaker 1: a way of sort of dealing with the situation. And 281 00:18:33,040 --> 00:18:35,480 Speaker 1: the captors didn't know what to do with this. I mean, 282 00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:38,679 Speaker 1: if you showed pleasantries, they couldn't deal with it. You 283 00:18:38,840 --> 00:18:42,679 Speaker 1: show a negativity and they feed off it. It's quite weird. 284 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:45,159 Speaker 1: But if you did say that, they'd get, oh, i've 285 00:18:45,160 --> 00:18:47,680 Speaker 1: got a sore throw I missed my granny, and they 286 00:18:47,800 --> 00:18:50,119 Speaker 1: loved that. They fed off that and got very aggressive. 287 00:18:50,359 --> 00:18:54,080 Speaker 1: It's quite bizarre human nature, certain human nature. So we 288 00:18:54,160 --> 00:18:56,359 Speaker 1: had to just show that enthusiasm all the time and 289 00:18:56,760 --> 00:18:59,280 Speaker 1: that they didn't know what to do with us. 290 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:03,520 Speaker 2: At first, the militants, like M sixteen, thought Tom was 291 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:07,520 Speaker 2: bluffing about all this plant stuff. They were convinced the 292 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:10,720 Speaker 2: men were trafficking drugs to North America or maybe they 293 00:19:10,720 --> 00:19:15,399 Speaker 2: were Cia. But as time wore on, their minds began 294 00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:19,399 Speaker 2: to change. Because as the duo followed the gorillas deeper 295 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:24,680 Speaker 2: into the jungle, Tom was getting distracted on sidiums pleurithallus, 296 00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:26,760 Speaker 2: lumbo glossoms. 297 00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:29,719 Speaker 1: The orchids were fantastic. After we were kidnapped, it took 298 00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:33,520 Speaker 1: us right up to these isolated areas in Panama in particular, 299 00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:36,359 Speaker 1: and I mean there were orchids just dripping from the trees. 300 00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:40,000 Speaker 1: There were literally hundreds worthy of Granny's name. I mean, 301 00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:41,960 Speaker 1: you could name it after all the dogs and cats, 302 00:19:42,119 --> 00:19:44,040 Speaker 1: all the fish in the lake, all my friends I 303 00:19:44,080 --> 00:19:45,960 Speaker 1: haven't known over the years, people in the pub down 304 00:19:46,040 --> 00:19:48,080 Speaker 1: the road. Everyone could have had a new species of 305 00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:52,600 Speaker 1: orchids and named after them. Absolutely, it was astonishing. I'm 306 00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:55,920 Speaker 1: not an expert in orchids, but even I knew there 307 00:19:55,920 --> 00:19:58,880 Speaker 1: weren't just new species that I was coming across. There 308 00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:03,800 Speaker 1: were new genera. We saw quite literally hundreds of varieties, 309 00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:07,439 Speaker 1: and my guess was that some were highly endemic to 310 00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:08,879 Speaker 1: this area, the darry And Gap. 311 00:20:09,119 --> 00:20:12,280 Speaker 2: Thinking that as time was up, Tom did something that 312 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:16,720 Speaker 2: technically is illegal. He began to pluck the orchids. 313 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:19,840 Speaker 1: During captivity, going from camp to camp with the orchids. 314 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:22,240 Speaker 1: I thought, there's no harm in that. It's aware of me, 315 00:20:22,359 --> 00:20:23,879 Speaker 1: keeping my sanity. 316 00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:26,920 Speaker 2: Really, he later wrote in his book The Cloud Garden, 317 00:20:27,359 --> 00:20:31,040 Speaker 2: I was taking orchids from everywhere, from trees and from rocks. 318 00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:33,880 Speaker 2: I carried them behind my ears and in my hair 319 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:40,960 Speaker 2: to get them to the camp. Eventually, Tom's orchid fever 320 00:20:41,160 --> 00:20:45,800 Speaker 2: takes over. He had to explore this irresistible array of flora, 321 00:20:46,760 --> 00:20:49,280 Speaker 2: so he asked the gorillas to come with him. 322 00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:51,159 Speaker 1: I asked if we could go on these armed or 323 00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:54,200 Speaker 1: kid patrols to our captors that untied as by them 324 00:20:54,520 --> 00:20:57,679 Speaker 1: and were reasonably nice. They wanted to kill you, that 325 00:20:57,840 --> 00:20:59,879 Speaker 1: talked to you and kill you, but they were nice 326 00:20:59,880 --> 00:21:02,680 Speaker 1: to a decree, so they allowed us to gun these 327 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:05,560 Speaker 1: old orchid controls, bring back orchist to the cap and 328 00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:08,360 Speaker 1: I started to make gardens. I started to make these 329 00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:12,560 Speaker 1: orchid gardens, Bromeliad gardens. Was quite bonkers, and it was 330 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:15,760 Speaker 1: aware of me, completely distracting myself from from the thought 331 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:22,520 Speaker 1: of execution. The scariest time was three months into our captivity, 332 00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:26,000 Speaker 1: during the sixteenth of the year two thousand, when they said, 333 00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:28,560 Speaker 1: you've got five hours mate, before before we blow your 334 00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:31,800 Speaker 1: heads off, and horribly talk to you beforehand. Then blow 335 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:35,160 Speaker 1: your heads off. Oh okay, And as he turned his back, 336 00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:37,880 Speaker 1: he was just thirteen in this chat with a gun 337 00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:41,040 Speaker 1: that was with rocket launcher attachment, about four foot taller 338 00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:41,320 Speaker 1: than in. 339 00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:47,640 Speaker 2: I mean, that's terrifying. How do you find solace when 340 00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:51,879 Speaker 2: you're in captivity? You got endless time to kill and 341 00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:55,679 Speaker 2: are a constant threat of being killed. But Tom was 342 00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:58,960 Speaker 2: finding ways to both kerbis fears and fill the hours 343 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:01,640 Speaker 2: gardening and planning, and. 344 00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:04,480 Speaker 1: Opened up my diary and started scribbling. I started to 345 00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:06,600 Speaker 1: draw a mini map of what would turn into the 346 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:09,480 Speaker 1: world garden. Were just a way of distracting myself, ware 347 00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:12,040 Speaker 1: of me trying to think of Granny and to try 348 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:14,280 Speaker 1: and show them who I was a gardener. 349 00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:20,600 Speaker 2: Turns out the kid never returned to finish them off, 350 00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:24,639 Speaker 2: and as time went on, Tom started thinking more and 351 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:27,480 Speaker 2: more about this world garden idea what. 352 00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:30,360 Speaker 1: Turned out to be the next six months in captivity 353 00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:34,480 Speaker 1: until Christmas, drawing and fantasizing about this garden that I 354 00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:37,800 Speaker 1: could do in the Tuaca Old area back home. It 355 00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:42,679 Speaker 1: literally saved my life, just distracting myself from these murderous thoughts. 356 00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:46,640 Speaker 2: Far from home and far from his dream garden, Tom 357 00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:49,560 Speaker 2: kept tending to his orchid plot and his captor's encampment 358 00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:53,240 Speaker 2: until one day it was all gone. 359 00:22:53,520 --> 00:22:57,560 Speaker 1: When they really became very murderous. They burned all the orchids, 360 00:22:57,560 --> 00:22:59,920 Speaker 1: so I never had any orchids to bring back. Of course, Leek, 361 00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:02,760 Speaker 1: I can't bring them any orchids back anyway, but they 362 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:04,840 Speaker 1: burned them, They stamped on them all in the end, 363 00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:06,400 Speaker 1: and never brought one back. 364 00:23:07,119 --> 00:23:15,880 Speaker 2: Tom the gardener was now without a garden. But then 365 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:20,520 Speaker 2: around Christmas time, after months in the jungle, one of 366 00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:23,679 Speaker 2: the gorillas turned to Tom and Paul and began speaking 367 00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:25,560 Speaker 2: in Spanish. 368 00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:27,320 Speaker 1: And my Spanish was not brilliant, so it was very 369 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:30,560 Speaker 1: much trying to get everything, trying to desperately understand some 370 00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:32,840 Speaker 1: us what they were saying, you know where we're gonna 371 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:35,199 Speaker 1: die or not, And they just turned around to Just 372 00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:38,600 Speaker 1: and said, Happy Christmas. Get lost. If you come back, 373 00:23:38,680 --> 00:23:41,160 Speaker 1: will horribly kill you. And if you bring me friends back, 374 00:23:41,200 --> 00:23:42,240 Speaker 1: we'll kill them as well. 375 00:23:54,320 --> 00:23:58,280 Speaker 3: Not everyone is conscious of how what they do affects 376 00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:03,160 Speaker 3: the natural world and how much we've displaced. The house 377 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:06,679 Speaker 3: that I live in is in a very beautiful neighborhood. 378 00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:11,320 Speaker 3: We've got wild open spaces and pastures. But I look 379 00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:14,480 Speaker 3: out my window and I don't see any native plants 380 00:24:15,400 --> 00:24:17,800 Speaker 3: in my environment. The land that I live on was 381 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:21,560 Speaker 3: once a sugar plantation, so all the native plants that 382 00:24:21,560 --> 00:24:26,040 Speaker 3: were here were removed to plants. We've completely altered the 383 00:24:26,119 --> 00:24:29,080 Speaker 3: landscape here in terms of the plants that are here. 384 00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:33,879 Speaker 3: The only native plants that you can find are often 385 00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:37,680 Speaker 3: in very remote areas, often on cliffs that are inaccessible. 386 00:24:38,359 --> 00:24:41,199 Speaker 3: And I think this is true all over the world. 387 00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:48,080 Speaker 3: True native plant communities are incredibly difficult to find, and 388 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:53,480 Speaker 3: all of them are threatened by climate change, deforestation, exploitation 389 00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:54,960 Speaker 3: by humans. 390 00:24:56,440 --> 00:24:59,240 Speaker 2: Tom Arenda pinpoints one of the great ironies of a 391 00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:03,440 Speaker 2: place like Dari Gap, it's not suffering from these problems. 392 00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:07,400 Speaker 2: It remains one of the most biodiverse, species rich places 393 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:11,639 Speaker 2: in the world. And it's not because it's a protected area. 394 00:25:12,760 --> 00:25:16,840 Speaker 2: It's because people are too afraid to go there. In 395 00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:20,600 Speaker 2: a twenty twenty study in Scientific Reports, researchers wrote that 396 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:27,280 Speaker 2: armed conflicts can create quote positive effects for biodiversity. Conflicts 397 00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:30,720 Speaker 2: have disrupted illegal timber poaching in Nicaragua and harmful farming 398 00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:35,359 Speaker 2: practices in Sierra Leone. Meanwhile, some peace agreements have been 399 00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:39,000 Speaker 2: shown to hurt the environment. When FARK, the armed guerrilla 400 00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:41,479 Speaker 2: group in Colombia, signed a peace agreement with the government 401 00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:45,840 Speaker 2: in twenty sixteen, a significant portion of Colombia's land finally 402 00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:49,800 Speaker 2: became open to exploration. Now after that truce, the rate 403 00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:54,119 Speaker 2: of deforestation increased forty four percent by some accounts. And 404 00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:57,480 Speaker 2: that's the cruel reality Tom hart Dyke faced when he 405 00:25:57,520 --> 00:26:00,480 Speaker 2: was a prisoner in the Darien Gap. All of those 406 00:26:00,520 --> 00:26:04,400 Speaker 2: new orchids, all of that great biodiversity he observed, much 407 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:08,200 Speaker 2: of it new to science, was being unwittingly protected by 408 00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:15,520 Speaker 2: a bunch of teenagers with guns. After being released, Tom 409 00:26:15,520 --> 00:26:19,040 Speaker 2: and Paul plunged into the jungle, leaving their captors far 410 00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:23,520 Speaker 2: behind them. They had gotten everything back, their passports and 411 00:26:23,560 --> 00:26:27,240 Speaker 2: bank cards. The militants even gave them directions. 412 00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:31,400 Speaker 1: Their directions were so rubbish. We got completely and utterly 413 00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:34,840 Speaker 1: lost in the swamps and spent four days starting to 414 00:26:35,359 --> 00:26:38,080 Speaker 1: really acquire trench foot that we ran out of food 415 00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:40,359 Speaker 1: and we were just a jungle was killing us and 416 00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:44,920 Speaker 1: we were sleeping on floating logs, barely floating. I mean, 417 00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:47,800 Speaker 1: we were just soaked for days, and our feet it 418 00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:50,879 Speaker 1: was trend trop Our feet were beginning to split and 419 00:26:51,119 --> 00:26:54,120 Speaker 1: just began to decompose. I've got on my toes now 420 00:26:54,119 --> 00:26:56,960 Speaker 1: and everything's fine, But any more of that and we 421 00:26:57,040 --> 00:27:00,000 Speaker 1: would have had serious medical problems. 422 00:26:59,800 --> 00:27:02,640 Speaker 2: That's when Paul realized they would have to go against 423 00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:06,320 Speaker 2: every instinct and do what they felt impossible. 424 00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:10,359 Speaker 1: So Paul turned around to me and said, we've got 425 00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:13,120 Speaker 1: to go back for directions. We had to go back 426 00:27:13,119 --> 00:27:15,000 Speaker 1: for a map. So back up the hill, this is 427 00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:18,120 Speaker 1: honestly true. Back up the hill we went. We followed 428 00:27:18,280 --> 00:27:20,760 Speaker 1: where we'd been. We'd had a machete still, and we'd 429 00:27:20,760 --> 00:27:23,000 Speaker 1: marked the trees with the machete so we could tell 430 00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:25,720 Speaker 1: where to go. We went to this radio mass, some 431 00:27:25,760 --> 00:27:29,360 Speaker 1: sort of tower that our captors were to be captors 432 00:27:29,359 --> 00:27:32,800 Speaker 1: for a few more minutes anyway, reguarding, and you could 433 00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:36,040 Speaker 1: see them put their hands on their heads shake that 434 00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:40,120 Speaker 1: dropped their guns and no, it's those two idiots from England. 435 00:27:40,359 --> 00:27:43,719 Speaker 1: We can't get rid of them. They'd come back for directions. 436 00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:45,840 Speaker 1: I mean, it was almost you can't make it up. 437 00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:48,119 Speaker 1: So back up the hill we went and explained that 438 00:27:48,119 --> 00:27:51,000 Speaker 1: it as our fault we got lost. It was their fault, really, 439 00:27:51,040 --> 00:27:54,800 Speaker 1: but we blamed ourselves to not aggravate them. And they said, okay, 440 00:27:54,880 --> 00:27:57,880 Speaker 1: you turn right instead of left, you idiots. All right, 441 00:27:58,520 --> 00:28:02,120 Speaker 1: so we knew the mistake we'd made, and they gave 442 00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:06,160 Speaker 1: us money. They paid us, our captors paid us to go. 443 00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:09,800 Speaker 1: In the end, I mean, it was quite extraordinary. They 444 00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:13,200 Speaker 1: re released us with better directions, and within forty eight 445 00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:17,440 Speaker 1: hours I was back here in England via a speedboat, 446 00:28:17,880 --> 00:28:23,080 Speaker 1: private jet, bulletproof cars and the ambassador's residence in the 447 00:28:23,119 --> 00:28:24,640 Speaker 1: Colombian capital, Bogatar. 448 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:28,159 Speaker 2: When they arrived in Bogata, they were greeted by the 449 00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:32,040 Speaker 2: British ambassador to Columbia and his wife, who presented them 450 00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:36,159 Speaker 2: each with a box of Pherrero Rochet chocolates. 451 00:28:37,760 --> 00:28:41,640 Speaker 1: The ambassador's wife is spoiling as the chocolates were amazing 452 00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:44,800 Speaker 1: Me and Paul demolished the chocolates, thanked her very much, 453 00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:46,920 Speaker 1: and she turned to us and said, you two are 454 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:51,000 Speaker 1: walking ghosts. Mate. When you're kidnapped, you either die, you're 455 00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:54,440 Speaker 1: either ransomed off, or you have some sort of prisoner 456 00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:58,200 Speaker 1: exchange of some description. You two have just walked straight 457 00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:02,560 Speaker 1: out after ten months in captivity. That will never happen again. 458 00:29:02,680 --> 00:29:05,000 Speaker 1: And I've been in this post for years and I've 459 00:29:05,040 --> 00:29:07,960 Speaker 1: seen everything, and I can tell you in fifty years 460 00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:09,840 Speaker 1: as a civil war, I've never seen that. 461 00:29:12,480 --> 00:29:16,240 Speaker 2: Shortly after Tom decided to dedicate his life to building 462 00:29:16,240 --> 00:29:19,080 Speaker 2: the World Garden, the idea that helped keep him going 463 00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:22,120 Speaker 2: in the jungle in his own backyard. 464 00:29:21,840 --> 00:29:25,680 Speaker 1: That experience was the embryonic start to it, but the 465 00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:30,000 Speaker 1: enthusiasm it's got even stronger because you survived that experience. 466 00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:33,960 Speaker 1: It's turned me even more towards the passion for life, 467 00:29:34,280 --> 00:29:38,120 Speaker 1: which is mere shown through the world of brilliant plants 468 00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:41,120 Speaker 1: and so on. And I think that Colombian experience, as 469 00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:45,720 Speaker 1: the word galvanized, it really into even more stronger sense. 470 00:29:45,960 --> 00:29:47,760 Speaker 1: I'm meant to do this. I'm meant to talk to 471 00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:51,120 Speaker 1: you to broadcast the enthusiasm for plants I have and 472 00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:55,479 Speaker 1: to generate interest in that field. It's almost like a mission. 473 00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:58,840 Speaker 1: It's turned into all thanks to kid kids that were 474 00:29:58,920 --> 00:30:02,480 Speaker 1: just in their teens beguns. I mean, the more you 475 00:30:02,520 --> 00:30:05,520 Speaker 1: think about it, the more it's a very unlikely story, 476 00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:08,640 Speaker 1: but it's absolutely true. 477 00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:14,200 Speaker 2: It's a silver lining and if anything, a cautionary tale 478 00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:19,880 Speaker 2: because our favorite plants aren't just located in some of 479 00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:24,280 Speaker 2: the world's most dangerous places. They're also being picked and 480 00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:28,080 Speaker 2: sold by some of the world's most dangerous people too. 481 00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:34,200 Speaker 2: Coming up. If people are willing to pay high prices 482 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:37,920 Speaker 2: for these things, criminal networks wouln't want to supply that. 483 00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:42,400 Speaker 1: So in this vacuum, institutional vacuum, that's where we believe 484 00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:45,840 Speaker 1: that the Mafia ROAs. 485 00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:49,360 Speaker 2: I'm Summer rain Oaks, join us again next time for 486 00:30:49,520 --> 00:30:55,400 Speaker 2: Bad Seeds. Bad Seeds is a production of School of 487 00:30:55,480 --> 00:30:59,640 Speaker 2: Humans and iHeart Podcasts. I'm Your Host Summer rain Oaks. 488 00:31:00,280 --> 00:31:03,720 Speaker 2: Lucas Riley is our writer, Gabby Watts is our producer, 489 00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:07,200 Speaker 2: and Amelia Brock is our senior producer. Fact Checking is 490 00:31:07,200 --> 00:31:10,960 Speaker 2: by Savannah Hugily and Zoe Farrow. Original music is by 491 00:31:11,040 --> 00:31:16,080 Speaker 2: Claire Campbell, sound design and scores by Jesse Niswanger. Development 492 00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:19,240 Speaker 2: was by Brian Lavin and Jacob Selzer. Our show art 493 00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:24,200 Speaker 2: is by Pam Peacock. Executive producers are Brian Lavin, Elsie Crowley, 494 00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:27,800 Speaker 2: Brandon Barr, Virginia Prescott and Jacob Selzer.