On the north coast of South America, between Venezuela and Brazil, is the country of Guyana. This former British colony is the size of Great Britain but has a population of just 800,000. The towns are mainly on the fertile coastal strip - travel south and there is rainforest for hundreds and hundreds of miles.
This new three-part series brings an international team of scientists, climbers and wildlife film-makers to the Guyanese rainforest to search for the extraordinary animals that live there. They will spend a month exploring the unknown, unexplored and untouched forests of Guyana to show that this forgotten forest is unique and should be saved, for ever.
In tonight's opener, climber and biologist Steve Backshall (pictured) sets off to explore a giant waterfall that lays to the west of the country - Kaieteur Falls. His aim is to abseil the 240m to the plunge pool and be the first naturalist to explore this habitat. At the bottom, he is pummelled by the spray but finds a perfect habitat for species of frogs and freshwater crabs, which co-exist in a habitat of wild vegetation.
Meanwhile wildlife cameraman Gordon Buchanan goes in search of rare giant otters and soon discovers their tracks - they are almost as large as he is. The remote camera he sets to trace the otters unexpectedly captures the elusive jaguar - South America's biggest cat.
Elsewhere, canopy expert Justine Evans and the climbing team build a platform high in a tree-top. After a long week of waiting, Justine finds and films a family of red howler monkeys.
Finally, insect expert Dr George McGavin crawls into a giant fallen log and soon discovers not only crickets but also their predator - whipspiders - perfectly adapted for hunting in darkness.
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