Survivorman | Grenada Island | Les Stroud

I haven't seen anyone all day, not a single boat. It's pure and complete

island

survival trying to find my own water. My own food. It's that or die. That's the real story of survival on a tropical

island

that you can't. Exit Frigate Island An uninhabited tropical island that lies deep in the heart of the Caribbean Sea, not far from Granada, Discovered by Columbus in 1498, the island has remained untouched by civilization for centuries largely due to the ferocious waves that hit its rocky coast to survive. On a tropical island it is not always what it seems in a unique way an island represents a strange form of trap I can walk across this island in less than an hour the birds can leave whenever they want but nothing and no one else can survive on an island tropical now that probably conjures up images of palm trees and sandy beaches and drinking lots of coconut water, the reality is that pirates used to abandon people on tropical islands to die, they gave them a bottle of rum, a gun and a bullet per bullet.

Well, that was to use on themselves before they went crazy or died of dehydration or starvation. You see, tropical islands aren't always as ideal, pretty, and easy as living on Gilligan's Island. What happens when the palm trees are replaced by cacti and the water I drink stagnant puddles? How do you survive that tropical island? There they go my trusty team leaves me here in brown and only for the next five days they have left me here with a raft for safety but the deadly ocean currents that hit this island make the raft almost useless there is about another hour before it is The sun goes down I'm just going to sleep here on these rocks I hope it doesn't rain before I do I'm going to look around and see what I can find There's always something at the edge of the ocean, no matter how pristine or how remote the place I'm at you find yourself, you will find floaters, some things that come up now, look what I have here, half a bottle of water that in an hour or two will be an empty water bottle, I think I have a waterproof jacket there and then I have this, I have this pot , I also have a knife for my belt and then they call this a machete, now that's a machete, that's all I have to survive, let's see. what I can find around these rocks and so in just a matter of seconds I have discovered what I have within my evaluation zone number one, my personal belongings and my body, so the next step is zone number two, my immediate environment . this case is the anger that the crew left look at this well there is always stuff certain water bottle I like an old lighter I don't know if there is water or liquid but you can see it has been there for a while here is the rust stain if this works I'm going to smile hey okay then that's smooth oh that's fantastic someone is smiling at me right now if I don't look beyond my circumstances I never know what advantages may exist to help me get through a survival test. oh oh oh I see something right there fishing line wait wait that's a hook I see the hook I've only walked 100 yards not even that maybe and I have a fishing line oh and a hook and I even found a lighter that works I'm not going to have time to fish now and besides that I have to catch some bait anyway the fish are not going to just jump on a hook ah I felt raindrops I see some important rain coming this is not going to be pretty I have nowhere to hide I go let's light this fire now before it starts raining hard I can't believe I found a lighter that is just amazing yeah beautiful oh that's not good I don't know I usually fail at a fire, but I need that blade.

It shows that I have lit thousands of fires. I should know better, but I was counting on all the dry grass and dry wood to get off the ground. It turns out that all this dry wood is hardwood. Okay, let's try this again and this time an environmentally horrible scenario of burning some of this rubber and plastic I found, that means I can light this fire, so I'll use that instead of using the lighter. I see I have some wood. here burns very well thanks to years of experience, my self-confidence often betrays me and to this day has made me treat something as vital as fire with too much indifference, but the importance of this fire is as strong as it It's for any survival situation, okay, let's try some rubber, destroying a rubber shoe, it's pretty bad for the environment here to burn plastic and rubber, but if it lights my fire in a situation like this where everything is a question Survival, well, you have to do what you have. what to do I feel a little stupid trying to light that fire so hastily, but now it goes out, whether in the desert, the arctic or on a tropical island, the need for fire will always remain my biggest concern, it is one of the ways most important to generate comfort. in a place where it's hard to find comfort it's very hot here I'm still sweating I don't need the fire to warm me that sure is good for comfort I hope the water doesn't rise any higher, it's getting I'm nervous, this is the rainy season, well, It's actually a euphemism because it's also hurricane season, Hurricane Ivan devastated this entire region.

Granada is a powerfully beautiful, beautiful place, but for me, alone here right now, I still have to be careful if I am left alone again this time. On an island and you try to get some sleep, it won't be easy sleeping on a rock that's still sweating right now, you know there aren't many experiences that are as powerful and beautiful as sleeping under the stars by the ocean if you can't survive the psychology and emotions, no matter how many fish you catch or how many fires you light, you will still die and here comes the rain.

Oh, I have nowhere to hide here, I'm literally standing there. In the dark, the fire burns, well, I found a place to sit. It's on the tree that used to have all the nibbling ants crawling on it. When the weather wants to bother you there's nothing you can do to survive it's all about dealing with the weather preparing for the weather if you're not dealing with it you better prepare for it I wasn't prepared for this it's going to be a night long I have to wait to start a fire it was easy after I found the lighter keeping it lit will be easy another story during this rainy season fresh water however is another matter this is how I spent the night last night it's not going to help me here I can't cross the forts ocean currents to get to the continent anyway I have this life Here is a straw to drink water.

I want to try it, but it's not going to help me with salt water. Look at this. I put the glass in the back of the boat to collect rainwater. I looked at how much I got, so it's a big plus to use. This is a bit to collect the rain and give me some drinking water. The fire still burning is at least a good sign. Throw another piece of wood. Hopefully the rain will stop and I'll be able to look for some food. 25 years of survival and finally this is the first time I have been around cacti while they were bearing fruit oh I picked it and the cactus fruit is ripe and ready it is good oh yes this is good I will be keeping an eye out for more than These should be a good boost. of energy I found some garbage, some plastic in these black garbage bags and I placed them so I could catch more rainwater and this prickly pear, you don't get much use out of these guys, but what you get helps here we go, not my favorite of wild edibles, however, there are many of them on this island.

Not bad. The cactus was actually once used as a food crop for many desert dwellers, but I'm on the edge of the ocean and that means there are possibly fish. line here is definitely enough to cast it, but I'm going to have to untangle it and I want to run it around this bottle. This isn't the easiest way to fish so it will mostly be just throwing it in, letting it sink to the bottom and hoping for the best it's usually a tangled mess. The fishing line I find on the islands is also usually too weak to use.

It breaks with an easy pull, but sometimes I get lucky and it's still strong enough to use. The trick will be to get the hook and The bait is far enough away to catch a fish, there are no sinkers around so I'm going to try to use this little piece of shell because it has a natural hole for me, it's a little heavy maybe help remove the line from the hook. the line and the sinker I even hope it's a welk that's nice, it's a great fishing bait or I can eat it and I'm going to try the bait first.

Oh yeah, I see a lot more too. This is bigger news many times than it could be. find a bait that I can always consider as food for myself too if I'm unlucky with fishing there we go something biting on the other end I already felt the line tightening something struggling something is biting I have something I have something that's a little ocean perch oh yeah look at that okay I'll call it lunch and there's still bait here. I'm going to pull the slide out while I'm still here and see, forget the hives, we're eating fish today, how cool.

It's a good way to start, so now I know that I can access a fast food source nearby and that's a big psychological boost, but it will be short-lived, amazing, and all this here would be excellent bait, I say, because in On the last cast I lost the hook, so this is for fishing, just in case I'll leave it here. You never know if it's a desperate situation. I would eat the fish raw. That way you will get more nutrients. Survival also comes down to psychology. and you want to feel good, so I'm putting my balance on the side of good, strong psychological survival over the sensationalism of just eating a raw fish and making it look good.

That's survival, sooner or later I have to go up and down and through the cactus and see what's on the other side there I never expect when it comes to gathering food or water in a survival situation seek shelter in sources of food, water and fire you must happen frequently and constantly considered these basic survival needs can be depleted quickly I make sure not to stick my foot in a sea urchin, there are a few of them around regardless of the fish I just caught, the reality is I lost the hook too, so that could well be The last fish I eat and the welks here are plentiful.

Well, I'm hearing a lot of big thunder rolling behind me, so I want to cook them right now. All I have to do is put them on the fire. Well, they told me they scream when you cook them. I lost the only hook I found. However, this is the edge of the ocean and in a strange way, anything floating on the ocean waves makes it a potential land of plenty, but anyway. I'm still very isolated, even though I'm technically a short boat ride from safety. I haven't seen anyone out there all day, not a single boat, so I could scream as loud as I want, like the biggest fire hits the most smoke, it doesn't matter.

I'm still stranded here and without rescue it's complete and pure survival on the island well, that's not bad at all, that's good, this guy here hmm, that's even better, many of them very edible, you know what I haven't done yet and I really should have is my assessment check zone and that's where in any survival situation it's really important to just take a break, calm down and check all your zones basically do an assessment of your zones the first assessment zone It is your body, your physical nature. I'm hurt? I'm hurt? What do I have in my pockets?

Know? Okay, so I know I have a knife and I know I have these kinds of clothes or hiking boots or whatever. The second evaluation zone is immediately close to me, so what do I have around me? So I have the rubber boat, uh, machete, uh, you know, a raincoat, I have server equipment, I have plastic bottles around here, there are some cans, wire, I can find wire, I found fishing line, so. you're looking around this assessment zone which is within the first hundred meters or so and then the third assessment zone to check is beyond which is much further away.

I haven't checked that area yet. I've been around evaluation zones number one my body number two immediately the first hundred meters or so and now I have to get up and check number three and see what's beyond this those welks are really tasty okay I'm going to go up here now and see the rest of the island seems to be some kind of path here now it's time to check area number three, which lies beyond my immediate area. Wow, this is incredible, it opens up, what a difference, obviously, it is incredibly. Unlike where I've been, just nestled on the rocks on the coast, on the leeward side, there are lots of birds and they're all in the grass.

It will be a good opportunity to look for eggs, if I'm lucky, maybe there will be some uh there is some water fresh water I have to explore a little there must be nests around here but so many birds get angry they all have to be eggs around here there have to be four chicks this isa major score they call them mariquai I call them lunch and dinner, this is big, the problem with these guys is that the only way to get in is to take a strong sword and stick it through there and try with all your might to get in there, it's extremely difficult and it's hard now with a snapping turtle, you can hang something in front of him and he'll jump up and bite it and you can grab the head and cut it off because he'll actually grab onto a stick and you can pull his head out a little bit, but that's not the case with these guys. , what I would end up having to do is euthanize and hack it right here and the whole time I'm doing this, the turtle is alive, so it's a good half hour or more of hacking and mutilating this poor turtle before I finally get the opportunity to cut off his head and kill him.

Disgusting business, eating a turtle. You're lucky because I already ate some fish and some snails, if tomorrow I don't see anything else to eat turtle soup, there is zero fresh running water on this island I only have available a rain puddle full of feces that water is only drinkable because I have this vital straw or if I boiled it but drank it straight and it would probably kill me, I can I can't imagine what's in that puddle of water with dead birds and turtle feces with the straw when I boil it I can drink it and that's great because now I can't I have to depend on rainwater, when rainwater comes it will be an advantage.

Not since my time in outback Australia or South Africa have I had such a repulsive drinking water source. It will be the straw that breaks my life and will make a huge difference for me. This guy bombards me. They want to keep me away from their chicks. for sure and that was the end of the surviving man, he was found with his eyes pecked out on the middle island, although the island must be left alone to continue as a biologically unique area as a bird and turtle breeding colony. Locals will still sneak in to take eggs and turtles and even shoot a small group of goats that were placed here for that purpose.

Grenada itself could be a world heritage site due to the still pure nature that exists here and this island in particular could be a shining example of natural beauty especially if they remove the goats at least I know I will stay dry here it's a long night when your pillow is a rock beautiful views aside surviving on an island still isn't a walk in the park that's how I ended up last night crawling under this uh boat, it started pouring rain probably around four or five in the morning and it started to rain hard. I tell you survival is a rollercoaster affair, super high highs, super low lows physically in terms of sustenance definitely mentally and emotionally, we'll see. if I cut some rainwater, oh yeah, pros and cons when it comes to weather, let's say while it's cloudy and raining and I have to hide from the rain, that's very true, I'm collecting rainwater and that's much better than drinking from it. muddy puddle I'll take the rain I'll take the clouds right now well since I have the cloud cover and I'll go find some bird eggs even if I find just one or two finding eggs would be a big boost it's in these little holes right here look for the little spots where the grass was just washed away and you'll see maybe an opening on one side like look at this right here fresh turtle poop and uh right next to this little eggshell and I'll look around this area and see if I can find some eggs of mine have a real breakfast oh look at that, right there are a couple of chicks I could eat but they've already hatched so I'll leave them alone, there's nothing to those chicks but if the timing was right.

I was able to find plump chicks. The reality is that finding them with little more than a teaspoon of meat on their small bones is unlikely. It's not worth the calories lost searching for them or chasing them in this nice little sheltered cove there. I think it's beautiful. I found my new home, I see what it's like for shelter, certainly big on comfort, nothing like a sandy beach, this is a beautiful little place, it's better than the other side, as always, after a few hours of exploring, I discovered a way to make my circumstances are much better ah oh ah some ants but they will calm down at night I think I hope oh God it feels good in the back nice view also just beautiful I think I'm going to take a nap during the day, it is difficult to sleep at night, not really getting enough sleep is still vital to keeping your mind clear and surviving.

Where am I staying now? I haven't seen any birds coming here. I hope it didn't go wrong, but it looks like it's actually abandoned because there hasn't been anything around, try cooking it now, that was relatively easy, a single egg hidden under a log, I didn't even have to go looking for it, but finding it without no adult protecting it seems suspicious to me, it's still worth trying if it's fresh, it could be delicious, come on baby, it burns, it's okay, I'll let it latch on and get ready to cook an egg. Not only did I find this egg, but also some wire and a couple more surprises everywhere. this coast will do, oh oh god, I think it might have been a waste, I think this was just a bad egg, maybe it was a dead egg, maybe that's why they left it there, oh, you know, what I eat and what that I run the risk of getting terribly sick because that thing doesn't smell, it looks good but it smells terribly bad.

The good news is that while I was trying to find some wire to tie this tripod to, I found more fishing line and plenty of hooks and sinkers. I'm going to go out and try to fish this section. I think I can walk out to the shallows and try to fish without snails, but I have a handful of snails. I'll try it with the hook in the area. It's not as rocky here and maybe not as fruitful as the other side of the island, that's the hardest part. I have to find more bait. I really don't want to have to give up too soon.

I am looking for some good eggs or even some plump chicks they should be easy to catch what I am looking for is a real live chick, a big one that I can grab and eat. I think what happened is that I'm a week late, most of the chicks are barely up. Now they are standing and I always see them sneaking between the rocks. There I would have to run and throw a stone. I'm not saying that's not possible, but I'm actually going to go look there and see this. It's highly unlikely, but it doesn't hurt to try, well now I know it's completely possible, but this guy feels like skin and bones, there's nothing for him, so I can run and catch a bunch more of these or go to pick them up.

Let the turtle feel comfortable. I've bothered these guys and this little guy enough to let him go and voila, he'll be fine. Why not eat the chick well, too straw-like to make a meal it should have eaten? I grabbed another dozen or so to get a good solid meal. There were 20 or 30 running around, but the amount of energy expended to get that small meal was a bit excessive, actually, whereas these guys, well, they're all over the island, basically. a grocery store with turtles walking nice and slow always outdoors and instead of running around trying to catch my food I can walk around and pick one of these for lunch and dinner so I've had a lot of prickly pear and an egg.

I know where there are more eggs and, um, I'm going to try more fish today, tomorrow, you'll have dinner today, you live as well as it looked, there was nothing for him, maybe a teaspoon of meat and a few crunchy bones. You'd need at least eight of those to make a meal worth eating and by then you'd have burned twice as many calories as you would have gained and that's not smart survival hunting, not when hundreds of turtles are easy to pick up so quickly. like my body is telling me I need more food but what's more important to me right now is that water dehydration will turn me off quickly if I don't keep drinking, that tastes unpleasant but at least I know it's clean it's The only way I can stay hydrated, otherwise, I'm getting dehydrated pretty quickly.

I'm going to create an impression in the sand and cover it with some plastic we prepared tonight. Hopefully I'll get more rainwater. I can drink. A little trick is to not eat too much the more food I eat. I need more water for digestion and this is not a land flowing with milk and honey, just a stagnant puddle of rainwater filled with feces and dead birds. I have this crab here. I can eat them, but I want them as bait that looks like fish bait. I'm big, come on baby, stay on the line, come on, oh yeah, I had a good feeling about that the whole time look at that baby that's dinner, oh yeah, they're paying me, the gods are paying me to let go that chick Don't believe it, it was strange being in the water and having it on the line, it fought well, oh yeah, yeah baby, you're dinner, yeah, in fact, with so little water to drink I'll have to be careful not to eat too much, but This type of food is an incredible psychological boost and I am not going to give it up.

Searching for firewood on this coast reveals more than I really want to see, as it does on every ocean coast on this planet. Oh, I thought this is actually very good karma, let the little guy go and reward him with a fish dinner. Oh, I can guarantee this tastes much better than that little bird. Many times, in a survival situation, you must consider where all your sources of sustenance are. The turtles are here. Any time I want them, an easy choice, a cactus, an easy choice, but as long as I can catch fish like this, I can leave the turtles where they are, I can leave the chicks where they are and eat the fish in my tuna and get a lot of them. of my main nutrients I'm going to keep eating turn off the cameras I can almost guarantee that I won't sleep tonight because now I'm going to have too much energy running through my body but it was time to eat wow there's a big thing about fish happening right in front of me .

This has to be good fishing bait. Oh, why do there always have to be ants across the channel from my island? There is security and people, but the currents here are deadly. They take lives and that is why I remain isolated and alone in view of salvation and that is classic survival on the island. The first night last night it didn't rain, so I actually slept a little early in the morning and already with that sun, I can start to feel this heat, today is going to be intense. I can feel it coming before that happens.

I'm going to go out and explore the outside area just to see what else I can find boy under the tropical sun, it's not a good place to be. when, uh, heatstroke could mean your life, well, they certainly don't make it difficult, this guy comes walking right into camp, he's a big turtle, too big for my needs anyway, I can get a smaller one , I'll be fine with an abundance like this. I can afford the time and calories to hunt for eggs. I've had bad luck eating turtles, as I suffered from some pretty horrible parasites, and while these may be fine and clear, they're still on my easy last resort list.

The Turtles Anyway I'm not going anywhere fast as soon as they start descending towards my head I guess I must be getting close to something so we're back to the egg hunt oh that hurt cactus and the shorts don't go together, hey, hey, hey. There we go, amazing, look at this. Two eggs sound solid. Well, I think what I'll do is do the most eco-friendly thing and leave an egg. I know where it is and I'll go eat. This is a good sized day, once again it is proactive survival that has served me well, if I don't look around and sit and wait to be rescued I may wither and die but spend time exploring me He has brought water for fish. cactus turtles and, best of all, egg flour, this doesn't look good, it seems like it was a little advanced, well, it looks and smells disgusting, actually there's the chick, well, the crazy thing is that's all edible, I have never eaten an egg.

This has happened before, well let's start with the egg whites, shall we? Oh, that's really good, wow, now let's try the chick, not bad, this is going down a lot better than I thought. I'm going to add the shell there's calcium in this shell well there's more where that came from once again in a strange twist on how survival works. I had the urge to eat an egg, but my need for water became much stronger as I put food in my stomach. That will help anyway, anything else I can do to catch some rain, if it rains tonight, I better go and drink from the mud puddle three four inches of water and I have a nice cold drink, just to be safe .

I'm going to make a little rain shelter here in case it rains tonight. I don't have to run somewhere else through the cacti in the dark. This is the rainy season and I have to stay. vigilant to protect me from the elements it is not waterproof in any way it will help shed most of the rain I will tuck you in here with my raincoat on in case I have more downpours like the first few nights. It's always very humbling when you do well in survival, it's humbling because almost anything can go wrong in a survival situation.survival and it usually happens.

I am always asked what is the most difficult place to survive and the answer is always the same. It comes down to temperature, give me heat. for moderate temperatures and I'll manage, drop it below freezing and survival becomes quite a struggle. It is surprising that this tropical island is covered in cacti, there are no palm trees, no coconuts, no fresh flowing water, but the opportunity to survive here to collect cactus turtles. Fishing for fish Collecting eggs Hitting small birds before they get their flight feathers makes survival here strangely more feasible than on some tropical islands that are covered in caps.

That's the irony of survival places. Television has made survival seem like a recreation and me being in this place can almost seem like an adventure, but survival will always be survival and by its very nature it is a difficult and miserable task that cannot be wished upon anyone. and it was surely worth it. It works amazing. Perfect. A little thing like this little idea. I take a drink. of rainwater, this island may not have palm trees, or coconuts, or fresh running water, it has eggs and turtles, nopales by the ton that I can eat and live off of, and good fishing, you never know what you will get by surviving.

You get what you get, you deal with it because surviving is doing what you have to do or perish. Surviving on a tropical island often exists in people's minds as a cliché, but it is the reference point for all of us when we think of being stranded and there are places where coconuts fall in profusion and fresh water cascades. down the rock walls to form aquamarine pools, but here a cactus has replaced the coconut and the flowing fresh water is actually a stagnant pool, but Granada stands as a beautiful example of pure nature and its islands are exceptionally vibrant and rich. in biodiversity, so why do I always look for the hardest way to enjoy such powerfully beautiful places? someday I'll have to try to be a tourist and just take pictures of the turtles instead of considering them my lunch in the name of survival.