NARRATOR: On this episode of "Destination Truth"...
Josh and his team travel across East Africa
to investigate a massive volcano
that an indigenous tribe claims is haunted.
Chasing paranormal reports of ghostly figures
and disembodied voices,
the team makes a daring descent into the crater,
where they have a frightening encounter.
Shh-shh-shh!
Oh, my G— Right there.
Guys, right there, the light, the light.
Next, the adventure continues
as Team Truth crosses the Indian Ocean
to the untamed island nation of Madagascar,
where local villagers say a small but terrifying creature
is on the attack.
[ Growls ]
It kind of grabbed me,
and I was very afraid that he was going to kill me.
Josh's hunt for the truth takes him deep
into these primitive jungles
where he comes face-to-face with an unidentified beast.
Oh! Right there.
Hold on!
I'm Josh Gates.
In my travels, I've seen some unexplainable things,
and I've done some things I can't quite explain.
Aah!
Now I've pulled together a team
armed with the latest technology
in the search for answers to the world's strangest mysteries.
I'm not sure what's out there waiting for me,
but I know what I'm looking for —
the truth.
When you think of haunted places,
an old creepy mansion, Indian graveyard
or an abandoned insane asylum might come to mind.
But in the heart of Kenya's stunning countryside,
a massive volcano, called the Menengai Crater,
is the unexpected home
of a reportedly intense paranormal presence.
According to the Maasai tribe, the ghosts of the Menengai
Crater are the unsettled spirits
of thousands of warriors killed in a bloody civil war,
fought on the crater's rim.
The legend adds that the bodies of the dead
were thrown into the abyss
as the fighting raged on.
Reports of phantom tribesman, strange shadows,
and the sounds of battle cries are common here.
The local Maasai tribe have enormous reverence for Menengai,
traveling to the interior only for sacred ceremonies
and avoiding the crater altogether after dark.
This massive crater is one of the largest in the world,
measuring 1,600 feet deep
with a diameter more than 6 miles across.
Eyewitness sightings occur predominantly on tribal land
at the bottom of the caldera.
I wanted to investigate if this gorgeous piece
of unspoiled natural beauty
was truly haunted by spirits of the past.
So we assembled our team, packed up our gear,
and headed out for this safari.
We flew 9,760 miles east from Los Angeles
to the African nation of Kenya.
Upon arrival, we rounded up our gear and headed out
into the throbbing streets of Nairobi.
♪
Nice thing about Nairobi —
It's not crowded at all.
We were eager to begin our investigation,
but before we had a chance to get to work,
there was a little personal business
I had to attend to.
- Uh... Gates? - Yes?
You got a little problem down below.
Oh, no.
First of all, why are you staring at my crotch?
That's question number one.
It's hard to avoid, you've got...
Yes, it is hard to avoid!
boxers peeking through! When you're this adventurous,
sometimes, you rip the crotch out of your pants.
That's what happens.
I need to get my pants fixed.
This being my favorite and only pair of pants,
we made our way to a local seamstress.
Hello!
Sir, watch your eyes.
Can you fix these?
Yes.
ALI: Drop them, Gates.
Queue the stripper music!
♪
Airplanes?
I'm an adventurous guy. I wear adventurous underwear.
♪
They are done.
I appreciate it, boom. Thank you.
Okay, folks, show is over. I hope you enjoyed it.
Here we go.
With a major wardrobe malfunction averted,
we got back to business.
Our research had revealed a young shaman
who operated on the outskirts of the market
whose people were from Menengai.
I hoped he could teach me more about the reported origins
of the spirits there.
GATES: We're here because
we're interested in the Menengai Crater.
What can you tell me about this place?
Do you think that these spirits are dangerous?
Who should I talk to to get more information about this?
It's a goat tail?
Okay.
Boy, do you have — do you have a bag for this?
We needed to track down the elders at the Maasai village.
However, reaching the isolated area near the Menengai crater
would be a monumental task unto itself.
From Nairobi, we'd have to catch a train
and travel 80 miles north to the city of Naivasha.
There, we'd arranged for a four-by-four
that could navigate the rough roads
of the African countryside.
It would take a full day of driving to reach Lake Nakuru,
which we would have to cross by boat
to get to the Maasai village.
Our journey got off to a rough start
since the last train out of Nairobi
was just pulling out of the station as we arrived.
Hold the train!
[ Grunts ]
♪
[ Panting ] Okay, come on!
Woo!
Okay.
Can I — What does this do? Can I play with this?
♪
GATES: How long to Naivasha?
It's normally six hours.
Six hours. Six hours, okay.
Any of you boys play poker, happen to have some cash on you?
♪
Folks, I'm here to announce my candidacy for president.
This is a 10-city whistle-stop tour, and it starts today.
Sir, I appreciate your vote!
Got one, just gotta win the hearts and minds of the rest.
Our train meandered through urban shantytowns
and breathtaking wilderness.
After hours riding the rails, we woke up just in time
to make an impromptu exit
and find a place to sleep.
Come on. Quick, come on!
By the light of a new day,
the paved highways outside of Naivasha
gave way to dirt roads
and the majestic sites of the East African wilderness.
Menengai is part of the nearly 4,000-mile trench
known as the Great Rift Valley.
It is here that some of the most famous fossils
of human ancestors have been unearthed
and where our species first set out
to populate the planet.
As we got closer to the crater,
we were overwhelmed at the sight of endless exotic animals,
although Bobby was overtaken
by an entirely different motivation.
delicious ones, too.
Bobby, we're not...
♪
After a long day of driving,
we finally arrived in the town of Nakuru.
These people have lived on the edge of the crater for centuries
and were the true keepers of its legendary mystery.
To travel to the village would take an entire day by car
or just over an hour by boat.
Before we had time to second guess our decision,
we were crossing the dangerous waters of Lake Nakuru.
♪
Okay, guys.
We got 18 kilometers across this thing,
and there's definitely hippos in these waters.
Keep your eyes open.
As we crossed the lake, we were now entering into Maasai land
and drawing closer to the haunted crater of Menengai.
Oh, right there! Right there! Look!
There, right there!
There's definitely hippos in these waters.
Keep your eyes open.
Oh, right there! Right there! Look!
There, right there!
Hey, guys, let's get Out of here right now.
Come one, let's go! Let's go!
Though they look ungainly,
hippos kill more people than any other animal in Africa.
We throttled up our outboard
and made a beeline for the shore.
From the dock, it was a short hike
to the edge of the Maasai village,
where we emerged into their vibrant
and exotic community.
The Maasai's hospitality was overwhelming,
and we were invited to shake, quite literally,
every hand in the village.
A tribal spokesman, named Simon,
arranged for a traditional song of celebration.
[ Singing in native language ]
After the song, I was invited to partake
in a highly-revered Maasai tradition —
drinking the sacred blood of one of their cows.
It's difficult to watch and even harder to participate in.
[ Speaking in native language ]
- Okay. - How is it?
It's a little bit like, uh... drinking a milkshake
if a milkshake was boiling hot and made of blood.
After enduring the worst round of shots since my college days,
Simon brought me to meet the village elders.
I was eager to speak with them and learn more about the history
of the crater.
Who fought in the battle?
How many people fought?
[ Conversing in native language ]
And do you know how many people fought?
And how do you think of Menengai, today?
The elders explained that
a sacred section of the crater floor,
as well as a remote cave are both crawling with spirits.
Simon then introduced me to the old medicine man
who I was told to visit by the shaman in Nairobi.
He anointed me with specially prepared ashes
that he said would protect me from the spirits in the crater
while still allowing me to observe their presence.
He then gave me some herbs, tobacco, and a fire-making kit.
He said once in the crater,
I'd have to make a fire by hand to appease their restless souls.
Thank you.
I thanked the Maasai for their incredible generosity,
and we raced back to our jeep.
Sir, are you coming with us?
This guy is joining the team.
I've been saying, "We need a Maasai warrior on this team,"
for years.
We had a ways to travel and wanted to reach the bottom
of the crater before nightfall.
Time was of the essence.
When we reached the edge of Menengai,
we were blown away by its massive size
and awe-striking beauty.
From the summit, the sprawling crater floor
came into full view.
We unloaded our equipment and began hiking
to the floor of the massive basin
more than 1,000 feet below.
All right, guys. Be very careful in here.
It's literally just a sheer drop.
♪
Guys, this is the end of the path.
We're going to have to go down the fast way.
- We're going to fly? - Kind of.
GATES: Let's break out the ropes.
We don't have enough rope for this.
[ Scoffs ] This is crazy.
Ali, you ready to climb?
Uh...
I don't have a choice, do I?
No.
With a sheer rock face ahead of us,
we assembled our belaying gear
and, after securing our ropes,
I took the plunge and lowered myself into the crater.
Coming to the edge.
A little steep.
♪
[ Panting ]
Okay, I'm down!
The brittle walls, deep crevasses,
and the extreme vertical drop
made for a very challenging descent.
Ali, there's a majestic view down here.
Shut it, Gates.
Oh, geez, cactus in the face.
You got it!
With the rest of the team safely reaching the plateau
near the bottom of the crater, we continued our hike down.
As the sun set on the horizon,
we set up base camp in the ceremonial area
used by the Maasai tribe.
We installed four infrared cameras
to survey the perimeter of our camp.
Further out in the crater, we placed multiple trap cameras
that would automatically fire photos
if anything passed by their lenses.
Vanessa would oversee all the equipment from base camp
and alert us to any peculiar activity.
This is a very nonconventional environment
for us to investigate in.
Normally, you think of hauntings happening in structures,
in abandoned buildings.
We're out in nature here. This is not a man-made place.
This is a crater of an ancient volcano.
Shawn, what are we talking about in terms of dangers tonight?
We know there are predators down here —
hyenas, leopards, lot of poisonous snakes,
poisonous snakes that if they strike you,
you'd be dead in 20 minutes.
First thing we need to do —
My group is going to make the offering
that the Maasai asked us to make.
After we do that, we'll start the sweeps,
and, hopefully, you know, something interesting happens.
Let's get to it. - All right.
GATES: Bobby, Shawn, and Dan would hike up toward higher ground,
while Ali, Mike and I would patrol the crater floor.
This crater has a long, long history.
60,000 people died here from just one battle.
There's a lot of lost souls here, you know?
I think there's a good chance
that some may still be lingering.
The Maasai are obviously very spiritual,
and they obviously have a deep belief
that this place is charged with a lot of energy.
I think this is the kind of place
where an animal just comes out,
and then you don't have a head anymore
'cause he eats it.
[ Whispering ] All right, guys.
This is the place we were told to make the offering.
Let's do it.
Okay.
All right, they said we had to do the fire by hand.
Any of you know how to make a fire with your hands?
I was never a Boy Scout.
I was a Brownie.
Did you learn how to make a fire?
I mostly sold cookies.
Okay, here we go.
We can do this.
That was smoking.
It's going. It's going!
It's working!
We made fire!
Lastly...
his tobacco.
On behalf of the Maasai, we hereby make this offering
to the spirits of the Menengai crater.
Now you will reveal yourselves to us.
Okay, guys. Offering is made.
Let's get this sweep underway.
♪
Good thing we've got a full moon out tonight.
Otherwise, I don't think we'd be able to see much at all.
- [ Howling ] - What was that?
♪
Dan, look behind you, dude. Right there.
All right, dude. This is starting to get freaky.
Dan, look behind you. Dude, right there.
Something just ran up behind you, bro.
- Oh, my god. - What did you see?
I don't even know, I just saw it...
Just something move behind him.
But it, like, darted up here. That thing was moving, too.
It happened so fast. I have no idea what it was.
I just saw something go...
Hey, man. I'm sorry. I was just looking out for you.
♪
This is basically the center of the crater.
The Maasai don't often come down here.
They're very frightened of it.
They think this is a place of great power.
- Shh. - [ Laughing ]
It sounds a little bit almost like a laugh, like a cackle.
I think it's coming from these trees up here.
Let's walk up.
Guys, come on. It's up here.
♪
Shh, listen, listen, listen.
[ Howling ]
It's like a...
Yeah, it's like a moaning or a howling.
All right. Josh to base camp, come in.
Go ahead, Josh.
We're hearing some weird noises out here.
It sounds kind of like an animal,
but it also sounds a little bit like a voice.
Are you seeing anything on those IR cams yet?
No.
There's definitely a lot of bugs in front of the IR cams
and there are a lot of bugs on me,
but I haven't seen any animals.
Just keep your eyes on those cameras
because if it is an animal,
it might pass in front of one of them.
We passed one of the IRs not too far back.
All right. I'll keep my eyes peeled.
I hear something shuffling around back there.
I do, too.
- Hear that? - Yeah, I hear that.
GATES: It's like a howl.
[ Rustling ]
Watch out! What was that?
Let's go around this set of trees.
Maybe we'll pick it up on the other side.
Come on. Let's go.
♪
No sign of it.
MIKE: No.
No sign of it over here at all.
ALI: It's all quiet.
Well, whatever that was,
I don't think we can call that paranormal.
I think that was probably an animal.
We got a lot of crater to search, guys.
♪
SHAWN: It's probably a decent spot
for an EMF detection, yeah?
BOBBY: Yeah, absolutely.
I'm gonna have to calibrate
the EMF detector to our equipment.
This crater is, like, 10 miles across.
There's so much wildlife that lives down here.
[ Whirring ]
Whoa! There it is.
- Do you see that? - Yeah.
It's going nuts.
It's just freaking out.
Something came on your camera?
- You guys didn't see that? - No.
Was it right in front of you? Where was it?
I saw the shape,
like somebody was walking around here
in front of us.
I don't see anything, buddy.
You've got to be kidding me.
I swear, there was something on the frame.
♪
It looks like some rock overhangs,
a lot of huge tree roots leading down
into some sort of gully.
Guys, on the thermal,
it looks like some sort of... cave.
Yeah, it is, a big cave.
Wow.
Careful, there's some water dripping down from above.
MIKE: Mm.
Whoo, opens up into a huge room.
It's pretty awesome.
Well, this is definitely the cave we heard about.
I think it's a good place to do an EVP...
get the digital recorder out.
Let's give it a roll.
Is anybody here?
Can you make a noise
or let us know that you're here?
[ Humming ]
Hello?
Shh-shh-shh!
Oh, my G— Right there! Guys, right there!
A light! A light!
Hello?
Shh-shh-shh!
Oh, my G— Right there! Guys, right there!
A light! A light!
Yeah, it was, like, a round light.
It's not on the thermal.
This is no animal, or this is no person.
There's nobody in here.
Did you see it? Yeah.
It was, like, a round light.
Now it's gone.
It's gone, and it's silent.
All right, guys. Let's search around here.
Search the full perimeter of the cave,
see if there's anything in here that could be making light.
♪
I don't see anything.
A little bit of dripping water, some bats flying around.
There's no way that can account for it.
That was unbelievable. I mean, what was that?
It's, like, voices, singing, and a visible ball of light.
That's the craziest collection of stuff
I've ever seen or heard in one place.
I could've sworn there was somebody in here singing,
somebody in here moving around.
There's nothing. GATES: All right, guys.
Let's all head back to base camp together, yeah?
Let's keep the recorder running.
We'll keep a camera running in here, as well.
We'll come back, collect the tapes,
see if anything else shows up on them.
With the morning approaching
and a wealth of intriguing evidence,
we returned to base camp, packed up our gear,
and headed to Los Angeles for analysis.
The many hours spent deciphering our field recordings resulted
in some mysterious finds.
First, we reviewed the apparition seen by Dan.
DAN: Something bumped my camera, but I can't see it anymore.
- Did you see that? - Yeah.
Just for an instant, it looks — There!
You have this amorphous kind of shape
that shows up just for a minute in the camera.
It's pretty wild.
- Yeah. - I think, all in all,
it's a pretty cool piece of evidence, you know.
I think it's a little inconclusive,
but could it be something that's naturally there, in the crater,
that's just sort of reflecting off the IR light, you know?
I don't know if we can fully discount that.
But it's interesting, especially because
he couldn't reproduce it.
Our EVP evidence yielded much clearer results.
Can you make a noise or let us know that you're here?
[ Humming ]
You can hear it clear as day.
It sounds like singing. - Yeah.
GATES: I mean, I can't readily explain what that it.
Can you make a noise or let us know that you're here?
Right there. Yeah.
[ Humming ]
Singing — just like a woman humming.
Do you think that could be the sound of the water,
and that's just how it sort of matrixing?
The water is hitting the ground,
and it's making these staccato percussive sounds.
Yeah.
I don't know how you can get something
that sounds like singing out of that.
Right, what's also amazing
is that this is an enclosed space.
We know there was nobody else in that cave.
I mean, if somebody was in there, singing,
we would certainly know about it, and yet it does.
It sounds like a distinct noise.
I don't have any other way to readily explain
what that noise is.
I don't either, but we heard it.
We reacted to it, and it was picked up
in the recording as clear as day.
Yeah, that's compelling.
Finally, we turned to the strange light
we had observed in the cave.
Shh-shh-shh!
Oh, my G— Right there!
Guys, right there! A light! A light!
- Oh, right there. - Yeah. Look at that.
- Wow. - Yeah.
Oh, and it goes bright for a second too.
That's cool.
The light is really wild because we saw it ourselves
in the cave, with our own eyes.
Camera picks it up.
It's definitely something that's producing light.
It's not infrared. It's not a reflection.
We had no lights on.
This is visible light. Right.
You know? And it's an empty cave.
I mean, could it be some sort of phosphorescent insect?
You know, there's nothing in this area
that really aligns to that.
There's no insects that would glow this bright.
I mean, this was, like, a ball of light in that cave.
- Mm-hmm. - Also really compelling,
and I don't know what that is.
But this particular cave was obviously, you know,
this was where the most interesting stuff happened,
especially having these two events on top of each other
makes it extremely compelling evidence.
We've got a phantom noise
that we absolutely cannot associate with anyone.
And we have this strange light which, you know,
we don't readily have an explanation for.
Our Kenyan expedition took us
from the throbbing streets of Nairobi
and on a railway safari
to the very cradle of humankind.
The Maasai have been stewards of this land for centuries.
Their customs, songs, and battles
are part of the upheave landscape here
and perhaps, too, their spirits.
In Menengai Crater, we witnesses evaporating visions
and collected unnatural noises.
Here, in man's oldest stomping ground,
there is an echo of the past that refuses to fade away.
[ Humming ]
It's a strange remote island inhabited by bizarre creatures
found nowhere else on the planet.
Even though it sounds like the plot
to "The Island of Dr. Moreau," it's actually Madagascar.
After breaking off from Africa 160 million years ago,
the flora and fauna here were left to evolve in isolation
from the rest of the world.
To this day, scores of undocumented critters
are being discovered on the island.
However, one reported creature
is drawing more attention than any other.
Eyewitnesses across Madagascar have reported run-ins
with a small mischievous creature called the Kalanoro.
Although rumors of its existence
have been whispered about for years,
a rash of recent sightings
is breathing new life into the Kalanoro legend.
We combed through the latest reports to create
a working model of this undersized beast.
The Kalanoro reportedly dwells deep in Madagascar's
isolated jungles, far from civilization.
Eyewitnesses describe the creature
as short, hairy, and humanoid.
Standing just 3 feet tall,
he is said to possess incredible strength,
disproportionate to his diminutive size.
The Kalanoro's best defense is a set of extended
razor-sharp fingernails that can shred prey with ease.
Hunters say tracking the beast is all but impossible
due to the Kalanoro's strangely backward feet.
In a place where extraordinary creatures are the norm,
the legend of the Kalanoro
may just prove strange enough to be true.
So I assembled my team, packed up our gear
and headed to the Indian Ocean.
We left Los Angeles and traveled over 11,000 miles
to Madagascar's capital city, Antananarivo.
♪
Madagascar has been a much coveted and contested island
for the past 500 years.
European outposts and pirate enclaves
have dotted the coast since the 1500s.
Though now an independent nation,
the influence of Colonial French rule
and ancient monarchies
is still evident in the historic city streets.
After connecting with the island's past,
we embraced modern-day Madagascar
with a visit to Tana's bustling market.
If there's one thing I've learned
in my years of travel,
every open-air market in the world
has at least one hippie with a bongo drum.
On this occasion, he happened to be a member of our crew.
♪ Viva America ♪
Unbelievable.
Can somebody get this guy a hacky sack
and a bottle of patchouli, please?
GATES: I made some incredible discoveries in the sale bin
and found deals so good,
they practically jumped right out at you.
Okay, what do you guys got? You got shoes, more shoes.
What's in here?
Shoes! More shoes.
Vanessa, how did you get in there? I don't know.
The market boasted art both religious
and whatever this is,
and I even felt the urge to get a tattoo
to commemorate our visit.
These are the craziest tattoos
I've ever seen in my entire life.
That's triple Jesus. You don't see that often.
Girl making out with a dead guy,
Yoda with a dagger.
I mean, I don't even know what...
I don't remember that scene.
Can I get this on my chest?
please?
After a busy morning exploring the city,
I arranged a meeting with the curator
at the national zoo to learn more about the Kalanoro.
Running late, we stumbled upon a seemingly effortless way
to make our appointment on time.
Comfort and luxury.
We were going nowhere fast thanks
to our slow-moving drivers.
It was time to bring their operation up to speed
with some good-old American muscle.
You ready?
♪
[ Panting ] You gotta put your back into it a little!
♪
Look at this — backstroke!
Backstroke!
You gotta be versatile!
Come on!
Water! Water! Thank you!
Okay.
With my legs burning and my lungs about to explode,
I was happy to turn the reins back over to the locals.
With our drivers now operating in high gear,
we reached the zoo in no time.
They got it all here — the giant Madagascar falcon,
the killer Madagascar eagle,
the deadly Madagascar duck.
All right. It's not much of a zoo.
Madagascar boasts some seriously strange wildlife,
and we were on the lookout for animals
that could be misidentified as the Kalanoro.
First suspect — Madagascar's infamous lemur.
Should I put the honey on my finger?
And then they're going to eat my finger off, right?
Here you go, buddy.
Do they ever bite?
[ Chuckles ] Yeah, they do?
Great.
Don't bite my finger, though, because
I'm also a jewelry hand model.
Have you ever seen the show "When Animals Attack"?
Because I'm about to be starring in it.
All right, buddy. This has been fun.
I appreciate you not attacking me.
With the lemur far too adorable
to credibly pass as the Kalanoro,
we met the zoo's curator who explained
how a creature might be able
to exist undetected in this country.
Do you think that there are still discoveries
to be made here? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Do you think that they're still going to find new species?
Eager to get a look at our second suspect,
I entered a totally dark enclosure
for an up close peek at this nocturnal animal.
Although the aye-aye is certainly terrifying looking,
it is also shy, relatively harmless
and much smaller than descriptions of the Kalanoro.
Across town, I met Dr. Steven Goodman
from the Chicago Museum of Natural History.
His field research resulted
in an unexpected encounter with the Kalanoro.
And you've had a personal encounter yourself?
Yes, I have.
Tell me exactly what happened. What did you see?
We were in a very large forest, and it was late one afternoon,
and I had set up mist nets along a ridge.
And I went about 3:30 in the afternoon
to go up to the nets.
I saw what I thought was a carnivore
trying to get a bird out of the net.
I realized it wasn't a carnivore,
but it was a human-like creature,
and there was just absolute terror in their eyes.
And they just slipped off the edge of the ridge
and disappeared into the forest.
What did it look like?
It had a small stature with very long hair,
no clothes. And about how tall?
About 3 feet, 31/2 feet.
So there's no doubt in your mind that the Kalanoro are real?
It's not a myth, yeah. It's not a myth.
The doctor directed us
to the northern part of the country
where his and other recent sightings have been centered.
Back at the airport, we hopped on a plane bound
for the norther frontier of Madagascar
and the port city
of Diego Suarez.
Once we arrived in town, there was no shortage of locals
who wanted to share their encounters.
First, we met with John,
a local park guide who claimed to have had
a violent face-off with the creature.
Tell me about your experience with the Kalanoro.
One day, I walked in the forest.
Suddenly, I met the Kalanoro. I was very scared.
The Kalanoro grabbed me, and I couldn't move,
and I was very afraid that he was going to kill me.
And so what did you do?
He let me go, and I ran out the forest.
And if I do meet the Kalanoro,
do you think that it's a dangerous animal?
Yeah, you should be very careful when you go to the forest.
We also spoke with a government official
who had conducted research into the Kalanoro.
He offered a scary profile of the creature.
Do you think the Kalanoro is real?
- They kill people? - Yes.
How do they kill people?
GATES: He pointed us in the direction
of his recent run-in with the Kalanoro,
the National Park of Amber Mountain.
The road to this pristine and unspoiled preserve
was damaged in recent storms.
Though we gave it our best effort,
the path proved impassable.
If we wanted to reach the park,
we'd have to find another way in.
Fortunately, I always have a back-up plan.
♪
We set sail from the bay at Diego Suarez
and navigate around the horn of Madagascar,
landing on a beach in Befotaka Bay.
From there, we hike in on foot to the park.
Ali, do they have pirates in Madagascar?
I sure hope so.
That'd be exciting, wouldn't it?
Ali, in real life,
they're Somali guys with machine guns.
It's not the same.
Mike, you were in the Navy, weren't you?
No, no, Josh. I worked at Old Navy.
Oh, that's right. I remember now.
Yep, sorry.
GATES: Guys! We're coming ashore.
And by coming ashore,
I mean, I'm just smashing this thing into the land.
Oh. Don't tell me you don't know where the brakes are.
♪
Back on land, we set out on our hike
into the forested interior of the Amber Mountain preserve.
We crossed 5 miles of forest to reach our destination
deep in the park's interior.
There, we found an open clearing near several
of the recent sightings where we established our base camp.
We set up four IR cameras to create
a visual perimeter around the site.
We also installed four trap cameras
that would instantly snap photos
should anything pass by their lens.
Vanessa would oversee the equipment from camp
and alert us to any odd activity.
The animal that we're looking for tonight
is certainly an oddity.
According to eyewitness descriptions,
it's humanoid.
It's only about 2, 3 feet tall.
It has very long sharp claws.
It has long reddish-brown hair,
and it lives in these jungles.
For us to figure our what these eyewitnesses are seeing,
we need to go out there and see if we can put a face to it.
So we're going to divide up into teams.
Shawn, I don't know what's going on with your hair.
You look like George Michael.
But I'm going to go with you and Gabe and Mike tonight.
And, Bobby, you'll go off with Ali and Dan.
So let's get out there, use the tools we've got,
and see if we can't find it ourselves.
Let's do it, guys.
♪
God, this forest looks...
primitive.
I mean, a lot of this forest is basically impenetrable.
It's just a tangle of vines.
It would take you 5 hours to walk 20 feet
in some of this stuff.
Anything could be kicking around in there,
and you'd never know it.
And the crazy thing about this creature
is that it doesn't really line up to anything
that's known to live here.
But you know, these locals, they know the wildlife
here pretty well.
They say this is not a lemur.
This is something totally unique.
[ Sighing ] Ohhhhh. I got something on me.
I can feel it. Hold this light.
Oh, I got a leech.
Land leech, not cool.
♪
Phew.
So the Kalanoro is only supposed to be about 3 feet high.
Yeah, it's going to make it very tough,
looking for it in something like this.
These bushes are super-thick,
endless forest and jungle out here for him to hide in.
It's gonna be... a long night of looking.
Sounds like there's water nearby.
- Oh, check that out. - Wow.
That must be, like, 150, 200 feet tall.
This is a beautiful lair.
If I were a Kalanoro, I'd be living here.
[ Screeching ]
Whoa.
Did you just hear that?
It definitely came from that direction.
♪
Let's head on over.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
Oh, God!
Whoa.
Did you just hear that?
ALI: We have to see what's in that cave.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Oh, God!
Oh, God. Guys?
You all right? Help me up?
- Yep. - Oh, thanks.
You okay?
Yeah, I'm okay. I bumped my leg and my elbow.
It hurts, and it's definitely scratched up,
but I'll be okay.
We gotta move on.
You were an inch or 2
from going over that cliff, into the water.
I do not want to end up in that water.
Okay. Let's do this.
♪
- Pretty small cave. - Yeah.
ALI: Big enough for something to live in
but... definitely nothing here right now.
It's a nice spot but pretty dangerous for us to get to.
Why don't we try... heading out of here
and seeing if we can get another sweep up
into the woods
and check out another body of water?
Be really careful on your way out of here.
♪
I just feel like something's in the trees,
watching you at all times.
GATES: Especially in here.
This forest is not... overly friendly.
I mean, these people say that, you know,
this thing can be really aggressive.
So if it's in here,
it may well just seek us out.
Vanessa for Josh.
JOSH: Yeah, what's up?
Hey, Josh. I got something on IR cam two.
It's hard to make out, but it looks like a pair of eyes.
Copy that. Can you see any features?
What does it look like?
I can't see what it is.
I can't see any body because it's really thick in there.
But I definitely see a pair of eyes moving around.
V, we're on our way — We're headed over there right now.
Be there as quick as we can.
Copy that.
♪
Vanessa, I'm coming up on the camera now.
We're right here. Standby.
I'm going to see if I can image in on the thermal.
Nothing on the thermal.
Yeah, Vanessa, I don't have anything on the thermal.
We're right behind the camera right now.
We're going to start a sweep out
in front of the camera, look around on the ground,
see if we can't find some tracks
or droppings or anything.
Vanessa: If you walk in front of the camera,
it's about 10 feet in front, to the right.
Yep, and right in there.
That's it, that area.
Looks like something came right through here.
There was something here a minute ago.
Not a lot of options here for prints.
The ground is pretty well- covered in leaves and debris.
Yeah, Vanessa, we're right behind the camera right now.
I'm look up in the trees, too, in case it's a lemur,
but I don't see anything up there.
Maybe once we clear the area, it comes back.
All right, I'll keep watching
and let you guys know if I see anything.
♪
Oh, Bobby. Bobby, look!
BOBBY: What?
What is that?
Looks like some tracks.
See them, right there. Right there!
Yeah.
It looks like just small human feet, doesn't it?
♪
Yeah, those are not kid prints,
but they're the size of a kid.
Whatever it was it was digging here,
like an animal.
And it looks to have some sign of claws or fingernails.
It's almost...
It's too messy to cast, though,
and the ground's too soggy.
Should at least get a couple photographs
for evidence.
Yeah, let's take some photos.
[ Camera shutter clicking ]
♪
Well, if this thing is a small humanoid creature,
it's certainly warm-blooded.
It won't be able to hide from the thermal imager.
Oh! Right there.
Something on the ground.
I can hear it.
He's on the move. He's on the move!
Oh! Right there.
There's something on the ground. Something on the ground.
Mike, can you hear it.
Yeah, I hear something heavy. It's crunching leaves.
[ Rustling ]
Ah, I lost it.
Shawn, grab those night vision goggles,
see if you can see it in there.
I definitely see some branches moving right over there.
That thing's moving a lot quicker in that brush
than we are, but let's give it a whirl.
Oh, right there. I got eyes. Eyes right there.
They're gone right now. Did you see them, Josh?
I don't have eyes on anything. You see it?
Right there, I just saw eyes. They flashed right by.
They were two distinct eyes. They were big.
Shawn, try to get in on that side.
I'll go in over here.
♪
Nothing.
Yeah, I don't see it.
I don't see it either.
Yeah, that thing's gone. That thing's long gone.
He's a little more nimble in this brush than we are.
Maybe that's our Kalanoro, right there.
It might be.
The way these jungles are so dense in there,
you gotta be small to move around.
Yeah, how is he navigating these things so fast?
I can barely even walk around here right.
Well, it was short.
Whatever that animal was, it was small.
So it was low enough to the ground
to get underneath these vines.
We don't have a prayer of getting through this stuff.
We continued to look through the woods
for the creature I had spotted on the thermal imager.
Whatever it was, it knew the area far better than we did
and surely didn't want to be discovered.
With the sun approaching the horizon
and the daunting hike to our boat ahead of us,
we re-assembled at base camp
and started our long trip back to Los Angeles.
In our headquarters in L.A., we digitized and analyzed
our many hours of video recordings.
Based on the small size of the eyes
we captured on our IR cam
and the mass of the animal captured on our thermal imager,
it is likely that both were nocturnal lemurs.
The footprint we photographed was too undefined to identify.
It has been said that Madagascar is a lost world.
It is a colonial outpost long relinquished
with an ecosystem teeming with singular species
and evolutionary outcasts.
Around the northern tip of the island,
we navigated to uncharted shores
and a wilderness uncorrupted by man.
It is our opinion that the Kalanoro is likely
an amalgam of any number
of the rare and reclusive animals that reside here.
However, with much of Madagascar
still scientifically unexplored, who knows?
The fast-footed Kalanoro may still be hiding.