Original subtitles

Gates: This Is Completely Untamed Wilderness Here.

There's No Fences, There's No Moats.

Outside Of This Car Are Some Of The Most Dangerous Predators

In The World.

[ Growls ]

Wow.

[Bleep]

Guys, Guys.

♪♪

Imagine Waking Up Tomorrow

To Find That Your Bank Account Is Empty.

You Turn On The News To Discover

The Federal Reserve Has Been Cleaned Out.

Millions In Gold Has Vanished Overnight.

While It Sounds Like The Plot To One Of The "Die Hard" Films,

This Incredible Story Is Actually True.

[ Indistinct Shouting ]

♪♪

The Year Is 1900,

And The Capital Of The South African Republic

Is Under Attack By The British.[ Gunshot ]

With The City About To Fall, President Paul Kruger

Loads The Entire Financial Reserves Of His Nation

Onto A Train --

Gold Coins Worth More Than A Billion Dollars Today --

And He Flees To The East.

The British Win The War,

But Despite Countless Treasure Hunters

Searching For Over A Century,

The Location Of The Vast Fortune Has Never Been Found.

That Is, Until Now.

In One Of The World's Oldest Caves,

An Archaeologist Has Found Evidence

Linked To Kruger And The Treasure.

Another Expert Has Found An Actual Gold Kruger Coin

Believed To Be From The Stolen Hoard.

But There's Just One Problem.

The Site Where The Coin Was Found

Is Patrolled By Dangerous Wild Animals

And The Even More Dangerous Poachers Who Hunt Them.

The Tale Of The Kruger Millions

Is One Of Africa's Greatest Legends,

And I'm Hunting Down The Explorers

On The Verge Of Discovery.

So, Grab Your Passports.

We're Going On Safari.

[ Dramatic Music Plays ]

My Name Is Josh Gates.

With A Degree In Archaeology And A Passion For Exploration,

I Have A Tendency To End Up In Some Very Strange Situations.

Good Lord!

[ Laughs ]

My Travels Have Taken Me To The Ends Of The Earth

As I Investigate The Greatest Legends In History.

We're Good To Fly. Let's Go.

This Is "Expedition Unknown."

--Captions By Vitac-- Www.Vitac.Com

Captions Paid For By Discovery Communications

From New York, It's A 14-Hour Flight Across The Atlantic

To South Africa's Administrative Capital Of Pretoria.

♪♪

The History Of This Nation Is Complicated, To Say The Least.

What Do You Expect From A Country That Has 11 Official Languages?

So, This Is A Walking Stick?

It's A Walking Stick.What Kind Of Wood Is This?

[ Speaks Native Language ]I'm Sorry, What?

[ Speaks Native Language ]Ooh-Man-Goo-Ma.

Ooh-Ooh. Ooh-Ooh-Ooh.

[ Laughs ]

There's Sounds Coming Out Of Your Mouth

That I Can't Even Make.

[ Laughs ]

Gates: The Market Has A Bit Of Everything,

Even A Home-Spun Version Of Casino Royale.

It's All Fun And Games Until Someone Has To Take It

To The Next Level.

Okay, What Are We Playing For?

How About For Your Dog, Sir?

This Is The Cutest Dog In All Of Africa.

What Do You Think?

Yeah.

Oh, This Is High Stakes.

♪♪

The Beers That Were Once Attached To These Caps --

Any Chance There's Any More Of Those Around?

Preferably Ice Cold?

And Before I Know It, The Game Is Over And I've Lost.

That's It, Right? It's Over, Yeah?

Sir, Good Game.

Come Here.

It Looks Like The Puppy Is Staying Here.

But Like All Problem Gamblers, I Try To Chase My Losses.

[ Meows ]

Double Or Nothing For The Cat.

[ Laughs ]

♪♪

The Heart Of Pretoria Is In Its Streets.

I See Craftsmen, I See Artisans.

It's A Hat.

Does It Help Me Blend In?

And More Than Anything, I See Smiling Faces.

Where Am I Gonna Wear This?

[ Laughs ]

♪ Better Than I Was Yesterday ♪

High Five. High Five. High Five.

High Five. High Five. High Five.

♪♪

[ Cheers ]

But It Hasn't Always Been This Way.

♪♪

It's Been Over 350 Years

Since The First Dutch Settlers Came Here,

And While Slavery And Apartheid Are In The Past,

The Fight For True Equality Is Not.

♪♪

Wherever You Go, It's Hard Not To Notice The High Walls

And Razor Wire That Separate The Haves From The Have-Nots.

♪♪

Here In Church Square, A Statue Of Former President Paul Kruger

Watches Over A Diverse New South Africa.

As A Leader Dedicated To The Institution Of Slavery

Who Stole His Entire Country's Fortune,

It's Not Surprising

That The Statue Has Been Frequently Vandalized

And Has To Be Guarded By A Fence.

♪♪

In Short, Everything About Kruger Is Controversial,

Especially The Question Of Where He Took Those Stolen Millions.

At Historic Fort Klapperkop,

Renowned Professor Fransjohan Pretorius

Is Going To Give Me A Crash Course In The Mystery.

To Me, To An Outsider,

South African Politics Are Very Confusing.

Yes, For Us, Too.

The Tip Of Africa, He Explains,

Is First Settled In The 17Th Century

By Dutch Farmers Called Boers

Who Rely On Slave Labor For Their Way Of Life.

Then, In 1806, The British Took Over The Cape.

The British Abolished Slavery, And Immediately,

There Was A Problem Between These Farmers

And The British Authorities.

The Boers Don't Want To Live Under British Rule,

So They Flee Into The Interior And Form A New Country

Called The South African Republic, Or Transvaal.

Among These Pioneers Is Paul Kruger,

Who Becomes President Of This Breakaway Republic In 1883.

Three Years After Kruger Came To Power, Gold Was Discovered.

The Gold Changed The Face Of South Africa.

The British Respond To The Gold Rush In The Transvaal

By Attempting To Annex The Territory,

Starting The So-Called Boer War.

Kruger's Republic Holds Out As Long As It Can,

But In 1900, It's Clear That British Forces Will Win The War.

In The Meantime, There Was Still All This Gold.

This Had To Be Removed.

It Was Taken To The Pretoria Station In Wooden Boxes,

Put Onto The Train,

And It Left For Machadodorp, A Town Along The Railway Line.

And Machadodorp Is The Last Place

That This Gold Is Known To Have Been?

That's Right.

And That's Where The Legend Of The Kruger Millions Started.

Kruger Eventually Escapes To Europe,

But The Gold Doesn't Make The Trip With Him.

No One Has Seen It For Over A Century,

Which Means It's Still Here In South Africa.

♪♪

To Solve The Puzzle, I'll Have To Follow The Money.

And The Only Way To Do That Is To Ride The Same Rails

That Paul Kruger And The Treasure Did Over 115 Years Ago.

[ Train Whistle Blows ]

All Aboard The Delagoa Bay Railway.

[ Train Whistle Blows ]

Completed In 1887 And Just Barely In Operation Today.

♪♪

[ Train Whistle Blows ]

♪♪

Right Now, We Are Headed Due East Away From Pretoria

And Toward The City Of Machadodorp.

This Is Where Kruger And The Gold Was Headed.

As The British Advance On Pretoria,

Kruger Tries To Get As Far Away As Possible.

He Boards His Opulent Private Train Car,

Which Serves As A Mobile Command Center For His Government.

The Locomotive Travels 137 Miles To The East,

And At The End Of The Line,

The Gold Is Off Loaded From The Train.

Where It Goes From There, That's The Unknown.

We Rumble On, And I Settle In For The Nearly Six-Hour Ride.

It Isn't Exactly A Bullet Train, But It Does The Job.

That Is, Until It Doesn't.

And We Are Stopping.

♪♪

I'm Sure The Train's Fine.

♪♪

Or Not.

I Head To The Locomotive To See If I Can Lend A Hand.

Let's See What's Going On Here.

After All, I Owned A Pretty Sweet Model Train Set As A Kid.

Hello?

Man: Hi. How Are You?

What Seems To Be The Problem?

The Engineer Tells Me They Need To Clean The Coal Chutes,

And It Doesn't Take Long For Me To Realize

That I Am Totally Out Of My Element.

Which One Of These Makes A Cappuccino?

[ Laughs ]

A Few Hundred Gallons Of Water Are Added To Make Steam,

And Beneath Me, The Spent Coal Is Cleaned Out Of The Furnace.

Then It Just Needs To Be Refilled.

Is It Possible For Me To Shovel A Load In?

Man: You Want To Shovel?Yeah, Can I?

♪♪

That's...

Do I Still Have My Eyebrows?

All Fueled Up,

The Engineer Even Lets Me Fulfill A Lifelong Dream.

[ Train Whistle Blows ]

And I'm 9 Years Old.

This Is The Happiest I've Ever Been In My Entire Life.

♪♪

[ Train Whistle Blows ]

All Aboard! Whoo!

Several Hours

And Several Hundred Unnecessary Whistle Pulls Later...

[ Train Whistle Blows ]

...We Arrive In The Town Of Machadodorp.

♪♪

There's Not Much To See Here Today --

A Spooky Abandoned Station...

...And Around The Corner,

The Old Train Tracks Are Fragmented In Pieces.

These Are The Original Tracks

That The Kruger Train Would've Run On Right Here,

And This Is The Original Tunnel That The Train Came Through.

There Are Some People Who Claim That The Gold

Was Actually Taken Off The Train And Buried In The Tunnel System.

That's A Long-Standing Urban Legend.

I've Also Read That A Lot Of Dangerous Characters

Like To Hang Out In This Tunnel, So...That's Great.

♪♪

[ Chuckling ] Oh.

Gates: I'm Entering An Abandoned Railway Tunnel

In Machadodorp, South Africa.

Somewhere Near This Very Spot, Millions Of Dollars In Gold

Was Off Loaded From A Train

Before Vanishing From The Face Of The Earth.

Trains May Not Run Through Here Anymore,

But I Have Been Warned That Dangerous Gangs

Do Tend To Lurk In Here From Time To Time.

[ Chuckling ] Oh.

Aah!

[ Laughs ]

The Old Guy Jumping Out Of The Dark Tunnel.

I Got You, J.J.

♪♪

As You Can See, It's Just Solid Rock.

There Have Been A Few Areas

Where The Rocks Have Been Chipped Out,

And Legend Says That People Have Actually

Broken Through Places Like This

And Actually Looked For The Treasure.

But You Look In These, And They Lead To Nowhere.

Nothing In Here Today.

Just A Lot Of Beer Bottles And Garbage,

And So Definitely Urban Legend.

No Gold In The Abandoned Tunnel.

Okay, So The Train Tunnel Didn't Pan Out,

But There Have Recently Been Two Real Breakthroughs In The Case.

One Explorer Believes He's Identified A Cavern

Where The Money Could Be Buried,

And A Treasure Hunter Claims That He's Found

An Actual Kruger Coin From The Missing Stash.

To Find Out More, I'm Heading To The Gold Reef City Mint,

The Place The Coin Was Brought For Authentication.

[ Door Beeps, Buzzes ]

Security Is Tight Here, Since, Well, It's A Mint.

Gates: You're Literally Printing Money Here.

We're Printing Money, Yes.

This Is The Greatest Job In The World.

Why Don't I Do This? Why Don't I Run A Mint?

Glenn Schoeman Is The Director Of The Mint

And Knows More About The Kruger Pound

Than Anyone Who Isn't Paul Kruger.

What's The Value Of These Coins Today?

You're Probably Looking At Anything Between $1,200

Up To As Much As $1 Million.

Per Coin? Per Coin.

Wow.

Recently, Glenn Received A Rare Coin From A Treasure Hunter

For Authentication, One That May Be From Kruger's Lost Millions.

The Reason The Coins Are So Valuable

Is That They Were Minted In The Form Of Pure Gold Pounds,

Custom-Stamped With Kruger's Own Face.

Kruger Minted The Money Using A Massive Press,

And A Similar Machine Has Been Preserved In This Mint

To Help Distinguish Coins That Are Forgeries

From Ones That Are Real.

♪♪

The Process Is Involved.

Pure Gold Is Heated To More Than 1,000 Degrees Celsius

And Poured Into A Mold To Create A Gold Bar.

Once Cooled, The Bar Is Flattened, Punched,

And Fed Into The Final Press,

Where The Coin Is Imprinted With Its Telltale Face.

Hello, Mr. Kruger.

Glenn Leads Me In The Back

And Shows Me A Freshly Minted But Fake Kruger Pound.

He Then Reveals The Coin That Was Recently Sent To Him

From A Treasure Hunter Digging Somewhere East Of Here.

We Have A Good Look At It Before We Actually Test It.

Glenn Visually Inspects The Coin

And Checks The Accuracy Of The Weight.

A Real Kruger Pound Should Be Exactly 8 Grams.

Spot On 8 Grams.

8 Grams On The Nose.

For The Final Step, He Uses A Very Powerful Handheld X-Ray

To Verify The Gold Content.

Got To Get All Our Body Parts Out The Way While We Test It.

I'll Just Be Back Here, Glenn.

Many Forgeries Contain Little Or No Pure Gold At All.

[ X-Ray Beeps ]

Our Test Is Complete.

92.67% Gold.

Uh-Huh.

My Opinion On This One Is It Is An Absolutely Genuine Coin.

♪♪

And This Guy Found This, You Said --

Somewhere To The East Of Pretoria.

Would You Like To Speak To Him?

I Would Love To Speak To Him. Are You Kidding?

We Can Arrange That.

I'd Like To Know Where He Found This And If There's More Of Them.

I'd Like To Find Out, Too.[ Chuckles ]

♪♪

I Leave The Mint With A Renewed Sense Of Optimism.

I Grab A 4X4 And Hit The Road.

Glenn Is Putting Me In Touch With A Treasure Hunter,

And He's Also Tipped Me Off To Another Explorer

Even Closer To My Current Location.

I Follow My Gps About 50 Miles East,

Where Archaeologist Anton Van Vollenhoven

Has Found Military Artifacts From Kruger's Era

In A Cave, Which He Believes Could Also Be Hiding The Gold.

♪♪

By The Time I Approach The Coordinates,

It's Well After Dark.

According To Gps, We Should Be Almost There.

[ Gps Beeps ]

"Driving On Unpaved Road."

Yeah, No [Bleep] [ Chuckles ]

♪♪

[ Gearshift Clicks ]

Anton.

Josh, Welcome Here.Thank You.

I Don't Know Where I Am, But I'm Happy To Be Here.

You're At The Sudwala Caves In Mpumalanga, South Africa.

The Sudwala Caves? Yes.

[ Animals Chattering ]

Sounds Like "The Lion King"

Is Happening Over My Shoulder Here.

A Lot Of People Think That This Kruger Millions

Could've Been Hidden In Caves.

Do You Think That's Possible?

We Know That In These Caves, The Boers Did Hide The Ammunition,

And Therefore, Perhaps, Even The Kruger Millions.

Anton Has Discovered Various Kruger-Era Weapons

And Bullets Hidden Deep In The Cave System,

And The Gold Could Be Next.

I'm Really Eager To See What You're Doing In There.

God Knows I Don't Want To Be Left Out Here.

Are You Ready To Get A Little Bit Dirty?

How Dirty Are We Talking About?

♪♪

This Is Some Serious "Land Of The Lost," Tarzan,

Skull Island [Bleep] Right Here, Anton.

And Here We're At The Entrance.

Oh, Wow.

♪♪

Is There A Giant Stone Ball That Rolls Out Of That?

No, We've Already Removed That.

That's Why We've Got This Hole.

[ Laughs ]

These Caves Are Some Of The Oldest On Earth,

Dating Back Over 250 Million Years.

♪♪

If You Get Lost Down Here,

You Stay Lost Until The Next Ice Age.

Oh, Man.

When You Said Cave, Anton, I Was Picturing Something Little.

This Is A Cathedral.

Yes, It's About Four Miles Of Cave That Has Been Mapped.

Okay.

But We Don't Really Know How Much Deeper It Goes.

So, What's The Story That Could Bring The Gold Here?

There's Many Stories, But This Particular One

Is About A Boer Officer

With The Name Of Fritz Joubert Duquesne.

♪♪

He Was Trusted With Some Of This Gold,

To Take It Further From Machadodorp.

♪♪

But Along The Way, There Was A Fight.

♪♪

[ Gunshot ]

And Only Himself And Some Of The Black Carriers Survived.

So, He Ordered Them To Bring The Gold To This Cave.

Duquesne Was Later Captured

But Never Gave Up The Location Of The Gold.

Furthermore, Ammunition Found Here

Appears To Match The Time Period,

Meaning This Could Be The Cave In Question.

You Promised Dirtiness.

So Far, I'm Feeling Very Clean, By The Way.

We're Moving To That Area Just Now.

It's Gonna Get Worse.

We Don't Have To Go Far Before Anton Delivers On His Promise.

[ Bats Chattering ]

Oh, We Got Bats.

Lots Of Bats.

While The First Few Hundred Yards Of The Caves

Were Massive Open Chambers,

The Passages Have Gotten As Cramped

As An Airplane Bathroom -- And Twice As Filthy.

♪♪

Okay, Looking A Little More Constricted In Here.

♪♪

After You.

It's Too Tight And Wet

To Bring Our Large Cameras Through The Narrowing Cave,

So My Crew Is Forced To Downsize.

Whew, This Is Tough In Here.

In The End, It's Just Anton; My Cameraman, J.J.; And Myself

With A Couple Of Handheld Cameras

To Continue The Investigation.

And It's Wet And Cold.

As I Slog My Way Through Thickening Bat Guano,

I'm Starting To Consider Whether The Gold Is Worth

The Months Of Antibiotics I'm Going To Have To Endure.

My Foot Is Literally Stuck In The Mud.

[ Grunts ] Right Behind You.

♪♪

[ Laughs ]

Are You [Bleep] Kidding Me With This [Bleep]

This Cave Is Very Difficult To Get Through.

Hey, Anton?

This Sucks.

[ Chuckles ]

♪♪

Gates: Finally, The Flooded Chambers Open Up

Just Past An Area Where Other Artifacts Have Been Found.

Armed With A Handheld Metal Detector,

We Search The Caves, Crevices, And Flooded Chambers

For Any Sign That Duquesne's Men Were Here.

♪♪

[ Metal Detector Beeping ]

Got Something?

♪♪

Where Is It?

♪♪

[ Metal Detector Beeps ]

Ooh.

Got It.

Whoa.

Gates: Deep Inside A Dank South African Cave System,

Archaeologist Anton Van Vollenhoven And I

Search For Evidence Of The Legendary Kruger Millions.

Got It. Whoa.

Look At That.

Not The Kruger Millions.

But A Definite Sign That People Have Been Back Here.

Who Knows? Maybe A Coffee Break As They Were Hiding It.

Van Vollenhoven: Yes.

We Could Be Close.

We Continue Deeper Into The Cave.

Unfortunately For Me,

That Means Squeezing Through Another Tight Passageway.

♪♪

[ Grunts ]

[Bleep] God.

♪♪

[ Bats Chattering ]

Okay.

Just When I'm At My Lowest, Anton Comes Through.

You Got Something?Yeah.

Okay, Be Right There.

The New One? The New One.

Yeah.

Okay, So No Sign Of It.

That's Right. All Right, Well, Batteries Are Running Low,

Media Is Running Low,

And I'm Running Out Of Clean Spots On My Shirt

To Wipe My Face Off With.

You Got My Number.I Do.

You Call Me If You Find Those Millions.

Definitely.

[ Laughs ]

We Trek Back Out Toward The Vehicles.

My Mission Now Is To Link Up With The Treasure Hunter

Who Found The Authentic Gold Kruger Pound

I Saw Back At The Mint.

But Currently, I Am A Scraped-Up, Mud-Soaked Mess.

I Could Use A Shower, A Drink, And A Bed.

Preferably In That Order.

Fortunately, The Local Motel Up The Road Isn't Too Shabby.

♪♪

Hello. Afternoon.

Welcome To Lion Sands Ivory Lodge.

Would You Care For A Cold Hand Towel?

I Would Die For A Cold Hand Towel.

[ Sighs ] Oh, My God.

Ooh!

Homemade Iced Tea?

Oh, God Bless You.

♪♪

Is This Place Real?

This Is The The Five-Star Lion Sands Game Lodge,

A Family-Owned Private Reserve

That Has Been Protecting Wildlife For Over 80 Years.

This Is An Experience Unlike Any On Earth.

You're Surrounded By Stunning Luxury

And Pampered Beyond Your Wildest Dreams.

My Room For The Night --

A Remote Treehouse That Words Can't Do Justice.

Africa May Be Filled With Uncharted Wilderness,

But...Doesn't Mean I Have To Live Like An Animal.

♪♪

After Scraping Off The Cave,

I Take A Long Nap In Five-Star Bliss.

But As Much As I'd Like To Lounge Here Forever,

I've Got A Legend To Solve, And I'm Soon Back On The Road

To Find Treasure Hunter Lukas Van Der Merwe.

There's Just One Problem.

He's Inside The Kruger National Park,

A 7,500-Square-Mile Nature Reserve

Brimming With Wild Animals And Zero Fences.

The Area Where The Treasure Hunter Found The Coin

Is Still Under The Dominion Of The Native Shangaan Tribe.

To Enter Their Land And To Film It,

I'll Need To Get The Permission Of The Tribal Chief,

Who Lives In A Village On The Edge Of The Park.

♪♪

Upon Arrival, I'm Greeted By Edward Mabunda,

A Shangaana Tribesman And The Chief's Right-Hand Man.

How Long Has The Chief Lived Here For?

For Over 50 Years Now.Wow.

The Traditional Way Of Life For A Shangaana Chief Means,

Among Other Things, Polygamy.

And How Many Wives Does He Have?

Only Three Now. Only Three.

He Has 25 Children.

Is Your Chief Named Don Draper?

[ Chuckles ]

As We Approach The Chief's Compound,

We Kneel And Ask For Permission To Enter.

♪♪

[ Speaks Native Language ]

♪♪

[ Conversing In Native Language ]

Right. Permission Granted.

We Are More Than Welcome To Move In Their Village.

Okay. Here We Go.

♪♪

It's Clear That The Chief And His Wives

Are Living In A World Unchanged For Hundreds Of Years.

Thank You Very Much For Having Us Today.

My Name Is Josh.Josh.

[ Speaks Native Language ]

He's Asking Where Are You From.

I'm From America.

[ Speaks Native Language ]

He Says We Are More Than Welcome To His Village.

[ All Speak Native Language ]

♪♪

Like Any Good Host, He Offers Me A Drink.

What Is This?

We Call That [Speaks Native Language]

That's The Traditional Beer.

Made From Maize.

It's Like A Corn-Based Alcohol?That's Correct.

The More You Keep It, The Stronger It Becomes.

♪♪

Oh, That's Good.

It's A Little Bit Like Milk And Vodka And A Corn On The Cob.

Now That I'm Humming On A Corn-Milk Buzz,

The Chief Signals The Tribesmen

To Welcome Us With A Ceremonial Dance.

[ All Singing In Native Language ]

♪♪

Whoo! Wow!

You Guys Are Really, Really Amazing.

You Got To Take This On The Road.

With The Formalities Out Of The Way,

I Ask For The Tribe's Permission To Search On Their Land

For Kruger's Millions.

This Search Does Take Me Through Kruger Park.

Is It Okay To Look On That Land?

[ Speaks Native Language ]

You Are Permitted.

But Then, When You Go Through The Bush,

You Have To Get Something To Protect You,

And That's The Spear.

A Spear?

♪♪

First Thing When You Go Through The Bush,

There Are Snakes, Leopards, Lions.

Very Dangerous.

♪♪

[ Speaks Native Language ]

He Says Now That Will Protect You.

Very Brave When You Go Through The Bush.

Thank You. This Is A Great Honor For Me.

I Really Appreciate It.

[ Speaks Native Language ]

[ Laughs ]

Is It Possible To Get Wife Number Four Back Home In America?

In America?

Oh, Yeah, I Can Get You Wife Number Four Easy.

We Have A Town Known As Las Vegas.

Ah.

♪♪

With The Blessing Of The Shangaana,

I Eagerly Continue My Journey

To Meet Treasure Hunter Lukas Van Der Merwe,

Whose Recent Discovery Of A Genuine Kruger Pound

Could Be A Sign That He's On The Verge Of A Major Breakthrough.

To Get To Him, Though, I'm Going To Have To Make

One Of The Hairiest Commutes In The Entire World.

♪♪

Thank You.

Thank You.

What Do They Got In There, King Kong?

♪♪

We're Now Crossing Into Kruger National Park.

When We Think Of The Word "Park," We Think Of Some,

You Know, Nice, Small, Contained Space,

But That's Not The Case Here.

Kruger Is Almost 8,000 Square Miles.

It Runs For 200 Miles In One Direction.

♪♪

We're Driving Through Completely Untamed Wilderness Here.

There's No Fences, There's No Moats.

Outside Of This Car

Are Some Of The Most Dangerous Predators In The World.

Only A Mile Down The Road,

I Discover Just How Right I Can Be.

Not That I'll Be Getting Out Of The Car To Take A Bow.

[ Lion Growls ]

♪♪

Gates: I'm In South Africa's Kruger National Park

On The Hunt For Millions In Lost Gold

When Suddenly, Things Get A Little Hairy.

[ Lion Growls ]

Roll 'Em Up.

♪♪

Most Parts Of The World, We Don't Think About

Driving Around In A Place

Where If You Just Pull Over And Step Out,

Immediately, Your Life Is In Danger.

♪♪

Okay, That Is A Hippo.

[ Grunts ]

That Is Actually The Most Dangerous Animal In Africa.

Hippos Kill More People In This Continent Than Any Other Animal.

♪♪

Oh, Elephant, Elephant, Elephant, Elephant, Elephant.

A Couple Of Them. Three Of Them, Four Of Them.

Elephants Are Normally Not That Dangerous

As Long As They're, You Know, Not Feeling Threatened

Or Trying To Protect Their Young.

But You Do Want To Give Them Some Space

Because When They Do Get Mad...

[Chuckles] They [Bleep] Up.

♪♪

That Is A Herd Of Impala.

Named, Of Course, After The Chevy Impala.

One Of America's Best-Selling Mid-Size Cars For Over 10 Years.

I Don't Really Know Much About Wildlife.

I Follow My Gps And Arrive At The Coordinates

Where I'm Supposed To Find

Treasure Hunter Lukas Van Der Merwe.

Instead, I Find A Lot Of Scary Guys With Guns.

[ Indistinct Shouting ]

And Amidst The Automatic Weapons,

I Spot Two Guys Who Definitely Don't Look Like Soldiers.

♪♪

Hey, Guys, How Are You?

Yeah, Yeah.Nice To Meet You. Hi.

Good To Meet You.Mark. How Are You?

Mark. Josh. A Pleasure.Bravo!

I See A Lot Of Very Serious-Looking Guys

Around Here, Dressed In Camo.

Where Am I Right Now?

This Is The Protrack Anti-Poaching Unit's Training Base Camp.

Gates: Sergeant Mark Preston And The Team From Protrack

Are On The Front Lines, Fighting Rhino Poachers

Who Are Decimating South Africa's Dwindling Herds.

[ Indistinct Shouting ]

Gates: And They're Not Afraid To Fight Fire With Fire.

Either That Or They're About To Invade Botswana.

And You Guys Are, I Can See From The Patchwork Alone,

Obviously Very Serious About Treasure Hunting.

30 Years Of Treasure Hunters,

And That's A Paul Kruger Rand, Right?

When You Start The Treasure Hunting In South Africa,

Everything Is About The Kruger Millions.

Lukas And Nico May Look Like Two Runners-Up

From A Hemingway Look-Alike Contest, But Don't Be Fooled.

Lukas Is A Successful And Wealthy Treasure Hunter,

And To Find The Kruger Gold, He's Teamed Up With Nico,

Who Knows So Much About The Boer War

That You'd Think He Fought In It.

Nico's Research Has Revealed That Kruger's Troops,

Who Were Transporting The Gold To The Coast On Oxcarts,

Would Have Passed Right Through This Very Spot.

[ Gunshot ]

He Also Thinks That British Troops

May Have Been Right On Their Heels,

Leading The Boers To Bury The Gold For Safekeeping.

♪♪

So You Feel Like This Is A Promising Spot?

Now That They Have The Permission

And The Protection To Search The Park,

Nico's Eyes Begin To Fill Up With Dollar Signs.

Wow.

[ Chuckles ] No, Not At All. Well, Let's Do It, Then.

Lukas And Nico Are Convinced

Kruger's Treasure Was Hastily Hidden,

And It Turns Out The Single Coin I Saw,

Which They Recovered, Is Just The Tip Of The Iceberg.

♪♪

What Are Some Of The Artifacts You've Recovered

Up To This Point?

Wow.

♪♪

Right Flank, Left Flank, Stay Awake.

Gates: We've Left The Safety Of The Car,

And By The Looks Of The Faces On Our Security Team,

It's Clear This Isn't Disney's Animal Kingdom.

They're Ready For Anything,

And It Isn't Just The Local Wildlife They're Worried About.

So, Mark, I See You Have These Guys Deployed Out To The Sides.

Is This Kind Of A High-Risk Area?

The Whole Of Kruger Is Being Poached.

We Have Had A Lot Of Incidences Here.

Gates: "Incidence" Is Mark's Charming Way

Of Referring To People Trying To Shoot Him.

Given The Amount Of Money On The Line,

It's Clear That Poachers Won't Think Twice

About Killing Us To Get To Their Prize.

One Rhino Horn Is Worth How Much On The Black Market?

700,000.

700,000 Rand?Yeah.

So $50,000.

Do You Know How Many Get Poached A Day?

One Rhino Every Six Hours.

Wow. It's Crazy.

All Right, Are We Gonna Do This?

♪♪

Gates: As We Make Our Way Into The Bush,

Lukas And Nico Have Their Metal Detectors Fired Up

And Are Looking For Artifacts.

♪♪

According To Historical Documents Found By Nico,

This Clearing May Be The Site

Of An Epic Standoff During The Boer War.

[ Gunshot ]

Okay, The Shovel Is Ready. Lead On.

♪♪

Nico Believes That The Authentic Kruger Pounds They Found Here

Are Proof That They're On The Right Track.

So, Metal Detecting Is Really About Patience, Right?

Right.

I'm Thinking About What I'm Gonna Spend The Money On.

Thinking About That Jet Ski That I'm Gonna Be Buying At The End Of This.

[ Metal Detector Beeping ]

What Did You Find?

[ Metal Detector Beeping ]

♪♪

Look At That!

Gates: In The South African Bush,

With Two Treasure Hunters And A Small Paramilitary Presence,

We Scan The Earth, Looking For Signs Of Buried Treasure.

[ Metal Detector Beeping ]

♪♪

Look At That!

♪♪

This Is Incredible.

This Means That We Know There Was Some Action Here.

Okay, Carrying On.

We're On A Roll. We Haven't Even Been Eaten Yet.

♪♪

Lukas And Nico Continue To Sweep The Clearing

As The Sun Begins To Disappear Over The Horizon.

With The Last Minutes Of Daylight Fading,

Lukas Suggests A New Treasure-Hunting Technique

From His Arsenal,

Involving A Drone And A Cutting-Edge Thermal Camera.

Oh, It Stays Warm.

And It Will See That Even Underground?

Wow.

Right.

And, Mark, You'll Stand Next To Me, As Close As Possible.

If You Insist.

[ Chuckles ]

We Need The Ground To Cool Off For The Gold To Stand Out,

So We Kill Time At What Looks Sort Of Like, But Not Really,

A Campsite.

This Is What We Call A Picket.

This Is The Camp That Our Teams Stay At.

So, At Night, They'll Sit There

And They'll Be Listening For Any Gunshots, Any Movement.

And This Is Sort Of Fencing You're Building Up Around This?

Yeah, This Is Thornbush.

Basically, A Lion Will Come Here,

And He's Going To Get Thorns In His Paws.

Lions Won't Go Through That?

Not Gonna Get Through There Easily.

This Is Where You're Sleeping Tonight.

No, We're Not -- We Are?Yeah.

We're Not Hauling Back Out To The Road Tonight?

No. Okay.

This Is Information, Mark,

I Could Have Used When We Met Earlier.

[ Laughs ]

♪♪

Gates: Now That It's Dark, It's Time To Try Lukas' New Toy.

Go For It.

[ Drone Whirring ]

Okay, She's Up.

♪♪

Oh, Yeah, There Is, Right There.

Everything That's White On Here Is Hotter, Right?

Van Der Merwe: Yeah, Yeah, Yeah.

Okay. Right There Is A Hot Spot.

To My Surprise, Lukas' Unique Search Method

Does Identify Several Hot Spots, Which He Marks On Gps.

With Some New Leads, He Brings The Drone Down,

And We Start To Check Out Each Of The Contenders.

[ Drone Whirring ]I Got It, Guys.

Okay, Let's Pack It Up.

Okay, Let's Go.

All We'll Just Do Is Fall In One Single File.

Single File?Single File And Follow.

Okay. Let's Go. Okay.

I've Got A Guy At The Back With A Weapon,

Two In Front With A Weapon.

♪♪

We're Hiking Out Into The Pitch Black,

And We're The Only Things Out Here That Can't See In The Dark.

Even With The Cast Of "Predator" Here As Backup,

It's Difficult Not To Feel Extremely Vulnerable.

♪♪

[ Whispering ] Guys, Guys.

Shh, Shh, Shh, Shh, Shh, Shh, Shh. Quiet, Quiet, Quiet.

Oh!

♪♪

[ Whispering ] Stay Quiet.

[ Gun Cocks ]

♪♪

Want To Know More About Tonight's Expedition?

Then Seat A Course For Travelchannel.Com,

Where You Can Go Behind The Scenes With Exclusive Photos,

Never-Before-Aired Footage, And More.

♪♪

I'm In The Wild Plains Of South Africa,

Hunting For The Legendary Kruger Millions.

♪♪

In Total Darkness, Though,

I've Got The Feeling That We're The Ones Being Hunted.

♪♪

Okay, That Doesn't Sound Like A Human Being Walking.

♪♪

Doesn't Sound Like It's Human.

So I Think It's An Animal.

And It's Moved Off, And It's Moved Towards That Side There,

So I Don't Think It's A Problem.

[ Whispering ] All Right, Here We Go.

With The Team From Protrack Standing Guard,

Lukas, Nico, And I Get To Our First Hot Spot.

[ Metal Detector Beeping ]

Whoa, Whoa, Whoa. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah.

Whoa, Whoa, Whoa.

You Got It?

Something There, Yeah.

♪♪

What Is That?

♪♪

Gates: What Is This?

Look At That.

It Is Warm, Still, Actually, From The Day.

It's Amazing.

You Think It Is Boer?

Your Notion That There Were Camps Here,

That There Was Stuff Happening Here During The War...

That's Right.

...Certainly Seems Like We're In The Right Area.

Okay, Let's Go Check Out That Next Hit.

[ Metal Detector Beeping ]

Using The Gps Coordinates To Pinpoint Our Search Areas,

We're Moving Quickly From Site To Site.

[ Metal Detector Beeping ]There You Are.

Hold On.We Got It, We Got It.

Horseshoe.

With Each New Find, It's Becoming Apparent

That We May Have Discovered A British Campsite

From The Boer War.

♪♪

Oh.

Oh, My God.

Look!

Look At That!

Are You Kidding Me?!

So, This Is Probably From A British Camp?

When I Started This, I Thought,

"Could There Really Be Anything To Find From This War Still?"

And Now I Can't Believe How Much There Is Yet To Be Found.

This Is Real Evidence That We Are In The Right Time Period,

On The Right Track.

Having Exhausted All Of The Targets

Found With The Drone...

We Call It A Night

And Head Back To The Security Of The Picket.

Kind Of A Long Day.

Going To Call It A Night.

Uh, There Is An Automatic Weapon In Here, If They Just...

I'll Just Leave That.

I'll Just Leave That Where It Is.

♪♪

[ Sighs ]

My Search For The Kruger Millions

Has Taken Me On A South African Odyssey.

The Story Itself Is No Myth.

The Money Is Real, Minted In Pure Gold.

Its Route Is Known, Preserved Along Steel Tracks.

So, Where Did The Coins End Up?

Are They Buried Beneath The Park That Shares Their Name?

Or Could They Be Hidden In A Prehistoric Cave?

At This Very Moment, Dogged Treasure Hunters

Are Searching Acre By Acre To Find Out.

The Truth Is That The Kruger Millions

Are More Than Just Treasure.

The Coins Reflect The History Of South Africa Itself,

Stamped With The Face Of A Divisive Founding Father

Who Helped Scar The Continent.

Unearthing The History Of The Boer War Is Important,

But Perhaps It's Best That The Money

And The Ideals It Symbolizes

Remains Buried Deep Under The Veldt Of A New South Africa --

One Whose Real Treasures Are Its People, Its Animals...

[ Roars ]

...And Its Breathtaking Wilderness.