Episode 1

This week, Michael lands in Caracas, which has been called the deadliest city in the world. The country is reeling from the shock re-election of Nicolás Maduro as President six months ago and Michael finds investigative reporter Ana Vanessa Herrero to hear first-hand about the country's slide into totalitarian rule.

Despite security concerns, Michael then decides to visit Petare, the biggest and arguably the most dangerous slum in South America. Entry to the area is risky, but the extraordinary sight of thousands of homes built one on top of the other for its half a million residents is unique. With little official law enforcement Petare is not an easy place to live and those who have fled in the last decade have often made heartbreaking decisions. In a tenement Michael meets a woman who is looking after her three-year-old nephew - a boy who has not seen his mother in years.

But Michael also discovers there is a still a wealthy elite in Caracas when he visits the stunning mountain top Humboldt Hotel, a fantasy of opulence and style, before a Valentine's night dinner in downtown Caracas with Valentina Quintero – one of the country's most celebrated entertainers and writers. He also catches President Maduro's weekly tv show, with dancers and relentless optimism.

Michael then flies to the Amazon rainforest, and on board the plane finds a baffling superhero comic featuring President Maduro himself – in his cartoon guise as ‘Super Bigote" or Super Moustache.

And on arriving at Canaima lagoon and its amazing waterfalls, Michael at 81-years-old, decides to walk inside the deluge and behind the waterfall itself.

Having lunch with a family from the indigenous Pemon people, including a somewhat crunchy palm tree worm, Michael discovers how illegal gold mining is becoming a huge environmental problem in Venezuela and decides to visit one for himself, to see the destruction it causes.

Finally, Michael travels by helicopter to see the ancient Tepuis rock formations and Angel Falls, the world's tallest waterfall. Wanting to get a closer look, the helicopter manages to land in the middle of Angel Falls itself on a tiny precipice and Michael gets a unique view of this one-kilometre-high huge column of water falling above him. Venezuela is indeed a beautiful country but there is a darker side, and as he looks ahead to the next stage of his journey, Michael feels distinctly uneasy.