Michael Palin in Venezuela - Season 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.

Michael starts the second leg of his epic journey into Venezuela by flying to a stunningly beautiful cluster of coral islands in the Caribbean Sea called Los Roques. Meeting local Germán Olavarría, Michael is taken on a journey across the stunning archipelago with azure seas - it's a hidden paradise. He sees first-hand how Venezuela's unstable political situation has devastated the area's tourism industry and kept the country's beauty a secret. Most countries now tell their citizens not to travel to Venezuela as it's so high risk, so Michael is baffled when he sees the construction of new hotels on the main island... so who is coming here?

Back on the mainland, Michael embarks on a 1,000-mile road trip into the heart of Venezuela. His first stop is a huge rum distillery in Aragua state, the home of the notorious Tren de Aragua gang. Alberto Vollmer, the owner of Santa Teresa rum, has a unique way of tackling the gang culture, as a coachload of prisoners (many of them murderers) from a nearby jail arrive, to play a game of…rugby! Named 'Project Alcatraz', the hard knocks of rugby seem to be bonding these killers and giving them new hope.

The next day, Michael arrives in Sabaneta, the hometown of Hugo Chávez, the radical socialist President of Venezuela, who died in 2013. Arriving in the town square, Michael tries to get permission to film a statue of Chavez, but then a group of heavily armed officers from SEBIN - the country's intelligence service - arrive. The crew and Michael are detained, and things get very serious. Detained for seven hours with their passports confiscated, Michael and the team are finally released, but he fears they will now be monitored for the rest of the journey.

The next morning, Michael wakes up in Los Llanos, the agricultural heartland of Venezuela. The park ranger, Armando Machado, and Michael have a challenging job - releasing a wild 10-foot long anaconda back into the wild, before a highly tense encounter with an endangered Venezuelan crocodile.

Driving high into the Andes on a terrifying road that just about hugs the mountain, Michael arrives in the colonial town of Mérida. There, local activists, bravely talking in secret, explain the challenges of living in a country where civil liberties are constantly being eroded.

Finally, Michael embarks on a journey up the tallest cable car in the world, towards the Pico Bolívar, which rises almost three miles above sea level. The views are spectacular and it's time to look forward to the final leg of this epic journey.

Michael Palin starts the final leg of his epic adventure across Venezuela, as he enters Zulia state. Next to the border with Colombia, it is on the UK Foreign Office no visit ‘red zone' list and one of the most dangerous parts of the country, with a history of violence, gang warfare and a recent mass exodus of people - leaving areas like ghost cities.

Michael then embarks on a three-hour boat journey across Lake Maracaibo to a remote fishing village called Ologa. It's the best place to see the famous Catatumbo lightning, but as soon as he arrives, Michael discovers the village has been invaded by thousands of toxic moths and he has to leave immediately. He ends up spending the night in a hammock, on a rickety concrete viewing platform on the lake. He finally sees the lightning, alone, from afar, but only when he gets up to use the loo at 3am, after a feast of fresh crab and a few beers!

The next day, Michael returns to Maracaibo city, once the centre of Venezuela's oil production and city of hope. But while Maracaibo used to be the richest place in Venezuela, much of it is now boarded up, thanks to the collapse of the country's economy. Away from the forbidding streets, exploring Maracaibo's historic centre, Michael finds a livelier side to the city and meets María Peinado. Venezuela is obsessed with a unique idea of feminine beauty which means beauty contests are big business. María was a finalist in the much coveted ‘Miss Venezuela' pageant, but literally fell at the last hurdle. Being an indigenous woman of the region they explore what ethnic identity means in South America.

But Michael has also heard that Venezuela produces the best chocolate in the world and risks a violently bumpy boat journey to the Caribbean coastal town of Chuao. Here, Venezuela feels just like the Caribbean and cacao trees, and a secret recipe, produce the chocolate he's heard so much about - and it doesn't disappoint. And deep into the night, Chuao really comes to life as the Carnival hits town.

Finally, Michael returns to the capital, Caracas, for a government sponsored Carnival parade - where there are guns and soldiers alongside the partying. An endless stream of morotorised floats pass by, and organised chaos begins. And it gives Michael the chance to reflect on Venezuela, a country so beautiful and a people with such spirit. Even with all the challenges of an authoritarian state, Venezuela remains one of the great unseen wonders of the world.