Dicing with Death

The real lives of the people of Botswana is far from the usual picture postcard image. Chaidi, Monty, Mareko, Sekere live in the heart of a country that is nothing but one vast desert: Botswana. Everybody struggles to keep their job and support their family, but in the all-prevailing fine sand it's impossible to move around without a 4-wheel drive.

In the Andean cordillera of Bolivia, two mothers risk their lives as they travel some of the most dangerous roads in the country. After having stocked up in La Paz, the highest capital city in the world, Maria returns to her village. It's situated in the high mountains of the Yungas forest. Maria is one of the rare women in Bolivia who dare take on these trails that are lost in the clouds.

Cocoa producers are in despair. Yakou is one of the last drivers willing to supply the most remote villages. There's only 45 kilometres to travel and it takes him between 8 and 10 hours to get there! The journey is so demanding that his son, who helps him during the vacations, doesn't want to inherit the family's one item of wealth: the truck.

In the Andes people have learned to manage by themselves, in the shadow of guerrilla warfare. To get from one mountain to another, the quickest way is often to take to the air... Hanging from cables more than 100 metres long, the locals overcome their fear. Setting out on chaotic tracks, the Colombians face the challenges and difficulties with a smile, like true cowboys of the road.

Jamaica is not only the land of reggae and fine sandy beaches. It's also a mountainous island cloaked in dense tropical vegetation. Its road network is in disastrous condition. This is nowhere truer than in the blue mountain region where the peaks rise over 2,000m above sea level. Only the hardiest dare venture there. Or the poorest.