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Yossi Ghinsberg vs the Amazon | SOSAD: Stories of Survival and Death — Transcript

by Amanda Frazee · 8,662 words · 1,443 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00my husband prefers when i get fixated on
0:02survival stories instead of tragic
0:05deaths so he recommended this story to
0:08me
0:08and it's one that
0:10i'd never heard of but i just find it so
0:13interesting and mysterious
0:16there are so many unknowns and besides
0:19the main subject there's not really a
0:22lot of information on the internet about
0:24the people involved
0:26at least that i could find
0:28and being someone who wants to know
0:31about the people i find that frustrating
0:35and there's also not a lot of pictures
0:37of the event or the location they
0:40occurred
0:41and i find visuals helpful so that's
0:44also frustrating so some of the pictures
0:47that i include will be more of
0:49a guess from what i've looked into of
0:52what could have been
0:54more than what it actually was
0:56i really value accuracy and
0:59some more minor details of this story
1:02vary a bit
1:04due to either condensing less important
1:06information or recollection differences
1:10throughout the years
1:11and so for continuity i will be sticking
1:15to one retelling of the story
1:18with that said
1:20it is estimated by the nature
1:22conservancy that
1:24one-third of all plant and animal life
1:27live in the amazon rainforest and that
1:30number used to be closer to half with
1:33the various dangerous species diseases
1:37and forces of nature one can encounter
1:39being with others and having necessities
1:43is dangerous enough
1:45but it is no place to be lost alone
1:48without even a knife
1:51today i'll be talking about yossi
1:53ginsburg and his tale of surviving alone
1:56in the amazon jungle for three weeks
1:58before his rescue this is so sad stories
2:02of survival and death a series where i
2:04talk about the people
2:06in horrific situations their lives and
2:09how they either survived or died in that
2:11situation
2:12so if that interests you please like and
2:14subscribe and let's get into the video
2:20[Music]
2:31joseph ginsburg was born april 25th 1959
2:35aviv israel his parents were holocaust
2:38survivors
2:40i don't know much about his childhood in
2:43growing up
2:45but
2:46when he turned 18 right before he went
2:48into his mandatory military service
2:52his uncle who believes strongly in
2:54kabbalah gave him a little red book
2:57and he told yasi that
3:00this book had mystical protective
3:03properties and that it had saved him
3:05several times throughout his life yasi
3:08wasn't strongly religious and he had
3:12skepticism but he took the book and
3:15right when he got home after visiting
3:17his uncle
3:19his mom
3:20told him that his uncle had suffered a
3:22heart attack and so he took this book
3:25back to his uncle
3:27and when his uncle awoke from
3:30unconsciousness he
3:33gave the book back to yaasi because he
3:35wanted him to have it and soon after
3:37that he died yasi kept the book on him
3:40at all times after this because
3:43why not
3:44and he began to feel some sort of
3:47protection from it and even feels that
3:49it had saved his life at least once yasi
3:52served in the israel navy for three
3:55years at the red sea and he befriended
3:57the bedouin of the sinai desert
4:00and he was very intrigued by their
4:02nomadic culture inspired by the bedouin
4:06and henri sherrier's book papillon
4:10yossi
4:12saw adventure in the amazon after he got
4:15out of the navy
4:16and he dreamed of meeting indigenous
4:19tribes and experiencing their way of
4:23life yossi worked several jobs including
4:26construction in norway
4:29fishing in alaska
4:31and unloading and loading trucks in new
4:34york city in order to save money for
4:36traveling
4:37and when he was 21 or 22
4:41he
4:42made his way down to south america
4:44hitchhiking he spent time backpacking
4:47around the amazon and near the end of
4:49his trip he was on his way to machu
4:52picchu and he decided to make a side
4:55excursion to go see the island of
4:57tequila as the boat traveling to tequila
5:00left the docks a man came running up
5:04frantically waving trying to get them to
5:06stop because it was the only boat out
5:08for the day
5:09and that man was marcus stam from
5:12switzerland he was very personable and
5:15he would talk to people like they were
5:17old friends and soon he was conversing
5:19with everyone on the boat speaking
5:22in german english and french
5:25yossi and marcus became fast friends and
5:29they decided to split costs and stay
5:31together while in tequila
5:33and marcus was very open about his life
5:36he was a 28 year old teacher and had
5:39just gone through a really rough breakup
5:41with his girlfriend of nine years
5:44she had told him that he needed to
5:46travel more and broaden his horizons and
5:49then she left him yasi planned to
5:52continue to machu picchu
5:55but marcus convinced him to go to la paz
5:58with him instead they spent a bit of
6:00time in la paz and one day while at the
6:03market yossi noticed a european man in
6:06his mid-30s who looked to be an
6:08adventurer
6:10watching him and when yossi made pointed
6:14eye contact at him he quickly came over
6:16and introduced himself he said his name
6:19was karl ruprechter and that he was an
6:21austrian geologist and had been in
6:24bolivia
6:25living there for the last 10 years
6:28looking for gold uranium and antiquities
6:32and then he offered yasi an adventure
6:35like none other
6:37he said he was planning a three-month
6:39journey into the jungle to look for
6:41precious metals and he wanted yossi and
6:44maybe a couple other friends to go along
6:46with him and his colleagues in order to
6:49provide some company and maybe a little
6:51bit of assistance he told them that
6:54they'd be able to prospect for gold and
6:57that they would meet tribes that had
6:59little to no contact with the outside
7:01world
7:02and that they'd be able to leave any
7:04time they wanted
7:06and the only thing that they had to pay
7:08for was their plane ticket to apollo and
7:11this was very intriguing to yasi this
7:14was everything that he had been looking
7:16for
7:17a true adventure into the jungle in
7:20contact with
7:22lost tribes so he excitedly went to tell
7:26marcus and though marcus was hesitant he
7:29agreed to meet with carl the next day
7:32and the next day yossi met up with
7:35marcus and marcus brought his best
7:38friend along as well
7:4029 year old kevin gail he was an
7:43american photographer and he was well
7:45known and somewhat of a legend among the
7:48backpackers in the area at that time
7:51he had been
7:53backpacking around the amazon for the
7:55previous two years and he was said to
7:58have done it all
8:00and was known for his strength and
8:03endurance
8:04so even though yasi had never met him he
8:08knew about him and carl's proposal was
8:11also very intriguing to kevin because
8:15kevin felt like he hadn't had a true
8:17jungle experience in the time that he'd
8:20been there
8:21and this was like his last opportunity
8:24to do so before he returned to the us
8:27for thanksgiving so after talking with
8:30carl who drew a map of the area that
8:34they'd be traveling because there were
8:36no decent printed maps
8:39and he again promised gold prospecting
8:42and contact with
8:44the native tribes
8:46yossi and kevin were 100 percent in and
8:50even though marcus was still hesitant he
8:54agreed to go as well kevin pushed back
8:56his return date and carl gave them a
8:58list of supplies that they would need
9:00and while they were preparing
9:03carl came to them and told them that he
9:05would have to cancel the trip because he
9:08had just received an urgent letter from
9:11his uncle
9:12who needed help
9:14delivering a truck that he had just
9:16bought to his cattle ranch in about a
9:18month's time and since carl was the only
9:21family nearby he was the only one that
9:24could do it carl said that he wouldn't
9:28be able to accomplish anything with work
9:31in a month's time
9:32but he offered to be a paid guide for
9:36them for that month he hand drew another
9:39map and said he knew of another
9:41indigenous tribe that lived
9:44near
9:45this village of azariamas and that there
9:48was a gold mining site called curry
9:50playa
9:51that was in the off season so even
9:53though it was most likely uninhabited
9:55they'd be able to stay there and do a
9:58little bit of prospecting
10:00the group agreed so they gathered their
10:02supplies and they headed out on november
10:054th 1981.
10:07they flew to apollo and then walked to
10:11azariamas where there were a couple
10:13ranches and they met and ate with the
10:15families and workers
10:17and then they started their journey to
10:20look for the lost tribe that carl told
10:22them about over the next several days
10:25a divide started to happen in the group
10:29they had only taken
10:30a little bit of rice and beans along
10:32with them because carl had said that
10:34they could hunt for any food that they
10:36needed that it wouldn't be a problem
10:38carl was an expert outdoorsman and
10:40hunter and seemed to really enjoy the
10:43hunt and he would take charge in setting
10:47up the camp
10:48and preparing all the mills
10:50and marcus had a really soft heart and
10:54he didn't want to be a part of the
10:57hunting or preparing of the meat it just
11:00really affected him and he especially
11:03had a hard time when carl killed the
11:05sloth and a monkey for them to eat
11:08he wouldn't even
11:10touch the monkey he wouldn't he wouldn't
11:12eat it
11:13but he still appreciated carl for
11:16tending to needs and he would help him
11:18out as much as he could and he
11:21started referring to him as papa
11:24and marcus would also hold branches out
11:27of the way for the others as they walked
11:30or warned them about
11:33hazards or obstacles that were in the
11:35way and he would be offended when they
11:39didn't do the same for him he seemed
11:41very miserable and unhappy with the trip
11:45and he thought that
11:47yasi and kevin were just being lazy and
11:51taking advantage of carl and yasi and
11:54kevin were frustrated with marcus and
11:57how he complained about everything or
11:59took issue with everything
12:01and
12:03they just
12:04started to split up
12:06marcus and carl would walk ahead
12:08speaking german and yasi and kevin would
12:11walk behind speaking english amongst
12:13each other yossi and kevin started
12:16referring to marcus as girl scout
12:19they saw him as a killjoy and thought
12:22that he was too sensitive and soft for
12:25the jungle they occasionally encountered
12:28snakes and carl told them about two
12:30poisonous snakes that were in the area
12:33and he said most of the other ones were
12:36not a threat though
12:38and then one morning they saw jaguar
12:41footprints around their camp
12:44but besides that
12:46most of the issues that they had were
12:49with the bugs there were
12:52fire ants leeches
12:55mosquitoes they were constantly getting
12:57bitten by mosquitoes and they would take
13:00a malaria pill every morning as a
13:02precaution they also had to deal with a
13:06lot of rain
13:07and the constant dampness of the jungle
13:11around them marcus started having
13:14trouble with his feet because of this
13:17he had developed a type of fungal
13:20infection and his feet were
13:23very sore and painful
13:26and he would apply vaseline to his sores
13:31and
13:32wrap his shoes in plastic just trying to
13:36keep them dry
13:37but
13:38it did little to help
13:41carl had said that it would take
13:43four days to get to this tribe
13:47but it had been
13:49over a week
13:50and
13:52when they asked about it
13:54he pointed to the map about where they
13:57were and where the tribe was and they
13:59were only about halfway there marcus was
14:02concerned about their rice and bean
14:05rations and about not having enough food
14:10and so he wanted to turn back and return
14:14but yasi really wanted to continue on
14:18because he really wanted to meet with
14:20this tribe
14:21and
14:22even though kevin really wanted to
14:25continue on as well
14:27he just decided that they should return
14:30and yasi was pretty bitter about it
14:34but
14:35he was outnumbered and so
14:38they
14:39started to head back so at this point
14:42the contention between
14:44marcus
14:45and yossi and kevin
14:48was you know at an all-time high
14:51and marcus tried to mend things and
14:55yossi said that as soon as they got back
14:58to civilization
15:00when they got back to la paz he promised
15:02that everything would go back to normal
15:05when they reached azariamas they stayed
15:08with one of the ranchers again and had a
15:11really nice meal and mark has tended to
15:13his feet and helped some of the people
15:16on the ranch with some of their medical
15:17issues as well they were staying along
15:20the twitchy river and kevin got the idea
15:23that instead of walking back to apollo
15:26they could raft down the tuichi
15:29to rura nabake
15:31and then they could fly back to la paz
15:34from there he was disappointed that they
15:36never got to meet with the tribe and so
15:39he saw this as a way to make something
15:42of the trip for the remaining week that
15:44they had left though marcus's feet were
15:46in really bad condition and the others
15:49felt that he should take the rancher up
15:51and on offer to get him back to apollo
15:55marcus refused and said that they needed
15:59to stay together he
16:01was adamant that
16:04they weren't in this together from start
16:06to finish the rancher and his workers
16:10and closest neighbor helped them build a
16:13raft and while
16:15that construction was going on
16:18yasi and carl prospected for a little
16:21bit of gold but what they did find was
16:24negligible so carl told them that they
16:27could stop at curie playa on the way to
16:30uranubake because it was along the river
16:34and that they'd be able to do a little
16:36bit more prospecting there when they set
16:39out on the river carl told them that
16:42they needed to listen to his instruction
16:45but
16:47something felt off to kevin about this
16:49he said
16:50that
16:51carl seemed to be doing everything
16:54backwards carl would also become really
16:57frantic whenever they got into any rough
17:00water
17:01and
17:02he would just yell and scream at them to
17:05do something but
17:06kevin would fight with him carl was
17:09scared because he couldn't swim after
17:12about a day on the river
17:15carl suddenly told them about a canyon
17:18that they would be coming to and a
17:20section called the malpaso san pedro
17:23and he said that
17:25no one could go through that so they had
17:28to
17:29get out of the river
17:31take apart the raft hike down past it
17:34and then continue on after that kevin
17:36and yasi
17:38mostly kevin was kind of
17:41worried about this like why hadn't carl
17:45brought this up before why is it
17:47suddenly an issue
17:49why were we not told about this
17:52before we left on this
17:54they were confused his story
17:56would seem to change or something would
17:59come up all of a sudden and so they were
18:02starting to get a little bit
18:04wary
18:05of carl so kevin didn't really see an
18:09issue with this canyon area though even
18:12if they had to get out and hike past it
18:14he was just like you know okay whatever
18:17we'll do that we can do it not a big
18:19deal after another day on the river carl
18:23and kevin were continuously fighting
18:26over how the raft should be handled
18:29and carl was
18:31very frustrated and so he said that he
18:33was done rafting and he was going to
18:36walk back on foot
18:38whether they joined him or not
18:40yasi and marcus saw
18:43carl's
18:44point of view and they agreed
18:47but
18:47kevin pulled
18:49yasi aside and he said look i think we
18:52can do this ourselves
18:55i think we can wrap down this why don't
18:57you come with me and you and i can do
19:00this
19:01but he didn't want marcus to go with
19:04them he wanted marcus to go back
19:08with carl
19:09and
19:10so yasi found a way to kind of trick
19:14marcus into going back with carl
19:17but
19:18i personally think
19:20marcus sensed that he wasn't wanted and
19:24so he agreed to go back with carl so
19:26they divvied up the supplies and carl
19:29drew them a map of the river and things
19:32that they needed to watch out for
19:34he drew a little island just before the
19:36canyon that he said would be a landmark
19:40for where they needed to get out
19:43carl took the gun in ammo and kevin took
19:46the machete and then kevin gave his
19:49camera and film
19:51to marcus because it would be safer with
19:53him
19:54and then they said their goodbyes and
19:57carl and marcus walked off into the
20:01jungle
20:02it was december 1st when they split up
20:04after a couple hours of rafting on the
20:08tuichi
20:10yasi and kevin knew that they would be
20:12approaching the canyon soon and they
20:15looked out for this island landmark that
20:18carl had told them about
20:20but they didn't see it and by the time
20:23that they tried to get out it was too
20:25late the water had
20:27quickly become much more treacherous
20:30and they looked ahead and they saw this
20:32huge rock and they knew that they were
20:35just going to collide with it
20:37and so they did the best that they could
20:39to brace themselves and the raft struck
20:42the rock and it jutted out at about a 60
20:45degree angle and yasi and kevin held on
20:48to the leather straps of the raft just
20:50trying to not get pulled away by the
20:53current
20:54and they tried to loosen the raft but it
20:57wouldn't budge and kevin
21:00knew that he
21:01had to do
21:02something that they couldn't just stay
21:04there
21:05so
21:06he told yossi that he was going to jump
21:09in and swim for the shore and that when
21:12he got there yasi needed to throw him
21:14his shoes and the machete
21:16and then he would find a vine and cut it
21:19and throw it out to yossi and they could
21:21tie their gear up
21:23and then he could pull the gear and
21:26yossi to the shore and before yasi could
21:29protest
21:30kevin jumped in the water
21:32and yossi looked for him and he finally
21:35saw him
21:37come out of the water around 25 yards
21:40downstream up by a rock and kevin was
21:43able to get out
21:45and he yelled for yossi to throw him his
21:49shoes and the machete
21:51and as yasi did
21:53the raft came loose from the rock and
21:57sent him careening down the river
22:00so kevin
22:02chased after yossi down the river
22:04yelling at him to just not let go of the
22:07raft and that he would find him
22:10and
22:11yasi yelled back that he would wait for
22:13him but he didn't think that kevin could
22:15hear him yossi held on really tight to
22:19the leather straps and
22:21soon he went over a 10-foot waterfall
22:25and he was pulled under by the current
22:28for a long time and just before he felt
22:31like he was going to drown he surfaced
22:34again and was able to get
22:36a deep breath of air and and be able to
22:39orient himself a little bit
22:41and he couldn't see kevin anymore
22:44but he could tell that he was now in the
22:46mal paso san pedro and he thought about
22:50his uncle's book and he longed to have
22:53it with him
22:54he had put it in one of the packs that
22:56was on the raft but he just wanted it on
22:59his person because
23:01he felt more
23:02safe more protected if it was on him he
23:05was submerged several times but he felt
23:09like an invisible hand would pull him to
23:12the surface just before it was too late
23:15and he was ejected from the raft a
23:17couple times but he was able to
23:20grab back to it after what felt like an
23:23eternity he was able to orient himself a
23:27little more
23:28and he could tell that he was now past
23:31the mal paso san pedro
23:34even though he was still in the canyon
23:36and he was far from safe he was in
23:39disbelief that
23:41he hadn't died and was in fact uninjured
23:45but he was still in the canyon and still
23:49in treacherous water and so with every
23:52hit the raft was taking at this point
23:55more and more of it would come apart
23:58they had two backpacks that were
24:01attached to the raft one of them held
24:03their more important items and they
24:05called this their life pack and yasi
24:08knew that no matter what he had to keep
24:11an eye on the life pack and
24:13and make sure that it was still with him
24:16because without it he and they would die
24:21and he noticed that at one point the
24:23life pack had come loose of the raft so
24:26he grabbed onto it and he tied it back
24:29to the raft but after one more hit
24:33more of the raft came apart with the
24:35life pack and it was now out of reach so
24:38he was clinging on to what was left of
24:41the raft and he tried to
24:44watch it
24:45but he went around a bend and the rest
24:48of the raft in the pack didn't follow
24:51so he knew it must have gotten caught on
24:54something yossi neared the right bank of
24:57the river
24:58and he took the chance to leap out
25:02abandoning the rest of the raft
25:05and the other backpack
25:07and he was surprised when he was
25:09standing in
25:10knee-deep water
25:12and at this point
25:14he was relieved to be alive he knew
25:18kevin was heading down the river to him
25:21it shouldn't take him more than a day to
25:23get to him
25:24he didn't know how long he'd been in the
25:26river or
25:28how far away from kevin he was
25:31but he knew that it wasn't
25:35too far they should be able to meet up
25:37within a day at most
25:40and he also knew that kyrie playa
25:43was
25:44somewhere nearby and that there was a
25:46path back to civilization from kyrie
25:49playa so he climbed up some rocks nearby
25:52and he was able to see that
25:55the rest of the raft had gotten stuck
25:58behind and he prayed that the life pack
26:02was still with
26:04that part of the raft
26:06but
26:07there was no way for him to get to it
26:10that day it was getting late and dark
26:13and cold and he knew he needed to find
26:16some sort of shelter
26:18for the night
26:19so he went and he gathered some sticks
26:23and leaves and kind of
26:25braced it up against this outcropping of
26:28rock and he stayed there that night the
26:31next day he got up and he called out for
26:34kevin here and there but he knew he
26:37couldn't just sit there and wait all day
26:41and he kept saying to himself man of
26:43action man of action and that kind of
26:46became
26:47his motto he scaled the rocks to where
26:50he had seen the raft
26:52and he was happy to find that the life
26:56pack was indeed nearby there and
27:00after this he felt even more
27:04safe and even more like he was going to
27:07make it out and that he was going to be
27:09okay because now he had
27:11essential items inside the life pack was
27:14carl's hand-drawn map and so he tried to
27:17use it as a gauge to see how far he was
27:21to curie playa
27:22and
27:24maybe as some sort of a guide for him to
27:28meet back up with kevin
27:29just any sort of landmarks to look for
27:32that would be helpful and his feet
27:36started to become sore just as marcus's
27:40had he
27:41developed that same fungus
27:44and he really felt for marcus and how he
27:46had treated him and he began to feel bad
27:49because now he realized just how bad
27:53just how painful
27:55this fungus really was
27:58so he looked for some vaseline that he
28:01could put on his feet to try to protect
28:03them but he couldn't find any
28:06but in the pack he did see a red poncho
28:10and so he laid the poncho out and waited
28:13it down with rocks
28:15hoping that if kevin did pass by he
28:17would see this poncho and know that
28:20yossi was somewhere nearby after laying
28:23out the poncho he was heading back to
28:25the camp and he noticed a few plums
28:28on the ground and he found one that
28:31wasn't rotten and scarfed it down and
28:34then he looked up to
28:37see where the plums had come from and he
28:40saw a tree that was above this rock wall
28:43that was full of plums
28:46and so he found an area
28:48on the rock wall that he'd be able to
28:51climb up to
28:52get to this plum tree he was almost to
28:55the tree
28:57when he noticed a green snake coiled up
29:02tensed up ready to attack
29:04and he instantly recognized it
29:07as one of the poisonous snakes that
29:10carld had warned them of
29:12he paused for a second and then his fear
29:15turned to hatred and so he grabbed a
29:18rock and he smashed it over the snake's
29:21head over and over and over again until
29:24he had decapitated the snake
29:27and then he peeled the skin off the body
29:30of the snake
29:31and gutted it and threw the meat down
29:35by the shore of the river
29:37and then after he had grabbed some plums
29:40he returned and
29:42he
29:43thought about what he should do with the
29:45snake meat it was too wet he wouldn't be
29:48able to make a fire to cook it
29:51and the water was too treacherous to try
29:54to fish
29:56with some of this meat as bait
29:58and so he just
30:00left it there he didn't he didn't want
30:03to eat it raw so
30:05it was useless to him at this point but
30:08after he was able to see his
30:10surroundings more he knew that there was
30:13no way that kevin would see the red
30:15pancho
30:16where it was
30:17and so he went back and got it and then
30:20he tried to find another place for him
30:23to rest that night he planned to stay
30:26and wait for kevin in the area one more
30:29day
30:30but that night he had a nightmare that
30:32kevin was calling out for his help so he
30:36got up the next morning and decided that
30:38he was gonna head back up river to find
30:41kevin but then he came to this point
30:44where there was a
30:45200-foot drop to the tuichi
30:49and he knew that there was no way
30:52that kevin could get to him
30:55from where he had been upriver and there
30:58was no way for him to go any further
31:01and so it was just a whole day wasted in
31:05search of kevin
31:07and this was their third day separated
31:10and so
31:11he went back to
31:13that same place he'd spent the previous
31:15night and stayed another night there he
31:18was able to start a fire that night and
31:21he was careful to ration food so that he
31:24would have enough for kevin the next day
31:27he was feverish and weak and his feet
31:32were worse than ever
31:34and
31:35he couldn't really do much of anything
31:37so he spent the whole day there resting
31:40again and he watched the monkeys up in
31:43the trees and he longed to catch one to
31:45eat
31:46but
31:47he just
31:48was still too weak and they were too
31:50quick and he knew he wouldn't be able to
31:52get one
31:53water wasn't an issue
31:55but the lack of food was
31:58the next day he was feeling better
32:01and so he packed everything up and
32:04decided to head to curie playa because
32:08if there was a place that he could meet
32:10with kevin
32:11it would be there at night he would
32:15write down in a notebook everything
32:18that had happened in the journey and
32:20keep a log of what he had done that day
32:23at one point he
32:25left the river
32:27trying to find a way out of the area
32:29that he was located
32:31but as he traveled more and more
32:34into the jungle
32:36he
32:38soon
32:39realized that that was a mistake and he
32:42should have never left the river
32:44and so he found a stream that
32:48he figured would lead back to the
32:50twitchy and so he started to follow that
32:53over the next few days he would trek
32:55along or wade inside the river and he
32:58would daydream
33:00different situations about his life
33:03after surviving and he would sing songs
33:06and keep himself busy
33:09with that and most of his daydreams were
33:13heavily focused on
33:15what food he would eat he slept
33:18underneath a mosquito net and poncho
33:20from warmth and he remembered seeing in
33:23movies how they light the fumes from
33:26an aerosol can on fire to act like a
33:29flame thrower so he had the bottle of
33:32insect repellent and a lighter nearby
33:35just in case
33:37and one night he heard some rustling
33:40outside and
33:42he
33:43could tell that it was a predator
33:46and
33:48soon it got too close to ignore
33:51so he quickly sat up
33:53and
33:55about 12 feet away from him was a jaguar
33:59and
34:00it didn't look menacing it looked more
34:03like it was just now noticing him and he
34:06yelled at it
34:08but it didn't move and so he took the
34:11repellent and the lighter and he lit it
34:14on fire and sprayed until the can was
34:18exhausted
34:19and
34:20once he could see again he could tell
34:23that the jaguar was not there but he
34:26didn't know if he had scared it off or
34:28if now it was just waiting
34:31and so he spent the rest of the night
34:33just in fear that it would come back
34:36eventually the stream did lead back to
34:38the twitchy and he vowed to never leave
34:41it again at this point it was december
34:458th and so he had spent over a week
34:48alone in the jungle
34:51and he would look at the map again and
34:53again trying to figure out where he was
34:56and
34:57about how far kiri playa was
35:00if he was even close to it he would try
35:02to
35:04gauge it but it wasn't a very reliable
35:07map
35:08so a lot of it was him just
35:11feeling
35:12i shouldn't be too far from kyrie playa
35:14i know it was somewhere near
35:17the canyon
35:18so
35:19i have to be coming up on it any day now
35:22and he spent the next few days just
35:26trucking along
35:28the river and he would eat berries and
35:31fruits that he found on the ground the
35:34rice and beans had
35:36gotten damp and moldy and
35:39so he ate small amounts of garlic salt
35:42and spices from the pack and he was able
35:45to
35:46fish and he caught four small minnows
35:48and he tried to use one as bait for a
35:50larger fish but the water was
35:53too
35:54treacherous they were now in the rainy
35:56season so the water was moving a lot
35:59faster so it wasn't really
36:01a good time to fish for
36:04bigger prey but he did have a few small
36:07minnows to eat he had been walking along
36:10the river for a few days now and he
36:12still hadn't come to curie playa
36:15so he was getting worried about carl's
36:17directions and how he had
36:20contradicted himself or
36:23would not tell them things until it was
36:26an immediate concern and he was growing
36:28concerned that
36:30kyrie playa was
36:32a lot further than what this map showed
36:35and as he was thinking about this he
36:38came
36:39upon
36:40this area of trees where he could tell
36:43that the trees had been cut
36:45by
36:46humans
36:47and
36:49he followed these cuts and soon came to
36:52a flat area where the four huts were
36:55built
36:56and
36:57he was just so excited because he'd
36:59found kerry playa he was
37:01he made it carl had told them that
37:05people would travel from san jose to
37:08curie playa every year and so
37:11yasi knew that there had to be a trail
37:13that would lead back to san jose and so
37:17he just planned on following this trail
37:21and he'd be back to san jose in no time
37:24and at this point he didn't want to be
37:26found he wanted to
37:28make it out on his own and you know be
37:31be the survivor and he saved himself
37:34and so he spent that next day just
37:38resting ridding himself of
37:40leeches and parasites and
37:44trying to recuperate
37:46for this
37:47what should be a four day trek to san
37:50jose he set out along the trail on the
37:53morning of december 12th singing to
37:56himself feeling safe and hopeful that he
38:00would make it out alive and that he
38:02would rescue himself
38:04and
38:05he came upon a nest with three eggs
38:09inside and he cracked it open and inside
38:12was a baby bird
38:14and he was unable to bring himself to
38:17eat it
38:18and so he set it back in the nest and
38:21continued on
38:22and soon he came to some fruit
38:25and
38:26he ate all of the fruit
38:29and
38:30then
38:31he set off again the trail followed
38:34along the river for a while and then it
38:37cut deep into the forest
38:39and
38:41he felt safe
38:43in the trail and knowing that it would
38:44lead back to civilization so he left the
38:47river
38:48and so he continued along the trail and
38:51then suddenly he came across a fresh
38:54footprint
38:55and
38:56he was excited you know this was this
38:58must be kevin
39:00and so he was yelling out for kevin and
39:03calling out and as he's going along
39:06things just start
39:07to look familiar
39:10and then he sees
39:12the bush with the pits of the fruit that
39:15he'd eaten
39:17and
39:18he knew that that footprint was his
39:22the trail had led him in one huge circle
39:28and wasted an entire day and much of his
39:32depleting energy
39:34he thought about going back to kyrie
39:36playa but decided against it
39:40in order to get to another village that
39:43they'd been told about a little bit
39:45further down the river and he vowed to
39:48never leave the river again and he would
39:51only follow trails as long as they went
39:54along with the river knowing he needed
39:56to eat he went back to the nest and ate
39:59all of
40:00the unhatched eggs apologizing to the
40:02baby birds as he did he followed along
40:06the river daydreaming singing songs and
40:09making up stories as he went
40:11his feet were dry and had been healing
40:15but with him now walking and in the
40:18constant dampness of the jungle
40:22his sores quickly opened up again he
40:24also suffered some
40:27other injuries
40:28once he
40:30fell and he landed on a stick on his
40:33back
40:34and it broke and
40:36the part where it broke went right up
40:38into his rectum and caused some injury
40:42there and he was bleeding for a while
40:45from that but his injuries weren't
40:48enough that they stopped him
40:50from going on during the night he would
40:54hear
40:55predators around him
40:57but he had grown
40:59apathetic to it he didn't really have a
41:01way to protect himself anymore and so he
41:05would just try to ignore it and get some
41:07sleep at night and even though
41:10he knew the map wasn't the most reliable
41:13thing it was still the only thing he had
41:16so he still would try to use it as a
41:18gauge
41:19to figure out where he was and where he
41:22needed to go
41:24and
41:25he would lay branches out along the
41:28river
41:29to spell out y
41:31for his name
41:33with an arrow pointing the direction he
41:35went and then the date as the days went
41:39on he felt that he should have already
41:41reached san jose
41:43but
41:44he also knew that
41:46he wasn't
41:47in
41:49the same condition that most travelers
41:51are
41:52and he'd passed out a few times his feet
41:54were worse than ever and so he just
41:57figured that that's why he hadn't
41:58reached there yet it was now
42:01in the rainy season and after a
42:03particularly rainy and stormy day
42:06he was camped out at the riverbank and
42:10the river started to rise and so he had
42:13to hurriedly
42:15leave the riverbank but he was caught up
42:18into the river
42:19but he was able to grab onto the trees
42:23because of how flooded it was
42:26the trees were in his path so he was
42:28able to grab onto the trees and pull
42:31himself out on december 17th he heard a
42:35plane overhead and he knew it had to be
42:37kevin so he rushed back to the now
42:40receded river
42:41and he was able to see it but it was
42:44flying too high and too fast and he knew
42:47that
42:49they would not be able to see him in the
42:51canopy
42:52of trees
42:54and soon the plane was gone
42:56he collapsed in despair
42:59and in that moment
43:01he gave up
43:03but then
43:04he heard crying
43:07by him and he looked over
43:09and he saw this
43:11young woman
43:13and
43:14he instantly got up and he was like no
43:18they'll come back they'll come back they
43:19have to come back they'll come back
43:21tomorrow it'll be okay they'll rescue us
43:23and this girl gave him a renewed sense
43:26of purpose and they traveled along the
43:29river together
43:32and she was constantly crying and just
43:34seemed hopeless
43:36so yasi did the best he could to keep
43:39her spirits up and he would
43:41gather food for them and he would
43:43comfort her on the 18th he heard the
43:46plane again and he ran towards the sound
43:50he knew that the plane wouldn't be able
43:52to see him but he still wanted to see it
43:55but after
43:57the
43:57sounds from the plane grew distant
44:01he
44:02headed back his hopes dashed
44:06and as he walked along he wasn't really
44:09paying
44:10close attention to where he walked
44:13and he stepped right into a bog and he
44:17went
44:18right up waist deep into this bog
44:21and it was really thick he
44:24tried to move
44:26but he couldn't get his feet out and the
44:29more he moved the more he sank in he
44:32continued slowly sinking into the bog
44:34and he tried to think of a way to get
44:37out but
44:38he couldn't
44:39see any possible way
44:42so he grabbed the pack from his back and
44:45he pulled out these pills
44:48and
44:49he thought about overdosing before the
44:52bog could kill him but he decided
44:55against it
44:56he wanted to live
44:58and he was gonna do
45:00anything he could to do so for as long
45:03as he could
45:04so he stretched himself
45:07over the top of the bog distributing his
45:09weight
45:10and slowly kicked his feet free after
45:14about half an hour
45:16he was able to get himself free
45:19and he carefully grabbed the pack and
45:22got out of the bog
45:24that night he laid out a spot for him
45:27and the girl to rest
45:29and as he went to pull her in
45:32he realized that there was nothing there
45:36the girl was just a hallucination
45:40and
45:41he had been questioning his sanity a
45:44little bit here and there he'd heard
45:46voices before
45:49and then realized that he was just
45:51imagining it but this was the first
45:55visual thing
45:57that he'd imagined and so
46:00he started to ignore her
46:03and soon she disappeared
46:06on the 19th he set up camp and
46:09sometime during the night
46:11he was attacked by a colony of termites
46:16and they bit him all over his body
46:20but
46:21he was so weak and tired
46:24and he didn't
46:25want to leave the warmth to find a new
46:29spot and so he fought these termites off
46:32all night so the next morning he was
46:35really weak he had bites and was
46:38bleeding everywhere
46:40and his feet were in agony and he wanted
46:43to make it back to the river
46:45but he was finding it really hard
46:48to get the motivation
46:50to move so as he pushed himself along
46:54he saw a tree full of fire ants so he
46:57went up and he grabbed the tree
46:59and let the fire ants bite him over and
47:02over and over again and the pain from
47:05that became his motivation
47:07and with the stinging from the bites he
47:11no longer noticed the pain in his feet
47:14and he was able to keep going and he
47:17stumbled into another bog
47:20but he was able to get himself out of
47:23that one
47:24and
47:25keep pushing himself to get back to the
47:28river
47:29he saw a turtle and he thought about
47:31killing it but when he looked at the
47:33turtle and the turtle looked at him he
47:35had this feeling that
47:37the turtle was his brother
47:39and he couldn't kill it and when he got
47:42to the river
47:44he realized he was back in curie playa
47:47the huts had been destroyed by the river
47:50flooding but he knew it was the same
47:54place he'd been
47:55so at this point he collapsed on the
47:58river and just prayed that he could
48:01survive
48:02until the planes found him the next
48:04morning he woke when he heard sounds
48:06from a helicopter but then he realized
48:09that that was also part of his
48:11imagination
48:13and he spent
48:15the day
48:16willing himself to live
48:18thinking of different ways that he could
48:20survive until the next mining season
48:23which was about six months away and he
48:26spent
48:27the day
48:28at the bank right in that same spot
48:31unable to move he was feverish and weak
48:34and he wanted to cover himself up with
48:37the mosquito net and the pancho
48:40but he was finding it really hard to get
48:42the motivation
48:44to get it but eventually he did get up
48:46and he was able to cover himself up for
48:49warmth for the night the next morning he
48:52heard a loud buzzing
48:55and
48:55he thought it was a bee
48:57and the sound got louder and louder and
49:00afraid that the bee had gotten
49:03underneath his covers
49:06he threw them off
49:08and then he realized that there was no
49:10bee
49:11and he looked out toward the river
49:15and he saw four people
49:18standing by a canoe getting ready to
49:20leave
49:22and
49:24he stood up excited to see people and he
49:28was waving and yelling
49:31but they couldn't hear him
49:33and then suddenly
49:35one of them looked up and saw him
49:39and it was kevin kevin told yasi not to
49:42move
49:43and
49:44he ran to him and embraced him
49:47and it was then that yossi realized that
49:51he hadn't been imagining this that this
49:53was real he was given bread and lemonade
49:57and as they traveled
49:59down the river in the canoe
50:01yasi and kevin talked about
50:04what happened while they were apart
50:07kevin had followed yasi down the river
50:10but after three days of not finding him
50:14and his feet also being infected with
50:17this fungus
50:18he knew that he had to get out on the
50:22fourth day he
50:23rested and then on the fifth day he
50:26found a log and he got it into the river
50:30and he just
50:31floated on this log for a long time
50:34calling out for yasi as he went
50:37but eventually he saw two people
50:42in a canoe fishing along the bank and he
50:45called out for help
50:46and
50:48they helped him and they told him that
50:50they only went fishing and hunting that
50:53far up the river twice a year so kevin
50:56was really lucky to have been found by
50:59these people
51:00and
51:01so kevin spent five days in the jungle
51:04alone before he was rescued
51:07and then
51:08kevin went
51:10on to san jose and then to rura nabake
51:13and when he got to rura nabake he
51:15realized that there was no way that
51:17yassi could have floated down all the
51:20way to rura nabake so
51:23he
51:25found a way to get in touch with the
51:26embassies and
51:28[Music]
51:30try to launch a search for yossi
51:33but it wasn't until the 17th or 18th
51:36that they were able to do this and while
51:39he was in la paz
51:41kevin went to the meeting place that
51:43they had discussed with marcus and carl
51:46before they had separated to where they
51:48would meet up afterwards and he was
51:50surprised to learn that they hadn't
51:52returned yet so he went and he talked to
51:55the swiss and austrian embassies
51:57about them
51:59and when
52:00he went to talk to the austrian embassy
52:03he was surprised to learn that carl was
52:07not who he said he was he was not a
52:10geologist and he had no uncle in the
52:12area he was actually a wanted criminal
52:16and professional troublemaker who had
52:20been involved with radical leftist
52:22groups in europe 10 years prior he had
52:26escaped to bolivia and though the
52:28embassy knew that he was there there
52:31wasn't really anything that they could
52:33do about it
52:34and
52:35so they saw his disappearance as good
52:38news and they didn't want to do anything
52:41to help them find him carl had also been
52:45known to do this kind of thing before
52:48four years earlier he had led a german
52:50man into the jungle under promises of
52:53adventure
52:54but when
52:56the man grew ill carl abandoned him and
53:01the german man was able to make it to a
53:03ranch and be saved by the people there
53:06kevin was heavily involved and heavily
53:09insistent on the rescue of yossi he's
53:12the reason that they even started a
53:15search and took a plane out on the 17th
53:18and 18th
53:20but after that they knew that there was
53:23no way that they were going to find him
53:25that way and everyone at the embassy
53:28kind of felt that yossi was already dead
53:30at this point it was you know two and a
53:32half weeks that he'd been missing in the
53:34jungle and so they had given up but they
53:37told kevin that he could hire someone to
53:40take him up river in a canoe
53:43and look for him on his own and they
53:46pointed out a couple people that
53:48might be willing to help and so kevin
53:50was able to get a ride up the river to
53:54search for yossi
53:56and
53:57they got to a point where they told
54:00kevin that at this next bank we are
54:03turning around and returning we can't go
54:05any further than this so when they
54:07reached the bank and got out kevin was
54:10very upset because that meant the search
54:13was over
54:14and that's when he looked up
54:17and saw yossi
54:19yasi discovered that he was in an
54:21uncharted area and he had not been in
54:24curie playa but in progresso
54:26which was about 30 miles
54:29upriver from kyrie playa and progreso
54:33had been abandoned for about 10 years
54:37since it was discovered that it wasn't
54:39really a good site for gold prospecting
54:43he had been in the worst storm in a
54:46decade
54:47but it was only because of the heavy
54:49rain
54:50that the canoe was able to make it that
54:53far up river and he also discovered that
54:57there was no
54:59indigenous tribe in the area
55:02and so kevin and yasi
55:06debated
55:07about what carl's motives could have
55:10been because it couldn't have been many
55:12because he spent more money on this
55:15venture than he made from it
55:18so what were his motives
55:22yasi spent three months in the hospital
55:25he was emaciated he had to be treated
55:27for his wounds and he had to have
55:30several leeches and burrowing worms
55:33removed from his skin kevin started a
55:36search for marcus and carl because they
55:40still had not returned
55:43but
55:43no trace of them
55:45was found yossi visited marcus's family
55:49and even though
55:51his dad accepted the loss of marcus
55:55his
55:56mother
55:58didn't
55:59she believed that he was still alive
56:02she
56:03and marcus said that they had this sort
56:05of
56:06telepathic communication
56:09and she felt that if marcus was gone
56:12he would have
56:14found a way to tell her goodbye
56:17and that hadn't happened so she fully
56:20believed that he was still alive
56:23yossi returned to israel and went to tel
56:26aviv university and got degrees in
56:29jewish philosophy and business
56:31administration
56:33and he continues to study
56:36different religions kevin met an israeli
56:39woman during his searches for the others
56:43and
56:44he married her a year later and moved to
56:47tel aviv as well
56:49ten years after his rescue yossi
56:51returned to bolivia when marcus's mother
56:54requested him follow a lead that she'd
56:56received from a clairvoyant
56:59she believed that he was in peru living
57:02with a remote village that had found and
57:04rescued him and that
57:07he had lost his memory and that's why he
57:10had never returned but the area the
57:13clairvoyant claimed he was located
57:16was pretty much impossible to get to
57:19and so nothing ever came of that search
57:22and leads that yossi had received about
57:26sightings of carl were also dead ends
57:30so
57:31nothing's ever come of that either
57:33despite several searches throughout the
57:36years done by kevin and yossi
57:39they are still missing to this day yasi
57:42remains very connected to the amazon he
57:45spent three years from 1992 to 1995
57:51helping a dying village builds an eco
57:54lodge to bring in jobs and
57:58tourism and he got san jose in contact
58:01with conservation international which
58:03got four and a half million acres of
58:06land declared as part of the media
58:09national forest and he's also worked to
58:12protect the intellectual property of the
58:15indigenous people of the region he's
58:18worked in several different fields as
58:20well he worked in drug addiction
58:24and
58:24with landscaping and interior design
58:28labels
58:29and
58:30as a tech entrepreneur
58:33and he's been a motivational speaker
58:35since 2001.
58:37he's married three times and has four
58:40children yasi has some very interesting
58:44views on the world and you can find some
58:47of his speeches here on youtube he sees
58:51us all as connected to each other and to
58:54nature and that we are all responsible
58:58for what happens in the world
59:00and he lives a very
59:02transient and nomadic lifestyle
59:05he sleeps in a tent in the backyard
59:08as much as possible and he loves to
59:12travel around the world and experience
59:15different cultures and ways of living
59:18kevin and yasi remain close friends and
59:22yasi feels that he can never repay kevin
59:25for what he did because he knows that if
59:28it weren't for kevin
59:30no one would have been looking for him
59:32and he surely would have died he has a
59:35few different editions of his
59:37autobiography all with different titles
59:40there's an episode of i shouldn't be
59:43alive about this story
59:45aired on november 11 2005 titled escape
59:49from the amazon and in 2017 a movie
59:53titled jungle was released and it
59:56starred daniel radcliffe as yossi
59:59there are several theories on the
1:00:02internet regarding carl and marcus
1:00:05but
1:00:06yossi's tale of survival is
1:00:10still incredible there were times when
1:00:13he willed himself to live by daydreaming
1:00:16about the future or
1:00:18trying to think of different ways that
1:00:21he could get himself out
1:00:23rather than just sitting and waiting
1:00:26helplessly he believes that when he
1:00:28reached a point of despair hunger and
1:00:31exhaustion where he no longer cared to
1:00:34survive he was given the girl
1:00:37someone for him to care for
1:00:41to motivate him to keep going and near
1:00:44the end he used pain from the fire ant
1:00:47stings to keep him alert and moving it's
1:00:51amazing what people can go through and
1:00:55survive
1:00:57and
1:00:58just how powerful our will to live can
1:01:01be
1:01:02and yasi is a testament to that
1:01:05and that's all i have for this video
1:01:08thanks for watching and i will see you
1:01:10guys in the next
1:01:14[Music]
1:01:32you

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