Charley Boorman's South African Adventure - TV review

The sometimes actor and his crew, wasted no time as they took viewers on what felt like a whistle-stop tour of the country for his South African Adventure last night.

They set off on a 5,000-mile trek round the coast starting from Cape Town where they abseiled at Table Top Mountain, taking in some spectacular views of the city once so much the focus of the anti-apartheid campaign.

An excitable Boorman, aged 46, whose previous made for TV adventures include Extreme Frontiers – Canada, and Long Way Round with actor Ewan McGregor chuckled and whooped with delight as he lowered himself down the rugged rock face. It was difficult not to be enthused by his antics.

He says:"I thought it would be easy until I realised I had to work my way down to the ledge. Standing on the edge was a leap of faith, at least I knew there was no going back.

"Half of my mind is terrified and the other half is loving it. This is what it's all about. Wow. The view, the fauna."

And he was right as the programme was opportunity to beat a path along South Africa's tourist trail and see another side of life on the people's journey. The cameras caught sight of shanty towns, suburbs as well as smart offices and fast highways.

But the mountain exploit was followed by a sobering visit to the former prison on Robben Island, surrounded by shark infested water where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for many years before he was freed in 1990. The presenter interviewed tour guides and heard of their personal experiences.

The next day Charley made his way further along the southern tip to Gasbaai where he took part in an hair-raising white shark dive, where visitors are taken off-shore, lowered in a cage hooked to the side a boat and bait used to lure the predators. It was certainly not for the faint-hearted as the sharks were butting the cage and the travellers inside it were told by the tour leader to duck down low, presumably to avoid being injured.

No Boorman road trip, though would be complete without a breakdown, and while the bikes were so far running great, the same could not be said for the trailer carrying the spare kit. Twice a wheel fell off, ripped to shreds. The second time was in an isolated region where a farmer and his workers came to their rescue by taking them in and repairing the wheel hub before sending a very grateful Charley on his way again.

And no visitor to South Africa would want to miss a trip to a game reserve. Charley chose a project familiar to older viewers, the Shamwari Born Free Foundation park, made famous by the 1966 movie Born Free, declaring he had long wanted to see its conservation work first hand. He certainly did that with a daring visit during feeding time, when the keepers allowed him to give a hand in the lion enclosure.

But there were even more amazing scenes to come when he went scuba diving on the eastern Cape, featuring the sardine run phenomenon – known as The Greatest Shoal on Earth. This is where sardines migrate up the coast only to be gobbled up by thousands of wildlife predators.

While filming there around 500 dolphins appeared, along with whales and dive-bombing birds on the hunt for dinner.

Charley could not resist the temptation to jump in the sea to swim with the dolphins which he says were going faster than the crew's tour craft. "It's the most extraordinary thing I've ever seen. It was truly magical."

It was a fun watch with some amazing footage. The adventurer tries to balance allowing the images and the people he meets to tell the story without imposing himself too much which was a good formula.

In the next episode fans will see Charley try surfing and carry out more daring exploits as his African adventure continues.

Deborah Hardiman