DESTINATION TRUTH - Giant Anaconda

SciFi Channel - Original Air Date: 4/9/08

This final show of the 2nd season takes host Josh Gates and his crew deep into the Amazon jungle in search of legendary giant snakes -- like the ones in the film Anaconda.  Josh meets an anaconda in a local snake institute, and discovers just how dangerous the snake can be, as one of the keepers is badly bit.  Josh and his crew then board a paddle boat and head down river -- which, he notes, basically recreates the plot of the film -- to talk to natives and find the giant snakes.  Big boat soon gives way to small boats, and meetings with villagers ensue.  Josh sees a snake skin of a "baby" anaconda -- which looks pretty large.  He also hears amazing stories of the beast, which one native says can destroy 9-meter long boats.  Despite this, and despite lurking poisonous snakes (falling out of the trees, maybe), Josh continues his quest -- with the best night vision cameras on television.  Those cameras catch something large in the water, but Josh is out of range, and doesn't get back from his river search in time to check it out.  Eventually, they do find an anaconda, but it's only 3-meters long.  They then meet a native chief who claims to have once tangled with a giant anaconda.  He tells Josh where he saw a snake with a head about a meter long, so the crew sails out again.  After several near misses, they do find a huge boa -- perhaps 5 meters long.  Unfortunately, at that point, the Amazon rains drive the team (and their electronics) from the jungle.  Josh concludes that, while they didn't find any, it is entirely possible that huge, undiscovered snakes still exist in the Amazon.

As always, this is another fun show in perhaps the best paranormal-hunting series on TV.  The tone is congenial, and Josh Gates is a very engaging hose. I can hardly wait for the next season.  (Though perhaps, since the seasons are so short, it will really be part 2 of this season.)  I only hope in the future that Josh and his crew will be able to turn up more actual beasts.  Certainly, they could spend more time looking for anacondas, or ropen, or Yeti, or some fo the other beasts they've searched for in the first two seasons.  Big HOWL for Destination Truth.  Check it out.