Watching LONG WAY DOWN, a ten episode documentary that followed Ewan McGregor and his good friend Charley Boorman on an epic motorcycle adventure from northern Scotland to the southern tip of Africa, was entertaining, educational, and truly refreshing.  Through the ten episodes, you really get to know Ewan and Charley, and while they do have a team with them that includes a couple photographers, a medic, a security advisor, and the director of the documentary, it’s quite clear that this is their trip.  Well, except when Ewan’s wife Eve decides she wants to ride along for some of it, despite never having been on a motorcycle before.  As with any road trip, this journey encounters its fair share of problems, whether it’s an intensly regimented shooting schedule, bike breakdowns, or the stress of dealing with so many border crossings, especially throughout Africa, but this trip is far more good than bad.  While they are oftentimes pressed for time, there is so much to see in this part of the world that you rarely see the team go on for too long without stopping to talk to people or children in the villages, or taking a walk through the ruins of great cities.  The photography is continually impressive, and that is due in large part to the diversity that exists across this amazing continent in the terrain, the animal life, and the people.  For someone like me, who has never been to Africa, I was blown away.  You hear so much about this continent, but most of the time it’s been about some of the less than wonderful things that have been happening like AIDS outbreaks, genocide, or invisible children.  Ewan and Charley are not on a humanitarian trip, but they are human, and when they encounter a village where hundreds or thousands of people had been slaughtered, or a UNICEF supported village that provided necessary medical support, you can see that they are genuinely moved.  I loved this series.  From beginning to end, I was hooked.  Both Ewan and Charley are so entertaining, and the trip itself is so beautiful, there’s really no reason to skip this.

The Special Edition DVD set is a good set.  Ten episodes on 3 discs, an hour long documentary that follows Ewan and Charley on their respective journeys to Malawi and Swaziland, two countries hard hit by HIV in Southern Africa, exploring how children are missing out on their childhoods because of HIV, as well as several additional scenes that weren’t originally aired, a nice photo gallery, and an interactive map of the 14,000 mile journey.