Man snuck onto Snake Island where no human is allowed to visit
A YouTuber once visited one of the world's most lethal islands, Ilha da Queimada Grande, and lived to tell the tale.
Known as 'Snake Island', this stretch of fork-tongued rock sits off the coast of Brazil's São Paulo and is considered too dangerous for humans to set foot on.
Around 106 acres in size, it's home to an estimated 4,000 snakes, including the extremely venomous golden lancehead (belonging to the pit viper family).
In extreme cases, its toxic bite is capable of killing a person within an hour, so you really don't stand much of a chance out there in the remoteness if one managed to sink its fangs into you.
Advert
Like an even more deranged Steve Irwin, 'danger tourist' Lord Miles - real name Miles Routledge - recorded his trip to this forbidden land especially for his YouTube audience to enjoy.
Due to the island's number of highly venomous snakes, it's no surprise that visiting Snake Island is out of bounds - with exceptions in place for researchers and scientists, who have to be accompanied by a doctor during their time there.
Naturally, Lord Miles thought this perilous adventure would make deliciously fine content for his subscribers.
Getting to the island was no easy feat, though, as the YouTuber and his team needed to sneakily evade the Brazilian coast guard.
Once they made landfall, Lord Miles wasted no time in embarking on a jungle route up to an abandoned lighthouse, which he called one of the 'most dangerous' on the island.
Thankfully, Miles decided to bring some protective gear - medieval-inspired armour, as it happens - before saying a prayer and setting off to meet his fate.
"This isn't clickbait, I'm on one of the most dangerous islands in the world," he told the camera. "Many have been to this island and very few have gotten out, unfortunately."
The journey to the lighthouse, where locals allege that the occupants inside died from reptilian bites, saw Miles trudging through overgrown grass.
Regardless of the island's killer reputation, Miles encountered very few snakes along the way. In fact, it seemed like he was more at risk of suffering from dehydration rather than some sort of bite.
"I've got to level with you guys," he said. "A lot of the time, documentaries make things seem scary and obviously this place can be a little bit terrifying. It's not that bad, for the second most dangerous island in the world."
After a few technical issues, at one point thinking he was 'screwed', Miles was able to make it back to the boat and off the island in one piece.
He signed off the video, saying: "I guess I survived Snake Island, guys.
"I would like to thank the snakes for not seeing me, the Brazilian coast guard for having slow boats and all my Patreon followers."
Miles isn't the only person to document their time on Snake Island, with journalist Tara Brown making a trip there for a 60 Minutes report back in 2019. However, she was accompanied by experts and an entire medical team.
Opening up about her experience, the reporter said: "When we're speaking to local fishermen, they told us, 'That's not a good idea, you don't want to go there'. There are legends about a whole family being killed there, and of pirates burying treasure on the island and the snakes being put there to protect the treasure.
"The fishermen said they never went there, or they would die."
Australian molecular biologist Bryan Fry also warned her that being bitten by these snakes would be 'a particularly painful death', and that she would likely 'die screaming'.
Thankfully, like Miles, Brown was able to escape unscathed.
But, of course, don't take that as an invitation to visit it yourself, silly.
Dan Seddon