Joe Rogan Experience #1240 - Forrest Galante

1. 0:00 – 15:00

   (laughs) …

   1. FGForrest Galante0:00

      (laughs)

   2. JRJoe Rogan0:03

      All right, here we go. Five, four, three, two, one. Yes! How are you, man? What's going on?

   3. FGForrest Galante0:10

      Joe, I'm stoked, man. I'm really good. Really glad to be here.

   4. JRJoe Rogan0:13

      I'm stoked, too.

   5. FGForrest Galante0:14

      Yeah.

   6. JRJoe Rogan0:14

      Nice to meet you. Um...

   7. FGForrest Galante0:15

      You too.

   8. JRJoe Rogan0:15

      Dude, you were on Naked and Afraid.

   9. FGForrest Galante0:17

      (laughs) Sure was.

   10. JRJoe Rogan0:18

       How ridiculous is that?

   11. FGForrest Galante0:18

       Sure was. (laughs) Ah, dude, it's so, it's so ridiculous. Like, to say ridiculous is such an understatement.

   12. JRJoe Rogan0:24

       See, because they oftentimes will have, like, a, an actual survival expert or a wildlife expert, or someone who knows how to live in the woods.

   13. FGForrest Galante0:30

       Sure.

   14. JRJoe Rogan0:31

       And, uh, that was the idea with you, to get a wildlife expert?

   15. FGForrest Galante0:34

       Definitely. I mean, I'm, I'm kind of a combo. Like I, I've practiced primitive survival for many years in a means to get closer to wildlife. Like I just got back from the Amazon, and we had to feed ourselves every day. We had to build shelter, blah, blah, blah. And I don't do it, like, for fun. I do it as a means to be out further and stay longer, kind of thing.

   16. JRJoe Rogan0:52

       But it, it's gotta be a little bit of a conscious effort, right, like to, to have fun, like fishing for your food-

   17. FGForrest Galante0:58

       (laughs) For sure.

   18. JRJoe Rogan0:59

       ... and, you know, putting up shelter and stuff. I mean, it's gotta be, like, kinda cool to live like that for a little bit.

   19. FGForrest Galante1:04

       It's, uh, it's human nature.

   20. JRJoe Rogan1:05

       Yeah.

   21. FGForrest Galante1:05

       You know? Like we, we intrinsically wanna hunt things and fish things and build a shelter and survive. And so it's totally fun. I think it's like to your core, it's fun. You know what I mean? You just feel it, like you know that you're doing something that's like primal human nature.

   22. JRJoe Rogan1:18

       Yeah, the Amazon fishing clips that you have on your Instagram page, so it's, it's, it's crazy. Like you just throw a cast out there and you were catching a big fish, like instantly.

   23. FGForrest Galante1:26

       Bonkers. Like I fished a lot of places. I'm really into fishing and spear fishing, and every... Joe, I'm not kidding, every single cast was a fish. A peacock bass or a piranha every cast. And, and where we were in the Amazon, super remote, like not a lot of people go there. I'm sure those fish have never ever seen a lure, never seen a hook before.

   24. JRJoe Rogan1:43

       Wow.

   25. FGForrest Galante1:43

       And, uh, it wasn't like sportfishing. It was like, "Okay, let's go catch 10 fish. In other words, take 10 casts and we have enough food." And that was it, and it was amazing. (laughs)

   26. JRJoe Rogan1:52

       Does it make you think of what the ocean must have been like before people fucked it up?

   27. FGForrest Galante1:56

       Of course.

   28. JRJoe Rogan1:57

       (laughs)

   29. FGForrest Galante1:57

       I mean, of course. As a biologist, that's like all I can think about.

   30. JRJoe Rogan1:59

       'Cause I was in, uh, Hawaii recently, and we did some snorkeling. And when you're swimming around with the goggles on, looking down at the ocean, one of the things that's kind of shocking is how few fish there are.
2. 15:00 – 30:00

   Wow. …

   1. FGForrest Galante15:00

      our speedboat, and it was six hours by speedboat to a village that had a, had, or to a, to a hospital, really. And so he got there and his life was saved, but I asked, we asked the, the people in the village, "What w- were you going to do?" And they're like, "There's nothing we can do."

   2. JRJoe Rogan15:13

      Wow.

   3. FGForrest Galante15:13

      So he was just going to bleed out or go septic, and that was the end of it.

   4. JRJoe Rogan15:17

      Ooh, what a fucking rough way to go.

   5. FGForrest Galante15:19

      Right? (laughs)

   6. JRJoe Rogan15:20

      Oof. How did he get away from the crocodile?

   7. FGForrest Galante15:23

      Uh, I don't know. I think he was just hitting it or hammering on it. He was crab fishing in the water, and it came up and grabbed him, rolled a few times, and at some point he escaped. How he even got back in the boat and made it back to the village, I have no idea, because his leg was shattered, his arm was shattered.

   8. JRJoe Rogan15:37

      (sighs)

   9. FGForrest Galante15:37

      It was brutal. And it was a canoe, you know? It wasn't like he had a little motor or a wheel to drive. He canoed back.

   10. JRJoe Rogan15:42

       One of the most disturbing stories I ever read was, um, these guys were kayaking in an African river, and the guy in front of them got grabbed by a crocodile.

   11. FGForrest Galante15:50

       Mm-hmm.

   12. JRJoe Rogan15:51

       And that it went under and, like, it, like, plunged like a bobber as the crocodile pulled him out of the bottom of the kayak.

   13. FGForrest Galante15:59

       Yeah.

   14. JRJoe Rogan16:00

       I'm like, "Fuck."

   15. FGForrest Galante16:01

       It's awful.

   16. JRJoe Rogan16:02

       Imagine being the guy behind him and watching that shit.

   17. FGForrest Galante16:04

       Right, just watching, yeah, and knowing that you're pretty much helpless.

   18. JRJoe Rogan16:07

       Did you see any jaguars or anything?

   19. FGForrest Galante16:09

       Uh, I've never seen a jaguar. I've seen a lot of li- I'm from Africa, I don't know if you knew that, but... So I've seen a lot of lions growing up. My family did safaris. Um, and then I've seen, you know, mountain lions here in California, leopards, stuff like that. I've never seen a wild jaguar.

   20. JRJoe Rogan16:23

       Really?

   21. FGForrest Galante16:23

       Yeah.

   22. JRJoe Rogan16:23

       Even when you were in the Amazon?

   23. FGForrest Galante16:25

       I think they're really elusive.

   24. JRJoe Rogan16:26

       Hmm.

   25. FGForrest Galante16:26

       I know there's areas that are, are hotspots. All of the locals were very nervous and kind of knew about them. Like, you know, I went out for bushwalks at night and stuff, and I'd just go me and one guy with a camera, and, uh, they were like, "Oh, be careful." Like, "Peligroso," you know, very dangerous, don't do it. Um, but-

   26. JRJoe Rogan16:44

       Peligroso means very dangerous?

   27. FGForrest Galante16:45

       Peligroso, like-

   28. JRJoe Rogan16:46

       Peligroso.

   29. FGForrest Galante16:46

       ... danger, yeah.

   30. JRJoe Rogan16:47

       Oh, okay.
3. 30:00 – 45:00

   Yeah. Yeah, I did.…

   1. JRJoe Rogan30:00

      to do with looking for the Tasmanian tiger?

   2. FGForrest Galante30:02

      Yeah. Yeah, I did. Um-

   3. JRJoe Rogan30:04

      No. What do you think?

   4. FGForrest Galante30:05

      I think (sighs) of all the extinct animals that have gone extinct at the hand of man, given their, their range ... I don't know if you know this, but the Tasmanian tiger at one point ranged from Papua New Guinea all the way down to Tasmania. So not just the island of Tasmania, but thousands, tens of thousands of miles. I think given their range, the frequency of sightings, the amount of untouched habitat in Australia and Tasmania and Papua New Guinea, where they just found a new dog species, by the way.

   5. JRJoe Rogan30:31

      They did?

   6. FGForrest Galante30:31

      Yeah, the island dog in New Guinea, uh, maybe a year ago now. Incredible looking animal. Like-... absolutely. Could there be a very small remnant population of thylacine, Tasmanian tiger, hiding out in a isolated pocket of habitat? I, I totally think it's possible.

   7. JRJoe Rogan30:45

      And these sightings, are they coming from credible sources?

   8. FGForrest Galante30:48

      So, I did, I did one expedition. I've done two expeditions looking for thylacine and one of them, I was literally talking to the man who is the head park ranger for, like, the entire North Queensland. So he's a scientist by trade, a biologist by degree, and he says, "I saw four of them."

   9. JRJoe Rogan31:04

      Whoa.

   10. FGForrest Galante31:04

       You know, so this isn't like some crackpot drunk who's like, "Yeah, they're, they're here!" You know? This is a guy who is, like myself, a scientist, a biologist, and spends his life in the bush. He knows every animal in that area and he goes, "I saw four of them."

   11. JRJoe Rogan31:16

       Wow.

   12. FGForrest Galante31:16

       So, like, how do you not ... Like, I get goosebumps talking about it 'cause how do you not, like, take that as credible?

   13. JRJoe Rogan31:22

       No, that's about as credible as it gets. Whoa, look at that cool-looking dog.

   14. FGForrest Galante31:24

       There it is.

   15. JRJoe Rogan31:25

       What a freaky-looking ... The, the world's rarest and most ancient dogs have been rediscovered in the wild. So this New Guinea highland dog was thought to be extinct, is that the idea?

   16. FGForrest Galante31:33

       That's right, yep.

   17. JRJoe Rogan31:34

       Wow. So this thylacine, this area is, where, where they are, has there been a concerted effort to find these things?

   18. FGForrest Galante31:41

       Sort of. I mean, it's, it's one of those things where, like, I would say the thylacine is, like, the icon of animals coming back from extinction for Australia, right? It's kinda, like, everybody knows about it in Australia. They all care about it. But where these efforts are is, like, outside of Sydney or, you know what I mean? It's, it's close to home. So there hasn't been a lot of expeditions really deep in to look for them.

   19. JRJoe Rogan32:02

       Mm-hmm.

   20. FGForrest Galante32:02

       And that's what I did. So, there's so much belief that the animal is still out there that the, uh ... Shoot, it's the university in Cairns. I'm blanking on the name of it right now. The university itself put money towards funding to s- find it. So when you have a credible si- uh, institution, like a university going, "Here's money. Go and find this thing," you've gotta think, and I'm not a big conspiracy theorist, but you've gotta think they have some intel that says, "Look, we're not wasting our money to look for something that's not there. We've heard something, we've seen something, we caught something on a trail camera. Let's prove it." And so I actually teamed up with-

   21. JRJoe Rogan32:35

       They caught something on a trail camera?

   22. FGForrest Galante32:37

       Hard to say, but what they did do is fund this expedition. So myself and the university, who's still ongoing with the research, went and looked in this area in North Queensland where I went.

   23. JRJoe Rogan32:46

       And how far deep did you go in?

   24. FGForrest Galante32:48

       Uh, 1,200 miles.

   25. JRJoe Rogan32:50

       1,200 miles?

   26. FGForrest Galante32:52

       Yep. Took 14 hours driving and then hiking from there.

   27. JRJoe Rogan32:55

       Whoa.

   28. FGForrest Galante32:56

       Yeah, 14 hours on dirt roads.

   29. JRJoe Rogan32:57

       Because this is the area where they've been sighted the most numerous?

   30. FGForrest Galante33:00

       Uh, this is where that sighting that I was talking about came from-
4. 45:00 – 1:00:00

   Yeah. …

   1. FGForrest Galante45:00

      a primate at the top of the food chain eating a big cat-

   2. JRJoe Rogan45:03

      Yeah.

   3. FGForrest Galante45:03

      I mean, that's nuts.

   4. JRJoe Rogan45:04

      Yeah.

   5. FGForrest Galante45:04

      It's nuts. (laughs)

   6. JRJoe Rogan45:06

      Would you ever think of going there and trying to find those things?

   7. FGForrest Galante45:08

      Fuck yeah.

   8. JRJoe Rogan45:09

      They're deep in there.

   9. FGForrest Galante45:10

      Great. (laughs)

   10. JRJoe Rogan45:11

       Yeah.

   11. FGForrest Galante45:12

       Um-

   12. JRJoe Rogan45:12

       I think they're in a place called Bili. Bili in the Congo, that's where they think they are. They've isolated a population of them there.

   13. FGForrest Galante45:18

       Really?

   14. JRJoe Rogan45:18

       Yeah.

   15. FGForrest Galante45:18

       My mom just got back from the Congo and she still does, like, her own adventure stuff, and she was saying it's just like... She's been all over as well. She's like, "It's mind-blowing." Like, there's so much remoteness and unstudied area that there could be all kinds of things.

   16. JRJoe Rogan45:30

       Goddamn, man. Now, what, what kind of medication do you have to take if you're gonna go there? Because you have to take some anti-malarial stuff, right?

   17. FGForrest Galante45:36

       Dude, I'm a pin cushion. Like... (laughs)

   18. JRJoe Rogan45:39

       (laughs)

   19. FGForrest Galante45:39

       I've had so many shots and pills and, you know, like preventative, obviously. I actually don't do malaria medication, I just cover up.

   20. JRJoe Rogan45:48

       Really?

   21. FGForrest Galante45:48

       Um, because it messes with your brain. I don't know if you know that. Like, I- they say the modern ones aren't bad, but the Malarone, like, you have hallucinations at night, you have crazy sweats, like, especially if you're in hot sun. So, I- I would rather be more focused, especially if I'm working with reptiles or stuff like that, that can, you know, envenomate me. So, I try, try to stay away from it and just cover up.

   22. JRJoe Rogan46:09

       Wow. Is there a specific type of clothing that's like anti-mosquito repellent clothing or anything like that?

   23. FGForrest Galante46:16

       I just do long sleeves and some bug spray.

   24. JRJoe Rogan46:17

       And do you do a mask as well?

   25. FGForrest Galante46:19

       No.

   26. JRJoe Rogan46:19

       No?

   27. FGForrest Galante46:20

       That's silliness.

   28. JRJoe Rogan46:20

       Really?

   29. FGForrest Galante46:21

       (laughs) It looks silly.

   30. JRJoe Rogan46:22

       It does look silly.
5. 1:00:00 – 1:05:39

   Oh, for sure. …

   1. JRJoe Rogan1:00:00

      where you're like-

   2. FGForrest Galante1:00:00

      Oh, for sure.

   3. JRJoe Rogan1:00:01

      Like what?

   4. FGForrest Galante1:00:02

      Oh, man. Loads. I mean, like talking about the thylacine, for instance.

   5. JRJoe Rogan1:00:06

      Mm-hmm.

   6. FGForrest Galante1:00:07

      There was a guy that we met there who's like, "Yeah, yeah, there's thylacine everywhere. They run around with the black cats." And we're like, "What?" He's like, "Yeah, there's black panthers too. They, like, hang out together." And I'm like-

   7. JRJoe Rogan1:00:16

      Black panthers in Australia?

   8. FGForrest Galante1:00:17

      Exactly. That's ... I made the same face you did, so I'm like-

   9. JRJoe Rogan1:00:19

      (laughs)

   10. FGForrest Galante1:00:19

       ... "Okay, tell me more." And he's like, "Yeah, you know, they like to hang out over there, they're behind the trash heap, they jump around with black panthers."

   11. JRJoe Rogan1:00:26

       Oh, they're just fucking with you.

   12. FGForrest Galante1:00:26

       And I'm like, I ... Well, that's the thing, I'm like, you're, you're just ... You're either crazy or you're completely fucking with me, and I'm not sure which one it is because your eyes are telling me crazy.

   13. JRJoe Rogan1:00:35

       Right. (laughs)

   14. FGForrest Galante1:00:36

       (laughs)

   15. JRJoe Rogan1:00:36

       Yeah. Well, I mean, how many different pockets in the world are there, like that basin that you said you had to get helicoptered into?

   16. FGForrest Galante1:00:43

       There's a few.

   17. JRJoe Rogan1:00:44

       Yeah?

   18. FGForrest Galante1:00:44

       There's a few. Yeah, you'd be surprised 'cause, you know, we're here, we're in a city, we're so used to our modern conveniences, but there are totally untouched pieces of the world still.

   19. JRJoe Rogan1:00:53

       Well, uh, do you know David Choe, the artist?

   20. FGForrest Galante1:00:55

       I don't.

   21. JRJoe Rogan1:00:56

       He, um, he went to the Congo, I think it was the Congo, to look for a dinosaur.

   22. FGForrest Galante1:01:00

       No way.

   23. JRJoe Rogan1:01:01

       It was a really early VICE piece-

   24. FGForrest Galante1:01:04

       Huh.

   25. JRJoe Rogan1:01:04

       ... back when VICE was first starting out and D- David is one of the more eccentric people that I know. He's a multimillionaire, made a shitload of money gambling.

   26. FGForrest Galante1:01:13

       Huh.

   27. JRJoe Rogan1:01:13

       And also he made a shitload of money because he ... Was it Facebook? Painted ... Yeah, he painted Facebook.

   28. FGForrest Galante1:01:20

       What does that mean?

   29. JRJoe Rogan1:01:20

       He painted-

   30. FGForrest Galante1:01:20

       Like the wall?

Episode duration: 2:09:57