History Channel's "Expedition Africa" is "Survivor" without the reward challenges or "the tribe has spoken" evictions. But there's plenty of interpersonal drama in this lightly narrated docu-series about four explorers retracing the paths of 19th-century adventurer Dr. David Livingstone and American journalist Henry Morton Stanley.

"Survivor" executive producer Mark Burnett makes many of the same stylistic choices in "Expedition Africa" (10 p.m. Sunday), from music to lush visuals to editing. "Africa" emphasizes all the most entertaining aspects of "Survivor" -- human survival in extreme conditions, backbiting and the tussle for leadership -- while forsaking the goofy games that often feel like filler on CBS's reality franchise.

The background of the Livingstone expedition, which began in Zanzibar, and Stanley's attempts to later find Livingstone layer in at least the guise of "history."

Burnett recruited four explorers for the adventure -- navigator Pasquale, wildlife expert Mireya, survivalist Benedict and journalist Kevin -- each a strong personality.

"I'm someone who's come back from the dead half a dozen times," declares Benedict. "On my very first mission, I even had to eat my dog to survive."

Personalities inevitably clash, particularly between Pasquale and everyone else.

"You can't just blunder your way through Africa and think you're going to be OK," Mireya complains of Pasquale's leadership as they traipse through terrain that varies from knee-deep mud to desert.

Beautifully shot -- a stinging cobra's venom spatters the camera lens in Sunday's premiere -- "Expedition Africa" offers engrossing storytelling under an unforgiving African sun.