38x04 - Okavango: River of Dreams: Paradise

[bunniefuu]

♪

♪

There is a place in Africa

where everything lives in
a perpetual state of tension.

♪

♪

There is a pride of lions here,

and they know they have pushed
in to the swamp too far today.

It's a place of color,

of immense beauty,

of abundance.

♪

♪

The lions are on a quest through
this heritage to the world...

A precious jewel in our hands...

♪

The water here connects
everything...

It is freedom for some,
it imprisons others.

It is the center,
the giver of life,

the cause of ancient feuds.

♪

As we travel through its veins,
we will understand

it is one of the greatest rivers
on the planet,

and everyone wants something
from it.

♪

♪ Everybody's
looking for something ♪

♪ Some of them want to use you ♪

♪ Some of them want
to get used by you ♪

♪ Some of them want
to abuse you ♪

♪ Some of them want
to be abused ♪

♪

♪

♪

The first chapter
of our story begins right here,

in Southern Africa.

As the water flows strongly
into Botswana,

it forms the pan-handle shaped
Upper Okavango, the deep water.

It is pristine, wild,
and remote.

It is one of the three
distinct faces of the river.

This is paradise.

♪

A lioness leads her pride

into one of the most dangerous
hunts a lion can take on...

Buffalo.

♪

At least one of them
has no future...

♪

♪

♪

♪

But it's often the one
you would least expect.

♪

No one would have predicted that
her day would end so badly.

♪

The lioness' pride
waits for days,

but then finally moves off,

leaving her for dead.

♪

Her shoulder is injured,
her ankle shattered,

but her story is far from over.

Hers is just one of
the intricate stories

in this complex wonder
of the world.

♪

One major character
is the river itself.

Its own back story
starts months earlier.

Rains at the source
500 miles upstream

start a massive push of some
3 trillion gallons of water

each year.

It takes a single raindrop
six months to travel

the full course of the Okavango,

each drop adding
to the epic story of this river.

And so begins a journey
that is legendary,

passing through secret
underwater windows.

It goes down the labyrinths
of monsters.

♪

It takes us over the bones
of those that did not survive

the last flood,
capturing their nutrients,

passing them downstream
to those that can use them,

and on to one of the greatest
wonders of Africa.

♪

♪

There are always consequences.

Every action has a reaction.

Like a Stradivarius violin,
plucked at one end,

it shivers on the other.

♪

The injured lioness is slowly
recovering her strength.

It's been weeks.

A lot has changed
since the buffalo attack.

♪

It's as if she's woken in
a completely different world.

♪

The flood has come in,
cutting her off from her pride.

That will make
her life difficult.

♪

♪

She's finally gained enough
strength to start hunting

in the overspill from the river.

But she's a lone huntress
with a handicap.

Her dislocated shoulder
has been eased back,

but her shattered ankle
is still healing.

♪

But she's got another reason
for staying alive.

♪

♪

♪

Somehow she's managed
to keep them alive

and secured them
on the edge of the river

where almost no one goes.

There is a name in Botswana...
Fekeetsa...

It means overcoming
a handicap, a challenge.

Fekeetsa, as we will call her,
is a caring mother.

There is an unusual bird
in the swamp,

one that, unlike Fekeetsa,

leaves her young
the minute they hatch.

They live in among
the small nymph-like flowers.

Each dawn, skirts made
from soft petals open

as the nymphaea water lilies
awaken.

Their leaves, flat buoyant pads,

set the stage
for a pair of gangly chicks.

Day-old African Jacanas already
know where the food is...

and they get there
on oversized feet

they'll have to grow into
one day.

♪

They're not ideally adapted
for running

or flying, but getting around
on floating lilies,

that is their specialty.

♪

It helps that they weigh
just a few ounces.

♪

The twins have no perception of
the danger beneath the lilies.

♪

♪

Without a mother, two tiny
fluff ba*ls with long toes

wandering around
on a thin platform of lilies

won't last very long out here.

♪

♪

But Jacana mothers always
abandon their chicks

as they hatch,

and leave them entirely
in the care of the males.

The father has his own
floatation issues to deal with,

but he keeps up with them,

watching for anything suspicious
in the water.

And there it is...

♪

♪

With a coded chirp,
he calls his chicks to him.

It's not just to hide them
from the crocodile.

He has to move them to safety.

And the best way for him
to do that

is to tuck one under each wing
and walk them out of danger.

♪

♪

Keeping the kids quiet in a dark
place is always a challenge.

Those that survive here
are the ones that are most aware

of the sinister
hiding in the beauty.

Sometimes the threat comes
from a different direction.

In an instant, the Jacana
family's floating home

can be destroyed by a giant,

himself only looking to stuff in
as much high protein

from lilies
as he can possibly manage.

So, it's off on
a dislodged island

to the next location for them...

A vagabond's life.

♪

But if there is one single
"designer" of paradise here,

it is these giants,
as they glide through the vast

reed beds
that surround the river.

Their dominance
of this entire system

is established
with each step they take.

They smash open paths,

and eat their way
through the soft vegetation,

carving channels
that the water flow follows.

Their constant movement leaves
behind them bigger

and bigger highways
in the reeds,

creating a mosaic of paths
right across the Okavango.

It's landscape architecture
on a grand scale.

♪

Elephants are the real
gardeners of Eden.

♪

♪

They come for what the river
provides for them...

Food and water...

But they change
the river itself, the direction,

the speed of the flow.

♪

It's the perfect partnership,

because the river
thrives on change,

and elephants provide that.

But it's not just the river
they disrupt.

Their feeding dislodges
clumps of reeds and papyrus

to float off downstream.

As the debris drifts off,
it carries local residents

like Black Crakes
on a new journey.

Crakes don't fly well,

so the whole family
relocates in the hope

that the island
will get stuck in the stream

and they can leap
to the mainland.

♪

Elephants drift nonchalantly
from island to island.

Their sudden and silent arrival
surprises some young lions.

Dry ground comes at a premium
in the swampland,

so the lions
give it up reluctantly.

But there is no doubt at all

who the real masters
of the swamp are.

♪

♪

As the elephants charge
through the water,

they add yet another benefit.

The reed beds filter
out minerals in the water.

Wading elephants
churn it all up,

and that releases nutrients
again.

This "freshwater plankton"
connects the entire

underwater food web.

That is good for everyone...

even the monsters of the deep.

♪

♪

And then, the water
starts to vibrate.

Another major force
is on its way now.

Catfish, called barbel here,
arrive in their millions,

at the head of the flood,

feeding on anything
and everything in their path.

♪

♪

It's a madness of fish...

and it disturbs everything.

♪

♪

The barbel run
is like a tsunami,

as they come alive
from hidden channels

and out of isolated pools,
unlocked by the flood.

They chase smaller fish
into the hidden corners...

And when those are full,

out into the air.

Herons, egrets, and storks
have followed

the bubbling waters,
waiting for just this moment.

The catfish are both hunters
and hunted.

From elephants to barbel to the
oldest predator on the planet,

the nutrients are handed
on again and again.

And as quickly as the wall
of barbel arrived,

it passes on downstream

as if riding
a gentle wave of rising water.

♪

Stragglers test
everything they can...

A little late for the main
feeding frenzy,

and with no concept of
where not to poke their noses.

♪

♪

Barbel
are resilient opportunists

and one of the most
prolific fish in the delta.

Wherever they go, they leave
disturbed water

that others take advantage of.

♪

Tiger fish follow on, attacking
those weakened by the chaos.

To drop your guard
in these waters...

is a mistake.

♪

♪

♪

Mid-flood is the best time
for fish eagles to nest.

♪

All the way down
the flooded Okavango,

the river energizes
and feeds life as the deep water

pan-handle winds its way
through a sea of reeds

and papyrus.

In this upper part of the river,

only very specialized
adaptors can survive.

One fits in perfectly
to the deep reed bed habitat.

♪

This is one of the last refuges

of the very rare
Sitatunga antelope.

Shaggy coats fleck off the damp.

Long hooves, much like the feet
of the Jacana birds,

support them as they wade
in mud or over reeds.

But they are not alone.

When it's high flood,
the water is icy cold.

It keeps everyone on their toes.

They don't love it...
For some reason,

baboons don't like
getting their fingers wet.

♪

But the baboons are heading
for the island forests

because the fruit is on
the islands, not in the swamp.

♪

♪

They're edgy in the open,
making mistakes.

That doesn't go unnoticed.

♪

Getting left behind
is always unnerving.

♪

♪

Today, it was the crocodile
who was distracted.

♪

Things are seldom predictable in
this complex and magical world.

♪

In the chilly mornings,
air turns to moisture.

Droplets hang in the air
waiting for the sun,

or rise as if the very land
was alive, exhaling warm breath.

♪

♪

A blanket of fog hides Fekeetsa
and her cubs.

But when she looks around,
it's at a shrinking territory,

as the land disappears
under the water.

Her cubs are growing up
on the island

she's on, building
their confidence.

But she'll have to move them
at some point.

It will be months before
the flood starts to drop.

♪

The water may look
like a lifeline,

but it isolates islands.

Prey can be sparse, leaving
a sterile hunting ground.

♪

Swimming across this fast
flowing water

would be foolhardy.

So, Fekeetsa adapts to hunting
the fringes

of the flooded river.

Being in the water takes
the weight off her broken ankle.

It eases her pain.

The surge of water has pushed
lechwe antelope her way.

But she's just not good
at running anymore.

With her injury, she'll have
to develop different skills.

So, she starts to hunt
from the water.

They won't expect a lion
to come at them from there.

Today, she's got even
bigger problems.

The herds of lechwe have
attracted a new pride of lions.

They're not as used to the water
as she is.

But these scared cats are still
a major threat to her

and might even k*ll her cubs.

♪

She'll lie low.

The river is difficult
to contend with...

Its volume,

its unreliability,

its strength,

its surprises.

♪

It puts everything
under pressure.

♪

♪

Run in on a tense,
vulnerable lion

and risk an eruption
of retaliation

from this well-designed k*ller
out of its comfort zone.

♪

These new lions have a male
with them,

even more reason for Fekeetsa
to stay hidden.

But it's for the riches out here

that these lions have risked
the dangerous crossings.

♪

♪

♪

♪

The big lioness is successful.

But she's not comfortable
in the water.

She's not a swamp cat.

But the threat to her k*ll

doesn't come from in the water.

♪

Their own male claims

the rewards
of her spectacular efforts.

The pride came a long way
for this.

But perhaps they will just keep
moving on,

and leave Fekeetsa in peace.

The water continues to flow
strongly all the way down

the pan handle
for nearly six months.

Just downstream from her island,

the river passes fields
of water-bird rookeries.

They nest high for safety.

But fish eagles hunt into
the high trees as well,

so there is always
a chaotic tension

around these nesting sites.

These congregations of hatching
chicks give back to the river

as well, as droppings
and shells are discarded.

A freshwater crab feeds on
the sudden gift of calcium...

and steals away
before he can be raided, too.

The steady supply of tidbits
from above makes it worthwhile

for smaller fish
to start nesting.

They'll be successful
if they can stay out

of the jaws of the tiger fish.

Life under the rookeries
is rich and varied

because of the constant feed
from above.

No one is ever totally safe
or secure,

perched up high over
circling crocodiles.

Today, they dropped their food.

Tomorrow it may be a chick
from a nest.

Everything seems to be in
a constant state of interaction,

often in the strangest of ways.

And it's all centered
around the Okavango itself.

It is the single thread that
connects all these characters,

and all life here.

So, a place in the river's
tender embrace

is worth fighting for.

The river's constant change

throws territories
up in the air.

Bull hippos find new pools
in the flood,

only to find that someone else
has had exactly the same idea.

Mostly, these fights
are about noise and display...

Making a spectacular splash,
staking that claim.

♪

♪

Here, some victories are hollow,

because these
highly contested pools

will ultimately ghost
away anyway.

At night,
a whole new world exists.

♪

♪

The diamonds at the feet
of giants

are an outbreak
of scavenger beetles.

They've been revived from months
in hibernation in the mud,

and triggered by the flood
and the moon,

released into a mating frenzy,

to find that ideal mate
in a crowded pond

while they still have time.

♪

♪

As Fekeetsa's cubs grow, she has
to find more substantial food.

♪

The rising water pushes insects
into the air...

A profusion of living confetti.

♪

♪

It is, for just a moment,
a vision of Eden...

A place where the large tolerate
the small,

where food is plentiful...

where at
the height of the flood,

there is abundance.

It feeds residents and attracts
travelers from afar.

♪

One very special family is awake

and getting ready
for the day ahead.

She has come here to breed.

African Skimmers select
the exposed sand banks

along the Okavango
as safe havens.

Despite the odd clumsy take off,

these are some of the most
elegant birds on the wing here,

and when they take to the air
to start fishing,

it is with aerial precision.

They skim the mirrored surface
with long lower beaks.

It is high-risk fishing.

They blindly feel for fish

with their extended
bottom beaks,

and if they detect one,
they grab it.

If it's too big,
they can snap a neck.

One-day-old chicks
don't yet have the discipline

to stay where they've been left.

But there are now fewer than
20,000 African Skimmers

on the planet,
so the stakes are high.

Each chick that returns
to the warmth of protection

is important
to the entire species.

♪

♪

Everyone that tunneled
his way to safety

is worth his voice in gold.

♪

♪

As the water glides across
Northern Botswana

towards the middle of the delta,
it starts to slow and widen.

♪

Fekeetsa,

easing her leg, as she
wades through the swamp again.

It's her special technique.

♪

♪

She tests the breeze
on her face.

♪

One of the disadvantages

of living on a small island
in the Okavango

is that the prey starts
to recognize your handicaps.

The local lechwe herd
knows her well.

Their numbers embolden them
to follow her closely.

The familiarity may be
their downfall.

♪

Fekeetsa isn't thinking of them.

She is observing,
calculating, mapping.

She systematically checks
each tiny island in the swamp.

♪

She's meticulous.

♪

It's a process that takes hours
through the heat of the day,

and over an exhausting 8 miles.

♪

♪

And this is what she is after.

It's the season
of lechwe births.

Each cluster of sedges,
every bushy outcrop

is now a larder
of the vulnerable.

♪

♪

♪

Fekeetsa has finally managed
to work this flood

and turn it to an advantage.

♪

♪

This calculated hunting
through the swamp

is more typical of a leopard,
a solitary cat.

But she forges through the pain,

a lioness determined
to bring home the food

she and her cubs
so desperately need.

And she does it all alone.

♪

It takes her hours to drag
the k*ll back to the cubs

stowed safely
in the fringe of the Okavango...

A story of overcoming
challenges.

♪

The river cuts through
Fekeetsa's reed hideaway

for months,

force feeding the delta
with nutrients,

triggering cycles of breeding,
creating life.

But soon,
it also brings conflict.

Necessary conflict in the case
of the fish eagles.

Their breeding cycle
has been perfectly timed.

As the juveniles emerge,

the water is spreading
into the flat shallows.

Here, barbel are easy hunting
for the young birds.

But growing up at home
will simply crowd the territory,

and the adults chase them off.

Their success is in having
fledged a new clutch

into the Okavango
to make their own stories.

♪

As its passengers float gently
downstream,

the river starts to change.

♪

At some point, the fast-flowing
river changes its entire nature.

As it turns the final
bend on the pan handle,

it suddenly slows down, because
it spreads out into the flats.

♪

It presents a new,
different face of the river.

It morphs into a slow-drifting
realm on top of a bed of sand,

the same Kalahari Desert sand
that extends beyond the reaches

of the Okavango
far to the south-east.

The sudden change in water speed
deposits

the collected nutrients
that now feed everything.

Migrants in scarlet are nesting.

Carmine bee-eaters are thought
to be harbingers of change.

Certainly, their arrival
seems to be perfectly timed.

When the skies are ripped open,

the colony senses
what this might bring.

♪

The Carmines follow the smoke
to the most intense forced flush

of insects they could hope for.

♪

It's a dance with death,
where a sudden gust

could capture a bee-eater
and throw it into the flames.

♪

The young fish eagles are given
a final nudge to fly free...

♪

♪

Reeds packed with oils explode
all around them.

The fire plays a role together
with the river,

as flames split seeds open,

and those seeds fall down
into the swamp to soften,

to tumble downstream and grow.

♪

The deep water between the fire
and Fekeetsa will keep her safe.

But danger may come
in a different guise.

Two new males strut
into her territory in the swamp,

following the smell
of opportunity

that is their birthright
to fight for.

♪

♪

They might be her downfall,

but they may also be
her salvation.

If they accept her cubs,

the new males could help her
form a pride again.

But she's not taking
any chances,

and the river doesn't care,
one way or another.

For now, the lone mother
may have a handicap,

but it is not in reading
the lay of the land

when it is right
in front of her.

♪

♪

♪

Fekeetsa, the survivor,
is risen from the ashes.

But while the fires run
their course above the ground,

they are now driven down into
the root systems of the reeds

and papyrus to burn underground
for years, even decades.

From here, the river moves on
under this smokey blanket,

traveling as it has
for 60,000 years

towards the fan-shaped delta,
where it spreads out,

introducing us
to even more characters

who will use the river,

be used by it, succumb to it,
or thrive on it.

♪

This is its second life,
the "middle world"...

A completely new face
of the Okavango,

this river of dreams.

♪ Everybody's
looking for something ♪

♪ Some of them want to use you ♪

♪ Some of them want
to get used by you ♪

♪ Some of them want
to abuse you ♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪