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In this series we choose 13 dramatically different rivers, each with its own unique characteristics, from the powerful Zambezi to the dry Hoanib River – a river that flows for only a few days a year. Each river flows through a different part of Africa, bringing life to dry deserts, flooding great plains and supplying constant water to tropical forests and bushveld. Some of the wildlife surrounding each of the chosen rivers is endemic, each species part of a unique ecosystem. The rivers have a formative influence on the lives of animals and plants that live along its banks and in its waters. Uniquely for television, we show detailed underwater sequences of creatures that live and hunt in the rivers of Africa. We follow the hunting techniques of the tiger fish, the protective instincts of mouth-brooding tilapia, the migratory instincts of barbel to reach spawning grounds, the eating habits of scavenging eels, and the hunting strategies of the fishing spider. Along the water’s edge, we show the nest-making rituals of migrant birds, the fishing methods of shoebills, herons and cormorants and the life cycles of frogs. And when the waters dry up we will show how terrapins, fish and mammals manage to survive in the harshness of their arid habitat.

13 episodes

Series Premiere

1x01

Series Premiere

1x01

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In the desert wilderness of Namibia, on southern Africa’s western coast, an unusual river lies hidden beneath the scorching sand for most of the year. It is an ephemeral river – a river that flows above ground for only a few days a year. The water that feeds the Hoanib River collects in the mountains of north-western Namibia. Its course cuts through the desert, travelling mainly underground all the way to the Atlantic Ocean where its waters fan out into a lagoon. Only when exceptional rains fall over the mountains does the water in the lagoon rise enough to break through to the sea.

The animals that live here have learned to adapt to the harshness of the desert, where both food and water is scarce. But, although the river flows underground, it provides enough moisture close to the surface to support a thin oasis of trees and bushes.

When the rains fall over the mountains the gush of water replenishes the Hoanib. The abundance of water flowing over the desert is short-lived, in just a few days it all seeps into the ground and the plants and animals of the desert have to rely once more on their skills to survive in one of the harshest environments on Earth.

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Africa’s landscape is sculpted by some formidable rivers and the Zambezi is one of the continent’s mightiest. It is a river to which man has attributed a spirit of its own. Its course is marked by the Victoria Falls – one of the natural wonders of the world – as well as two dams, of which Kariba is as large as the country of Wales.

But the heart of this formidable river lies in the Zambezi Valley, a wild area protected from civilization by tsetse fly infestation and the creation of two national parks that stretch into two countries. Through rain and drought, from summer to winter, the animals of the Zambezi Valley find refuge along this section of the river as well as a guaranteed source of food and water. But these waters harbor dangers too. Crocodiles are always on the alert for prey and beneath the surface tigerfish, like the crocodiles, are accomplished hunters.

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