BBC David Attenborough Africa Episode descriptions and news on Obama interview

If you are looking for David Attenborough Africa DVD's and episode descriptions then you have come to the right place.

Sir David Attenboroughs' Africa DVD, Eye to Eye with the unknown, takes us on a journey through one of the most beautiful, harsh and surprising landscapes in our natural World.

Sir David has visited Africa many times during his career and now at the age of 86 he has once again revisited this continent to bring us lucky viewers never seen footage of some of the continents rarest and most popular wildlife and habitats.

As always you are in for an extra special treat. His documentaries just get better and better with his life long experience and the best camera team and experts in the world from the BBC.

Tragic and sad, beautiful, stunning and uplifting, exploring from the Atlas Mountains to the largest underground lake on earth.

The photography is so amazing that every clip could used as a still.

Sit back and let the Africa DVD remind you of what a beautiful planet we live in.

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David Attenborough Africa DVD UK See below for US links

The only place on Earth to see the full majesty of nature

Lots of Amazing Facts about Africa you probably didn't know are revealed

In the North see a Desert the size of the United States of America

In the West see a Rain Forest the size of India

Visit the Most fertile Savannas in the World

See the untold stories on DVD or Blu-Ray in HD

Kalahari

The first episode explores the South West corner called the Kalahari.

A land reaching below freezing temperatures where thirsty land has dried up rivers long ago.

Some highlights

The trickster Drongo Bird

Watch the Drongo Bird trick a group of Meerkats.

The land in the winter months is to cold for the bird to dig up insects, but not for the Meerkats. An eagle hovers above. The bird gives out a warning call, warning the Meerkats who swiftly run off to their borrows to take cover. The Drongo Bird has gained their trust.

This time, it gives out a fake warning, the Meerkats again run to hide, leaving their unearthed insects behind for the bird to enjoy.

A third warning call but this time the Meerkats aren't falling for it. But wait what's that noise? The Meerkats own warning call, surely they must believe this, and away they scurry again. Again the bird eats, it has learned to mimic the warning call of the Meerkat.

The relationship isn't completely one sided though. The Drongo bird will only use this technique during the cold winter months. At other times of the year it will hunt for itself and give out real eagle warnings.

Rhinos under the stars

Filmed for the first time, nobody until now realized Rhinos were capable of such sociable behavior and able to build friendships. The Rhinos at night reveal another side of their personalities, gentle and affectionate with one another and even flirtatious.

Dragons Breath Cave

Only discovered 25 years ago this is the largest underground lake in the world. It has unknown depths, extends for 1000's of miles and provides life for the rarest, most isolated fish in the world.

A cruel irony that this huge fresh water supply is underneath one of the driest areas on the planet.

Namib Desert and Giraffes

More than a million square miles of sand, Namib is the oldest desert in the world. Trees roots go down 30 meters in search of water. These small groups of trees provide food for the Giraffes.

An old Giraffe and his mate live in one such area. A young strong Giraffe wants their spot and the female. A fight is imminent. The losing Giraffe will be banished to the desert or they will fight to the death.

But who will win the battle in this harsh land?

One of the most fertile landscapes on Earth

East Africa sits on the Earths crusts twisting and changing the landscape.

The Nyarigongo Volcano is the largest lava lake in the world, bubbling lava from 10 miles below up to the surface.

The land to the east of here is being torn apart, with volcano's like this changing the face of the east.

Fertile ash from the many eruptions create and support grasslands. Animals live in numbers nowhere else to be seen.

Mountains that tower 3 miles into the sky hold the home to the largest glacier, the legendary 'Mountains of the Moon' are so high they create their own weather. Separating the jungle in the west from the grasses of the east.

Jungle and forests once widespread across this land, now due to changing weather, only survive in small pockets on the high mountains.

Wetlands come and go with the seasons.

During the dry season fires rage, moving at 50 miles per hour and burning up to 1000 degrees centigrade. Every year an area larger than Briton goes up in smoke

Arfica dvd David Attenborough

Many of you have been asking what type of bird is in the trailer.

Standing at over one meter tall it is called a Shoebill.

Savannah in the East

The huge grasslands bring animals in numbers nowhere else seen. One million Wildebeest travel through these lands.

Highlights

The Agama Lizard

This lizard isn't the best fly catcher in the world, but it's daring and adaptable. See the Agama Lizard wait for the one million Wildebeest to pass through. With these come billions of flies. Only one thing attracts more flies than a Wildebeest, and that is a lion that has just eaten Wildebeest.

See the Lizard creep up on a pack of sleeping lions, risking its life by catching flies of the back of nearly sleeping lions. Comical and genius.

Mountain Gorillas

The largest living primates on Earth, the Mountain Gorillas are now marooned in small pockets of jungle in the high mountains, their old habitat now changed to swamp and Savannah.

The Shoebill Bird

Standing at more than a meter tall this prehistoric looking bird has a very dark side. See the grim story off two baby Shoebills fighting for survival, and the harsh lengths they and there parents will go to, to accomplish this.

Elephants of the Kilamanjaro

The wet season hasn't been for two years. Where there would normally be grasslands a group of Elephants are forced to walk for months in search of food and water.

A calf can't keep up with the group, not even having time to suckle. The group move on. The mother won't leave her babies side. The sad reality of life in the Kilamanjaro

The Congo Rainforest

3 million square miles of dense tropical rainforest

The Congo contains the greatest concentration of wildlife than anywhere else in Africa.

There are more than 1000 different species of tree.

The Congo is the lungs of Africa, each hectare of rainforest creates 190,000 liters of water per year and it's own violent weather system.

Up to 100 million lightning bolts strike the land every year. That's more than anywhere else in the world.

95% of the rain in Africa is created by the rainforest itself.

The Congo Rainforest on BBC Africa

Episode 3 sees the Congo in the center of Africa stretching to the Atlantic on the West Coast.

Some Highlights

Stingless Bees

Plants ration their nectar to make individual Stingless Bees have to visit 1000 flowers each day to harvest their honey, which is hidden under the bark high in a tree.

A honey loving Chimp

Risks it's life using various sticks as tools to reach the honey. A young chimp mimics him from the ground.

A 5 meter 100 kilo Giant Python

Basks in the sun raising her body temperature to a potentially lethal 40 degrees centigrade. She disappears below ground to incubate her giant eggs. It is critical that the Python eggs stay above 30 degrees.

She has done this for 3 months risking her life every day. It will take her 3 years to recover.

The Giant Python eggs are now ready to hatch.

Red River Hogs

Travel more than 2 miles to find the fruit dropping from a group of eating chimps.

Rare Fungi

Use luminous enzymes to digest dead vegetation at night. The locals call the light 'Chimpanzee Fire'.

The Legendary Village of the Elephants

Elephants have made a crisscross of pathways that run for 1000's of miles through the Congo. They have cleared trees creating a huge area where the Elephants can socialize and mine for salts that they crave below the water beds.

This is also a great mating ground for them.

The Southern tip of Africa where the Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean meet

Sir David Attenborough Explores Southern Africa.

Here at the Southern tip two great seas meet, the warm Indian ocean and the chilly Atlantic.

The locations you will see are:

The Agulhas current is one of the most powerful in the world. It transports 100 billion gallons of warm water per day. It is so warm it condenses into clouds to the Cape.

The Benguela current from the chilly Atlantic ocean.

The Mountains of Mozambique are one of the least explored places on Earth. Decades of civil war have kept out outsiders so they have became known as 'The Google Rainforest' due to satellite mapping.

They are the wettest place in South Africa.

The Drakensberg Mountains at 3000 meters high stop the rain clouds from passing. This has caused the greatest expanse of sand in the world in Southern Africa.

Where the Agulhas Current and Benguela Current meet

Some Highlights

Green Turtles

2000 miles North of the Southern tip, 7 cm long baby Green Turtles emerge from their nests.

They have a 100 meter run to the sea. Few creatures face such a tough challenge when they are born. Yellow Bill Kites, Crows and ghost crabs stand in their way.

Then, once beyond the surf they are still not out of danger. Only one hatching in 1000 survives to adulthood.

Butterfly Ball

In Mount Mabu see acrobatic courtship in a Butterfly Ball

Giant Kingfish

As big as a man are one of the most powerful fish of their size in the ocean. Normally alone, they gather and swim from the sea upstream for miles to fresh water. Once far inland they stop and they circle. Nobody knows why they do this. After a couple of weeks they head back to sea.

Great White Sharks

Feed on the carcass of a Whale with surprisingly good table manners.

African Penguins

Cold waters bring African Penguins. See them struggle nesting in temperatures up to 40 degrees protecting their eggs from the sun. They have adapted to survive at -40 degrees and some years no eggs survive.

Hunting Dolphin Super Pod

At the Southern tip where the currents meet a super pod of Hunting Dolphins 5000 strong, and Africa's biggest predator the Brooda or Brooders Whale at 15 meters long, hunt sardines in amazing footage.

North Africa, eye to eye with the unknown, Africa dvd David Attenborough

In North Africa the Sahara is the greatest desert on the planet.

It spans across one third of the continent. It is the size of the United States of America.

Also it is one of the hottest places on Earth.

Only one 5th of the Sahara is sand. The rest is wind swept stone and rock.

Huge sandstorms bury villages, they can reach 1000 miles across.

Eye to eye with the unknown

Some Highlights

Life survives on the outside of the Sahara.

Lone Zebra

See a lone Stallion Zebra who has claimed his land and has been waiting months for a female to arrive. A group of female Zebras finally come but they are not interested in the stallion.

Worse still, they have been followed by a posse of males.He must fight the group. But who will win? The lone stallion or the group, and who will get the affections of the female Zebras.

Naked Mole Rats

Naked Mole Rats are one of the worlds strangest creatures in the world. Living in their underground social colonies, a princess wants to become a queen.

Barn Swallows

In Southern Nigeria 2 million Barn Swallows spend the winter to then make one of natures greatest feats of navigation.

They leave on a 3000 mile journey to their breeding grounds in Europe. They must pass through a huge death trap. To big to fly around they must pass through the Sahara

The Resurrection Plant

This plant may have been dead for over 100 years. A twiggy ball, it roams the desert with the wind. When it eventually finds water it opens. It then needs rain immediately.

It drops its seed and within hours the shoots emerge. Within just a couple of weeks they will be baked by the sun, but ready to survive another hundred years.

See a Dung Beetles desperate struggle with her prize.

The Legendary Singing Dunes

Footage of the Sarah making a humming noise from millions of grains of sand moving. Then with over one and a half years of time lapse footage see them moving like an ocean.

Silver Ants

Silver Ants are the last creature out in the midday sun. They come out when no predators are around. They can only survive for 10 minutes before the sun bakes them alive so watch their dash for food.

Also an additional 'What happens next to Africa'

These were my personal highlights from the first five episodes. There is obviously more in each. If this has caught your attention I would really suggest anybody to watch this stunning series or buy the DVD if it is not available on the television in your region.

There are 5 episodes, each one including the making and fascinating facts.

There is also a bonus 6th episode 'The Future of Africa'.

I won't even have to tell any Attenborough fan to add this to their collection. I haven't heard of one person that hasn't been completely amazed and moved by this series, even people that are not wildlife documentary fans.

I've seen friends and colleagues talking very highly on social networks, and even forums completely off topic, like in a travel forum I belong to.

Arfica dvd David Attenborough

David Attenborough looks at the future of Africa in this final episode.

Talking about the ways Africa has changed, is currently changing and it's future, he gives us an insight as to what we may expect and what can be done to preserve the greatness of one of the planets last great wildernesses and it's many inhabitants.