Gift Of The Rains: Africa's Great Rivers
tv show
13 total episodes
-
1 seasons
First Aired January 01, 2001
Genres:
Overview
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.
Victoria Nile – River of Beginnings
Season 1 - Episode 6 - 0h 0m
Air Date
January 06, 2001
Overview
The quest to find the source of the Nile built and shattered explorers’ dreams for centuries, until it was eventually discovered that the river’s birthplace is Lake Victoria. The first part of the great river is called the Victoria Nile; it connects Lake Victoria to Lake Albert through a series of rapids and the powerful Murchison Falls. Nile crocodiles have been using the banks of the river as nesting sites for centuries, showing a nurturing side unique in the reptile world. Dikkops nest near the crocodiles, for protection from scavengers such as monitors. The endemic shoebills hunt along the marshy edges of islands in the wide river. A herd of elephants come to these reed-covered islands to feed, where there is easily accessible food for a calf with a mutilated trunk. The islands, and the banks of the river, form the traditional mating ground for Ugandan cobs. The Victoria Nile is also a convenient stopover for migrating Abdim storks. In this part of Equatorial Africa, seasons do not affect the flow of the river, which continuously provides a stable home for its inhabitants.