The Great Rift: Africa's Wild Heart - Episode 01: Fire

Description

The opening programme shows how life has adapted to the volcanic highlands bordering the Rift Valley. Volcanic activity created the Ethiopian Highlands 30 million years ago, and is still evident at Erta Ale's molten lava lake. Further south, it thrust up huge peaks such as Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya. The mountain hyrax, augur buzzard, giant lobelia and side-striped chameleon are some of the species filmed on the latter's storm-blasted mountain slopes. In the Aberdares, an older, more eroded range, elephants and mountain bongos are marooned by surrounding human development. In the central Rift Valley, giant mastiff bats roost in a cave beneath the collapsed lava plateau of Mount Suswa. Infrared cameras reveal the activities of the bats and their unusual cohabitants, a troop of baboons. Ol Doinyo Lengai is Africa's most active volcano. The 2007 eruption showered the Serengeti plains with ash, ideal fertiliser for the grass that supports the vast game herds. To the south, the remote Kitulo Plateau in Tanzania is attracting considerable scientific attention due to its unique flora and fauna. The programme includes the first professional footage of the kipunji, a rare primate discovered in 2005. Other species shown include the montane widowbird, the Temple's chameleon and various monkey beetles. The final scenes show mountain gorillas in the Virunga Mountains. Inside the Great Rift shows how the crew enlisted the help of a local Maasai tribe to film inside Mount Suswa's cave.

Tags