0:00:36 > 0:00:37North Africa.
0:00:55 > 0:00:59High in Morocco's Atlas Mountains,
0:00:59 > 0:01:03Barbary macaques shiver in the icy cedars.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15The ancestors of these monkeys fled here
0:01:15 > 0:01:19from a disaster that overwhelmed their homeland.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25Now, trapped in this isolated corner of Africa,
0:01:25 > 0:01:28there's no going back to the land farther south.
0:01:31 > 0:01:33Even in this snowy refuge,
0:01:33 > 0:01:35there's a reminder
0:01:35 > 0:01:36of what drove them here.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46The unbridled power of the African sun.
0:01:54 > 0:01:56Under its intense gaze,
0:01:56 > 0:01:58the snow can't last for long.
0:02:05 > 0:02:09Melt water should bring life to the lowlands.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15Hundreds of torrents cascade southwards.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21But each is flowing towards extinction.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29Just 200 miles south of the mountains,
0:02:29 > 0:02:32the rivers are vaporised.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41Life has been burnt off the land.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54This was the apocalypse from which the Barbary macaques fled.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58The sudden and unstoppable advance
0:02:58 > 0:03:01of the greatest desert on the planet.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17The Sahara transformed North Africa.
0:03:19 > 0:03:21Today, it covers an area
0:03:21 > 0:03:23the size of the United States.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26One-third of the entire African continent.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36This is one of the hottest places on Earth.
0:03:44 > 0:03:46The merciless sun,
0:03:46 > 0:03:50a colossal 15-million-degree nuclear reactor,
0:03:50 > 0:03:53blasted life from the surface of the land.
0:03:57 > 0:03:59It still wreaks havoc.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03A faint breath of wind can be the beginning of disaster.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53Nomads tell of entire villages being engulfed...
0:04:54 > 0:04:56..camel trains disappearing,
0:04:56 > 0:05:01and people buried alive inside their tents.
0:05:50 > 0:05:55A sandstorm can be 1,000 miles across.
0:05:58 > 0:06:04It seems miraculous that anything can survive such devastation.
0:06:07 > 0:06:12The Saharan apocalypse wiped out many creatures,
0:06:12 > 0:06:15but, today, some still cling on,
0:06:15 > 0:06:18in the lands around the margins of the great desert.
0:06:23 > 0:06:24It's very dry here.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28Some years, the rains fail entirely.
0:06:38 > 0:06:41A lone Grevy's zebra.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46He weighs close to half a tonne,
0:06:46 > 0:06:49and could go for three days without drinking.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56Like the macaques,
0:06:56 > 0:06:59his forebears were refugees from the advancing Sahara.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07The land is scrubby and dry.
0:07:13 > 0:07:15But this stallion has claimed it as his own.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20He's been waiting months for visitors.
0:07:22 > 0:07:23Female visitors.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34If they like his territory,
0:07:34 > 0:07:35they might stay a while.
0:07:40 > 0:07:45It's his first chance to mate for a very long time.
0:07:57 > 0:07:58HE BRAYS
0:07:58 > 0:08:00Hardly a success.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06Perhaps his visitors are looking for a more impressive partner.
0:08:09 > 0:08:11There's another setback.
0:08:13 > 0:08:15The females were being followed,
0:08:15 > 0:08:17a posse of young males,
0:08:17 > 0:08:19every one, a rival.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28It's time to separate the men from the boys.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40HE SNORTS
0:08:44 > 0:08:45HE BRAYS
0:08:51 > 0:08:52HE BRAYS
0:08:54 > 0:08:57One by one, the stallion sees them off.
0:09:04 > 0:09:06HE BRAYS
0:09:21 > 0:09:24The females had ringside seats.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29And his prowess has not gone unnoted.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39Machismo gives way to tenderness.
0:09:56 > 0:10:00Around here, you have to take every opportunity,
0:10:00 > 0:10:03be it for food, for water or for mates.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18Female Grevy's are a fickle bunch.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20The herd have decided to move on.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24All of them.
0:10:24 > 0:10:25HE NEIGHS
0:10:25 > 0:10:28The stallion may never see them again.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32But there's a chance that one is now carrying his foal.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39In this harsh land THAT must count as a triumph.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52The sun's power cannot, however, reach far underground.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56Below, in stark contrast,
0:10:56 > 0:10:59conditions are stable and tolerable.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05And home to one of the planet's strangest mammals.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12Meet the naked mole rats.
0:11:18 > 0:11:24These sabre-toothed sausages wouldn't last a day in the desert.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28Special filming tunnels allow us to see
0:11:28 > 0:11:31how well adapted they are to the subterranean life.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34They can run equally well in both directions,
0:11:34 > 0:11:36so tight space is no problem.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43They have lost their fur.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48And, most bizarrely, they live in social colonies,
0:11:48 > 0:11:51much like termites or ants.
0:11:55 > 0:11:57After time spent digging,
0:11:57 > 0:11:59the workers come together to relax.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15But one here is very different from all the rest.
0:12:17 > 0:12:18Their queen.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22Twice as heavy as her subjects,
0:12:22 > 0:12:25and not afraid to throw her weight around.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33She is the mother of every worker in the colony,
0:12:33 > 0:12:37and exists in a near-continuous state of pregnancy.
0:12:39 > 0:12:44Even now, two dozen babies are pulsating within her swollen belly.
0:12:50 > 0:12:52Just occasionally,
0:12:52 > 0:12:54one of her brood is raised differently.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59A daughter becomes a princess.
0:13:03 > 0:13:08Until now, this youngster's enjoyed a lazy, privileged life.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10But not for much longer.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17She has a destiny to fulfil.
0:13:25 > 0:13:29The surface is a place where no naked mole rat can survive for long.
0:13:37 > 0:13:42But a princess will risk everything to search for a partner.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53The quest is urgent.
0:13:59 > 0:14:00IT SNIFFS
0:14:00 > 0:14:03There's an enticing smell in the air.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16A seductive scent draws her downwards, to safety.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31She's sniffed out a partner.
0:14:34 > 0:14:36He too is alone,
0:14:36 > 0:14:40and eager to start a new colony in his lonely burrow.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45Two months later,
0:14:45 > 0:14:47the princess has become a queen.
0:14:47 > 0:14:49And a new tyranny begins.
0:14:57 > 0:14:59Tough though they are,
0:14:59 > 0:15:03such refugees living on the edges of North Africa
0:15:03 > 0:15:07cannot survive in the heart of the Sahara.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14And yet here, in southern Nigeria,
0:15:14 > 0:15:18there are creatures preparing to journey right across the centre
0:15:18 > 0:15:19of that great desert.
0:15:24 > 0:15:26Barn swallows.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34IT SINGS
0:15:34 > 0:15:38They spent the winter roosting in a forest of elephant grass.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44But now, it's time for them to leave.
0:15:49 > 0:15:51All two million of them.
0:16:14 > 0:16:20They're tiny, each weighing the same as a couple of one pound coins,
0:16:20 > 0:16:23yet the journey to their breeding grounds in Europe
0:16:23 > 0:16:25is over 3,000 miles long.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31Ahead of them lies a vast death trap.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37The Sahara is too large to go around.
0:16:37 > 0:16:42The swallows have no choice but to meet it head-on.
0:16:53 > 0:16:57It will take one of nature's greatest feats of navigation
0:16:57 > 0:16:59to cross this lifeless wasteland.
0:17:01 > 0:17:06A wilderness that stretches not just to the horizon,
0:17:06 > 0:17:08but almost beyond imagination.
0:17:17 > 0:17:21It's an immense blank space on the map.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31In spite of the Sahara's reputation,
0:17:31 > 0:17:34less than one-fifth of it is sand.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40The rest is stone
0:17:40 > 0:17:41and wind-scoured rock.
0:17:51 > 0:17:55The sun not only bakes the land,
0:17:55 > 0:17:57it warps its appearance.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04The superheated air, rising upward from the desert surface,
0:18:04 > 0:18:06distorts the distant scene.
0:18:11 > 0:18:16A reflection of the sky shimmers on the sands - a mirage.
0:18:22 > 0:18:24The sun is an illusionist.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30To thirsty travellers,
0:18:30 > 0:18:32a mirage can resemble a lake
0:18:32 > 0:18:36which agonisingly recedes as it's approached.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47And swaying camels coming to the rescue
0:18:47 > 0:18:51transform into dry, spiny acacia trees.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06To cross this confused, shimmering landscape,
0:19:06 > 0:19:11many swallows will need to find real water amongst the mirages.
0:19:17 > 0:19:22Even in the Sahara, rain does sometimes fall
0:19:22 > 0:19:25and that is sufficient for plants to survive
0:19:25 > 0:19:28providing they have the right adaptations.
0:19:29 > 0:19:31Rising from the sand,
0:19:31 > 0:19:34a dried-out ball of twigs.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44In strong winds, it can travel.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04This plant may have been dead for 100 years.
0:20:08 > 0:20:12Yet its name suggests that all is not lost,
0:20:12 > 0:20:15for this is a resurrection plant.
0:20:23 > 0:20:27Around here, rain might only fall once or twice a year.
0:20:31 > 0:20:33But if you're searching for decades,
0:20:33 > 0:20:35that might be enough.
0:20:42 > 0:20:44Dead limbs absorb water
0:20:44 > 0:20:47and unfurl in a matter of minutes.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53But the resurrection plant needs one more miracle.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59THUNDER
0:21:00 > 0:21:03Rain must fall on its branches
0:21:03 > 0:21:06before they dry out and close up again.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07Within hours, shoots emerge.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26In just a few weeks, they flower
0:22:26 > 0:22:28and develop seeds of their own.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38Then, before they can grow any larger,
0:22:38 > 0:22:41the sun kills them.
0:22:47 > 0:22:48But their seeds live on,
0:22:48 > 0:22:50ready for when the rains return,
0:22:50 > 0:22:53even if that is a century from now.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01North Africa wasn't always so brutal.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04Scattered across the Sahara are glimpses of life
0:23:04 > 0:23:08before the apocalypse swept over the land.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14In the north, a petrified forest -
0:23:14 > 0:23:16trees turned to stone.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19Remains from a far distant, wetter past.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28White sediments in the heart of the Sahara are the dried-out remains
0:23:28 > 0:23:31of what was once the world's largest lake.
0:23:35 > 0:23:39In the east, ruined cities hark back to a time of plenty.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50And here, deep inside Libya,
0:23:50 > 0:23:52is Messak Settafet.
0:23:56 > 0:24:02Carved here are hundreds of images of animals, all drawn from life.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09Ghosts from a greener time.
0:24:15 > 0:24:20Remarkably, a remnant of this old North Africa survives.
0:24:24 > 0:24:29Bou-Hedma, in Tunisia, is sustained by mountain rains.
0:24:34 > 0:24:36It's a relic of the savannah
0:24:36 > 0:24:38that once carpeted North Africa.
0:24:51 > 0:24:52The vast grassland vanished
0:24:52 > 0:24:57when a shift in the Earth's orbit drove the rains south
0:24:57 > 0:25:00and, in perhaps only a matter of centuries,
0:25:00 > 0:25:03the Sahara Desert overwhelmed North Africa.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12The evidence suggests this took place around 6,000 years ago.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15In evolutionary terms, that's no time at all
0:25:15 > 0:25:19and life has had little chance to adapt to this new world.
0:25:26 > 0:25:31Only a few tough specialists can cope with life amongst the dunes.
0:25:40 > 0:25:41THEY GRUNT
0:25:47 > 0:25:49THEY GRUNT
0:25:50 > 0:25:54Camels are sometimes called "ships of the desert"
0:25:54 > 0:25:55but, like the swallows,
0:25:55 > 0:25:57they're really only visitors here.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02These "ships" can certainly cross the Sahara,
0:26:02 > 0:26:06but even THEY can't make their home in the harshest places.
0:26:11 > 0:26:14Left to wander the desert by themselves,
0:26:14 > 0:26:16camels would not survive.
0:26:16 > 0:26:21They depend on their human navigators to find oases and wells.
0:26:28 > 0:26:32Saharan folklore is full of tales of caravans
0:26:32 > 0:26:36that missed a well by a few hundred metres and disappeared.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54This is the White Desert, in Egypt.
0:27:00 > 0:27:04The landscape is littered with giant chalk pillars,
0:27:04 > 0:27:08carved by innumerable sandstorms.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16This glaring white oven is lethally hot.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22Food here is almost non-existent.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29But there's a rare gift from a passing camel.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32The smell has lured dung beetles from miles around.
0:27:35 > 0:27:37For them, this is manna from heaven.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48One dung ball could provide enough food
0:27:48 > 0:27:51to last this female beetle the rest of her life.
0:27:53 > 0:27:55But she has a problem.
0:27:56 > 0:27:57To keep it fresh,
0:27:57 > 0:28:00she must bury it in moist ground.
0:28:00 > 0:28:02And that's not easy to find.
0:28:10 > 0:28:14The temperature has already risen ten degrees.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23This lizard avoids the roasting sand.
0:28:24 > 0:28:27Only 30 centimetres above the surface,
0:28:27 > 0:28:29it's significantly cooler.
0:28:37 > 0:28:40The 'reverse-pushing' technique
0:28:40 > 0:28:42is certainly the fastest way
0:28:42 > 0:28:43to keep the ball rolling.
0:28:49 > 0:28:51But it does have one drawback.
0:29:00 > 0:29:02You can't see where you're going.
0:29:07 > 0:29:08Disaster!
0:29:10 > 0:29:12Stuck between two dunes.
0:29:20 > 0:29:23The dung ball is twice her weight,
0:29:23 > 0:29:27but the urge to keep pushing is inextinguishable.
0:30:11 > 0:30:15Now, it's 41 degrees Celsius.
0:30:15 > 0:30:18Soon, she'll be baked alive.
0:30:22 > 0:30:28Her survival instinct, in the end, over-rides her love for dung.
0:30:39 > 0:30:44Much of the Sahara is uninhabitable, but there are rare places
0:30:44 > 0:30:47where there is some possibility of survival.
0:30:47 > 0:30:51Places where, by strange chance, there is water.
0:30:55 > 0:30:59Waw An Namus is an extinct volcano.
0:31:00 > 0:31:05From space, it's a remote, black scar on the Libyan Sahara.
0:31:12 > 0:31:15Yet there are other colours here,
0:31:15 > 0:31:18colours rarely seen on the desert floor.
0:31:19 > 0:31:23Blue and green.
0:31:36 > 0:31:40Rain fell thousands of years ago, when the Sahara was green
0:31:40 > 0:31:43and percolated deep into the ground.
0:31:44 > 0:31:47And here water from this vast,
0:31:47 > 0:31:50ancient reservoir rises to the surface.
0:31:52 > 0:31:57These pools offer another glimpse of the Sahara's past.
0:32:03 > 0:32:06Wherever there's water in North Africa,
0:32:06 > 0:32:11living relics from this wetter time have a chance to cling on.
0:32:14 > 0:32:19This oasis is fed by a hot volcanic spring.
0:32:24 > 0:32:28Slightly away from the stream of near-boiling water,
0:32:28 > 0:32:31its cooler, and fish can live.
0:32:31 > 0:32:33These are tilapia.
0:32:36 > 0:32:39Hatchlings stick close to their mother.
0:32:39 > 0:32:43There are other dangers here beside the scalding water.
0:32:47 > 0:32:51Particularly at night.
0:33:01 > 0:33:04The crocodiles are stealthy.
0:33:12 > 0:33:17And the tilapia are almost blind in the darkness.
0:33:22 > 0:33:26In panic, they all leap to escape the hunters' approach.
0:33:33 > 0:33:37But this female can't abandon her brood.
0:33:44 > 0:33:48The crocodiles won't be thwarted. They too can leap.
0:34:33 > 0:34:38With first light, the crocodiles lose the element of surprise,
0:34:38 > 0:34:40and the battle is over, for now.
0:34:42 > 0:34:47The mother fish has survived, but where are her young?
0:34:50 > 0:34:54All present and correct.
0:34:54 > 0:34:58They spent the whole night sheltering in her mouth.
0:34:59 > 0:35:02The contest will be repeated at sunset.
0:35:03 > 0:35:05There is nowhere else to go.
0:35:11 > 0:35:14Oases are always sought by desert travellers,
0:35:14 > 0:35:17but not all are as they seem.
0:35:25 > 0:35:31This is the great Ubari Sand Sea, in the heart of the Sahara.
0:35:35 > 0:35:39These swallows have travelled 1,500 miles
0:35:39 > 0:35:41since they left Nigeria.
0:35:43 > 0:35:47Their superb powers of navigation will eventually guide them
0:35:47 > 0:35:51to Europe, but now they, and other thirsty migrants,
0:35:51 > 0:35:55need to find a speck of blue amidst this ocean of sand.
0:36:00 > 0:36:03And here it is.
0:36:03 > 0:36:05Umm el Mar.
0:36:13 > 0:36:17Here too, ancient groundwater wells up to the surface.
0:36:37 > 0:36:40But the birds need to be careful,
0:36:40 > 0:36:43for the sun has played a terrible trick.
0:36:51 > 0:36:54This oasis is poisonous.
0:36:56 > 0:37:01Intense evaporation over thousands of years has left the water
0:37:01 > 0:37:03saltier than the sea.
0:37:05 > 0:37:08As if to underline the horror,
0:37:08 > 0:37:12the place is infested by vast swarms of flies.
0:37:16 > 0:37:19But this plague is a birds' salvation.
0:37:23 > 0:37:29The flies are filled with freshwater, filtered from the brine.
0:37:35 > 0:37:39So, like a desert wanderer squeezing a drink from a cactus,
0:37:39 > 0:37:44the birds get all the water they need from the flies' bodies.
0:37:51 > 0:37:54More and more migrants join in.
0:37:56 > 0:37:59Wagtails.
0:38:14 > 0:38:16This is the birds' only stopover.
0:38:18 > 0:38:24It gives them enough fuel to escape from the Sahara and Africa.
0:38:27 > 0:38:29Away from an oasis,
0:38:29 > 0:38:33it seems remarkable that anything can live at all.
0:38:37 > 0:38:41The temperature of the sands can exceed 70 degrees Celsius.
0:38:43 > 0:38:48There's not the slightest trace of water left at the surface.
0:38:53 > 0:38:58And when that happens, the Sahara itself cries out.
0:39:02 > 0:39:05LOUD HUMMING
0:39:33 > 0:39:37Billions of sliding grains generate a hum
0:39:37 > 0:39:40that echoes across miles of empty desert.
0:39:42 > 0:39:46These are the Sahara's legendary singing dunes.
0:40:12 > 0:40:15Over time, these avalanches add up.
0:40:19 > 0:40:22If you watch the dunes for long enough,
0:40:22 > 0:40:24something remarkable is revealed.
0:40:27 > 0:40:31One and a half years flash past in a matter of seconds.
0:40:40 > 0:40:44On this timescale, the dunes are like a stormy sea.
0:40:51 > 0:40:55An unstoppable tsunami of sand.
0:41:03 > 0:41:06In this immense, ever-shifting landscape,
0:41:06 > 0:41:09it's easy to see how a lost traveller could succumb
0:41:09 > 0:41:14to what's been called the Sahara's only endemic disease -
0:41:14 > 0:41:16madness.
0:41:34 > 0:41:38Can anything survive the North African desert
0:41:38 > 0:41:41when the sun is at its fiercest?
0:41:47 > 0:41:50It's approaching mid-day.
0:41:50 > 0:41:53A fringe-toed lizard is hungry.
0:41:54 > 0:41:57He's on a stake-out.
0:42:05 > 0:42:09Flashy scales reflect some of the sun's rays.
0:42:11 > 0:42:15Nevertheless, the heat is almost unbearable.
0:42:19 > 0:42:22His prey hasn't left home all day.
0:42:34 > 0:42:39The lizard is the last animal still out on the dunes.
0:42:43 > 0:42:46But even he can't take it any more.
0:42:48 > 0:42:51To survive longer, you would need a spacesuit.
0:42:55 > 0:42:59And in a way, that's what these insects have.
0:43:02 > 0:43:06Silver ants' armoured skin reflects light.
0:43:06 > 0:43:11They can tolerate temperatures that would kill any other land animal.
0:43:12 > 0:43:16Even so, they can only survive for less than ten minutes
0:43:16 > 0:43:18in the midday sun.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30Time is precious.
0:43:30 > 0:43:34The ants race to find food as soon as their predators go to ground.
0:43:43 > 0:43:47They can't afford to waste a second getting lost,
0:43:47 > 0:43:50so they spin to take a bearing from the sun.
0:43:51 > 0:43:55They log every change of direction, every footstep,
0:43:55 > 0:43:58in order to know exactly where they are and where their nest lies.
0:44:05 > 0:44:06Only four minutes to spare,
0:44:06 > 0:44:11and they've found a victim of heatstroke. A meal.
0:44:15 > 0:44:18But it's going to take a monumental effort to get it home.
0:44:33 > 0:44:36Three minutes to go and they're nearing their maximum temperature,
0:44:36 > 0:44:39an astounding 53 degrees Celsius.
0:44:48 > 0:44:51But there are already casualties.
0:45:01 > 0:45:04One minute left, and they're not going to make it.
0:45:04 > 0:45:06Something has to change.
0:45:53 > 0:45:59The silver ant is the hardiest of all desert inhabitants.
0:45:59 > 0:46:03Even so, it can only survive outside in the middle of the day
0:46:03 > 0:46:04for a matter of minutes.
0:46:09 > 0:46:14Now, the desert belongs to the sun alone.
0:46:17 > 0:46:21The sun has scorched life from the Sahara.
0:46:21 > 0:46:26And yet the vast desert it created is a source of life
0:46:26 > 0:46:28half a world away.
0:46:32 > 0:46:38The advancing Sahara vaporised the world's largest lake,
0:46:38 > 0:46:43leaving behind the silvery remains of countless microscopic algae.
0:46:46 > 0:46:51In winter, the wind carries away 700,000 tonnes
0:46:51 > 0:46:54of this mineral-rich dust every day.
0:46:57 > 0:47:01It blows from here all the way to South America,
0:47:01 > 0:47:06where, astonishingly, it fertilises the Amazon rainforest.
0:47:12 > 0:47:18A striking demonstration of the reach of this mighty continent.
0:47:28 > 0:47:33Throughout its long history, Africa has influenced the entire planet.
0:47:33 > 0:47:37It was the cradle of a remarkable array of land animals that spread
0:47:37 > 0:47:42across the globe, and, of course, it was the ancestral home of all of us.
0:48:13 > 0:48:17This is the tale of two of the Africa team's
0:48:17 > 0:48:19most challenging desert expeditions.
0:48:24 > 0:48:29One focused on a miniscule creature with an incredible turn of speed.
0:48:32 > 0:48:36The other, on a subject so slow, to film it in action would take years.
0:48:38 > 0:48:41In both cases, the Sahara would push crews
0:48:41 > 0:48:44to the limit in pursuit of the perfect shot.
0:48:49 > 0:48:52In Tunisia, the mission is to capture footage of moving
0:48:52 > 0:48:57sand dunes, something that's never been tried like this before.
0:48:57 > 0:49:01Because the dunes move so slowly, we'll have to leave cameras here
0:49:01 > 0:49:02for about 20 months,
0:49:02 > 0:49:04which means there's a huge potential for things to go wrong.
0:49:06 > 0:49:10And with film-making, if something can go wrong, it usually will.
0:49:12 > 0:49:15Two local shepherds, Amur and Nasser,
0:49:15 > 0:49:18have volunteered to tend the equipment full-time.
0:49:20 > 0:49:23The camera tower will be the tallest structure
0:49:23 > 0:49:26for as far as the eye can see.
0:49:29 > 0:49:33And there are three other cameras at lower angles.
0:49:34 > 0:49:39All this toil will yield surprisingly scant results.
0:49:39 > 0:49:44They've programmed the cameras to take one photo every day.
0:49:44 > 0:49:47That's only 365 photographs a year...
0:49:47 > 0:49:51which, when you run it at normal speed, just over 14 seconds.
0:49:51 > 0:49:56I think it's taken longer to explain what's going to happen
0:49:56 > 0:49:58than the end result will actually be.
0:49:58 > 0:50:02The cameras are left to the mercy of the sun, wind and sand.
0:50:04 > 0:50:09In the meantime, crews are shooting all across North Africa.
0:50:11 > 0:50:15In Egypt, the challenge is to get into the world of the most
0:50:15 > 0:50:19heat-tolerant desert animal, the silver ant.
0:50:19 > 0:50:22They're really small, they're really fast.
0:50:22 > 0:50:25Like, you're not too sure if you've seen an ant.
0:50:26 > 0:50:30The crew have three weeks to gather the footage they need.
0:50:32 > 0:50:35We're going to try a tracking shot on this ant nest.
0:50:35 > 0:50:38Moving forward towards it,
0:50:38 > 0:50:41as the ants pour out of the hole in their millions.
0:50:41 > 0:50:44Not only are these insects super-fast,
0:50:44 > 0:50:47they also keep antisocial hours.
0:50:47 > 0:50:48The thing is,
0:50:48 > 0:50:52we need to be out here in the middle of the day to film these ants.
0:50:52 > 0:50:55They don't do what they do when it's nice and cool at seven,
0:50:55 > 0:50:58eight o'clock in the morning.
0:50:58 > 0:51:01I can't remember ever being in a place where the wind was
0:51:01 > 0:51:03so relentless and the temperatures were so high.
0:51:07 > 0:51:10The insufferable heat is not the only problem.
0:51:10 > 0:51:12Dangers are everywhere.
0:51:12 > 0:51:15Ooh!
0:51:15 > 0:51:18There's a really fat scorpion, it's really big!
0:51:18 > 0:51:20One, two, three.
0:51:24 > 0:51:25This might kill.
0:51:25 > 0:51:27- Yeah?- Yeah.
0:51:27 > 0:51:31It's big and they have a lot of poison in his dark thing.
0:51:31 > 0:51:33What, that thing there?
0:51:33 > 0:51:35Don't! Oh, my god!
0:51:35 > 0:51:36Don't touch it!
0:51:36 > 0:51:40The scorpion will be released far, far away from the camp,
0:51:40 > 0:51:43in a shady spot.
0:51:43 > 0:51:45No such luck for the team.
0:51:45 > 0:51:49They're back to work in the midday sun.
0:51:49 > 0:51:53This is, this is too much. This is crazy.
0:51:53 > 0:51:54This is crazy.
0:51:54 > 0:51:55Indeed.
0:51:55 > 0:52:00The heat seems to have given Kat and Warwick a touch of Saharan madness.
0:52:01 > 0:52:03The plan is to do an experiment,
0:52:03 > 0:52:08to find out how fast these little ants can run.
0:52:08 > 0:52:13So we're going to lay this along the floor, and hopefully an ant will
0:52:13 > 0:52:16run alongside it and we can film it at high speed.
0:52:16 > 0:52:20And from that, calculate their... their speed,
0:52:20 > 0:52:24and perhaps try and relate it to how fast that would be for a human.
0:52:24 > 0:52:26Like me.
0:52:26 > 0:52:29Silver ants are expert navigators,
0:52:29 > 0:52:32using the angle of the sun to calculate their position.
0:52:32 > 0:52:37But for our team, even basic mental tasks are becoming a challenge.
0:52:37 > 0:52:41Count the seconds. See one running and then count the seconds.
0:52:41 > 0:52:44- It's difficult to count a second, isn't it?- No, it's "one".
0:52:46 > 0:52:48"One", yeah!
0:52:53 > 0:52:54There he goes!
0:52:56 > 0:52:59He's gone ten centimetres in four seconds,
0:52:59 > 0:53:02but we're running at 500 frames a second,
0:53:02 > 0:53:04which is 20 times normal time.
0:53:04 > 0:53:08- Yeah.- So in fact, he's covered those ten centimetres in...
0:53:12 > 0:53:16We know that he does half a metre in one second.
0:53:16 > 0:53:18Half a metre per second, yep.
0:53:18 > 0:53:22- 50 centimetres in one second, roughly.- Yeah.
0:53:22 > 0:53:25So, how many body lengths is that?
0:53:26 > 0:53:29He's maybe doing five body lengths a second,
0:53:29 > 0:53:31if he's two metres tall like I am.
0:53:31 > 0:53:34- Are you?- Yeah. That's how much more than a normal man I am.
0:53:40 > 0:53:45Eventually, the duo decide that if the silver ants were our size,
0:53:45 > 0:53:49they'd be doing 280 miles an hour.
0:53:52 > 0:53:55They're one of the fastest sprinters in the animal kingdom.
0:53:55 > 0:53:58No wonder we've been struggling to film them.
0:53:58 > 0:53:59It does explain a few things.
0:54:01 > 0:54:03Ant-letics!
0:54:07 > 0:54:11Knowing the exact speed of the ants is all well and good, but there's
0:54:11 > 0:54:14still a great deal of work to be done before the shoot finishes.
0:54:16 > 0:54:21However, in Tunisia, there's no shortage of time, and hopefully,
0:54:21 > 0:54:25no news is good news, as far as Amur and Nasser are concerned.
0:54:30 > 0:54:32The final week in Egypt,
0:54:32 > 0:54:36and the crew seem to be adapting to life in the oven.
0:54:39 > 0:54:43Practice is making perfect, and the sequence is coming together.
0:54:46 > 0:54:49I think we've got some lovely shots.
0:54:49 > 0:54:51Every single shot has been really hard-earned.
0:54:51 > 0:54:55But getting down in the ant's world is now taking its toll on the kit.
0:54:55 > 0:54:57It's running to stand still,
0:54:57 > 0:55:00the business of blowing dust off these things.
0:55:01 > 0:55:03Oh, no!
0:55:03 > 0:55:05It's got dust in it!
0:55:05 > 0:55:06CRUNCH
0:55:06 > 0:55:08Ooh, crunch.
0:55:10 > 0:55:12I think these ants are stunning looking.
0:55:12 > 0:55:15Near-impossible to film, I think, because of the speed they had.
0:55:15 > 0:55:19But, you know, I've come to love them over the days and weeks.
0:55:21 > 0:55:23With the sequence in the bag,
0:55:23 > 0:55:26Warwick wants the final traditional sunset shot.
0:55:27 > 0:55:31It's the best time of day to film sunsets, in the evening.
0:55:32 > 0:55:34That's experience that tells me that.
0:55:34 > 0:55:37I've been doing this for years. You learn these things.
0:55:37 > 0:55:42Thanks to Warwick's experience, including sunsets, he and Kat
0:55:42 > 0:55:47have captured the extraordinary life of the speedy silver ant.
0:55:50 > 0:55:52Over a year later, in Tunisia,
0:55:52 > 0:55:56it's time to take down the sand dune cameras.
0:55:57 > 0:55:59Bonjour!
0:55:59 > 0:56:03Nasser, Amur. Hello again.
0:56:03 > 0:56:05So how's it been, has it been good?
0:56:05 > 0:56:10It's OK, but two days ago, we have a little bit...small problem.
0:56:10 > 0:56:13After surviving 600 days in the desert,
0:56:13 > 0:56:17the "small problem" is that the cameras have been vandalised.
0:56:20 > 0:56:23I'm really hot and bothered now, it's 40 degrees,
0:56:23 > 0:56:27and someone's smashed the cameras.
0:56:27 > 0:56:30Not been a good start to the day, to be honest.
0:56:31 > 0:56:33There's no doubt the dunes have moved.
0:56:33 > 0:56:37But the question is whether the equipment has survived.
0:56:40 > 0:56:42That is amazing, the camera's still here.
0:56:42 > 0:56:46I guess maybe it just took them so long to get through the toughened plastic,
0:56:46 > 0:56:49that they felt they had made so much noise they were worried about the guards coming,
0:56:49 > 0:56:52because they only sleep a couple of 100 metres away.
0:56:52 > 0:56:57After almost two years of waiting, it's the moment of truth.
0:57:00 > 0:57:03We're going to find out, find out whether or not
0:57:03 > 0:57:06the cameras have actually recorded anything.
0:57:06 > 0:57:09It's just hugely stressful because it's never been done before.
0:57:12 > 0:57:16The footage is a surreal window into a secret world -
0:57:16 > 0:57:18the private life of a sand dune.
0:57:28 > 0:57:31The Africa team struggled under the burning sun
0:57:31 > 0:57:35and driving winds that are hallmarks of the Sahara.
0:57:40 > 0:57:45They went home with an enormous admiration for the creatures that
0:57:45 > 0:57:50spend their entire lives battling to survive in this brutal desert world.
0:57:58 > 0:58:02Next time, we'll be looking towards the future of Africa
0:58:02 > 0:58:03and its wildlife.
0:58:03 > 0:58:09Meeting the remarkable Elvis and his highly endangered family.
0:58:09 > 0:58:13Diving with Shella, who's learning to swim again.
0:58:14 > 0:58:17Africa's wildlife is at a critical point
0:58:17 > 0:58:20as it faces its greatest threat.
0:58:21 > 0:58:23As this battle between man
0:58:23 > 0:58:27and wildlife happens, in most cases, wildlife is on the losing end.
0:58:31 > 0:58:35But there is hope as the new generation takes on the task
0:58:35 > 0:58:39of protecting Africa's animals for the 21st century and beyond.
0:58:39 > 0:58:44Join me next time for the future of Africa.
0:59:01 > 0:59:03Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd