All language subtitles for The Americas S01E02 Mexico 720p AMZN WEB-DL DDP5 1 H 264-FLUX

Tonight on The Americas...

Mexico.

This is a land of
ancient civilizations

and rich, vibrant culture.

Where scorched deserts

meet lush jungles,

and the most bountiful
seas on the planet.

In such a kaleidoscope
of landscapes,

only the most ingenious...

...will make it.

Mexico lies where the
North American continent

reaches the tropics.

And very different
worlds sit side by side.

Dense rainforests
cloak the south.

Its heart is flanked
by towering mountains.

While in the north lies the
Americas' hottest desert,

the Sonoran.

One of the most inhospitable
places on the whole supercontinent.

Here, temperatures on the ground
can reach 170 degrees Fahrenheit.

You have to be tough to survive.

And the toughest of all

is the mighty saguaro cactus.

They suck up every drop of water

and hold up to a thousand
gallons in their trunks.

A living oasis for desert life.

The saguaros defend their vast
bodies with needle-sharp spines.

A 50-foot fortress,

which makes it the perfect
home for one animal.

A cactus pygmy owl.

The size of a dollar bill,

she's taken advantage
of others' hard work,

setting up home in an
old woodpecker nest.

She's up early.

And this is why.

She has a family.

Chicks... with big appetites.

For the past month,
she and her mate

have been delivering a
constant supply of food.

It's hard work.

Giant lizards and kangaroo
rats, twice her weight.

But there comes a time
in every young owl's life

when they must be
persuaded to fly the nest.

So Mom changes tactics.

Food deliveries...

...cease.

She's making it clear.
It's time to leave.

But these deserts
are a hotspot...

...for predators.

Especially snakes.

And unfortunately
for the chicks,

they home in on pygmy owl nests.

It's now...

or never.

This will be the first time
they've used their wings.

And a landing in the wrong place

could prove fatal.

First up...

her strongest chick.

Her second...

is safely out too.

Well, just about.

But the third seems
to have doubts.

In spite of Mom's calls,

it's a flat "no" from him.

But she has a tried-and-tested
trick to win him over.

"Lunch!"

Now she's got her
chick's attention.

And...

he's out.

That's not good.

The ground is the most
dangerous place for him to be.

But up in the trees,

it's not risk-free either.

A coachwhip snake is closing
in on one of his siblings.

It can easily swallow
a chick whole.

But not on this mom's watch.

She's seen off this ambush.

Now, to get that last
chick out of danger.

At last,

the family are safe together.

They've got through the most
dangerous moment in their lives,

thanks to their mom's
ingenuity and spirit

in Mexico's...

toughest desert.

Stretching for almost
100,000 square miles,

the Sonoran desert is scarred by
ancient volcanoes and lava flows.

A legacy of colossal forces

that have shaped the land
and life of all of Mexico.

And to the west,

those same forces
created a unique world.

Six million years ago,

the country's western edge
was ripped from the mainland,

as the Baja
Peninsula split away.

This is an ocean
paradise like no other.

The Sea of Cortez.

A place where fish fly.

And giants roam.

The biggest animal the
world has ever seen.

A blue whale.

These warm and sheltered waters

support vast
populations of fish.

And draw in 40 percent of the
world's marine mammal species.

Including dolphins

in spectacular
superpods 5,000 strong.

It sets the scene...

for a deadly game
of cat-and-mouse.

The most remarkable
showdown in the ocean.

The Sea of Cortez is one of the
most bountiful seas on Earth.

And that brings opportunities

for one of its
smartest predators.

Orca live in close-knit
families called "pods"

and communicate using a series
of pulsed calls and whistles.

Each pod has its
own unique dialect.

To thrive, they must hunt
together several times a day.

And now the family has
one more mouth to feed.

At two years old, this calf is
at a critical stage of life.

Her mother's milk
is no longer enough,

so her future now depends on
her family's hunting skills.

The pod fall silent.

It's time...

to listen.

That is the sound of
bottlenose dolphins.

The orca can hear their prey

long before they see it.

This family are one of the only pods
in the world known to hunt dolphins.

Behavior so rare

that it has hardly
ever been seen before.

To succeed, they must use
the element of surprise.

Even breaking the surface to
breathe could give them away.

The adults can hold their
breath for 15 minutes.

But a calf can only hold
hers half that time.

She needs air.

The cover is blown.

And the chase...

is on.

One dolphin splits
from its group,

a mistake that gives
the orca a chance.

Working as a team, they
coordinate their hunt.

And one by one,

they take turns to tire the
prey they so desperately need.

They close in for the kill.

The hunt... is over.

The dolphin is shared out.

And the calf gets the
food she's depending on.

This clever teamwork...

is learned from one
generation to the next

and allows the orcas to support
their family in this unique sea.

In these waters, life can flourish
in the most unlikely places.

As the Earth's crust ripped
apart to form the Sea of Cortez,

volcanic activity
created new islands.

The most remote of all

is San Pedro Mártir.

Over 30 miles from the mainland,

this lonely pinnacle of rock
is the perfect rendezvous

for seabirds looking for love,

Mexico's very own
Temptation Island.

Each year, thousands of seabirds

find their way to the isolated
island of San Pedro Mártir

in search of romance.

Including the best-named
bird in all of Mexico.

The blue-footed booby.

It's breeding season.

And this male

is in a long-term relationship.

Their bond is all
based around one thing.

You guessed it.

Those bright blue feet.

The intensity of the blue signals
just how fit and strong he is.

So the bluer, the better.

Thanks to the pigment
in his fishy diet,

he already has a knockout pair.

But to keep them this way,

it's time for him to go fishing.

Once they bond with each other,

booby pairs are
normally set for life.

But not all boobies...

play by the rules.

A quick two-step from
someone else catches her eye.

Could this male's feet
be even bluer and better

than her partner's?

His whistle display
shows he's eager.

With a honk of interest...

...her head's been turned.

But now there's
going to be trouble.

Her old flame is back.

He seems pleased with
the look of his feet.

But his partner is looking
at somebody else's.

He's not going to
stand for that!

That showed him.

Our hero may have
seen off his rival.

But his relationship looks
like it's on the rocks.

Maybe a gift will help.

A well-chosen stone?

Not impressed.

Perhaps a softer approach.

Hmm... that seems to
have done the trick.

And they pick up right
where they left off.

But on this island,

temptation is never far away.

Mexico's coastlines
stretch nearly 7,000 miles.

And heading south, the very
nature of the land changes.

This is a tropical world.

Here, forces below ground have
pushed the earth skywards,

creating a maze of mountains.

For a few months each year,

these peaks catch moisture as
it rolls in from the Pacific.

And it falls as torrential rain.

These humid tropical forests
provide ideal conditions

for rare and precious
natural jewels.

Orchids.

Mexico is home to over
a thousand species.

Almost half of them found
nowhere else on Earth.

Many release an intoxicating
signature scent,

sending one resident
into a frenzy.

The tropical mountain
forests of Mexico's southwest

provide for a creature

who is a passionate
collector of scent.

A male orchid bee.

To attract a mate, he must
create his own perfume.

He sweeps up scents
with special brushes

and mixes them in
pockets on his back legs.

And it's not just
orchids he needs.

These bees can travel 30 miles,

collecting as many as
40 different smells

because the more
complex the cologne,

the more attractive the bee.

But there's one scent this master
perfumier needs most of all.

The Stanhopea orchid.

Unfortunately, its flowers only
open just a few days each year.

And worse,

he has a rival.

Male bees compete to collect
the most seductive scent.

A little leaf wax.

A whiff of fungus.

And our hero adds a
hint of rotted wood.

While the rival...

spots a workaround.

A dead orchid bee

with pockets full of scent...

that can be stolen.

But it could turn out
to be one big mistake

because at last,

the Stanhopea has
burst into flower.

And our hero is right there

to cash in.

Now he can get the
final ingredient.

The secret sauce.

But it doesn't come for free.

The orchid deposits
pollen on his back.

So this bee will fertilize
the next Stanhopea he visits,

ensuring the orchid's future.

In the meantime, he's
completed his ultimate perfume.

And once a female
gets a whiff of it,

the chemistry will be perfect.

To the east, Mexico's
mountains fall away

to a landscape that
couldn't be more different.

Here, more than 11
million years ago,

a huge limestone plateau
collided with the mainland

and formed the
Yucatan Peninsula.

It's nearly 75,000 square miles

cloaked by the largest tropical
forest in North America.

Mexican spider monkeys.

Acrobatic experts...

in treetop travel.

But this is a skill that
takes time to master.

So...

for the first two years of life,

transport is courtesy of Mom.

To nurse her baby, she needs to
eat four pounds of fruit every day.

The problem is,

it's the dry season,

and fruit is scarce.

Luckily, Mom has a
mental map of the forest

and knows a place that
will always provide.

The trees here are
laden with fruit.

And there's a
surprising reason why.

These forests were once home to
one of the greatest civilizations

in human history.

The Maya.

Standing here are the
ruins of a once great city,

Calakmul.

The people that lived here
planted many fruit trees,

a legacy that lives on today.

In the seventh century,

Calakmul supported more
than 50,000 people.

But there is a mystery here.

Almost every other civilization
built their major cities

next to a source of water.

But throughout the Yucatan,
there's not a single river,

lake, or even a stream.

So how did the Maya thrive?

They knew that this forest
held a unique secret.

For the ancient Maya to thrive
in the forests of the Yucatan,

they had to find water.

They needed help from
an unusual guide.

One with a distinctive call

that they could follow.

Turquoise-browed
motmots, like these,

led the Maya to hidden
freshwater pools

deep underground
called "cenotes."

Virtually every cenote has its
own resident motmot colony.

The Maya not only depended
on the cenotes for water,

they believed they were portals

into the underworld.

These labyrinths, running
over a thousand miles,

form the longest flooded
cave system in the world.

And some are less explored
than the surface of the moon.

It's a place only the world's
most experienced divers

attempt to venture.

Home to seemingly
alien life forms.

A blind cave fish,

with no pigment or eyes.

Why would you need them
in the endless darkness?

And an entirely new species

never filmed before,

cave brittle stars.

They survive on organic matter,

which here can take
thousands of years to decay.

Deeper in the cave,

there are even
stranger discoveries.

A place that plays
tricks with your mind.

This isn't the surface.

It's a boundary between
two water worlds.

Beneath is heavier salt
water from the ocean,

and above, lighter fresh water that
filters down through the rocks.

It's called a "halocline."

And living here, is an animal
that you could say time forgot.

A venomous remipede.

A living fossil from
before the dinosaurs.

It's recently been discovered
that its kind are the ancestors

of all living insects,

over half of all
life on our planet.

Beyond the halocline,

these hidden caves
lead towards the ocean,

where they flow into
another magical water world.

Mangrove forests.

Mangroves can survive
in salt water.

The only tree that can.

They have specialized
pores on the surface

that both filter out the salt

and take in the oxygen
dissolved in the seawater.

There are more mangroves in Mexico
than anywhere else on the continent.

And they support one of
the country's most iconic

and mysterious creatures.

Hidden amongst the vast
mangroves of Mexico's west coast,

are one of the country's
most stealthy hunters.

Jaguar.

Mexico is home to almost
5,000 of these big cats.

In many places, they
have been protected.

In some, the population
has increased.

Jaguars were revered as gods
by ancient civilizations.

They were seen as rulers
of the underworld.

The guardians to accompany souls
from this world to the next.

Where death is not the end,

but a part of the cycle of life.

Today, people gather around
the gravesites of loved ones

in Día de Los Muertos,

Day of the Dead.

Candles guide souls
back to their relatives.

But it's also a celebration

that coincides with another
long-awaited return.

As the forests of Central
Mexico welcome millions...

of monarch butterflies.

Each one believed to represent
a soul of the departed.

They have just completed one
of the greatest migrations

in the Americas.

To escape the harsh winters
in Canada and the US,

they've traveled 3,000 miles,

crossing cities,
plains, and deserts

to be here.

Beneath the volcanic
slopes of Central Mexico

is an enchanted forest.

The perfect shelter and climate
for the monarchs to spend winter.

These sleeping beauties
hibernate here for four months.

They need to stay close
to each other for warmth.

But some are running
out of energy.

Freezing temperatures on the
forest floor can be fatal.

This fallen male tries to
warm up his flight muscles,

but it's too cold
to get them going.

High above him,

the first rays of
spring sunshine.

Bathed in this warmth, the monarchs
are preparing to take to the skies.

But the forest floor

is still dark and cold.

He must use the
last of his strength

if he's to reach the sunlight.

At last, the security
of his colony.

As temperatures
continue to rise,

he and the rest
of the butterflies

can now take flight.

Together, they have
survived another winter...

and will soon leave to
return to the north.

Their remarkable ability to
find this one special forest

amongst Mexico's
kaleidoscope of landscapes

allows these beautiful
butterflies to flourish.

One of the greatest
natural wonders on Earth.

Flamingos. They gather
here for a dance-off,

hoping to find a mate.

The Americas, our home.

Where giants roam.

New life transforms and
a leap of faith is taken

in the name of love.

♪ Ever cry tears
into clear waters? ♪

There's magic to be found...

♪ Through ancient Earth
I'll go in wonder ♪

...in your own back yard.

♪ Wander again ♪

♪ Yeah, wandering,
wandering, wandering ♪

♪ Wandering,
wandering, wandering ♪

This is where
spectacular stories...

unfold.