All language subtitles for River of Life - 01x01 - The Nile.WEB.h264-LiGATE.English.C.orig.Addic7ed.com

Narrator: One river flows
further than any other on earth.

The nile.

The longest river in the world

travels more than
4,000 miles north,

all the way from the equator
to the mediterranean.

A river that gave rise
to great civilizations...

And brings life to the world's
hottest continent.

The nile's
record-breaking length

takes it through
more astonishing worlds

than any other.

A miraculous, changing river

that breathes life
into all it touches.

Shaping the face of Africa.

Earth's rivers of life
make extraordinary journeys.

Carving through continents.

Nurturing great civilizations.

Feeding and connecting life
across our world.

These rivers are the lifeblood
of planet earth.

Narrator: The nile.

The very name conjures up
images of pharaohs, deserts,

and the glories
of ancient Egypt.

But this iconic river actually
starts its 4,000-mile journey

in a remote tropical world,

far from the pyramids
and sphinxes.

An Equatorial land,
full of towering mountains

and colossal peaks.

The rwenzoris.

Nestled between
Congo and Uganda,

this is the highest and most
spectacular source of the nile.

Torrents of rain and snow melt

tumble off peaks
over 15,000 feet high.

This water will eventually
reach the mediterranean sea

but first must embark on

an incredible voyage
across Africa.

As the headwaters of the nile
start to gather,

they move islands
of floating papyrus,

creating a dancing
water garden.

This shifting world
is problematic

for those trying
to make their home here.

This is only one of 150
shoebill storks left in Uganda.

As the landscape
moves around him,

spotting fish is a struggle.

Nose dives often result
in just a mouthful of leaves.

But in this confusing world,
he's able to find help

from an unexpected source.

He's on the search for one of
nature's biggest bulldozers.

By following in
its giant footsteps...

The shoebill is able
to spot fish in the channels

the hippopotamus leaves behind.

In the nile's
ever-changing waters,

there are always opportunities
for those

resourceful enough
to find them.

As all these
early streams of the nile

start to pool together...

They create a world
of Equatorial lakes

in the heart of Africa.

The greatest of all
is called Victoria.

The largest tropical lake
in the world.

Each drop of water spends
an average of 23 years here

before continuing its journey.

Here in November,
the new moon triggers

one of the nile's
most remarkable events.

And local boatman
Charles tinkimwemura

will be ready.

Tinkimwemura: Many people
die on this lake.

It's so dangerous.

Narrator: As the lake
is plunged into darkness...

Lanterns are the only
source of light.

But Charles isn't
alone out here.

30,000 other boats
are also out on the lake.

Many of their occupants
can't swim, so,

being on the water
in the pitch black is a risk.

But the water is still
and the fishermen hopeful.

Because tonight, lake flies
will emerge from the depths

and gather around the lights...

Becoming the perfect lure
for hungry fish.

This is what the fishermen
have been waiting for.

The catch of the year.

As Charles
paddles home triumphant,

his boat heavy with fish,

the air is thick
with billions of flies.

These swarms of a biblical scale
sweep across the lake...

Spiraling 300 feet high
in a mating dance.

But these offerings
from the nile's waters

are not only welcomed
by fishermen,

but also by the islanders.

Within a few hours,
these flies will die.

So, the game is on to catch
as many as possible.

Each of these fly burgers
has 5 times

more protein than a hamburger.

Understanding the changing
cycles of the lake

are the key to survival here.

But as the nile's waters flow
out of this reservoir,

survival on the next step
of its journey

will demand a very
different skill.

All of lake Victoria's water

leaves by a single
exit channel in Uganda.

And so is born
a thundering river.

This is the aptly named
white nile.

Most stay away from its rapids,

but for local mom Amina tayona,

the turbulent water provides
an unexpected lifeline.

She left school at 16 to work on
her small patch of land,

but a chance meeting
changed her life forever.

Tayona: As I was in the village,
I saw a white guy from the u.K.

And I was like, "can you
take me kayaking?"

And he was like, "sure."

And that time I didn't know
anything about kayaking.

Narrator: Within 6 months,
she got a job as a kayak guide,

now able to support
her family of 10.

And today, she is trying
to prove her skills

in an international endurance
race against world-class athletes

in a borrowed kayak and using
a homemade paddle.

6 billion gallons of water

cascade down these
steep channels each day.

And it's not long before Amina
falls prey to the nile's power.

Tayona: If you go upside down,
it's hard sometimes,

because my breath
is a bit short.

30 seconds and it's finished.

Narrator: But Amina
is nothing if not determined.

Tayona: Because I'm born from
the nile, nothing I can't do.

Narrator: It's such a dangerous
stretch of the river

that competitors have to stay
in pairs for safety.

Tayona: When we are racing,
we need to be close, close,

so that you can save your friend
if something happens.

Narrator: Especially
when passing through

the nile's itanda falls.

Class 6 rapids... the hardest
possible grade

of white water in the world.

Tayona: Itanda can
make me nervous because

it's a grade 6... it's really big

and you are like, oh, my god,
how am I going to do this?

Narrator: Exhausted after
3 hours of paddling,

Amina is approaching
the finish.

Tayona: Amina, go.

Amina, our enemies are closer.

We go, we go.

They are coming.
Go hard, go hard.

Narrator: Amina and her partner
are the first women's team

across the finish line.

Tayona: The most time when
I am happy when I am winning.

When I'm like the champion.

That's why I'm called
the queen of the nile.

Narrator: But beyond
these treacherous rapids,

this powerful river
creates a barrier

that even Amina can't pass.

The 160-foot-wide river is
squeezed through a 23-foot gap.

This is murchison falls.

One of the most powerful
waterfalls in the world.

A gateway into
a wild, untamed world.

Now 250 miles north
from its Equatorial beginnings,

the nile enters a Savannah land
ruled by giants.

Crocodiles, up to 18 feet long,

await carrion
washed over the falls.

The nile is now the only water
for miles around.

A magnet for Africa's
biggest game.

This crocodile mother has found

a secluded place on shore
to Bury her eggs.

For two whole months, she has
devotedly watched over them,

keeping them safe.

But she cannot
hide their scent.

A nile monitor lizard is
dangerously close to her eggs.

The worst possible news
for a crocodile mother.

Out of the water,
the monitor is

the faster of the two
reptiles... And knows it.

It also seems aware of
the crocodiles' achilles heel.

On land, crocodiles can die
from heat exhaustion...

Leaving the mother
with a terrible dilemma.

The water is the only place
where she can

lower her body temperature
to safe levels.

But if she lets her guard down
now, her brood will be devoured.

The mother's body is reaching
lethally high temperatures.

She finally has
to choose her own life

over that of her young.

All she can do is
hope that the monitors

won't finish all 60
of her eggs.

But the nile's crowded banks are
home to other wily predators.

Baboons saunter in
to take the easy pickings

from the undefended nest.

Taking every last egg.

Fighting with the monitors
over the remains.

Only 2% of nile crocodile eggs
reach adulthood...

Due to the gauntlet
of hungry animals

drawn together by the river.

With so much action
on the river,

this is a perfect place
for a game lodge.

This was once
the extravagant country home

of brutal dictator idi amin.

Known as the butcher of Uganda,

amin ordered the deaths
of 300,000 people...

And hosted hunting parties

devastating to
Uganda's wildlife.

But since his exile in 1979,

this lodge has supposedly
been uninhabited.

But local rumors suggest
that it now hosts new guests.

Filmed for the very first time,

these ruins are starting
to reveal their secrets.

A family of warthogs
has taken up residence

in what was once the kitchen...

While a baboon clan has opted
for a room with a nile view.

The Savannah creatures
seem to be

making themselves a home here.

As night closes in...

The warthog family
snuggles up...

While others are just waking.

A pair of porcupines are
denning under the stairs...

While some bats
are reconsidering

their choice of roommate.

The most exclusive name
on the guest list

is the extremely rare pangolin.

At night, it's best
to stick close to mom.

But one of the piglets
is bolder

and more curious
than the others.

And this is no place
to be out alone.

In this maze of rooms,
it's easy to lose your way.

Lost and alone,
the piglet is exhausted.

A piglet is usually
an irresistible snack

for a leopard...

But remarkably,

the leopard leaves it
alone, unharmed.

Inside these walls,
there seems to be a rule

against eating
the other guests.

As mom calls in her piglets,

more families begin
to show themselves.

Big and small,
nile creatures have adapted

to make the most out of
this riverside residence,

and the abandoned hotel
is transformed from

a harborer of dark history

into an unlikely paradise
for wildlife.

As the nile
leaves the Savannah,

it comes to a pivotal point
in its voyage.

In South Sudan, 800 miles
from the nile's headwaters,

the land flattens
and the river transforms

into a swamp the size
of new Mexico.

This is the sudd...
Arabic for "barrier."

It's this sea of plants
that prevented early explorers

from finding the nile's source.

In this floating world, you have
to learn to navigate the maze.

For one animal in particular,
the nile swamps are a haven.

Nile elephants seem to spend

more time in the water
than out of it.

But first, they need
to learn how to swim.

And baby swimming classes
are a family occasion.

A mother encourages her
youngster into the water...

While the biggest of the family
go first, acting as lifeguards.

With little legs, the youngster
is quickly out of her depth

and trying to tread water.

Her family close in around her,

surprisingly buoyant
for their great size.

They help to keep her afloat...

Allowing the baby to practice
her trunk control.

Trunks contain 40,000 muscles,
making them excellent snorkels.

Once she masters the skill...

She will be able to freely roam

across great areas,
using the nile as a highway.

Few animals celebrate the nile's
waters like the elephant.

This may be a safe refuge
for some,

but for the nile itself,
transformation into

an enormous, sprawling wetland

means its waters
drastically evaporate.

Here, over half
of the nile's waters

are lost to the scorching sun.

And it still has
2,000 miles to go

and a mighty desert to cross

before it reaches
the mediterranean sea...

But help is on its way.

Hundreds of miles away, storms
in the Ethiopian highlands

fill the nile's
greatest tributary...

The blue nile.

This region is known
as Africa's water tower.

These fertile waters
will travel 1,000 miles

to eventually join up with
and revitalize the white nile.

Some believe that the blue nile
is the biblical river

that flowed out from
the garden of Eden.

And some of the world's oldest
Christian communities

are found on its banks.

In the ancient city of gondar,

the Ethiopian waters
of the blue nile

are diverted for
a religious ceremony...

An annual event called timket.

A Christian festival where
thousands gather to be baptized

in the nile's sacred waters.

For Thomas alamu,
this is the most important

event of the year.

Alamu: The feeling
after being baptized

is really more than anything.

I have no words even to explain
the feelings that I would have.

Narrator: Before his baptism
takes place,

Thomas prays in
an all-night mass vigil.

The crowd is waiting
for the priest's sign

that this water from the nile
is blessed.

Alamu: When the cross
touch the water,

it means the baptism
is just begin

and everybody will jump up
and just baptize.

It's the biggest celebration
of the year.

Bigger than Christmas.

Narrator: Worshippers believe
that the nile's waters

have extraordinary powers of
rebirth and transformation.

They feel like they
are baptized and that's true.

When they get the holy water,

they feel like
their sins go away.

Narrator: Thomas
takes his time...

Savoring the moment in prayer.

When after
I'm jumping into the water

and just coming out, wow!

It puts a smile on my face.

I feel like amazing.

I don't know how
I'm going to explain

but I feel like
I am peaceful man.

Narrator: As the blue nile
leaves its sacred beginnings,

it transports its rich waters
across the heart of Ethiopia...

Breathing life into
everything it touches.

Varied and exotic wildlife make
the most out of these waters.

From Africa's most endangered
carnivore, the Ethiopian wolf...

To some of the continent's
more adventurous characters.

Male village Weaver birds
build intricate nests...

And display their skills
to scrutinizing females.

Only the greenest nests
are of interest.

Females fly from nest to nest,
giving everything the once-over.

Brown nests just don't cut it.

So, these males
will have to undo

all of their hard work
and start over...

While other males will use
every trick in the book

to avoid a rebuild...
Disguising the brown

with fresh strands
of vegetation.

But the females aren't
so easily taken in.

They've seen it all before.

This young Weaver is trying to
build one of his first nests.

It takes years to perfect this
intricate and delicate task,

it takes years to perfect this
intricate and delicate task,

and so far, this novice
has only succeeded

in tying his foot
to the papyrus.

It's not impressing the ladies.

But his neighbor has
particularly expert

nest-building skills.

He makes trips
to the water to get

the very best nesting material
that the blue nile can provide.

And he has mastered the art of

tying knots with
his beak and feet.

He is clearly a success
with the ladies.

This romantic interlude
is the perfect opportunity

for the novice to steal some of
the expert's nest material.

But however hard he tries,

he just can't seem
to get it right.

Perhaps, with a bit
of practice,

this novice will be
more successful next year.

It's not just birds
that build their lives

around the lush vegetation here.

Papyrus reeds of the blue nile

have also been
important to people

since the dawn of civilization.

Especially on the blue nile's
biggest reservoir... lake tana.

For many, boats made
out of papyrus

are the only means
of transportation.

Boats are our livelihood.

No boats mean no movement.

Otherwise how would we go out?

We are surrounded by water,

so boats are everything here.

Narrator: Papyrus stalks
are buoyant, flexible,

and easy to gather.

But boats still need
replacing regularly, so,

villagers need to be skillful
and quick in this art.

It can be used for a month.

After then it will be too old to be
useful and we will build another.

Yes, it requieres skill.

One has to know how to do it,
otherwise how can it be done?

The job is difficult.

I will keep doing this,
until God calls me.

Narrator: This knowledge
has been passed down

for hundreds of generations.

First the father teaches his children,
then they teach each other.

They do fishing and sell the fish.

They use the money
they get to buy school books.

The children here are more or less
independent from their parents.

Narrator: Making a watertight
boat is an essential

rite of passage for
the children of this lake.

This expertise will
secure their future

and allow them to thrive on

the life-giving waters
of the blue nile.

These waters eventually
enter Sudan,

joining and supplementing
the dwindling white nile.

Here in Khartoum,
their combined power

allows them to tackle
the final but most challenging

leg of the journey.

Crossing the Sahara... the largest
hot desert in the world.

An expanse of sand
the size of China...

Where temperatures
top 120 degrees.

In this desert world, life seems
like an impossibility.

But the nile persists,
a fragile ribbon of blue

in an ocean of sand...

Allowing life to appear
out of the dust.

Here in Sudan,
an early civilization

that once rivaled ancient Egypt
grew on the nile's banks.

This great city of meroe

was the stronghold of
the kingdom of kush,

a great nile empire
that Rose 4,000 years ago...

Thriving off trade
made possible by the river.

But this
once-remarkable kingdom

has now been reclaimed
by the Sahara

and only its
200 pyramids remain.

A reminder of
just how ephemeral

civilizations are
in this desert world...

And that not even
the life-giving nile

can live forever.

The nile leaves Sudan
and continues its voyage

through the Sahara to become

the only permanent river
in Egypt...

Making its waters
more critical than ever

to those that live here.

One animal has
an incredible ability

to take the nile's water with it
wherever it goes.

Able to consume 52 gallons
of water in just 3 minutes,

camels can go months
without drinking again...

Allowing them to venture
deep into the desert.

A moving oasis.

For 3,000 years,
they have provided desert people

with transportation,
milk, and food.

They also provide in another,
more unexpected way.

Water is so sparse out here that
creatures who live in this desert

will take water wherever and in
whatever form they can get it.

Enter the dung beetles.

Brought in from miles around by
their incredible sense of smell.

And once they've found it,
the game is on

to seize the treasure
and hide it away.

It's a feat equivalent
to a human pushing a car

up a steep hill.

But worth the exertion.

Because the moisture contained
in camel dung

may be the only water
this beetle comes across

in its entire lifetime.

This desert is so arid that only
those with extreme adaptations

can live away from the nile.

But the human need for water
is so critical

that civilization in the Sahara
is forever chained to the river.

And remarkably, life not only

survives on the nile...

It thrives.

95% percent of
Egypt's population

lives on the nile's banks...

Making Cairo one of the most
densely populated places on earth.

Home to 20 million people,

this is the biggest
desert city in the world.

Famous for its vibrant,
exotic markets...

Famous for its vibrant,
exotic markets...

With an abundance of crops
grown from the nile.

But there's an increasing
silent pressure on this city.

The demands on the nile's waters
are exceeding its supply.

It is predicted that by 2025,

Cairo will be
running out of water.

The nile's future
hangs in the balance.

And in this great desert,

the nile's waters
are everything.

It's just as true now
as it was 5,000 years ago...

When the nile gave rise
to one of

the greatest kingdoms
in earth's history.

Ancient Egypt.

For 3,000 years, it was
a pinnacle of civilization.

The nile was so important
that pharaohs claimed

they had power over its waters.

This gave them the obedience
of the Egyptian people...

Who knew they were utterly
dependent on the river's flow.

They called the nile
the mother of all men...

And worshipped its miraculous
ability to bring life

to where there would
otherwise be none.

Still today, the nile's
incredible journey

is celebrated all along
its great length.

From its mountainous beginnings
to its desert ending.

Those that live in the
remarkable worlds of the nile

use its waters in
varied and astonishing ways.

And after 4,000 miles of
voyaging through Africa,

the nile finally
completes its journey

the nile finally
completes its journey

in the mediterranean sea,

having brought life
to all she has touched.

On the next
Rivers of Life, The Amazon.

The greatest of them
all, where extreme size,

transformation, and even colors

create incredible challenges,
and fantastic opportunities

for all who call this
legendary river their home.

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