There is a place where water has turned a desert into paradise.
Creating an oasis that shimmers with vivid beauty.
Renewed each year by an ancient river.
It is a diverse and astonishing wilderness.
A spectacle like no other on earth.
Where Africa's iconic animals flourish.
Drawn together by water's life giving force.
This is the great Okavango Delta,
lifeblood of the Kalahari.
It's mid-winter in the northern Kalahari,
The peak of the dry season.
This arid savanna landscape receives less than 20 inches of annual rain.
Only the most accomplished dry land survivors can exist here,
But in the middle of this ancient desert lies an unlikely wildlife haven.
It's incredible story starts thousands of miles away.
Eight months ago, fed by the rains in the Angolan highlands
the Okavango river began to flow southeast.
Carrying 35 billion cubic feet of water,
it flows for 990 miles,
finally reaching an ancient floodplain in Botswana.
Here it fans out into a myriad of channels, streams and lagoons.
Gradually spreading to cover some 9,900 square miles.
Bringing relief to the once scorched earth.
And providing an oasis for thousands of animals.
Their subsistence tied together by a river that never finds the ocean.
But transforms one of Africa's great deserts into a water world wonderland.
The Okavango delta is truly the Lifeblood of the Kalahari.
Few animals are more at home in the Okavango delta than the massive Hippopotamus.
Males can grow up to three tons.
They have sharp tusks that can grow as long as 20 inches
contained in powerful jaws.
But they are vegetarians
and these canines are used for territorial fighting.
This combination of power and weaponry makes them deadly.
Hippos kill more humans in Africa than any other mammal.
Around them, it's best to beware.
But they have a weakness.
Sensitive skin.
So they spend most of the day submerged, avoiding the sun.
This young calf will even suckle below the water.
Bonds between mothers and daughters can last for years.
Waterways and broad grassy islands are their perfect natural habitat.
Hippos follow regular routes through the delta's dense vegetation
where swamps are lined by one of the fastest growing plants on earth.
Papyrus.
This giant sedge is the same plant that the ancient Egyptians once used to make paper.
The fibrous stems they favored for their scrolls are so tough
they are indigestible to almost all animals.
The plant grows quickly into dense, almost impenetrable levees
that block the flow of water into the thirsty surroundings.
But with their huge bulk and constant aquatic movement
hippos carve paths through the thick papyrus.
Allowing water to flow away from the swamp's main channels
and feed the land around it.
Making hippos integral animal architects in the dynamic Okavango ecosystem.
The hippos share their domain with a multitude of winged neighbors.
The Okavango delta is home to 482 species of birds,
including some 33 water birds.
This high density means that each bird
has developed special ways to avoid conflict for resources.
Causing some remarkable adaptations.
Like the aptly named African spoonbills.
Together they move through the water, searching for small fish.
Their broad flat beaks ideally formed to snap-up unsuspecting prey.
The Open-billed stork has a very different specialization.
Its curved bill has a gap of just under a quarter of an inch.
This odd shape helps them grasp and open aquatic snails and mussels
to get to the tender flesh inside.
This adaptation is so successful
that the Open-billed is one of the most common of African storks.
The Black heron's strategy is more elaborate.
The reason for their so-called sun umbrella wing shaping
is still debated.
Some suggest it decreases glare on the water's surface,
making it easier to spot prey.
Others argue it creates a seemingly safe, shady refuge for fish.
And the trickery goes a step further.
The heron wiggles its yellow toes in the mud,
which may well attract fish like a bright lure.
Another master stalker of the Okavango is the Hamerkop,
named for its hammer-shaped head.
Although it has a simpler approach,
it is generally an effective predator.
Its prey of choice is frogs,
but today it's not having much luck finding them.
The resourceful hunter opts for a different technique:
dive bombing off a well-placed island.
The hippo bull doesn't seem to mind being used as a hunting platform.
And the Hamerkop's strategy pays off.
Past his prime and long since banished from the herd,
the old hippo bull now makes this lonely wallow his home.
Where even the company of the noisy Hamerkops is better than none.
Other clever water birds also employ temporary hippo islands.
Like the Okavango's deep water expert:
the African darter.
It has body plumage that holds water
and heavier bones than other bird species.
These act like a diver's weight belt.
Allowing it to dive for more than a minute and a half,
up to 20 feet deep.
But wet feathers can reduce body temperatures to a dangerous level,
forcing darters to dry themselves in the sun between dives.
As the winter floods arrive and flow through the delta's system,
they support more than just aquatic life.
The abundance of water fuels enough plant growth to feed Africa's giants.
A five-ton elephant bull needs around 660 pounds of food a day.
And the delta provides enough food
to support more than a hundred thousand elephants.
Making it one of the last strong holds for these largest of land mammals.
Good news for the African jacana.
It follows in the elephant's wake,
Snapping up insects disturbed by the mammoth feet.
Jacanas thrive in the delta.
Their elongated toes easily hold their small bodies aloft,
allowing them to travel light on floating islands.
For the jacanas, prime property must include a foundation for nests,
feeding grounds and stepping stones across the surface.
For the latter, one plant fits the bill perfectly.
Water lilies.
Their long stalks have air canals, keeping the plant afloat.
Allowing buds to blossom above the surface.
Around five days later the stalk retracts in a spiral,
pulling the fertilized bloom back underwater
where it will develop into a fruit.
Later erupting with seeds to be spread by the current.
As the delta's waters inundate the landscape,
lilies abound.
And they are a relished by some.
This elephant isn't going to let a mouthful of grit ruin his meal.
A quick rinse and it's ready to eat.
While the elephants devour stalks,
the Chacma baboon is more particular.
He's only after the roots.
Dexterous hands and opposable thumbs
allow baboons to pick the juiciest bits of the lilies.
Although they can survive in the driest corners of the continent,
in the delta Chacma baboons thrive.
Here their population density
is six times as great
as the Chacma baboons living in the nearby Namib desert.
This family is fifty strong.
Meaning there are always eyes peeled for predators.
When you're off guard, strength in numbers is crucial.
Troops have strict hierarchies
determining access to the best forage.
A flash of razor-sharp canines is sufficient warning to back off.
Babies ride jockey-style on their mothers' backs
from between six and twelve weeks old.
Baboons have incredibly varied diets.
Eating everything from grasses and fruit to insects
and on the rare occasion
even small antelope.
But, for now, these youngsters are too distracted to eat.
Troops can cover up to 9 miles a day while foraging.
Their long arms allow for efficient movement and foraging on the ground.
All of these factors have made baboons one of the most successful primates in Africa.
But the floods also bring danger.
Water levels restrict movement,
forcing them to travel along predictable routes on their daily journeys.
And they're not the only ones using these routes.
With its abundance of animal life,
the Delta is home to many predators.
And none is more dangerous to baboons than the Leopard.
Weighing about 130 pounds,
his short, powerful legs keep him low to the ground.
Where he is camouflaged against the delta's long grass.
This male patrols his territory,
which can cover just under 250 square miles.
He has unique markings of black dots
and roughly broken circles called rosettes that take infinite forms.
Meaning no two leopards are alike.
Leopards are the most wide-spread of all wild African cats,
occurring across the continent.
Solitary and secretive, adults associate only for long enough to mate.
This male scent-marks his territory fastidiously.
A warning to other males, and an advertisement to any females in the area.
Being more active at night,
he may travel as far as 15 miles under the cover of darkness.
The arrival of the floods ensures a variety of small herbivores in his territory.
As long as they remain fed, so will he.
The delta is the lifeblood for carnivore and herbivore alike,
providing food in abundance.
And the African buffalo prefers an early breakfast.
This gregarious grazer thrives in the Okavango.
They are some of the heavier Okavango inhabitants,
weighing as much as 1700 pounds.
And have developed symbiotic relationships
with birds like oxpeckers and cattle egrets,
which exchange a cleaning service for meals of ticks.
The buffalo drinks at least once a day
but there is an animal here that has a greater need for water
Red lechwe.
They are among the most water dependent of all antelopes.
Locally common to the Okavango,
they thrive on new growth along the margins of floodplains.
To make the most of this feeding niche,
lechwe follow the water's seasonal advance and retreat.
But the lechwe needs the delta for more than just food.
When threatened, they head for water.
Powerful legs and a leaping gate enable them to travel quickly across the floodplains,
where they are safe from most predators.
But not all.
The depths hold one of the delta's most successful predators.
The Nile crocodile.
Large specimens can grow to 15 feet long
and weigh more than a ton.
With eyes and nostrils on top of their heads,
they are well adapted for ambush tactics beneath the surface.
They hunt for mainly fish and large mammals.
The lechwe would make an excellent meal.
But on dry land the crocodile stands no chance of catching them.
There are other more substantial options on the reptilian hunter's menu.
Waterbuck are twice the lechwe's size.
Males weigh in at around 500 pounds
and sport impressive curved horns,
which can reach lengths of up to three feet.
These handsome antelope need to drink several times a day to avoid dehydration.
Unlike the lechwe, they prefer dry grassland for grazing.
And retreat to the cover of vegetation when threatened.
This combination of factors makes viable territories hard to come by.
But the delta provides for all their needs.
A breeding male will sometimes tolerate the presence of a younger bachelor,
as long as he doesn't attempt to mate with any females.
But at around six years the younger male thinks he is ready
to challenge for dominance.
A challenge that is quickly dispatched with.
Baboon troops are also governed by strength.
And this alpha male has won the right to breed.
Mating is often a public affair.
Accompanied by a tell-tale call.
If the female conceives, the troop will have a new member in six months.
Copulation is often followed by grooming.
A crucial tool in maintaining group cohesion.
And cementing relationships between troop members.
While some species rely directly on the delta's waters,
this Greater kudu herd have a less direct dependence.
Although they need to drink,
kudu can go for longer periods without water than lechwe and Waterbuck.
For them the delta's dense vegetation is key;
providing both sustenance and cover from predators.
Making the Okavango islands excellent habitat for the kudu.
This bull is fully mature, with an impressive set of horns.
Growing up to 6 feet,
they are longest horns of any antelope.
While kudu aren't territorial,
he has something here worth fighting for.
A cow.
Kudu are seasonal breeders and with the delta in full flood,
now is the time for this pair.
But for elephants, reproduction can be an altogether more dramatic affair
African elephants live in breeding herds of related cows,
led by a matriarch.
But there is a large bull in this herd, attracted by a cow in estrus.
He's not the only male around,
and another bull attempts to impose himself on the young cow.
Scenes like this are not uncommon and cows often escape.
The chase ends only if the bull can catch her.
But the larger bull will not tolerate this kind of behavior
emitting deep rumbles in warning.
He drives off the rogue.
After the drama, the herd heads off for a cool, calming drink.
And what better for an African elephant after quenching its thirst
than a wallow in the mud.
The mud helps cool the elephants, and protects their skin from the harsh African sun.
It also acts as a pest deterrent.
After coating themselves elephants will scratch off the thick layer,
removing parasites with it.
Having utilized the abundance of water and mud here in the delta,
the herd is well equipped to continue its day.
Elephants aren't the only ones enjoying the Okavango's masses of mud.
Warthogs love a good mud bath.
These are the only pigs adapted to grazing in a savanna habitat.
But they don't have the elephants' advantage of a long trunk.
Kneeling allows them access to short grass.
Like the elephants they also have ivory tusks.
Growing to as long as 23 inches,
they're used largely in fights with other warthogs.
The thick, protruding lumps of skin below the eye protect the hogs from serious harm.
But it is the shorter lower tusks which inflict the real damage.
They grind against the upper tusks to form a razor sharp point.
Used to slash and stab in self-defense against predators.
But even the toughest quarry may fall prey to an experienced killer.
An adult warthog met its demise overnight.
Leopards will catch and kill almost anything including reptiles, birds and fish.
But they prey mainly on mammals, suffocated with a strangling bite.
A full grown warthog weighs around 140 pounds.
A big meal for the leopard.
He may return to feed on the same carcass for days,
stashing it in the safety of a tree, out of the reach of scavengers.
But for now, well fed and content, relaxation is the order of the day.
While predators like the leopard and crocodile thrive on land and in water,
another formidable creature dominates the delta's skies.
The majestic African fish eagle.
The Okavango delta's swamps, channels and lagoons
provide habitats for more fish eagles than anywhere else on the continent.
These powerful eagles hunt from elevation,
swooping down to nab fish as heavy as six and a half pounds.
Yet despite their reputation for fishing,
these raptors are known thieves,
stealing fish from birds including kingfishers and Saddle-billed storks.
But the Saddle-billed stork is an unlikely victim.
As it towers over the eagles at five feet tall,
and weighs up to 15 pounds.
Like the fish eagles, Saddle-bills form monogamous breeding pairs.
But they are relatively scarce,
with only one pair per 38 square miles in the delta.
They use their colorful bills to spear and grasp prey,
easily seen in the shallow pools.
This fish is a substantial meal.
But swallowing it presents it a challenge.
The stork's struggle has caught the attention of the fish eagle.
But he arrives too late.
Having missed out on stealing a meal from the stork,
the eagle finds easier pickings
in the form of a large nest of young Red-billed buffalo weavers.
The baby birds are a valuable source of extra protein for the raptor.
For the fish eagle, its early years of life can be tough.
It takes up to five years for the birds to gain their adult plumage.
Until then their youth is betrayed by motley speckles and grey facial skin.
Driven from their early homes,
the juveniles are forced to lead a nomadic existence,
Roaming between areas not already under the control of territorial adults.
These unclaimed areas can be few and far between,
resulting in congregations of youngsters.
In the fifth year of life facial skin yellows.
But remaining breast speckles still have to give way
before they are ready to compete with other adults for riverside real estate.
While the young fish eagles are just starting out in life,
this old buffalo bull is in his twilight years.
Unable to compete with younger, fitter males for dominance within a herd,
he has been exiled.
As buffalos get older they lose the hair on their sides,
and his hairless flank reveals his advanced age.
Life in the delta means crossing channels like these regularly.
And the buffalo has learnt to be wary of what lurks beneath the surface.
But a juvenile crocodile is far too small to pose a threat.
His bulk makes him immune to all except the largest predators
free to live out his last few seasons in wandering solitude.
Meanwhile not far upstream,
another old bull is using his most remarkable attribute:
his trunk.
Elephants have the most inclusive diet of any herbivore.
Even the incredibly fibrous papyrus isn't inedible to him.
He uses his powerful yet dexterous trunk, made up of more than 50,000 muscles
to choose the tastiest leaves.
To power such massive bodies,
elephants must spend up to 16 hours a day feeding.
Working their trunks almost endlessly.
Elephants are the ultimate combination of dexterity and strength.
A fitting icon for the great Okavango.
In the coming months,
these strong flowing channels will dry to a trickle as the floods recede.
The great herds will move off to other grazing further afield.
But the cycle will continue as rain falls on distant mountains,
And the mighty Okavango river arrives once more
to cast precious water across the vast Kalahari.
For the animals of the Okavango Delta,
life is contingent on one of nature's great anomalies
A river that flows from distant highland into the middle of a desert.
Fuelling growth in profusion
and supporting all manner of life.
For as long as the mighty Okavango river flows,
this wonderland of abundant life and variety will persist.
Remaining the lifeblood of the Kalahari.
(♪♪♪)