Africa (2013): Season 1, Episode 3 - Congo - full transcript

The very centre of Africa.

And the centre of two million square
miles of dense tropical rain forest.

At first glance it seems deserted
and eerily still,

not an easy place to live.

But in fact, there is a greater
concentration of animals here

than anywhere else in Africa.

And in this world,
they must grab every opportunity.

Competition is intense
and unrelenting.

Even the forest itself
fights its corner with spines

and poisonous sap.

Here, every living thing must
fight for its space.



Episode 3: Congo
Original Air Date: January 16th, 2013

Such beauty.

But the flower is self-serving,

enticing animals
into an unwitting alliance.

Stingless bees.

They have to work hard.

The forest flowers make them do so
by rationing their nectar,

forcing each bee to visit
and so pollinate

at least a thousand blooms each day.

For the bees, it's worth the effort.

They need the nectar to make honey,
which they store in pots.

It's so precious, they keep it
hidden beneath the bark of a tree.

But their secret is out.

Nothing is safe in this forest.



Chimpanzees love honey.

She seems oblivious to danger.

A fall from up here could be fatal.

But she does need a bigger stick.

Only a chimp has the ability to
break into a stingless bees'

nest as well hidden as this.

Chimps are extremely intelligent,

but none is born with
the skill to use a tool.

Youngsters like this one
must learn by watching.

She uses special tools,
one after another,

to get all the honey she can,

and in a few minutes, she destroys
what took the bees years to build.

In the rainforest, nothing is safe.

Here in the Congo,

there can be as many as 500 trees
crammed into every acre.

In the battle for space,

some will rise to over 60 metres
high in just a few decades.

In a valley like this,

there could be close on 1,000
different species of tree.

Up here, the crowns barely touch.

Each tree seems to
respect its neighbour's space.

When they germinate down on
the forest floor, young trees

and plants are less restrained.

But every new generation
fights it out,

in battles we can
see by accelerating time.

They must get light if they are to
survive and they squeeze,

crush and even slash one
another in order to reach it.

Despite the thick canopy above,
some sunlight does filter through

and allows a few low-light
specialists

to bloom near the forest floor.

Down here there are animals, too,
that seek out the sunlight.

The forest's largest predator.

A female rock python.

Her body is five metres long, weighs
100 kilos and has 4,000 muscles

that she uses to crush the life
out of her victims.

But right now, her need is
not for food. It's for warmth.

She finds a rare patch where a shaft
of sunlight strikes the ground

and she begins to bask.

She's cold-blooded,

so this is the only way she can
raise the temperature of her body.

But now she's becoming very
warm indeed,

more than ten degrees hotter
than usual.

At 40 degrees centigrade,
she's in danger of killing herself.

Just in time, she moves off.

She disappears below ground.

This is her nest
and it's full of giant eggs.

It's critical for the eggs
development

that they stay above 30 degrees.

Here in this special filming burrow,
she gently wraps her super-heated

body around the eggs, passing
onto them the warmth of the sun.

She has done this every
day for three months.

The repeated heat stress on her body
is so great it could be lethal,

and at the very least, it will take
three years for her to

recover from incubating this one
clutch of eggs.

Her parchment-shelled eggs carry
the pressed imprint of her scales...

an indication of the strength
of her embrace.

At last, her efforts are rewarded.

But the babies can't stay here.
They must leave their sanctuary

and find food in the tangled
world above.

They're over 60 centimetres long,
already big enough to be

a threat to the smaller
inhabitants of the forest.

But they are themselves vulnerable.

Particularly to other snakes.

But this one is their mother.

Unusually for snakes,

her maternal instincts continue
for days after her eggs hatch.

Even so, the forest is such
a dangerous place that only

one in 100 of her youngsters
is likely to reach adulthood.

Just occasionally,
the competition eases.

A tree suddenly produces fruit.

It's a magnet for the creatures
of the canopy, and they, in turn,

as they feed, create a bonanza
for those on the ground below.

A mob of red river hogs.

They have travelled over two miles
through the thick undergrowth

to get to this fall of fruit.

But in the African forest,
little comes for free.

This feast is a bribe.

The hogs will carry
the seeds in their stomachs

and deposit them
far from the parent tree.

Night falls.

But one living community,
which is neither animal nor plant

continues its never ending
work in the darkness.

This ground is alive with fungi that
digest all the litter

discarded by the forest.

Some rare fungi do so with enzymes
that are luminous.

The local people call them
"chimpanzee fire."

Without the fungi, the dead
vegetation would pile so high

the living trees would be submerged.

Dawn, and a new day reveals just
how much control the jungle

has over its own environment.

The forests of the Congo
are the lungs of Africa.

As they use the sunlight to
build their tissues,

so they release oxygen
and water vapour into the air.

Each hectare of forest produces,
as vapour,

almost 190,000 litres
of water a year.

So much that it
creates its own weather.

Clouds blanket the forest, driving
up the humidity and temperature.

A storm is brewing.

The Congo might be
the richest part of Africa,

but it's also the most violent.

Each year, as many as 100 million
lightning bolts

strike the forest.

That's more than anywhere
else in the world.

And with the lightning
comes the rain.

Up to 95% of the rain that
falls here

is generated by the forest itself.

With the deluge will come change to
the animals and to the forest.

It's certainly perfect
weather for frogs.

The big storm is the cue for
the most important climb

of this frog's life.

It's a male in search of a mate.

But if he is to find one,
he has to get to the top.

He needs to keep his wits about him,

for the rain also brings out
hunters.

Easy does it.

The top, at last.

But he's late to the party.

The higher a male sits,
the further his voice will carry,

so the top slots are worth
fighting for.

And he's won.

He has the top place.

So now it's time to sing.

And a white-bellied
female responds.

They join together to mate.

The loser will have to wait for the
next storm before he sings again.

She lays her eggs on a blade
of a long leaf.

And he, using his back legs,
folds it over

and glues its two edges together,
shutting the eggs inside.

This sealed nest is the safest place
these leaf-folding frogs

can find to protect their precious
brood.

Within days, the eggs are
developing.

The timing is perfect.

The rain washes away the glue
and the tadpoles slip

out of the leaves into the growing
puddles below.

The rainy season reaches its peak
and the ground has been transformed.

The forest is flooded.

It's a new world.

Fish swim in from
the swollen streams,

exploiting this newly created space,
snapping up the drowning insects.

This is a butterfly fish.

A Congo bichir.

The hunter becomes the hunted.

The butterfly fish is too quick
and leaps out of danger.

The floods gradually drain
back into the established waterways

that run through
the forest like blood vessels.

There is so much water flowing
through the forest that even

little rivulets can carve out
the soil around an ancient boulder.

This is the home of one forest
creature that has lived

here in the Congo
for 44 million years.

Picathartes.

These birds mate for life,

and the male reaffirms the bond
by displaying to the female.

They're building a mud nest
on the underside of the boulder's

overhang, where it'll be
protected from the rain.

The female takes the lead.

The male doesn't seem quite
so skilful.

Oh, dear.

Luckily, she can put things right.

Now she's collecting
the soft furnishings.

He's brought some, too,
but he still can't get it right.

In the end, the female seems
satisfied with the finish...

and just in time.

It might look as if he
has been banished into the rain,

but in fact, they're a great team.

They share the incubation,

12 hours on, 12 hours off,
for the next three weeks.

In due course,
there are mouths to feed,

and now the male must
prove his worth.

Worms are a good start,
and he's doing well.

But the chicks are insatiable.

Fortunately, other things
are on the menu.

He might be a poor nest-builder.

But he is redeeming himself now.

Domestic bliss!

Rocky overhangs are the only place
where Picathartes

will build their nest,

so they owe their home
to the stream that revealed

the flank of the giant boulder.

This stream
and countless others like it

merge to form the great
rivers of Central Africa.

More than 450 billion
litres of rainwater,

travelling down thousands of rivers,
are heading west.

The waters pick up speed
as the rivers spill over the edge

of the central plateau and create
giant cascades of white water.

The Kongou forces its way through
the wildest, most untouched

forest in the whole of Africa.

The Congo river system drains
an area the size of India,

carrying the waters westwards
towards the Atlantic.

But before it reaches the coast,
the rivers broaden,

forcing back the forest.

And here for the first time,
there is space.

Wide, flat and safe.

These stretches of sand attract
visitors from the coast.

Skimmers searching for somewhere
safe to settle.

The lower mandible of their beaks
is greatly elongated.

They slice it through the surface
of the water at ten metres a second.

If and when it hits a tiny fish,
it'll snap shut.

But why come up river to these
open sand flats?

This is the answer.

But this nursery will not exist
for long.

Four weeks from now, it'll be
under ten metres of water.

If by then these chicks can't fly,
they will drown.

The problem for young skimmers
is that when they hatch,

the lower part of their beaks
is the same size as the upper.

While they wait for it to grow,

they do their best to learn
the skimming technique.

Open spaces may be safe,

but they give no protection
against the driving rain.

These storms are a warning that
the skimmers must soon leave.

The river is already rising.

This year the chicks get
away in time.

It's not just water that has
the power to clear a way

through the forest.

There are animals that
could do that too.

They have created a network
of pathways that criss-cross

the lowland forest and run
for thousands of miles

in all directions.

These path-makers are
surprisingly stealthy.

But as night falls, there's a chance
of catching a glimpse of them.

Forest elephants are very
social creatures,

but in dense jungle it's
hard for them to find one another.

These elephants are lucky.

Here in the Congo, there is one
special place

where they can meet and mingle.

A place that the elephants
have created for themselves.

And this is it.

Dzanga-Bai, the legendary
"village of elephants".

As well as being a place where they
can enjoy one another's company,

this great clearing satisfies
another craving...

for salts.

The salts lie deep under the mud,

so the elephants have got to mine
for them,

which they do with high pressure
water jets from their trunks.

The precious salts

and the chance to socialise bring
in elephants from far and wide.

If an elephant is in the mood to
mate, this is the place to be.

This young bull is in a state
of musth, a kind of sexual fury.

He is so pumped up by hormones
and the excitements of the crowd

that he seems to have taken leave
of his senses.

But will throwing his weight about
impress the females?

The cows only become fertile
once every two years.

So opportunities to encounter one
at the right time are not common.

This could well be the first chance
this young male has had.

He's lucky.

And there are no older bulls around
to put him in his place.

Just for a moment,
he is king of the bai.

But his rule doesn't last for long.

Enter another lusty bull.

And a much bigger one.

But the young bull is still
charged up with testosterone.

Bold or foolish,
he's going into battle.

He never really had a chance.

Dzanga-bai is a huge clearing,

but it's still just a speck in this
vast expanse of green.

Elephants might fell trees
and carve pathways,

but nothing natural can hold back
this forest for ever.

Nothing but the Atlantic Ocean.

Loango Beach,
on Africa's west coast...

one of the last truly wild places

where the Congo jungle
meets the sea.

Here, the forest gives way to sand,
surf and fresh sea air.

The cool breezes and warm sunlight

entice creatures out
of the dark forest.

LOWING

Forest buffalo appear first.

And here in the surf...

there are hippo.

Spray blows in from the sea,
making the grass salty.

So here elephants can get
their tasty salt

without having to dig for it.

This mother with her tiny baby
can feel the sun on her back.

Here, it's safe for her little one.

They're free to eat in peace.

The bulls have all the room
they need.

So there is less risk of a fight.

Everyone,
from gorillas to forest hogs,

ventures out to relax on the beach.

But the forest creatures
can't stay out here forever.

Despite everything...

the intense competition,
the threats, the darkness...

they need their forest, just as
their forest needs them.

The Congo rainforest.

A four-day journey
to the heart of Africa.

Once the plane leaves,
you're on your own.

This expedition planned to film two
of the Congo's best-kept secrets.

But to even find them,

the crew would have to work
very hard indeed.

You might as well be on a
different planet

coming to a place like this,
Planet Congo.

Mysterious...

difficult...

complex...

challenging.

'You know, everything's
trying to bite you.'

Suck your blood.

It's like being tickled by a million
feathers at the same time.

The insects might be torture, but
that's the least of their worries.

The only way to get deep into the
jungle is to follow these trails.

Trails made by dangerous
forest elephants.

'Well, the first thing you need to
know about the forest elephants is,

"you don't want to meet one."

Cos running away
can elicit a charge,

'and it could be exactly
the wrong thing to do.'

Our team are completely dependent
on their Bayaka guides for safety.

_

_

_

But it's these same forest elephants
that James has come to film.

And just to make the challenge
harder,

he's here to film them in the dark.

Nobody knows exactly what
they get up to at night...

they haven't been filmed
like this before.

I couldn't rig this place
if the Bayaka weren't here.

Watching my back, really.

James needs to operate
the remote cameras

from somewhere
out of the elephants' reach.

A tree platform
seems like the best option.

_

Apparently, they have very big
elephants round here.

They want us to put it
a bit higher, so...

I think I'll do what they say.

But no-one wants to stay out
at night

and help James with the filming.

_

_

So James will be alone
until morning.

If anything goes wrong,
he's on his own.

If they really wanted to,
they could push these trees over.

I can't imagine that's going to be
an issue.

As James settled down for the night,

he's got no idea of the trouble
that's coming his way.

What's going on?

20 miles away, Mark MacEwen is also
up in the middle of the night.

The animal he's after
is proving impossible to find.

Ah...

So we get up in the darkness and we
walk through the jungle at night,

hoping to hear the sound
of cracking branches

or leaves moving up in the trees.

That means chimpanzees
are stirring in the treetops,

and Mark is here to film chimps
hunting for honey.

There's one chimp in particular
he needs to find...

a teenager with a very sweet tooth,

known to go further in the pursuit
of a bees' nest than any other.

I've spent six days walking,

probably the equivalent of a half
marathon every day in 100% humidity,

and about 95 degrees in the shade.

And we just can't find our
chimpanzee.

Time is ticking away, and Mark
is running out of filming days.

At the moment,
I just need some good luck.

We've come an awfully long way
to get this sequence.

We've got probably 10, 12 days left.

But it's hard work at the moment.

All Mark can do is persevere,
and hope for a break.

But not all the forest creatures
are so shy.

Perched high in his tree,
James Aldred is waiting patiently

for the elephants to come in.

At last, the elephants are here,

but they're behaving strangely.

He knows something's
not quite right.

The elephants seem agitated.

They just want to get rid of you.

One begins to thump the tree
with its head.

James has no option
but to weather the attack.

"Let's lean forward
and keep head-butting,

keep head-butting,
keep head-butting."

Suddenly, the cameras cut out.

And James is left
in complete darkness.

After three weeks searching, Mark
has lost nearly two stone in weight,

but he hasn't given up.

He can't afford to
put down his camera for a second.

Suddenly, the guide
spots the honey hunter.

This is it.

Where is she?

She's inside the tree.

Just for some honey,
she's risking her life.

It's amazing.

Well, I think I just
couldn't stop smiling'

for several days after filming.
The relief was just unbelievable.

Back at the camera platform,
James has had a long night.

For over four hours, the elephant
tried to shake him out of the tree.

Got down this morning
when the Bayaka came to collect me,

went to look at the camera, and
he'd pulled it out of the tree,

and he'd chewed
through the power cable.

He must have gotten a bit of a
shock, I mean only 12 volts, but...

Serves him right, quite honestly.

But at least we got a shot of him
before he trashed the camera.

Silver lining.

Despite this bumpy start, the
elephants soon got used to James,

and James got used to the elephants.

Filming here was never going
to be easy,

but we were soon able to reveal
the night life of forest elephants

like never before.

Next time, Africa's Great Cape.

Where a land of mountains and
deserts is flanked by two coasts.

Only in this part of Africa
do powerful oceanic forces combine

in such a riotous explosion of life.

Sync and corrections by n17t01