Wild Arabia (2013–…): Season 1, Episode 1 - Sand, Wind and Stars - full transcript

For centuries

an exotic but forbidden land has
captured our imagination.

Now for the first time

we can explore this place of
myth and legend.

What we discover are extremes
and surprises.

This is a place where the ancient
past is colliding with the future.

But this land is also home to
extraordinary wildlife.

This is the story of the animals
and people of Arabia.

Sitting at the crossroads
of the world,

Arabia is bounded on three sides by
sea and ringed by rugged mountains.

But the story of Arabia must begin
with her heartland - the desert.



This unforgiving wilderness
covers 90% of Arabia.

From the rocky wastelands
of the north to the south,

where the largest sand desert in
the world smothers the land.

To understand how any life
can survive here

we must take a journey through
the dry heart of Arabia.

One animal above all embodies
what it takes to survive

the Arabian desert.

The animal that inspired the myth
of the unicorn.

The Arabian oryx.

These beautiful antelope
are the ultimate desert survivors.

Getting all the moisture they need
from the vegetation they eat.

Yet just 40 years ago, oryx
were on the edge of extinction.

Victims of their own beauty,
oryx were heavily hunted.

At one stage, only eight animals
remained in the wild.



But intense efforts to protect
them have been successful.

Today, over 500 roam once
more in the deserts

of Saudi Arabia, Oman
and The Emirates.

The key to oryx survival is
keeping on the move.

They have an extraordinary ability
to sniff out distant rain

and will walk hundreds of miles to
find the vegetation it brings.

This same solution to desert
survival was

adopted by the only people to
have mastered life here.

The Bedouin nomads.

The Bedouin owe their success to
a remarkable partnership.

Over 3,000 years ago,
ancestors of the Bedouin tamed

the single-humped camel,
the dromedary.

The camel is almost as well adapted
to the desert as the oryx.

Able to travel
50 days without water.

And they carry their own food store
to get through long desert journeys,

a hump made of energy-rich fat.

Although few Bedouin are now
truly nomadic,

many still graze
their camels in the desert.

But to find their animals
enough food,

they must keep them on the move.

Salif bin Hamad Alwheebi grew
up as a true desert nomad.

He watches for clues, like distant
clouds, that might guide him

and his clan to fresh grazing.

Under the clear desert sky,
the temperature plummets

cold enough for a campfire.

Storytelling is an ancient
Bedouin tradition.

This is the land of
1,001 Arabian Nights.

Many stories are of the magical
animals that avoid desert heat

by emerging after dark.

An Arabian wonder gecko,
on the hunt for insects.

Large eyes are great for
night vision,

but with no eyelids, a tongue is
handy for keeping sand out.

An Arabian jird,
searches for grass seeds.

In times of plenty, jirds will
gather up to ten kilos of seeds

to store in their burrows.

One of the desert's most poisonous
snakes - a horned viper.

The horns are a form of camouflage
amongst the desert grass.

Most vipers lie in wait
for their prey,

but in the desert,
where food is scarce,

they must travel great distances.

Side-winding helps grip soft sand.

Jirds aren't travellers,

they will not stray
far from their stash of food.

This makes them vulnerable.

But tonight, the threat to this jird
is not from the viper.

He's in someone else's territory
and he's been spotted.

Food is so scarce here

jirds will fight viciously to
defend their territory.

As dawn breaks, the story
of the night's drama

is left written in the sand.

A lone scarab beetle is
late for bed.

Coffee originated in Arabia.

But with water so sparse,

the Bedouin drink it low volume
and high strength.

Salif wants his son, Hazar,
to learn the skills of the Bedouin.

The most important of which is
how to control a camel.

He's been training Hazar how to
handle these difficult beasts.

Now it's time for a test.

Father and son are setting off on a
journey to an annual festival

where they'll compete against the
best camel riders in the land.

It's a journey that will take them

through some of the harshest
landscapes in the world.

But journeying is what
these people do.

Bedouin have ranged all over Arabia
for thousands of years,

from the vast sand dunes
of the south,

to the rocky wilderness
of the north.

This is the desert first
mapped by Lawrence of Arabia.

Stony canyons provide a
sanctuary for animals

throughout the Middle East,

like Nubian ibex.

These wild goats can
only survive here

because precious water bubbles to
the surface in springs.

In summer, the females come to
drink at these pools every day.

The pool is guarded by a male ibex.

He has exclusive access to the
females who come here.

He tastes the air to see
if any of them are ready to mate.

But this is such a prized spot that
inevitably he has competition.

Getting the upper
ground will be key.

The male's skulls are specially
reinforced to take a battering.

They are evenly matched. The battle
could last up to an hour.

But when a third male joins in,
no-one seems to know who to fight.

The party is soon broken up
by a tell-tale smell in the air.

The ibex are right to be skittish.

Bedouin have always been
skilled hunters.

And there is an ancient guidebook
to the best hunting grounds

written in stone.

For hundreds of years,

the Bedouin have scratched
messages for fellow travellers.

Instructions on how to find grazing
or herds of wild animals.

But in parts of Arabia, the rocks
tell an even more astounding story.

These etchings
are thousands of years old

and they reveal a fertile grassland,

filled with animals like lions
and ostrich,

that no longer roam
the Arabian landscape.

At the end of the last ice age,
10,000 years ago,

Arabia was green but she's been
gradually drying out ever since.

And the drying of Arabia has
played its part

in bringing down civilisations.

At Mada'in Saleh in Saudi Arabia
and Petra in Jordan

are the breathtaking
ruins of the Nabataean Empire.

Their civilisation was built
on the trade of a precious substance

drawn from a desert plant.

The Nabataeans learnt that when cut,

this tree produces strong
smelling resin.

At the height of their empire,
this was more valuable than gold.

When burned, the resin produces
an intoxicating aroma.

The sweet smell of frankincense.

The smoke has strong
anti-depressant properties.

Perhaps that's why this humble sap
became a religious obsession

from ancient Egypt to
early Christianity,

and remains popular today
throughout Arabia.

The Nabataean empire flourished
on the trade of frankincense

but as the desert dried
out around them,

the trade routes shifted
and the empire fell into decline.

The Bedouin strategy of
keeping on the move

became the only way to survive.

The rocky deserts of northern
Arabia are constantly being

ground down by the heat and wind.

This creates the sand that is
blown south to form

the vast sea of dunes known to
Arabs as the Rub Al Khali,

or to Western explorers simply
as the Empty Quarter.

This is a landscape entirely
sculpted by wind.

Covering an area the size of France,

this is the largest
expanse of sand in the world.

Individual dunes can be
100 miles long.

Salif and Hazar must cross just
a corner of this hostile desert

to reach their goal.

This is where camels come
into their own.

Feet the size of a dinner plate
spread their weight

and prevent them
sinking in to the soft sand.

Translucent eyelids keep sand
out of the eyes.

The camels can
walk on through the sandstorm

but they need their riders
to navigate.

There are no landmarks here and the
sand dunes Salif knew as a boy

have long been blown away
and replaced.

The air temperatures here
can reach 52 degrees Centigrade

and the surface of the sand
can reach 70 degrees.

Hot enough to kill most animals.

The sleek scales and torpedo-shaped
nose of this lizard are a clue

to its trick for escaping the heat.

But its name is the give-away.

The sandfish escapes cooking
by swimming.

Stirred like this, hot sand
takes on the properties of liquid.

Just 30 centimetres down,
the sand is 30 degrees cooler.

The midday temperatures drive most
animals deep underground.

In a special filming burrow
deep in the desert

we can witness a strange
relationship.

Dhub lizards share their burrows
with scorpions.

The dhub lizard's skin is too thick
to pierce, so he tolerates

the deadly tenant and the scorpion
deters unwanted visitors.

It's a useful relationship,
although good manners are optional.

If the dhub can cope with
the midday heat,

he'll have the desert to himself
and he has a strategy for just that.

As a reptile, he needs to warm up.

He flattens his body to absorb
the sun's rays.

Black is the most effective
colour for absorbing heat,

soaking up 90% of the sun's energy.

But on the scorching hot
desert floor,

the lizard reaches operating
temperature in minutes.

Rapid panting prevents his
brain overheating

while he plays his most
extraordinary trick.

The dhub's body is now undergoing
a radical transformation.

The black pigment drains
away from his scales.

His new pale skin now reflects
most of the sun's rays.

Making the dhub the coolest
lizard under the sun.

Only one animal shares the midday
desert with the dhub

and it uses a similar strategy.

The pure white coat of the oryx
reflects heat.

While black markings
protect its eyes

from the brilliant glare
of the sun.

Oryx can travel even longer
without water than camels

but even they must eventually sniff
out distant rain to survive.

One male is dominant, and has sole
breeding rights with the females.

But this male has become weak
through lack of food,

and a rival makes a challenge.

The dominant male has
been driven out.

The herd moves on without him.

The deposed male is old
and must now try to survive alone.

In this brutal place, he
may not last long.

With food so scarce, many desert
animals live a solitary existence.

Using special filming techniques

we can recreate
the drama of their lives.

A lesser jerboa.

A hunter needs super senses to find
such small, sparse prey.

The Rueppell's desert fox has ears
20 times more sensitive

than our own.

The jerboa tries to hide,
but the hole's not deep enough.

The fox's sensitive nose tells him
exactly where to dig.

There's a sneaky back door.

If he can squeeze through.

Time for the jerboa to
reveal his own secret weapon.

Leg's like a kangaroo.

The jerboa can hop more than ten
times its own body length.

But long legs don't make
it easy to hide.

They come into their own when the
only option left is to run for it.

Sometimes getting over is tough.

Better to go under.

The jerboa's quick
but the fox is quicker.

The jerboa's only hope is to
out-manoeuvre

and he has one last trick
up his sleeve.

Hairy feet.

A shock of hair on the
sole of his feet

grips the sand for a quick turn.

Desert survival requires
sensible footwear.

Tonight, the desert fox goes hungry.

The jerboa's not the only one
with special powers

to survive the desert.

The Arabian fat-tailed scorpion.

Growing up to 15 centimetres long,

her powerful neurotoxins
kill several humans every year.

She's hunting for beetles.

She can't move fast,
but she's got some special features.

Highly-sensitive hairs can detect
the faintest of movements.

And like something borrowed from
the Batmobile,

she sweeps the sand
with delicate chest combs,

picking up chemical signals left
by her quarry.

She doesn't need to make
a kill very often.

She can survive up to a
year between meals.

But the scorpion is
prey as well as predator.

The desert fox is still hungry and
not afraid to take on a scorpion.

When the moon rises,
he'll have more light to hunt

and he'll have the upper hand.

The scorpion has a trick to
avoid being eaten.

To see it ourselves we must enter
the ultraviolet spectrum.

In the hour before moonrise

the air is filled with ultraviolet
rays, invisible to the fox.

And the scorpion has
an early-warning system

to tell her that moonlight
is on its way.

Chemicals in the scorpion's
skin are reacting to the UV rays.

Every millimetre of the scorpion
has now become a UV sensor.

Right down to her pincers,

she is feeling the strong UV rays
that are invisible to the fox.

This tells her a full moon
is on its way.

It's going to be a
risky night to be out.

Her dinner can wait.

It's time to find shelter.

At dawn, Salif faces
Mecca for morning prayer.

He and his son Hazar have nearly
completed their journey.

For Hazar, his first camel
festival sounds ominous.

They may be desert people,

but even Bedouin can't survive
long in the sand sea.

Their supplies are limited

and ultimately,
they must always find fresh water.

Luckily, Salif and Hazar
are approaching their goal

near the edge of the desert.

Beyond, the land rises abruptly
into towering mountains,

some over 3,000 metres high.

Here lies a secret that helps
maintain life.

This natural barrier
catches the clouds

and stops their moisture reaching
the heartland of Arabia.

But this water isn't lost.

It filters down, deep underground
and if you know where to look,

you can find it.

Zahir bin Hamad is eight
kilometres inside a mountain,

cleaning a waterway dug by his
ancestors over 2,000 years ago.

But this water is
not for use in the mountains,

its destiny lies far inland.

Channelled over 30 miles,

this water is bringing life
to the desert.

An oasis.

This water is precious.

And wherever there is treasure,
there will be conflict.

Zahir is the referee.

He controls the flow of
water to each farm

using a system devised by
his ancestors.

He uses a sundial to decide who
gets what and when.

Each rock marks a
share of only 15 minutes.

Not long, Zahir must get
it spot on.

Everyone trusts Zahir's
time-keeping.

After all, he's relying on a
celestial authority.

As the sun-dial shadow swings
into position,

Zahir releases the treasure.

Water that fell as rain over
30,000 years ago

is now turning the heart of
Arabia green once more.

Every oasis is
a haven for wildlife.

Herons and greenshanks
feed in the pools.

Thirsty travellers migrating
between Europe and Africa

come to drink,
including Imperial eagles.

Asiatic honeybees also come
to drink daily.

But their journey to the water is
fraught with danger.

Blue-cheeked
bee-eaters are on the look-out.

The bee-eaters arrive at the
oasis each spring

with one thing on their mind.

Breeding.

Males try to win the females'
favour by offering insect titbits.

If she's suitably impressed,
he gets his reward.

Oasis villages also provide one
vital ingredient that has fuelled

every Bedouin
journey for thousands of years.

A fruit so valuable that expert
pickers risk 20-metre climbs.

Dates.

Dates hold six times the energy
content of other fruits

and preserve
so well that they last for months.

The annual date harvest is

the busiest
time of the year in every oasis.

Bedouin women come in from the
surrounding desert to help.

Without this simple fruit
the Bedouin would never have been

able to make their epic desert
crossings.

And oases play another
crucial role.

Filling stations.

After a long desert journey,

a camel will drink up to
200 litres of water.

Oasis towns provide a meeting
point for far-flung Bedouin clans.

Salif and Hazar have arrived in the
Omani desert town of Al Mintarib

for the Eid camel festival.

The whole town has come out to
watch as rival clans compete

to show off their
camel-riding skills.

Few youngsters these days
grow up learning

the ancient art of camel control.

And the camels don't exactly respond
well to an inexperienced hand.

So far, the competition
doesn't look too strong.

But soon the premier
riders get going.

This is not a race,

it's a competition to show
off your control.

The goal is to ride camels in
synchronized pairs, side by side.

Running your camels in
a straight line.

Hazar has never had to control a
camel in such a frenzied atmosphere.

But Salif knows just how to
calm their animals down.

Everything Salif has taught his son

will be tested in the
next few minutes.

Salif reaches out his arm
to show the crowd

how close he and Hazar ride.

Father and son win the day.

MUSIC PLAYS

The ancient Bedouin knowledge

has been passed on to
another generation.

Now it's time to party desert-style.

The relationship
between man and camel

has proved an enduring
strategy for desert survival.

But the Bedouin can't claim to be
the true masters of the desert.

Without oases to sustain them

they would never survive their
journeys through the hostile dunes.

Surely the master of desert
survival is the animal that came

so close to disappearing for ever
from this landscape, the oryx.

Their ability to keep moving
through the blistering heat,

find food and ultimately thrive
in this harshest of landscapes

is truly extraordinary.

Hopefully, now that they have
returned to the desert

where they belong, oryx will
remain the living emblem

of this mighty
sea of sand long into the future.

Filming in the desert posed many
challenges for the Wild Arabia crew.

Blistering heat and blinding sand
storms played havoc

with their equipment.

But their greatest challenge came
from filming cantankerous camels.

CAMEL GROWLS

Just getting to the Bedouin's camp,
deep in the deserts of Oman,

threw up their first hurdle.

The thing is,
I'm an excellent driver.

Are you going to drive it? Yeah.

There's very little that
could go wrong.

This is Toby's ninth
attempt at crossing the sand dune.

Oh no!

Never been
so embarrassed in my life.

I'm handing over the driving to
a ten-year-old. No!

But this is no normal ten-year-old.

This is Hazar and he knows these
dunes like the back of his hand.

CAR BEEPS

This is the team's first
clue that they won't get very far

in this desert without
the help of their Bedouin hosts.

They arrive at dusk

in time to see the camels being
brought back to camp for the night.

Salif, the best camel rider
in the land, is a man of few words.

Toby tries to break
the ice by offering him a coffee

made with his new-fangled
coffee making machine.

Hazar, will you grind for me?

Perfect grinding, Hazar.

Coffee originated in Arabia,
perhaps this is a way to impress.

Then again, perhaps not.

Salif and Hazar's race is less
than a week away.

And the team know they'll only get
one chance to film the action.

The next day they head to
a practice run to get

a feel for what lies ahead.

It's mayhem at the start line.

And it seems the team
are attracting unwanted attention.

Filming these races is not going to
be as easy as the crew had hoped.

There's a lot more people,
a lot more camels,

and there's a lot more tension, and
I'm only able to sit right back.

I can't seem to get close, because
it's...the local guys are saying

I'm skitting out the
camels by my presence.

So I don't know what to do.
We need to find a solution.

This practice session
has not gone well.

The team decide to take
the locals' advice.

We're clutching at straws now,
we're getting desperate.

So I'm going to dress up like the
local guys to see if that helps.

This is perfect.
This is like what Salif wears.

What you think, guys?

They may be dressed for the task,

but to fully blend in on race day
they want to gain a better

understanding of the Bedouin
and their camels.

They're invited to camp
with their hosts.

INDISTINCT SPEECH

Bedouin are famous
for their hospitality.

To survive in the desert, you need
to look out for each other.

HE SINGS

Male bonding in the outdoor kitchen
is coming along nicely.

But perhaps the most sensitive task

will be engaging
the women in the family.

No-one is better placed to do this
than camerawomen, Sue Gibson.

So I'll hold that there, OK.
I'm not doing my job properly.

This is a rare
opportunity to discover

a more intimate side of
Bedouin life.

Long time?

Salif wants Toby and Chadden to
understand what it takes

to ride a camel.

We're supposed to learn how
to run these camels.

I don't think I've ever ridden on a
camel let alone raced it.

And do we need to make
a special noise?

Sort of like an angry frog,
isn't it?

HE MIMICS A CAMEL

Abdullah,
what's the name of my camel?

The name is Samha. Samha? Samha.

Samha.

I've just had the names interpreted
and my one means fast and strong

and Chadden's means broken tractor.

Oooh, he's off! Oh, Lordy.

Salif is yet to be impressed.

Walking is one thing,
he decides to up the ante.

TOBY AND CHADDEN LAUGH

Ah, time to get down. Oh, yeah.

Shukran. Shukran. Well done.

The day's duties are not yet over.

Tomorrow is race day
and the stars of the show

are booked into the salon.

I've never spent as much time doing
my own hair as I just

spent doing hers,
but I think she appreciates it.

The crew are settling
into their Bedouin lifestyle.

Who better to share stories
with on a warm Arabian night.

It's really lovely to get a moment
like this to sit round the fire,

and have some coffee,
share some dates,

and just spend some time with these
guys who've been so kind to us.

So it's these moments that make
it really special.

Tomorrow is race day.

Hundreds of camels and
their riders are here to compete

in the grand
finale of the Eid festival.

But will the team's decision
to blend in pay off?

Since we've started wearing the
headgear and the dish-dash,

I know it sounds ridiculous but it
really does seem as though

we've been accepted more
and there's a lot more intimacy with

the men we are working around.

Even the camels seem to startle less
and be more accepting of us.

I think that was a really good call.

Salif and Hazar's moment
has arrived

and Toby gets himself into
prime position.

For the crew, it's a thrill to
witness this spectacle.

And everyone's pleased to see
Hazar ride so well.

But it's only back at the camp

that they get to
share in the family's success.

And their hosts get a
chance to see some action replays.

The team have made new
friends in the Arabian desert

and even Salif is pleased
with their results.

THEY ALL LAUGH

Next time on Wild Arabia...

We journey into
the mysterious waters

and rich mountains on Arabia's
southern coast.

There is more life here than
anywhere else in Arabia.

Life that's sustained by
a magical secret.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd