Original subtitles

One of the biggest continents

and crammed with possibilities

for all of us to explore.

(dramatic music)

The planet's record-breaking rivers,

longest mountains,

steepest waterfalls,

and most massive rain forest.

The variety of landscape supports wildlife

in seemingly endless varieties.

With many highlights,

including the most massive rodents,

otters and parrots.

Unique birds,

mammals,

even dolphins

and spectacular predators.

Make sure to get South America on your bucket list.

(birds chirping)

(soft music)

If planning the ultimate tour of South America,

you'll want to include the continent's natural wonders

on your list.

Starting at the top,

South America has some of the most dramatic mountains

in the world.

The most famous of course, the Andes,

the longest mountain range on the planet,

and with some of the highest peaks.

Over 7,000 kilometers tip to tip,

it would be long enough to stretch across the USA twice.

It dissects seven different countries.

Reaching into the heavens.

At its peak, the range reaches a dizzying height

of nearly 7,000 meters.

Straddling the Pacific coast,

the range shapes the weather for the entire continent.

It's hardly surprising that the thermals kicked up

by these bad boys support one of the biggest flying birds.

(dramatic music)

There are a few sites in the skies more spectacular

than the Andean condors.

The surface of their broad three-meter wings

create such a big area,

it can catch enough rising air

to keep the birds airborne for hours

without them ever needing to flap.

No mean feat, considering they weigh about as much

as the average four-year old.

From their lofty vantage point, they look for carrion,

because despite their appearance,

they are purely scavengers clearing up mess

on the mountains.

(gentle music)

For such big, intimidating looking birds,

they're actually shy and cautious.

Preferring to hide out on high perches.

Perhaps the most beautiful,

the Paine mountain range or Paine Massif.

Located in Chile, it offers unparalleled vistas.

Its crowning glory, Cordillera Paine,

stands nearly 3000 meters above sea level.

It will literally take your breath away.

Thrown up by the force of magma beneath its surface

millions of years ago,

the range has since been scoured and carved by glaciers.

Four main glaciers remain.

Any meltwater from them or seasonal snow

feeds remote pristine lakes.

It's a real wildlife hotspot.

Not surprisingly, the continent's first national park

Torres del Paine.

(somber music)

The Andes boasts 30,000 plant species.

The stunning scarlet Embothrium is one not to miss.

The rich vegetation supports animal life

and great diversity.

Including more than 100 species of bird,

15 of which are birds of prey.

And grazing on the plants, large mammals are abundant,

particularly the unique guanaco.

(gentle music)

The largest animals in the mountains.

Wild lamas, the guanacos are perfectly adapted

to life in the Andes.

Enlarged hearts and extra red blood cells help them cope

with the lower oxygen levels at altitude.

Like their camel cousins,

they have long eyelashes and closable nostrils

to keep out dust and dirt.

They have the same trait of being experts

in going long periods without water.

And like camels, they have two padded toes

to help them grip the rocky terrain.

Especially important during the race

that is a guanaco's love life,

(gentle, sensual music)

the males compete for harems,

groups of females and their young.

They must prove their worth, fighting, biting,

and running each other down at 60 kilometers per hour,

fast enough to keep up with a horse.

Only the toughest will get to take over a herd

and father the next generation of babies.

But for the successful, nearly a year later,

(soft music)

little ones arrive.

No babies are cuter than little guanacos.

Known as chulengos, or sweeter still, guanaquitoes.

They have a strong instinct, right from the word go

to try and get to their feet.

They need to be ready to move with the herd,

and more importantly, prepare to make a dash from danger.

(soft music)

The grazing herds attract an elusive predator.

Seldom seen, the Torres del Paine

offers better chances than anywhere else.

What sounds like a high-pitched laugh

coming from the guanaco herd

might be the warning to train your eyes.

A puma may be nearby.

(somber music)

One of the ultimate predator encounters

for anyone's bucket list,

has to be the majestic mountain lion.

The top predator in the Andes,

the puma is a master of stealth.

Capable of bringing down prey much bigger

than it is with a killer bite to the throat,

and will hunt every 10 days or so.

Guanaco is its favorite prey here.

But fortunately, this female already has a meal on the go

and calls her cubs to feed.

(gentle music)

Pumas are normally solitary.

So few get the chance to see a group.

But during the two years a mother cares for her young,

they share a close bond.

Pumas can live at higher altitudes than any other cat.

And among hunters, they're one of the best jumpers,

taking 10 meters in a single bound.

So make sure you don't watch too closely.

(thunder rumbling)

(ominous music)

Life in the Andes is tough.

The weather can change by the hour.

And winter sees fierce storms and plummeting temperatures.

But all that rain and snow that falls on the mountains,

feeds an incredible network of thousands of rivers.

As they carve their way through the land,

rivers create spectacular gorges, rapids and waterfalls,

(dramatic music)

including the biggest of all.

Flowing through Brazil,

as it reaches the border of Argentina,

the Iguazu River spills over the breathtaking Iguazu Falls,

in one of the continent's most dramatic spectacles.

Across the upper and lower falls,

the water drops more than 70 staggering meters.

When the US First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, first saw Iguazu,

she exclaimed, "Poor Niagara!"

And it's easy to see why.

The curtain of water is nearly 3000 meters across,

kicking up great clouds of spray.

(soft music)

Dusky swifts dance through rainbows created by the mist,

using it to shower their plumage.

Remarkably, these birds have managed to harness

the immense power of the water to protect their families.

They get a mud from the mist-drenched banks

and assemble little clay cups on the cliff faces,

directly behind the falls.

Here, they can lay their eggs

and feed and raise their young,

protected by the never ending heavy curtain of water.

It's only the speed at which they fly

that permits their entrance.

There is no doubt that Iguazu is dramatic,

but in terms of water features,

the continent has another that overshadows them all.

(majestic music)

The Andes drain into Pantanal,

the biggest tropical wetland in the world.

It sprawls across three countries.

The size of Washington state,

17 million hectares of wet wonderland.

For the intrepid traveler,

it's a vast feast for the eyes.

Lush green as far as the eye can see,

where real life Cowboys still roam.

The gaucho move with the seasons.

Driving their cattle, pantaneiros

to the freshest grazing in a timeless drama.

But it's the incredible wildlife of the region

that really steals the show.

It has the highest concentration of wildlife

on the continent.

35,000 species of plants, 650 birds and 200 mammals,

it's a wildlife lover's Mecca.

What would you tick off your bucket list?

Crocodiles?

(dramatic music)

There are plenty of them.

The Pantanal supports 10 million caiman,

the highest concentration of crocodiles on the planet.

(birds cawing)

Or would it be the world's biggest parrots?

Spectacular hyacinth macaws.

(soft music)

The meat along marvels of giant beaks

that can smash through even the toughest nuts.

They are essential to the health of the landscape,

because of the vital role they play

in breaking and distributing seeds to fuel future growth.

Playful and social,

they are entertaining and colorful creatures,

an increasingly rare sight not to miss.

As is the weirdest, most unique and most wonderful creature

of South America.

(gentle music)

The giant anteater.

There are four kinds of anteater,

all South American exclusives.

They have been doing their own thing for 50 million years.

Tiny ants and termites don't seem like much of a meal,

but with its 50-centimeter tongue,

it can lap up 30,000 insects a day.

Testimony to its diet,

it's so easy for the anteater to fill up

that it can afford to spend 15 hours a day asleep.

Sharing the open grassland, bizarre birds that can't fly.

(soft music)

South America's own answer to the ostrich.

Rheas are the biggest birds in Americas.

Like their ostrich cousins, they are fast.

Dropping 60 kilometers per hour,

which combined with their height and big eyes

mean that they are pretty good at keeping out of harm's way.

During the breeding season,

a dominant male will gather a group of females.

Successful contenders herd the females together into harems.

(gentle music)

All of the girls lay their eggs into one giant nest,

sometimes as many as 80.

But it is the male that does all of the parenting

from here on in.

He sits on the nest and guards it.

And when the chicks hatch,

he teaches them where to find food and water.

And defends them even against close encounters

with other rheas.

(ominous music)

(funky music)

The little ones are keen to stretch their legs

and will soon be ready to race around the Pantanal.

(somber music)

The lush productive grasslands

and the swamps of the Pantanal

drain into the Amazon River basin.

Seven million square kilometers of watershed,

the biggest on earth.

It pours over 200,000 cubic meters of water

into the Atlantic every second.

(gentle music)

More than 1000 rivers become tributaries

flowing into the legendary Amazon.

The heart of the continent,

this river should be a must see for everyone.

It carries one fifth of the world's fresh water.

Its waters stained by the tannins of leaves

from the surrounding vegetation,

flow like a well steamed cup of tea.

It's a jaw-dropping spectacle.

But the life in the Amazon is just as mind blowing

as the river itself.

So make sure you take the plunge.

More than 3000 kinds of fish populate her waters,

as exciting a place for a diver as any reef.

The athletic arowana can sling itself from the water

to snatch insects.

Though it might be a meter long,

it can clear more than two meters above the surface.

(gentle music)

And the arapaima,

(dramatic music)

roughly the size of two bathtubs

is one of the biggest freshwater fish.

And one of the few that has to breathe air.

It can only stay under water for 20 minutes

and gulps at the surface,

giving fish fans a chance to catch a glimpse.

(ominous music)

It's an adaptation that helps it stalk stagnant shallows.

The plentiful fish attract fish eaters.

Another South American special,

the biggest otters on earth.

Giant otters are sometimes known as river wolves

because they hunt in packs.

Most otters are loners, but not these monsters.

Families stay together

defending their territory from rivals.

By working together, they can hurt fish.

The fearless giants will even work together

to tackle caiman.

Up to 20 of these man-sized predators hunting together

is the siting of any wildlife watcher's dreams.

(birds chirping)

Grazing along the river banks are other giants.

(wacky music)

Capybaras are the biggest rodents on the planet.

Looking like rats on steroids,

capybaras tower over their cousins.

In the way they live,

capybaras are more like hippos than hamsters.

With their eyes, ears and nostrils

on the tops of their heads,

so like a periscope, they can hide in the water,

but still keep an eye on what's going on.

Perfectly at home on land or in the water.

they get full access to the lush plant life.

The wildlife of the Amazon River never ceases to amaze.

It even has its own dolphin.

The boto, or Amazon River dolphin

is one of the top predators of the waterways.

Its fleshy pink skin helps it disappear in the murky river.

More flexible than any other dolphin,

the boto steers with its big flippers

and uses its bendy body to squeeze between the trunks

of submerged trees.

(dramatic music)

The trees along the banks mark the fringe

of South America's greatest treasure,

the Amazon rainforest.

A precious vital resource for the country and the world.

The Amazon represents more than half

of the world's total rainforest.

More than half a billion hectares,

big enough to cover two thirds of the United States.

A visit has to be the ultimate jungle experience.

It has diversity to blow your mind.

There are more than 40,000 kinds of plant,

(soft music)

some of which are giant.

Many of the trees raise 60 meters above the ground,

while the record holder breaks through the canopy

to reach a maximum height of nearly 90 meters.

(birds cawing)

The plants support life in abundance, including humans.

More than 300 indigenous human communities

depend on the forest.

Around 50 are still isolated,

even uncontacted by the outside world.

Many others still live traditional lives.

(dramatic music)

Imagine the experience of going bush,

feeling the raw energy of the jungle.

If you're a bug fan, the Amazon is a good destination.

95% of animal life here is insect.

More than two and a half million species

have been found so far.

(ominous music)

Some demonstrating incredible camouflage,

and others with remarkable societies.

(wacky music)

Ants live in complex communities.

But few are more specialized than the leaf-cutter ants.

With Herculean strength,

they harvest and transport pieces of vegetation

that can be 50 times their own body weight.

Tirelessly, they form a conveyor belt,

shipping the leaves back to their nest.

But the fragments are not for food.

It's hard to believe, but these ants are miniature farmers.

They take the leaves home to feed to fungi,

which in time the ants will harvest.

The base of the food chain,

the insects feed nearly 400 species of reptiles.

(upbeat music)

The warm, wet, humid rainforest is also a haven

for over 1000 kinds of frogs.

The Amazon has the highest diversity of amphibians

on the planet.

(insects chirping)

These colorful forest dwellers are well worth seeking out,

but don't get too close.

There are around 100 kinds of poison dart frogs.

They secrete toxins onto their skin

that can paralyze and even kill potential predators.

They are only a few centimeters long,

but not to be underestimated.

They sport some of the most beautiful colors in the forest.

(upbeat music)

But it's really the birds that are the gems in the jungle.

With well over 1000 species,

20% of all the world's birds live here,

one of the highest diversities on earth.

Every conceivable color and display.

Make this

a birdwatcher's dream destination.

(somber music)

Parrots steal the show for many.

There are 30 species moving around the jungle,

colorful and noisy flocks, rainbows on the move.

Despite their bright colors,

they can be hard to spot among the leaves.

Fortunately, sometimes they seem willing to show off.

The parrots make their living eating fruits,

leaves and nuts, but in some parts of the Amazon,

this diet can be low on minerals.

The rainforest lives up to its name,

and the high rainfall washes minerals from the soil.

So few find their way into plants.

The parrots make up for this

by finding freshly eroding mud banks and eat the mud.

They can extract salt directly from the other,

helping to keep them healthy.

It makes for a dramatic kaleidoscope of color.

It's the obvious place to start

if you are looking for a bird fix.

But the Amazon has so much more to offer.

One of the most sought after bird sightings

is that of the harpy eagle.

It's easy to see why.

(somber music)

This bird of prey is gigantic.

Its open wings are the size of a door,

even their nests in the tree tops are huge.

Big enough for a couple of people to curl up and nap.

Its talons are like a large human hand,

supported by wrist-thick legs.

Its claws are bigger than a bear's.

They can snap shut on animal prey,

pretty much anything they can find,

and use 50 kilos of pressure to drive those claws home.

They are the true rulers of the canopy.

Snatching their animal neighbors,

especially monkeys and sloths.

Fortunately, there are monkeys in abundance,

and who doesn't love monkeys?

(playful, dramatic music)

Hanging out with these swingers

is on the wishlist of many an animal lover.

And with more than 100 species, it's the place to come.

Unlike monkeys found anywhere else in the world,

the monkeys of South America have prehensile tails,

using them like a fifth leg

to help them move through the trees.

The true kings of the swingers,

and the most playful of the Amazons 430 mammals.

In terms of sheer numbers,

rodents and bats are the most plentiful.

Perhaps not bucket list material for many,

but some of the Amazon's other mammals are truly remarkable.

(funky music)

Famously, the sloth.

The sloth is one of the world's most popular animals,

though it's only found here in America's rainforest.

They are so special that no trip to South America

would be complete without seeing one.

Though, don't expect riveting company.

Sloths sleep for up to 20 hours a day.

Some of South America's animals are weird to say the least,

but others are nothing less than magnificent.

(dramatic music)

The Amazon is the best place to hunt

for a glimpse of this spectacular feline.

The biggest predator on the continent.

The jaguar.

The biggest cat to roam the Americas,

globally, only lions and tigers are bigger,

the jaguar truly is an awe-inspiring site.

A good-sized individual can weigh twice as much

as a great Dane.

No other animal can challenge it,

and any can appear on its menu.

More muscular than any other cat,

it has the most powerful bite for its size,

and adaptation to tackle the most dangerous prey.

The strength it needs to bite

into the thick skull of a caiman.

(dramatic music)

The name jaguar derives from a local word that means,

he who kills with one leap.

So if jaguars are on your list, be careful.

(soft music)

The wildlife hiding in the jungles of South America

can be hard to find, but undoubtedly rewarding.

One in 10 of all species in the world

live here in the Amazon.

And there are many more to find.

So far since the millennium,

more than 2000 new species have been found.

You never know,

you might be the person to find the next.

Something beyond even bucket list dreams.

But in this dense, wondrous vegetation,

it's a real possibility.

The diversity of life in South America

and the evolution driving it

is truly enough to blow your mind.

But if you want to see evolution itself in action,

then there can be no bucket-list destination more important

than the place where the great Darwin himself discovered

how evolution works.

A dream destination like no other, the Galapagos.

(soft music)

Sitting 1000 kilometers from its country of ownership,

Ecuador, it's a tiny cluster of 19 islands,

some of the most biologically important on earth.

Where else can you meet penguins in the tropics?

Dive with iguanas.

Or take a slow, very slow stroll

with the island's famous giant tortoises.

The penguins are special.

South America has seven species,

but these are the only tropical ones.

And the only penguins in the world

to be found North of the Equator.

(gentle music)

Their presence here is thanks to the Humboldt current,

which brings in nutrient-rich water from the southern ocean.

The nutrients provide food for the fish that penguins hunt.

The birds still have cold roots.

They only breed if the sea temperature is below 25 degrees,

when food will be plentiful.

People visit the islands in droves,

just to see these gorgeous birds.

And while diving with penguins, they might come across

another uniquely Galapagos experience.

(gentle music)

Coming face to face with the world's only marine lizard.

It's thought that millions of years ago,

land iguanas reached the islands.

Perhaps carried on rafts of vegetation

drifting from the mainland.

And once here, carved out their own special niche,

evolving into a new species.

(dramatic music)

They look fearsome, but they are vegetarians

who go to great lengths to get their greens.

The remarkable lizards can dive to 20 meters

beneath the surface,

using their long, once tree climbing claws

to anchor themselves while they scrape algae from the rocks.

They occasionally stay submerged

for as long as half an hour.

The seaweed is a resource untapped by other land dwellers,

but it's not without its challenges.

(dramatic music)

The cold water drains their bodies.

So they must bask on the rocks to recharge.

The iguanas are totally unique and very special,

but there are other even more famous reptiles.

The giant tortoises of the Galapagos.

The name Galapagos comes from the Spanish word for saddle

because of the shape of these tortoises' shells.

Like the iguanas,

these giants arrived in rafts of vegetation

some two to three million years ago.

What made the tortoises particularly special

is that their shell shapes vary in different islands.

On big islands, where there is lots to eat,

the tortoises have quite normal dome-shaped shells.

But on the more barren islands,

they developed the saddle-shaped shells,

so that they can reach higher to nibble at branches

when the lower food runs out.

Darwin noticed this and it gave him an idea.

He started to think that perhaps animals adapt

to their environments.

The process he published under the name,

the theory of evolution.

Not only a great bucket list animal,

but a significant moment in history

to tick off the list too.

So Galapagos is a wildlife lover's Mecca,

and who wouldn't be captivated

by its striking volcanic rocks?

And the surrounding oceans

bathed by three major ocean currents

resulting in some of the most spectacular

marine life on earth.

(dramatic music)

Divers come here to fulfill their wishlists.

The waters around Galapagos offer a truly incredible sight.

To see hammerhead sharks, but not just a few.

Hundreds of thousands gather in mass shoals.

No one is entirely sure why they gather.

Perhaps to feed or to deter

even larger predators from attack.

(ominous music)

It's also when they come together to breed.

Nowhere else on earth offers a spectacle quite like this.

An unforgettable once in a lifetime experience.

(somber music)

South America's landscapes

show the most incredible diversity.

A feast for the mind.

But moreover, the continent's wild places

offer a life support system

on which the entire globe depends.

Particularly the Amazon rainforest,

which filters water and fuels the water cycle

with plants pumping moisture into the air,

regulating weather patterns and ensuring rain

for the future.

And though it only covers 2% of the earth's surface,

the Amazon generates a fifth of the oxygen

that we need to breathe.

And vitally, at the moment, the rainforest holds

140 billion tons of carbon

and is perhaps our most important ally

in our fight against climate change.

But like all natural wonders,

the wilderness of South America is under threat.

(saw buzzing)

(somber music)

In less than one generation,

South America has lost an area of forest

bigger than Texas.

(saw buzzing)

Deforestation is destroying the equivalent

of 20 football fields of jungle per minute.

The timber is sold off and the land cleared

for raising cattle.

It's vital for the health of the land

and the people living in those countries,

but also for the rest of us all over the world.

(soft music)

All of us must work together to save it.

We need it.

And we need bucket list destinations.

Places to enrich our dreams, to inspire and excite us,

to keep us searching for knowledge and experiences.

The mind blowing landscapes

of the South American continent wow us,

leave us in awe

and make the world a wonderful place to be.

.jmoovlmvhd