- Deserts cover a third of the earth's land mass, yet harbor only some 300,000 inhabitants, many of which are (semi-)nomadic hunters/herdsmen, making navigation and adapted animals, such as camels, vital. The only 7,000 years old Sahara, the planet's vastest sand-pan, counts many tribes. The stony Gobi enjoys melting snow, wind-transported in all the way from Siberia, but also counts roaming wolves. In the most arid Araucana, capturing the rare precipitation is an extremely refined art.—KGF Vissers
- We can survive for weeks without food, but only days without water: it is the essential element of life. Yet many millions of us live in parched deserts around the world. In the second episode of Human Planet, we discover how the eternal quest for water brings huge challenges - and ingenious solutions - in the driest places on Earth. Battling through a sand storm in Mali, Mamadou must get his cows to a remote lake but desert elephants have arrived first. Can he find a safe way through the elephant blockade? Alone for weeks on end, Tubu women and children navigate the endless dunes of the Sahara. How does young Shede know where to find the last oasis, three days walk across the sea of sand? At the height of the drought we witness a spectacular frenzy: two thousand men rushing into Antogo Lake to catch the fish trapped by the evaporating water. When the rain finally arrives in the desert it's a time for flowering and jubilation - and love. The Wodaabe men of Niger put on make-up for an intoxicating courtship dance and beauty contest.
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