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Only one creature has carved a life
for itself in every habitat on Earth.

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That creature is us.

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All over the world, we still use our
ingenuity to survive in the wild places,

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far from the city lights,
face to face with raw nature.

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This is the Human Planet.

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Humans have always been drawn to rivers.

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Rivers flow through every environment,

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bringing us the essentials of life -

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fresh water...

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...food...

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...and ready-made highways.

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But what rivers give,
they can also take away.

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They can flood,

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freeze

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and sometimes disappear altogether.

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Rivers force us to take great risks.

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These are remarkable stories of survival

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from the most unpredictable habitat
of them all.

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It's the monsoon season,
and the mighty Mekong,

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Southeast Asia's greatest river,
is in full flood.

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Between Cambodia and Laos,

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the Mekong current creates
the widest rapids in the world.

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The Khone Falls are great for fishing,
but also very dangerous...

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...as Sam Niang, a local fisherman,
knows all too well.

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Migrating fish get trapped here,
waiting to get up the rapids.

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Sam Niang has to risk his life
to catch them.

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He has a family of seven to feed.

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He starts by fishing from the riverside,
near his home.

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During the monsoon, the Mekong
swells to 20 times its normal volume,

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which brings more fish,
but makes them much harder to catch.

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After a morning, his net is still empty.

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There is another option -
an island out in the main rapids.

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But to get there, Sam Niang
must take his life into his hands.

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In the dry season, he built
a high wire across the rapids

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out of old cable and bits of rope.

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At this time of the year,

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these rapids have nearly
twice the flow of Niagara Falls -

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more than 1 1 million litres a second.

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He makes it to his favourite
fishing perch.

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Turbulent currents corral the fish,

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and Sam Niang soon lands
his family's supper.

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Though the fish are plentiful here,

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the most he can carry back
is a few kilos at a time.

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Any more,
and he might lose his balance.

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Today, Sam Niang won his battle
with the Mekong.

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Tomorrow, to keep his family fed,
he'll have to fight it again.

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It's not just the power of water
that makes rivers dangerous.

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It's their erratic nature too.

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Reading a river correctly

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can mean the difference
between life and death.

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The Zanskar valley is a hidden world
on the edge of Tibet,

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in the heart of the Himalayas.

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In winter, it's cut off by snow.

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All roads in and out are impassable.

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Stanzin needs to get
his two children to school,

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but the nearest school
is 1 00 kilometres away,

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and the only way to get there

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is to walk down a frozen river.

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It's a six-day trek,
so dangerous it's got its own name -

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the Chadar - the blanket of ice.

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They'll have to brave
sub-zero temperatures,

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avalanches and freezing water.

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Term starts in a week.

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It's time for the school run,
a formidable trip for 1 1-year-old Dolkar.

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Dolkar's 1 4-year-old brother,
Chosing, is coming too.

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The family prepare for the journey ahead.

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Their mother has knitted them
thick woollen socks to protect them.

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The brother and sister depend
on their father's courage and skill.

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This has to be the most perilous
school run in the world.

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The spring melt seems to have
started early, which worries Stanzin.

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Stanzin has to make sure
the ice can take their weight.

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And his expertise is tested immediately.

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The danger is not only underfoot.
There's another threat - avalanches.

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Seven days ago, an avalanche
killed a man on the Zanskar river.

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The unusual spring sunshine
has brought another problem.

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The river's current
has already melted the ice.

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Stanzin has to find a way
past the barrier.

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The only way around is a narrow ledge.

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The ledge is barely 20 centimetres wide
and covered with snow.

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There's a ten-metre drop
to the freezing river below.

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The ledge ends with some metal pegs
to climb down.

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Chosing makes it.

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Now it's Dolkar's turn.

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They mustn't delay.

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Night is falling fast, and the temperature
will plummet to minus 30 Celsius.

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Luckily, Stanzin knows a cave nearby.

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The children need their sleep.

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The most dangerous part of the Chadar
is still ahead.

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It's not all hard slog.

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But Dolkar's fun can't last.

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As the smallest,
she's the first to feel the cold.

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She starts to lag behind.

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One little girl on a melting ice river,

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among the greatest mountains on Earth.

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Now for the final leg.

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The melting ice
has left just a tiny shelf.

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It's thin. Stanzin is worried
it won't take their weight.

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As he advances, the ice starts to crack.

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With the ice weakened
by Stanzin's weight,

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the children
have to brave it on their own.

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Dolkar's made it, now for Chosing.

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Thanks to their dad's expertise,
the children have survived the Chadar.

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Six days out on the ice river.

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The Himalayan town of Leh,
journey's end for the children.

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They rush straight to the school.

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There's just enough time for a goodbye.

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(BELL CLANGS)

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Stanzin now faces the return journey
on his own.

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Melting river ice
doesn't just make travelling harder.

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When frozen rivers break up,
tonnes of ice start to flow,

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a potential disaster,
even in the heart of a modern city.

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In the Canadian capital, Ottawa,

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spring melt turns the Rideau river
into public enemy number one.

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The danger point is a footbridge
on a frozen waterfall...

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...a bottleneck where the Rideau
flows into the Ottawa river.

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It's late February,
and the ice is melting here too.

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Ice blocks are in danger
of forming a dam,

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which might lead to devastating flooding.

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A natural threat
that needs a daring human solution.

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Meet the ice-dam busters!

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Theirjob isn't just to predict nature,

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they have to beat it!

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There are thousands of tonnes of ice
behind the bridge, up to a metre thick.

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The team needs to break it up
to keep the river flowing.

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Stage one - cut the ice into long strips.

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They're still too large to flow
under the bridge, so, for stage two,

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the team uses a more persuasive force...

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Now!

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...hundreds of kilos of dynamite.

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Hup!

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Bite-size pieces now flow easily
under the bridge and over the falls.

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The centre of Ottawa
is safe for another year.

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The world's largest rivers
bring the most danger to our lives.

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Their floods can be devastating.

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They often happen without warning,

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and there's nothing we can do
but try to escape.

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In Bangladesh,
tens of millions of people

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can be displaced when the Ganges
and her tributaries burst their banks.

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The river is so strong,
it regularly changes course,

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brushing land aside as it goes.

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A month ago, Mohamed Jaleel's village
was 1 00 metres from the bank.

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Today, his house
is about to be swept away.

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He and his neighbours have only minutes
to move his home.

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The rest of the villagers look on,
helpless,

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as the rising river
obliterates their land.

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In South America, floods can be so huge

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that the entire year
has to be spent planning for them.

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In the Amazon basin, one mother
prepares for the rising waters.

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Jarnia lives by the Rio Negro in Brazil.

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It's November, the dry season,
the time of plenty.

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Fish are so easy to catch,

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she even has enough
to feed the local river dolphins.

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But in six months'time,
when the flood water invades,

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all these dolphins and the fish with them

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will disappear into the flooded forest
to breed.

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When the fish are gone, feeding
her large family will become a nightmare.

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Surviving such hard times
means thinking ahead,

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and Jarnia has a four-stage plan.

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Stage one is collecting turtle eggs
six months before the floods arrive.

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River turtles lay thousands of eggs
in the dry season beaches,

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which they leave to hatch.

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Turtles are a reliable source of protein
when the waters rise,

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so these eggs are precious.

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Back in the village,
it's time for stage two.

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Jarnia reburies the eggs
in her turtle nursery.

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In the wild,
many eggs would be eaten by animals...

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...but here they'll be safe.

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By March, four months later,
3,000 eggs have hatched.

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It's stage three - release day!

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It's time to release the babies.

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But will enough of them survive
to feed the village in the floods to come?

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It's June, the height of the rains.

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The river rises seven metres.

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Jarnia's village is transformed.

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The forest is flooded,

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and the nearest dry land
is more than six hours'rowing away.

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Jarnia's family is now marooned by
the greatest annual flood on the planet.

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Time for the final stage.

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Jarnia and her sister Dora
prepare to go turtle-hunting.

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Jarnia's husband, Francisco,
makes them a turtle-hunting spear...

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...and then the two sisters set off
in search of food.

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Will their hard work
bring dinner to the table?

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At first, it's not looking promising.

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Then Jarnia spots one.

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Her preparation's paid off.

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She'll be able to feed everyone.

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Jarnia's foresight has pulled her family
through another difficult flood.

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(THEY SING)

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Some river creatures
pose a direct threat to humans.

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The Zambezi river in Africa is used
by elephants, crocodiles and hippos,

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some of the continent's
most dangerous animals.

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Fisherman Josphat and his brothers
have found a safe,

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if slightly hair-raising, fishing spot,

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a place where they can catch lunch
without becoming dinner themselves.

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The place they're heading for
may be safe from crocodiles,

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but it does have a drawback.

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The reason Josphat's fishing pools
are far from safe

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is their precarious position...

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...at the very top of Victoria Falls.

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Josphat's bravery and skill

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enable him to fish
where no animal dares to venture.

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People can overcome floods and even
learn to fish on giant waterfalls,

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but there's one face of a river
that's virtually impossible to survive.

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When a river dries up and disappears,
all life drains away.

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Lemagas is a Samburu camel herder
in northern Kenya.

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No rain has fallen here for eight months.

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It's a severe drought,
and the Milgis river has vanished.

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Lemagas has been forced to range
deep into the desert,

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searching for fresh food
for his precious camels.

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Now they are far away from home,
and they've run out of drinking water.

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Not even the camels can survive this long
without a drink.

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Lemagas knows there is water here,
hidden underneath the river bed.

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But how can he find it?

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The Samburu have learned
to rely on another nomadic creature,

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one that usually travels at night.

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While Lemagas and his camels rest,

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not far away, some giant water-diviners
are sniffing out the river bed.

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An elephant's trunk - its nose -
is far more sensitive than a human's...

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...which means it can tell where
the water table is closest to the surface.

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Elephants must drink 1 00 litres a day

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and can suck up
eight litres of water at a time.

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Having drunk,
the elephants leave before dawn.

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Early next morning, Lemagas and
his camels are on the elephants'trail.

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Even a dry river bed holds water
if you know where to look.

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They sing their thanks to the gods...
and the elephants.

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A few days later,
Lemagas finally returns to his village

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with its permanent deep well.

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He doesn't forget the help
he's been given in the wild.

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The first thing he does
is to bring up precious water,

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not just for his herd and his family,
but for his wild friends too.

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He doesn't forget his nocturnal
water-diviners, for without them,

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Lemagas and his camels
could never survive

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when they're far away from home.

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Over 4,000 kilometres away,
in Mali, another dry river,

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00:38:51,807 --> 00:38:53,718
a tributary of the Niger,

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is forcing one man
into making a difficult decision.

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His name is Ouseman,
and he's a master mason in Djenne,

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an ancient city
made entirely of river mud.

239
00:39:15,367 --> 00:39:19,121
His job is to maintain the city's mosque,

240
00:39:19,167 --> 00:39:23,080
the biggest and oldest mud building
in the world.

241
00:39:36,167 --> 00:39:39,682
It's the heart of Ouseman's culture.

242
00:39:50,087 --> 00:39:54,717
Ouseman's problem is this -
every year the mosque needs

243
00:39:54,767 --> 00:39:57,759
a fresh coat of mud to protect it
before the rains arrive.

244
00:39:59,887 --> 00:40:04,677
Down in the dry river bed,
the mud is blended with rice husks,

245
00:40:04,767 --> 00:40:06,803
and then left to ferment.

246
00:40:14,927 --> 00:40:19,478
But this year, the mix
hasn't reached the right consistency,

247
00:40:19,527 --> 00:40:23,361
and now the rains are almost upon him.

248
00:40:28,287 --> 00:40:31,438
Dust storms are blowing in,

249
00:40:31,487 --> 00:40:35,241
the first signs that the wet season
is about to begin.

250
00:40:38,247 --> 00:40:43,275
The sacred building desperately needs
a new storm-proof skin.

251
00:40:52,407 --> 00:40:57,401
Two days later, Ouseman and his friend
Ibrahim return to the river.

252
00:40:58,727 --> 00:41:01,764
(THEY CHAT)

253
00:41:21,247 --> 00:41:22,965
It's a big decision.

254
00:41:23,007 --> 00:41:27,046
Word spreads fast,
and everyone comes down to help.

255
00:41:30,287 --> 00:41:34,917
Everyone in Djenne has been waiting
all year for this special day.

256
00:42:26,447 --> 00:42:31,567
The built-in palm logs
are perches for the plasterers.

257
00:42:54,607 --> 00:42:59,840
The whole town mucks in
to protect the mosque for another year.

258
00:43:11,487 --> 00:43:15,275
There's been a mud mosque in Djenne
for 700 years...

259
00:43:17,207 --> 00:43:21,723
...the sacred heart of a city
fashioned from river mud.

260
00:43:36,767 --> 00:43:38,564
(CHEERING)

261
00:43:45,687 --> 00:43:49,726
Our relationship with rivers
is never easy.

262
00:43:49,767 --> 00:43:53,237
Their waters can give us so much

263
00:43:53,287 --> 00:43:55,642
but can also take everything away.

264
00:43:55,687 --> 00:44:01,922
We will always be at the mercy
of their wild and unpredictable nature.

265
00:44:06,847 --> 00:44:13,525
But one culture has found an inspiring way
of mastering their savage rivers.

266
00:44:16,047 --> 00:44:20,757
In northeast India, a giant cliff
leads up into a hidden world...

267
00:44:22,647 --> 00:44:24,080
...Meghalaya.

268
00:44:26,607 --> 00:44:31,317
Nearly two kilometres high
and buffeted by monsoon storm clouds,

269
00:44:31,367 --> 00:44:35,360
this is possibly
the wettest place on Earth.

270
00:44:40,767 --> 00:44:46,763
Once, 25 metres of rain fell here
in a year, the world record.

271
00:44:49,087 --> 00:44:52,762
Living here poses an unusual problem,

272
00:44:52,807 --> 00:44:55,116
and it's not just keeping dry.

273
00:44:59,047 --> 00:45:03,996
Nearly all the rain falls
during the summer monsoon.

274
00:45:05,047 --> 00:45:09,404
Rivers switch from gentle streams
to raging torrents.

275
00:45:15,007 --> 00:45:21,401
They become wild and unpredictable
and almost impossible to cross.

276
00:45:30,567 --> 00:45:35,595
Harley and his niece Juliana
are busy cultivating a cunning solution.

277
00:45:46,367 --> 00:45:50,997
30 years ago,
Harley planted this strangler fig

278
00:45:51,047 --> 00:45:55,598
on the river's edge, and today,
he's teaching Juliana how to care for it.

279
00:45:55,647 --> 00:46:00,767
The fig's tangled roots help to prevent
the bank being washed away.

280
00:46:09,807 --> 00:46:15,643
He teaches Juliana to coax the roots
across what is now just a stream.

281
00:46:15,687 --> 00:46:19,475
When they reach the other side,
they'll take hold there.

282
00:46:21,047 --> 00:46:25,484
This is the basis of a structure
that will survive any deluge.

283
00:46:27,647 --> 00:46:29,524
A living bridge.

284
00:46:33,047 --> 00:46:37,916
It's an epic project that no man
can complete in one lifetime,

285
00:46:37,967 --> 00:46:42,358
so Harley is passing on
his knowledge to Juliana.

286
00:46:50,367 --> 00:46:55,122
Each year,Juliana will need to tend
the roots, making them stronger.

287
00:46:57,367 --> 00:47:00,200
If she stays and completes her bridge,

288
00:47:00,247 --> 00:47:03,717
it will become part of
the commuter route here,

289
00:47:03,767 --> 00:47:08,682
a network of dozens of living bridges
that connect the valleys of Meghalaya.

290
00:47:28,207 --> 00:47:31,836
Some of them are many centuries old.

291
00:47:31,887 --> 00:47:34,242
There are even double-deckers.

292
00:47:57,167 --> 00:48:02,719
With Juliana to look after it, the future
of this young bridge looks secure...

293
00:48:08,967 --> 00:48:13,757
...sustainable, living architecture

294
00:48:13,807 --> 00:48:17,004
that will live and grow for generations...

295
00:48:26,007 --> 00:48:29,283
...one of the very few examples
in the world

296
00:48:29,327 --> 00:48:34,355
where humans have come up with
a successful and natural solution,

297
00:48:34,407 --> 00:48:38,446
a way of working with nature

298
00:48:38,487 --> 00:48:43,277
to overcome the problems
a wild river can cause.

299
00:48:54,207 --> 00:48:58,883
For the Human Planet Rivers team,
filming on the Mekong river

300
00:48:58,927 --> 00:49:02,966
at the height of the monsoon
raised many challenges.

301
00:49:04,687 --> 00:49:10,444
Mainly, how do you capture a remarkable
event without losing your camera,

302
00:49:10,487 --> 00:49:14,605
your crew or your star fisherman,
Sam Niang, to the river?

303
00:49:22,287 --> 00:49:26,326
The Khone Falls
have more water flowing over them

304
00:49:26,367 --> 00:49:28,756
than any other waterfall in the world.

305
00:49:36,327 --> 00:49:41,003
A narrowing of the mighty Mekong river
funnels the migrating fish

306
00:49:41,047 --> 00:49:44,642
and provides a dangerous,
if lucrative, opportunity.

307
00:49:56,847 --> 00:50:00,317
The crew's here
to capture the extreme lengths

308
00:50:00,367 --> 00:50:03,439
that locals will go to catch fish.

309
00:50:05,447 --> 00:50:10,965
Sam Niang is lucky. He has access
to his own small island for fishing.

310
00:50:11,007 --> 00:50:15,876
But to get to his prime spot,
he must risk life and limb.

311
00:50:48,447 --> 00:50:52,963
To capture the spectacle
of Sam Niang's high-wire feat,

312
00:50:53,007 --> 00:50:55,726
the crew have chosen a gadget
that runs on wires

313
00:50:55,767 --> 00:51:00,602
and that controls the camera
electronically, known as a cable dolly.

314
00:51:03,527 --> 00:51:08,282
And the idea is, it's one of our
most exciting and sought-after shots,

315
00:51:08,327 --> 00:51:11,717
so we can follow someone
walking across the tightrope,

316
00:51:11,767 --> 00:51:17,717
so the camera moves with them and then
pulls out to reveal the angry water.

317
00:51:20,207 --> 00:51:24,280
But rigging such a hi-tech system
over a raging torrent

318
00:51:24,327 --> 00:51:28,923
is no easy feat,
and it requires a specialist rigger.

319
00:51:28,967 --> 00:51:34,200
We're just trying to get
the cable across for the dolly,

320
00:51:34,247 --> 00:51:39,275
so the local guy's just shimmied
across the wires, as he does every day.

321
00:51:44,007 --> 00:51:47,636
Whilst Tim works on the cables,
the rest of the team

322
00:51:47,687 --> 00:51:50,963
concentrate on filming the rapids
from every other angle,

323
00:51:51,007 --> 00:51:55,637
even shooting in the rapids themselves.

324
00:51:55,687 --> 00:52:00,124
I'll just go here. It won't be a long run.
It'll take two or three minutes.

325
00:52:00,167 --> 00:52:01,885
Mick O'Shea was the first man ever

326
00:52:01,927 --> 00:52:06,239
to navigate the entire Mekong,
from Tibet to southern China -

327
00:52:06,287 --> 00:52:09,279
just the man to capture a fish-eye view.

328
00:52:29,727 --> 00:52:34,721
But even he succumbs to the full force
of the Mekong in surge.

329
00:52:36,727 --> 00:52:41,721
His kayak is sucked under by the powerful
current and swept downstream.

330
00:52:54,647 --> 00:53:00,882
After a few worrying minutes,
Mick re-appears, back in control,

331
00:53:00,927 --> 00:53:02,758
safe but shaken.

332
00:53:24,407 --> 00:53:31,006
With new-found respect for the Mekong's
power, the crew stick to solid ground.

333
00:53:31,047 --> 00:53:35,199
Using a four-metre jib,
they follow Sam Niang

334
00:53:35,247 --> 00:53:39,559
as he negotiates a treacherous
rocky outcrop to cast his net.

335
00:53:39,607 --> 00:53:43,282
...Over and down, OK? And on... Good.

336
00:53:49,767 --> 00:53:53,077
By now, Tim has the rigging
ready for the dolly.

337
00:53:53,127 --> 00:53:54,799
Do you want this up there?

338
00:53:54,847 --> 00:53:56,599
There's a massive cloud come over.

339
00:53:56,647 --> 00:53:58,319
(THUNDER RUMBLES)

340
00:53:58,367 --> 00:54:02,042
But no sooner than it's in place,
the heavens open.

341
00:54:02,087 --> 00:54:04,396
It's the last thing they need.

342
00:54:04,447 --> 00:54:08,520
Dolly filming stops
for technical and safety reasons.

343
00:54:38,007 --> 00:54:43,525
There's just a little spot of rain.
I think rain's stopping play!

344
00:54:58,967 --> 00:55:01,720
- Cos electronics survive the rain well(!)
- Yeah.

345
00:55:02,927 --> 00:55:05,760
(THUNDER CRASHES)

346
00:55:08,487 --> 00:55:11,718
The next morning,
it's clear that, as feared,

347
00:55:11,767 --> 00:55:14,042
water has got into the electronics.

348
00:55:18,727 --> 00:55:20,718
So what's gone wrong with it now?

349
00:55:34,287 --> 00:55:37,165
So the new, modern technology
is ousted by the old-school way.

350
00:55:46,287 --> 00:55:50,678
I'm going to go up there now
and, um, put the camera on!

351
00:55:50,727 --> 00:55:52,797
Oh, my... Whoa! OK.

352
00:55:52,847 --> 00:55:58,365
The crew finally get the cable dolly
working, so now it's time to get creative.

353
00:56:00,527 --> 00:56:06,841
The light, the dolly, the safety team
and, most importantly, Sam Niang,

354
00:56:06,887 --> 00:56:08,764
all have to work in unison.

355
00:56:10,927 --> 00:56:12,406
Go!

356
00:56:17,247 --> 00:56:19,397
We turned it the wrong way.

357
00:56:29,727 --> 00:56:31,763
OK, Tim.

358
00:56:36,087 --> 00:56:38,123
No.

359
00:56:38,167 --> 00:56:39,885
Nearly, nearly.

360
00:56:39,927 --> 00:56:42,441
Bring it all back, yes.

361
00:56:42,487 --> 00:56:44,443
Go.

362
00:56:44,487 --> 00:56:48,241
No. Still no!

363
00:56:49,367 --> 00:56:52,598
Sam Niang looks really happy,
though, doesn't he?

364
00:56:52,647 --> 00:56:56,765
My heart's in my mouth every time
he has to go over that rope.

365
00:56:58,767 --> 00:57:02,123
You look really happy,
and I'm really worried!

366
00:57:04,367 --> 00:57:10,761
The sun breaks through the clouds,
and finally it all comes together.

367
00:57:29,207 --> 00:57:32,165
Yay, we've got a keeper!

368
00:57:33,727 --> 00:57:36,195
That's great!

369
00:57:36,247 --> 00:57:39,364
Thanks very much, you.

370
00:57:39,407 --> 00:57:40,601
Yeah!

371
00:57:40,647 --> 00:57:42,160
What a relief.

372
00:57:57,167 --> 00:58:01,877
Despite the odds,
the Human Planet team have triumphed.