Wherever water flows,
life follows.
It's inside everything that lives.
Over half the human body
is composed of water.
And it's here
at the river's edge
where our civilization started to develop
in Africa.
Lives on the banks of the Great Zambezi
still respond to its ebb and flow.
When the wetlands swell...
The Lozi people take to their boats,
seeking higher ground.
This annual ritual
is called Kuomboka,
which means "getting out of the water."
According to legend,
the god Nyambe
commanded man to build the first canoe
in anticipation of the flood.
Each year, the Lozi leave,
reassured the soil is renewed
for a future harvest.
They'll return again
when the gentle floods subside.
Rivers flow like arteries,
carrying the lifeblood of existence
huge distances
across many different terrains.
Cascading over Victoria Falls,
the Zambezi becomes the largest curtain
of falling water on Earth.
People here call it Mosi-oa-Tunya,
"the smoke that thunders."
Towering clouds of mist
can be seen from miles away.
Plumes of spray
soak everything in reach...
Allowing lush rain forest to thrive
wherever it can take root.
Tumbling over the soft limestone beneath,
the Zambezi
flows for another 1,000 miles
towards the east coast of Africa.
Most rivers end their journey
when the fresh water they carry
finally meets the sea.
Oceans wrap the entire world with their embrace.
They hold over 90%
of the Earth's water,
and so the majority of life on the planet
lives in the mysterious deep.
Out at sea,
water evaporates and ascends as vapor
into the sky.
On the western coast of Southern Africa,
where sea and sand dunes meet,
tiny droplets
reach land as a spray of ocean mist.
Just the smallest amounts of moisture
allow the most resilient plants
to call the desert their home.
Inland, from Cape Town to Namibia,
water in any form rarely touches
this arid region of Namaqualand.
Yet one sprinkling of seasonal rain,
and this blank canvas
transforms into a masterpiece of nature.
With over 3,000 different species of wildflower,
it's called the greatest garden on Earth.
Dazzling but ephemeral,
flowers must compete to attract pollinators
with the intensity of their blooms.
Despite so little water,
it's the most biodiverse desert on Earth.
When the hot winds return,
fertilized seeds fall onto the desert floor.
They wait
patiently in the dust
for the rains to return once more.
Water
is a shape-shifter.
It can flow freely
high above us as rivers in the sky.
Clouds of billowing vapor
can cover hundreds of miles in a day.
The desert people of South Africa
would summon the rain
with a ritual dance.
When the heavens do let loose,
tons of water pour onto the ground...
Quenching the Earth below.
Every year in Botswana,
summer rains that fell upstream
four months ago
start to flow into the Kalahari Desert.
These elephants
are drawn here as if by a magnetic force.
In the dry season,
they time their migration
to the promise of seasonal floods.
They can walk for 50 miles
without a drop to drink.
Elephants never forget their map
of where to find water.
The eldest females remember best
and pass on this precious knowledge
to their young.
Their long trek is rewarded
with the first true bath of the season.
When the floods fully appear,
the Okavango Delta grows
three times in size.
It's one of the largest watering holes on Earth,
so large,
it can be seen from space.
A multitude of other animals arrive
to share this unique
and delicate ecosystem.
These wetlands give refuge
to some of Africa's most iconic creatures.
Like every living thing,
we emerged from water.
It is the origin
of life itself...
And creates the vibrant diversity
of our world.
As rain and rivers,
oceans and fog...
Water's cycle never sleeps
on its epic odyssey
around the globe.