NARRATOR: Lying in South Africa's heartland
is a mystical world.
A land of extremes,
where high, barren peaks border rich, rolling grasslands.
Giants soar in the skies,
and the most vulnerable seek shelter.
The vast mountain range poses a constant danger
and a daily challenge.
But for those that have adapted, it's home.
Still, even for the mightiest, life is never easy
in the Drakensberg's barrier of spears.
♪ ♪
NARRATOR: The Zulu people
who live along the eastern shadow of the mountain range
call it Ukhahlamba-- the Barrier of Spears.
The first Dutch settlers
to drive their ox-wagons into the foothills
named it the Drakensberg-- the Dragon's Mountain.
Both names are still in use today,
but most South Africans simply refer to it as the Berg--
the Mountain.
Regardless of what it is called,
the gargantuan sequence of peaks that divides Kwazulu-Natal
from the cloud-reaching Kingdom of Lesotho
is among the most impressive landscapes in South Africa.
The Drakensberg mountain range extends more than 550 miles
across southern Africa.
It encompasses massive sandstone buttresses,
grass-covered slopes,
and two mile high cathedral-like rock towers.
Dangerous thunderstorms can gather in a matter of moments.
(thunder rumbling)
And a mighty waterfall plummets
more than 3,000 feet from its cliffs.
The mountains' rugged character
is paired with stunning natural beauty,
and surviving here requires the ability to adapt
and use the mountain to your advantage.
Overnight temperatures regularly drop below freezing,
so for many mountain residents,
the rising sun is their cue to get moving.
The Drakensberg is home
to a number of species of birds of prey.
Soaring high over the mountain,
they glide vast distances along the many peaks and cliffs.
But one species requires a little more assistance
to get airborne.
The Cape vulture is not an early riser.
One of the most widely spread scavengers on the mountain,
you don't see them out and about
until the sun is well above the horizon
and the thermals are strong enough
to get them, and keep them, airborne.
Highly sociable, they nest and roost
in large colonies along the cliffs,
where they sit and wait
for the first air currents of the day
to rise up the mountainside.
On still days, they may not take off at all;
at almost 22 pounds they are just too heavy.
But when the conditions are right,
they launch themselves off the cliffs.
♪ ♪
Making use of updrafts
produced as wind blows over the mountain ridges,
they fly back and forth to gain height.
Once up, the vultures flap as little as possible.
They have a special arrangement of muscles
that enables them to lock their wings,
keeping them extended in the soaring position
for hours at a time.
Using thermals decreases the need
to flap their huge, three-feet-long wings,
meaning the birds use three times less energy
than they would need for flapping.
Vultures coast and soar with so little wasted effort,
they can range over a distance of almost 90 miles
on a good day.
As scavengers, they feed mostly on carrion.
When searching for food,
they form a foraging net across the sky,
watching each other as they search large areas
to locate a suitable carcass.
This can require traveling great distances.
When they spot a potential meal, Cape vultures can swoop down,
circling in a two-and-a-half mile radius
and dropping 980 feet to the ground
in less than six minutes.
These heavy birds have evolved
to use the updrafts and thermals created by the warming sun
to master the skies over the Drakensberg.
Cape vultures are one of a number of species
that soar between the peaks.
Lammergeyers, black eagles,
and harrier hawks are all found here.
And for many on the mountain, they pose a constant threat.
As rocks warm in the morning, cold-blooded reptiles
use the sun's heat as an energy source.
The rocky outcrops of the Drakensberg
provide a refuge for many lizards,
and the ideal spot for basking.
Lizards control their body temperature
through a process known as thermoregulation.
They use the environment
to raise and lower their body temperature.
Either by basking in full sunlight
or by sheltering under a rock.
The mountains are home to some striking species.
These speckled rock skinks
seem to almost enjoy their sunbathing
despite the threat from above.
A lower transparent eyelid
provides a window for the lizards to peep through
while closing their eyes,
an evolutionary adaptation
offering protection to the skinks' eyes
as well as allowing them to stay alert to predators.
Camouflage is crucial
when you have to lie out in the open
for long periods, unable to make a quick getaway.
It allows this southern rock agama to blend in,
making it harder to spot from above.
The Drakensberg's lizards
are not the only creatures that depend on the sun.
A large mole snake has been warming up in the grasslands.
Being cold-blooded, they too must heat up
before they can perform their regular reptilian activities.
Most days, this means finding a meal.
Up on the exposed surface, it is now a balancing act
between gaining enough warmth from the sun,
while at the same time
having to deal with a chilling wind.
It's a slow start to the day.
A cold snake cannot hunt.
They feed predominantly on small warm-blooded mammals
such as rats, mice, and moles.
They are not venomous.
Instead, they constrict their prey with powerful coils,
which they wrap around the unfortunate rodents.
Once fully charged,
the three-foot-long serpent heads off in search of a meal.
It pays to make the most of the sun when it's out.
(thunder rumbling)
The weather can change in a matter of hours
on the mountain.
At this altitude, days and nights
can be bitterly cold, often dropping below freezing.
To survive here, it is vital you keep warm.
The Cape rock hyrax
live in large colonies of up to 25 animals
among the crags and boulders of the Drakensberg.
And there is nothing they enjoy more
than a spot of sunbathing.
♪ ♪
Once warm, the colony begins to forage.
Their mountain home provides all the food they need.
But on a warm day,
predators patrol the skies above the Drakensberg.
The hyraxes are exposed, vulnerable,
but they are always alert to danger.
The black eagle dives.
(squeaking loudly)
The more pairs of eyes, the better.
Up here, working as a team can be the difference
between life and death.
Living in large groups
has provided the hyrax with the security they need
to survive the slopes of the Drakensberg.
But not all of the Drakensberg's mammals
have chosen communal living as a survival method.
Some have opted for a life of solitude
and use the cover of darkness to their advantage.
On the grasslands below,
one of the mountain's most secretive residents emerges:
a climbing mouse.
At a little over two inches long, it is minute.
Living in the shadow of the mountain,
it inhabits the savanna, feeding on grasses.
A long prehensile tail and specially adapted toes
help them climb stalks
to reach the succulent seeds at the top.
In this mighty landscape, they can easily be overlooked.
But the Drakensberg has supported the great and small
throughout its history.
The story of how this extraordinary mountain range
got to be here begins around three billion years ago,
when this landmass was part of a supercontinent
known as Gondwana.
Scientists believe that at that time,
a massive lake covered the granite foundation
on which the mountain now stands.
Over the course of millions of years,
runoff carried sand and mud into the lake,
where it settled into sedimentary layers
that hardened under the compacting weight.
This process carried on
until several hundred million years ago.
The youngest of these sedimentary layers
now lies exposed in the cliffs
at the base of the Drakensberg range.
Then, around 160 million years ago,
immense pressure deep within the Earth
caused Gondwana to split apart.
The slowly drifting tectonic plates
formed the continents of today.
In this period of great change, vast lava flows poured out
through fractures in the Earth's crust,
hardening into layers of basalt.
Over about 20 million years, the basalt deposits grew to be
nearly a mile thick
over the sandstone below.
The results were majestic.
When the lava flows stopped, it halted the construction
of this extraordinary mountain range,
and a slow process of wearing away began.
Along the escarpment,
erosion often follows fracture planes
that form deep within the rock.
As the rocks crumble along these planes,
broad cliff faces form,
sometimes extending in a straight line
for many miles.
Higher still, much of the hard basalt
has long since been whittled down
by time and the elements.
Blocks and slabs were shorn away,
then pulverized over centuries of weathering,
or were swallowed by the Drakensberg's deep ravines.
Now, only towering peaks remain, a chain of sentinels
keeping watch over the landscape.
The debris from this long process
has been churned into a black soil
that supports the grasses, covering the slopes below.
From every vantage point, this barrier of spears
bears the scars of the powerful forces
that have shaped it through the ages.
But the Drakensberg too is a force,
and has an impact on the surrounding landscape.
For this reason, it is also known by another name:
the Creator of Rivers.
High rainfall combined with winter snow
and porous basalt rock makes the Drakensberg
the most important watershed in southern Africa.
It's the source of several significant rivers,
including South Africa's two largest:
the west-flowing Orange, which runs over 1,300 miles
before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean;
and the east-flowing Thukela,
which flows over 300 miles in the opposite direction
before it reaches the east coast.
Up to 6-1/2 feet of rain
can fall on the high plateau in a single year.
There is snow cover for four months of the year
in protected gullies and in south-facing slopes.
Mists shroud the peaks,
strong winds batter their summits...
(thunder rumbling)
...and torrential thunderstorms regularly build
during the summer months.
The lifeblood of the Drakensberg combines and overflows,
pouring off the mountain.
Nowhere is this more impressive than at the Thukela falls.
With a total drop of over 3,000 feet,
it is the highest waterfall in Africa
and the second highest in the world.
It is so high that
by the time the water has reached the bottom,
much of it has turned into mist, disappearing into thin air.
From their very beginning,
the Drakensberg's rivers support life
despite the harsh conditions.
River frogs embrace the cold.
Living in high altitude streams,
some even spend the winter months sheltered
under a layer of ice.
Freshwater crabs breed successfully,
populating the waterways.
♪ ♪
And the abundance of life attracts visitors.
A lone black stork feeds along a river
on one of the high plateaus.
These migratory birds are attracted to the mountain
as they make their way north.
An African spoonbill
has also made its way up from the plains below.
The rich, fertile lands
provide a wealth of feeding opportunities for them both,
with frogs and crabs being favored items
on the stork's menu--
the perfect pit stop on their annual migration.
As the waterways flow further down the mountain,
they finally spread out into the vast grasslands
surrounding its peaks.
Despite looking like one homogenous mass,
these plains are actually made up
of an incredibly diverse mix of species.
The montane grasslands have
an exceptionally rich biodiversity.
And this has contributed to the Drakensberg's status
as a world heritage site.
The total number of plant species recorded
equates to about a tenth of all plant species in South Africa.
Incredibly, 13% of these are found nowhere else on earth.
The grasslands harbor a wealth of life.
The vast expanse of land
lying at the foot of the mighty Drakensberg
plays host to animals of all shapes and sizes.
Each species has adapted to make the most of what's on offer.
But to do so, they must cover huge distances
as food and resources are spread far and wide.
Black-backed jackals thrive on the lives the mountain takes,
scavenging on carcasses.
For one family,
the day's foraging starts in the open grasslands.
After spending the freezing nights
sheltering in the mountain's endless caves and overhangs,
this troop of Chacma baboons has come down to forage.
(baboon call)
The family move as one unit,
and those that can't keep up are carried.
But out on the plains, they are all vulnerable.
Exposed by the enormity of the landscape,
the Drakensberg's aerial predators
are a constant threat even for these heavyweights.
But baboons are opportunists, and a clear morning
has enticed them out of last night's dwellings.
Chacma baboons are highly adaptable
and can survive in a range of habitats.
The key to their success in the Drakensberg
is to not be picky eaters.
The baboons' diet includes almost anything that is edible.
When foraging, they use their fingers
to dig through the hard soil
to reach the nutritious plant roots, bulbs, and grubs below.
This technique has allowed them to carve out
a life for themselves in this barren landscape.
These grasslands also attract visitors from afar.
These white storks
spent the warm summer months of the breeding season
in parts of central and southern Europe,
the Middle East, and Asia.
As winter arrived,
they undertook a spectacular migration,
flying directly across the vast expanse of the Sahara...
Before eventually taking up residence
in the shadow of the Drakensberg's peaks.
The white stork is a largely carnivorous bird,
consuming a wide range of prey
including snakes, frogs, insects,
and, on occasion, some rodent species.
They are not picky eaters;
almost anything will do, allowing them to scrape a living
from the Drakensberg's meager offerings.
The white stork is a tough character,
but it's not the only animal drawn to the Drakensberg.
Down on the plains, large grazers gather,
but all are dwarfed by their surroundings.
Black wildebeest used to migrate across the region
in their thousands, but due to human activity,
they are now restricted to the Drakensberg's territory.
Small grazing herds roam the grasslands and plateaus
as they feed.
They are hardy survivors.
Thick, dark coats insulate them
better than their relative, the blue wildebeest,
making them more adapted to the severe cold.
They require little protection
during the mountain's cold winter
and at its higher altitudes.
Despite the abundance of land in the Drakensberg,
the rules of Africa's savannas still apply here
when it comes to territory.
The best are prime sparring grounds for male hartebeests.
Their domains must incorporate a rich source of food,
easy access to water,
and a firm footing during the rains.
Competition for such pivotal lands is fierce.
Ruling individuals will regularly meet at their borders
and lock horns.
Serious fights, though rare, can result in fatalities.
For now, it seems they are just letting off a bit of steam.
With so many grazers competing
for the mountain's fresh, succulent grasses,
some have been forced higher to find land of their own.
The grey rhebok ekes out a living
on these steep slopes.
It has evolved to survive here by subsisting off grasses
that are either inaccessible or unpalatable
to most other antelope in the Drakensberg.
The rhebok lives in some of the more barren areas
of the Drakensberg,
where some of the very first species to settle here
continue to thrive.
♪ ♪
One of the earliest life forms to take hold
had a lasting influence.
The arrival of lichen is a vital step
in the colonization of bare rock.
As soil slowly begins to accumulate
in the cracks of rocks
and the dead bodies of lichens begin to gather,
larger plants are able to gain a hold on the layer of remains.
As these gather, they break up the rock even more
and they add their own dead bodies to the pile...
Creating soil where the seeds of small plants
are able to root and grow.
But the entire process starts with the lowly lichen.
And without it,
the Drakensberg would have a very different appearance.
Throughout the range, plants and animals
have adapted to survive the extreme conditions
faced on a daily basis.
At higher altitudes, the soil is like a dry sponge.
This prevents it from freezing in the severe cold.
Above the tree line, plants survive
because many of them have subterranean bulbs and roots.
While lower down, specialists fringe the streams and rivers
running off the mountain.
(water dripping)
Mosses are perfectly adapted
to make the most of the wet conditions.
Part of an ancient lineage,
they were one of the first plants
to colonize the mighty mountain range,
along with the pioneering lichen.
The damp, shady,
sparsely vegetated rock faces of the Drakensberg
are the ideal habitat for them to thrive.
And they create an ideal hiding place for a hunter.
A many-spotted snake uses its surroundings as cover.
Only its breathing gives it away.
Lurking along the Drakensberg's streams, rivers, and marshes,
it searches for a meal.
It preys on amphibians, like Karoo toads
that have adapted to blend into the rocky banks.
But even when you are well camouflaged,
sometimes the best defense is a hasty retreat.
As the evening light settles on the grasslands,
its residents head for shelter.
The white storks have to make do with any form of high ground.
A lone tree does the job.
The travelers gather in informal colonies.
The Chacma baboons also need to head home.
They travel back up the mountain to the safety of their caves.
They are not the only primates
to have used these caves for shelter.
Over time, many have gazed out over this dramatic landscape.
Formed over the centuries by a slow process of weathering,
these hollows have served as a refuge
from the Drakensberg's fierce elements.
For more than 4,000 years,
they were home to the indigenous San people,
who created a vast body of rock art...
The largest and most prolific collection in Africa.
There are some 600 sites and 35,000 individual images
in the Drakensberg alone.
The Bushmen were drawn here
by the abundance of game living on the grasslands.
The images depict a detailed account
of their hunter-gather existence.
Among the animals represented in these paintings,
eland are given a prominent role.
Both the quantity and quality of the eland paintings
are remarkable,
suggesting they were very important in San culture.
While most other animals
are regularly depicted in a single color,
the eland are painted in combinations of several,
often using sophisticated shading techniques.
Today, eland still have a central role
in the Drakensberg story.
They are one of the most common large mammals in the area,
with an estimated 2,000 individuals
representing around 20% of the South African population.
The Cape eland typically move in herds of up to 15.
Even at a distance,
these giant 1,900 pound animals are unmistakable.
Their unique bulk and heavy dewlap,
once revered by the Bushmen for its high fat content,
give the animals an iconic image.
Their mountain home has supported life
throughout the ages.
By the end of the 19th century,
the San had disappeared from the Drakensberg completely,
driven out by European settlers.
But their drawings remained.
Based on known rates of deterioration,
most of the rock art remaining in the Drakensberg
belongs to the last 1,000 years of occupation,
if not the last few centuries.
Today, they offer a glimpse back in time,
a reminder of the people who lived, survived,
and thrived for centuries in this extreme land.
While some have come and gone,
others have stayed and flourished.
Conquering the Drakensberg is not easy,
but if successful, the mountain will shelter and protect
those willing to live here.
The mighty barrier of spears
is a formidable and unforgiving landscape,
a hostile wilderness
where harsh conditions make every day a challenge.
But for the few that have taken them on,
the rewards have been worth it.
In the mountain's hidden corners,
a host of creatures have found sanctuary.
While some rise above the peaks,
others thrive in their shadows.
Stretching as far as the eye can see,
it is called the barrier of spears for good reason.
It's a realm of sharp extremes,
an unforgiving land that also harbors a wealth of life,
creating one of Africa's greatest hidden kingdoms.
♪ ♪