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Africa - the BBC's new six part TV series
Escape the January gloom with a weekly dose of the BBC’s new six part TV series; Africa, starting on Wednesday, 2nd January, on BBC 1 at 9pm.
David Attenborough takes us on a fascinating adventure through the vast and diverse African continent as it has never been seen before.
Episode One: Kalahari – Wednesday, 2nd January, BBC 1 at 9pm.
The journey begins in Africa’s south west corner, the Kalahari, where two extraordinary deserts sit side by side in Namibia and South Africa. Witness how animal and plant life survives in the harshest of environments and celebrate nature’s ingenuity. Clever meerkats, wily birds, solitary rhinos, huge flocks of birds, giant insects and battling giraffe all call this place home. 
Episode Two: Savannah – Wednesday, 9th January, BBC 1 at 9pm
This week the BBC team travels to East Africa; a land of dense forests, snow-capped peaks, steamy swamps and endless savannah. This unique and varied land is a haven for life, supporting great concentrations of large mammals found nowhere else on Earth. It is also a land of extremes, creatures that live here must be able to survive and adapt to ever changing twists and turns – wet turning to dry, feast to famine and cold to hot. Away from the familiar herds of animals, in this episode you’ll see the lizards that risk their lives to steal flies from the faces of sleeping lions, the vast dinosaur-like birds, the Shoebills, as they stalk catfish through huge wetlands, as well as, an eagle who risks everything on the arrival of ten millions bats from a faraway rainforest.
Episode Three: Congo - Wednesday, 16th January, BBC 1 at 9pm
This week the BBC team explore the heart of Africa as they travel to the Congo. The dense tropical rainforest is home to a plethora of animal and plant life all working out ingenious ways to live in this busy corner of Africa. You’ll see honey-stealing chimps, lowland gorillas, lively elephants, kick-boxing frogs, surfing hippos and the mysterious Picathertes bird, all battling for their patch of rainforest.
Episode Four: Cape - Wednesday, 23rd January, BBC 1 at 9pm
The BBC’s Africa team continue their adventures to southern Africa – a riot of life and colour due to two great ocean currents that sweep around the continent’s Cape.
To the east, the warm Angulhas current causes great clouds to form that roll inland to the wettest place in southern Africa, a little explored rainforest where you’ll see thousands of dancing butterflies in a magnificent air show. To the west is the cold Benguela current, which is home to more great white sharks than anywhere else on the planet. Here the coastal fog creeps inland, supporting an incredible desert garden.
At the point where the two ocean currents meet, the clash of warm and cold water creates one of the world’s most fabulous natural displays – South Africa’s sardine run. This attracts one of the greatest gathering of predators on earth, including Africa’s largest marine mammal, the Bryde’s whale.
Episode Five: Sahara - Wednesday, 30th January, BBC 1 at 9pm
The BBC Africa team journey to the far north of Africa to the greatest desert on Earth, the Sahara. You’ll see battling zebra as they fight over dwindling water resources, bizarre looking naked mole rats who live in underground tunnels to escape the heat, camels and their herders searching out water and tiny swallows navigating their way across thousands of miles of desert to find a solitary oasis. Only the toughest survive in this harsh environment. 
Episode Six: The Future - Wednesday, 6th February, BBC 1 at 9pm
In the final episode of this fascinating BBC series, Africa, David Attenborough investigates the future of this great continent. He comes face to face with the realities of rhino poaching and the human impact on wildlife habitats in Kenya and Namibia, meets Masai warriors who are standing side-by-side their old nemesis, lions andwitnesses local conservation in action. In Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique we see a team of dedicated scientists and conservationists attempting to resurrect an entire wilderness area to its former glory days. We discover what it takes to save a species, hold back a desert and bring a whole ecosystem back to life – giving us a glimpse into what the African continent was like before modern man.
Missed an episode?
If you miss an episode the programme is repeated on a Sunday at 5pm on BBC 1 or you can watch it on BBC iPlayer.
Live in the US?
For those based in the US, Africa, is also being shown on the Discovery Channel, starting on Tuesday, 8th January at 9pm Pacific Time and 10pm Eastern Time.
Inspired by the series?
We can help you plan a tailor made safari holiday to many of the countries mentioned in the BBC Africa series. Whether it be heading to the great deserts of the Kalahari, to the grassy savannahs of east Africa, trekking gorillas in the Congo or witnessing the specatular marine and bird life of the Cape, we can help you plan the perfect holiday.
