"It's the longest river on earth." "Flowing from the heart of a continent, it has written a story across the landscape as it forges its way north, through mountain," "forest, marsh" "and desert." "For centuries its waters have sustained life in some of the harshest places on Earth." "Without it, this corner of Africa would be only rock and dust and sand." "Civilisations have risen and fallen on its banks." "Without its gifts, the pyramids would never have been built." "Mankind has looked on this river and wondered at its mysteries - where it comes from, why it floods every year" "and how, flowing through the desert for thousands of kilometres it never runs dry?" "Many died attempting to unravel its secrets." "In doing so they became legends themselves, their names forever bound to the great river." "Doctor Livingstone I presume." "Journey along this river, through the ages, into the heart of Africa - a river that has shaped history;" "a river with the power to change the lives of all who encounter it... the Nile" "The Sahara." "Millions of square kilometres of scorched desert... and yet here flows a mighty river." "Since the dawn of history this river has performed miracles." "Every year, the waters of the Nile rose and transformed the desert." "This annual flood created a fertile paradise." "Protected from the barren desert beyond, people built their lives on the promise of this flood." "Nature's miracle built a great civilisation " "Ancient Egypt." "Fuelled by the Nile," "Egyptian society prospered." "But in truth their world was balanced on a knife edge." "One year, their abundant crops might attract plagues of biblical proportions..." "While the next year they might face drought and famine." "The Nile held them hostage." "Beyond their fields lay the desert, life and death in stark contrast." "The pharaoh had to maintain the balance of their world - appeasing their gods and ensuring the gift of the Nile." "They struggled to understand their world, hoping to tame its dark forces." "If they failed they faced catastrophe." "Three and a half thousand years ago" "Egyptian civilisation entered a glorious stage in its story, at its heart the city of Thebes." "This is the beginning of the 'New Kingdom' - the golden age of great pharaohs like Rameses and Tutankhamun." "The pharaoh stands at the pinnacle of the known world." "Each attempts to outdo his predecessor with ever more dramatic displays of power and prestige." "Throughout this period the banks of the Nile are a vast construction site." "The province of Thebes is home to over fifty thousand people." "This is a time of prosperity." "In the small village of Djeme life is good for the farmers, fishermen, and temple builders." "The stores overflow from the rich harvests." "There's time for leisure." "It's easy for the villagers to feel the Gods have blessed them - all this is thanks to the miracle of the Nile." "Around them Egyptians see a world of strange creatures which, like them also depend on the river." "Some are admired." "Some are feared." "All are respected." "The natural world has a profound influence on the Egyptians - they see it as a world of magic." "It provides a potent source of symbolism." "The tilapia fish is a symbol of rebirth - and this is why..." "The fish broods its young in the safety of its own mouth, before ejecting them in a cloud of new life." "The natural and the supernatural are intimately connected." "Aware that they owe everything to their river, they imagine the Nile lies at the heart of a cosmos composed of water." "Even the sky is made of water." "Each day across the celestial ocean sails the sun." "The sun and the Nile form a uniquely structured world." "The river running South to North, and the sun crossing the sky from East to West, are the twin axes that define their entire world." "They believe this precisely ordered landscape was created by the gods, and everything within has its place in a supernatural story." "The pharaoh is not only their king but also their direct link to the supernatural." "Through prayer and rituals he must appease the gods to keep the elements of their watery world in balance." "The pharaoh is seen as the envoy of the most powerful god in the Egyptian world." "Re the sun god." "Every morning Re magically comes to life, starting ajourney across the sky in his solar boat." "As the sun rises from the water, the villagers of Djeme wake to the calls of Hamadryas baboons." "After enduring the cold desert night baboons climb to the top of the temples to bathe in the first rays of the sun." "Egyptians believe they are greeting Re, and that baboons are the children of the sun god, worshipping their father as he rises above the horizon." "They squabble for the warmest spots." "Despite their unruly behaviour their relationship to the sun god makes them cult animals even given sacred burials." "The labours of the day begin under the gaze of the sun god." "As Re sails higher through the sky a creature appears from his heart:" "a powerful predator - the peregrine falcon." "Falcon is an ally of the farmers, preying on crop-raiding pigeons." "The peregrine's commanding eye scours the fields below." "Dark patches below the bird's eyes help reduce the glare from the sun." "The falcon bursts out of the sun, taking his prey by surprise." "The sun riding falcon is the manifestation of one of the most important of all Egyptian gods, the all-seeing Horus." "Even the deadliest animals have their place in the Egyptian world." "A man killer hunts among the farms of Ancient Egypt." "The cobra is rightly feared." "Its lethal venom is injected into prey or spat up to two metres." "When threatened the cobra rears up and swells its neck muscles " "an aggressive posture to deter potential attackers." "The burning venom of the cobra is seen to mimic the burning rays of the midday sun." "Egyptians transform this lethal creature into an ally:" "that lethal power is re-directed so that the cobra becomes a protector of the pharaoh." "Even in the miniscule and the bizarre the Egyptians see reflections of the great mysteries of their world." "From the fertile banks of the Nile to the desert all around nothing escapes their attention." "The strange life cycle of the scarab beetle seems to embody the sun's daily journey." "Like the rising sun, the scarab beetle appears to be born from the ground." "It then seeks out the material to complete its life cycle." "Fortunately that material is plentiful around the village." "The beetle laboriously sculpts the dung into a perfect sphere - this is where it will lay its eggs." "It's such hard work, piracy is rife." "The best way to avoid being robbed is to get the ball away from the dung pile as fast as possible." "The beetle takes a direct route to safety by following a bearing taken from the sun." "It uses polarised patterns detected in the sky to keep it on track." "In the beetle's journey the Egyptians see a tiny parallel with the journey of the sun across the sky." "The scarab's lifecycle also presents a hopeful image of continuity." "As the beetle buries the dung ball it returns to the earth." "The dung will become a subterranean larder for its young." "In three months time they will emerge." "Meanwhile the setting sun too appears to be returning to the earth." "Re is about to start ajourney through the mysterious Underworld - the place of the dead." "It's a time of danger and uncertainty." "But Re has help on this difficult journey from creatures of the Nile." "The Nile Catfish lives in the mud on the bottom of the river eating detritus that filters down from above." "The long 'whiskers' allow it to feel its way through the darkness." "The Catfish helps guide the sun back to the East to complete its cycle of birth, death and resurrection." "The sun's journey presents the Egyptians with daily proof of the triumph of Life over the forces of Death." "By associating himself with the sun god Re the Pharaoh strengthens and re-affirms his power." "The sun's unlimited power and the water from the Nile create a paradise in the heart of a desert." "Safe within their narrow green world, the daily rhythms of life appear to continue for the moment." "But of course the world does change." "This world is in constant flux." "The Egyptians know it, and fear it." "Their paradise could so easily be lost." "The people are aware of the fragility of their world, subject to forces they cannot control." "Now they are to face a critical time." "Despite the constancy of the sun's daily cycle, its yearly cycle creates massive change." "The seasons brought by the sun will transform the other axis of their world the Nile." "The Nile is their only lifeline." "Every year they wait for the river to burst its banks and flood." "Without it they cannot irrigate the land and raise their crops." "Without it there would be no civilisation." "The Egyptians have already seen the river fail them, with catastrophic consequences." "A twenty year drought destroyed the Old Kingdom the age of the pyramids." "Much of the population had simply starved to death when the floodwaters failed." "As the seasons progress the balance between order and chaos is about to shift." "They look to the one person with the responsibility to maintain this balance - the one who must ensure the Nile will flood," "the pharaoh." "He must mediate between his people and the gods." "He derives his power from his father, the god Osiris." "Osiris had taught his people how to use the Nile to cultivate the land." "But Osiris had a brother, Seth who was jealous of his power and murdered him by cutting him into pieces and scattering them over the land." "But the broken body of Osiris was bound back together and restored to life." "Osiris is depicted with a green face to reflect the fertility he brought to the country." "Egyptians think of him each time the seasonal flood brings their land back to life." "For his crime the murderous Seth was banished to the desert, the realm of chaos, from where he forever threatens to return and destroy the Egyptian world with plague, drought and famine." "The future of Egypt rests on the shoulders of the pharaoh." "He must keep Seth's chaos at bay." "The people of Egypt look to him to protect them." "If he fails them now and cannot ensure the flood they will face the same catastrophe that befell the Old Kingdom." "Each summer his kingship is tested." "It's mid June." "Egypt starts to heat up." "The threat to the cherished continuity and consistency of the villagers' lives begins." "The desert sands advance, threatening to extinguish the river." "Without the Nile the Egyptian world will cease." "Water is becoming an ever more precious commodity." "Competition for the Nile's dwindling pools becomes intense." "Pushed to the limits of endurance, male hippos become extremely dangerous as they fight over their diminishing territory." "Often these bouts are fought to the death." "The Nile's paradise is disappearing." "Caught up in the fighting, female hippos aggressively defend their young." "The Egyptians respect their bravery and worship them in the form of Tauert, the goddess of young mothers." "As the temperature rises the pressure mounts on the pharaoh." "But one of the Nile's creatures actually welcomes the pitiless heat." "Crocodiles crave the heat of the sun to maintain their own body temperature." "This brutal season presents little challenge to them!" "The river is becoming a very dangerous place to be." "There is a stench of death." "A hippo carcass draws crocodiles from miles around." "Some are over four metres long." "Even for crocodiles it is not easy to bite through the thick hide, but they've developed a unique way of feeding." "Spinning enables them to twist off chunks of flesh." "They can demolish anything." "The ability of crocodiles to thrive while others suffer inspires awe in the Egyptians." "They are honoured in special temples, worshipped as the god Sobek." "While they are alive they are pampered." "When they die, they are embalmed and buried in sacred tombs." "As the ground bakes and the Nile dwindles, the Egyptians pray for the return of the flood." "An entire civilisation holds its breath." "The pharaoh's position is now precarious." "He must prove he can influence the gods." "His people demand that he delivers the flood." "They know the Nile has risen before to replenish their world, and they yearn for its arrival again" "but has the pharaoh been able to appease the gods this year?" "All along the valley, people are looking to nature for signs of hope." "Then, at last, one appears." "Flocks of sacred ibis arrive from the south." "Egyptians have learned that the flood will surely follow." "Despite its critical importance Egyptians don't understand the nature of the flood." "They believe the Nile bubbles up far to the south from the depths of an underground sea." "Over a few weeks the water level rises by nearly ten metres." "The sun-baked land is transformed into a flooded plain covering thousands of square kilometres." "Although welcome, the arrival of this much water is potentially dangerous." "To tame the water the Pharaoh oversees dam building and irrigation to channel it safely over the land." "The Pharaoh has not failed his people." "The rebirth of the Nile marks the Egyptian New Year." "As heralds of the flood, the sacred ibis that now populate the river are held in high esteem." "As they probe for snails they resemble scribes dipping pens into ink so are also credited with the power of knowledge." "But in reality they are important for a more practical reason:" "evidence from autopsies on mummies has shown that Egyptians suffered from bilharzia, a liver parasite carried by water snails." "As the ibis eat the snails they make pools safe for the villagers to bathe." "The sacred ibis symbolise the god Thoth, god of wisdom and master of time." "Before long Thoth will play a pivotal role in the Pharaoh's destiny." "The rising waters bring the Nile valley back to life." "It becomes a refuge in the heart of the desert, attracting thousands of different birds on their migration across Africa." "As the flood reaches its height in late summer, the parched swamps of papyrus at the margins of the Nile are rejuvenated." "These swamps are full of creatures attracted by an abundance of fish." "Fishing is big business for the villagers of Djeme fish are the currency by which even temple builders are paid." "The secret of the Nile's gift is not the water itself, but the load it has carried into Egypt millions of tonnes of rich silt." "When the waters begin to recede in the autumn, the black silt that remains is so rich that it appears to create life spontaneously." "Frogs and toads seem to born directly from the black mud." "Frog amulets are given as gifts to celebrate the Egyptian New year, symbols of the resurrection of the land." "This is the busiest time of the year for the farmers." "The formless mud is transformed into an ordered grid of fields." "The Nile's gifts are harnessed." "Now, the myth of Osiris and his jealous brother Seth will be played out... the sowing of the new crops is a reminder of Osiris - murdered and 'buried' in the soil." "The Nile's water irrigates the silt-rich land it has created, and over the next few months these perfect growing conditions fulfil the river's promise to restore life." "As the crops grow," "Osiris rises again from the dead." "When the Nile keeps its promise the desert is transformed and Egypt becomes a paradise once more." "The forces of order and chaos are perfectly in balance." "But for how long?" "Now is the spring harvest." "The crops are abundant but even this brings a new danger." "The curse of Seth might yet throw their world into chaos." "This year, the villages will face a new threat, one they are powerless to avert." "When locust populations reach a critical density, they radically alter their behaviour - massing into terrifying swarms that devour everything in their path." "The swarms appear from nowhere, swept along by desert winds." "One square kilometre can contain fifty million locusts." "A swarm advances at four metres every second." "Locusts destroy not only crops, but also food stores." "Their droppings contaminate what little food they leave behind." "Those who eat it are poisoned." "The balance of Egypt is broken." "The plague has decimated the population." "Cemeteries overflow with the dead." "The stench of death attracts scavengers." "But even in such desperate times, the people seek signs of hope." "Their imagination transforms the wild dogs and jackals that scavenge around the cemeteries into Anubis, a God who escorts the souls of the dead into the underworld." "Following the devastation by the locust plague the pharaoh must take control of the crisis." "He must organise the redistribution of the nation's reserves from other parts of his kingdom." "The villagers of Djeme can now start to rebuild their lives." "But just as order returns to their world, terrible news arrives from the city of Thebes." "The Pharaoh, the man they believe to be a God, proves to be as mortal as themselves." "The Pharaoh is dead." "Not only does he leave a political vacuum, but now there is no-one to intercede with the gods." "The Egyptian's ordered world is in danger of descending into permanent chaos." "For the Egyptians, death is not the end." "They believe that as long as the body is intact, the spirit can be kept alive." "The pharaoh is prepared for mummification:" "The organs are removed and stored in canopic jars " "All except for the heart, upon which is placed a scarab amulet." "This will be crucially important later." "The body is dried out with salt before being wrapped in hundreds of metres of bandages." "Even in death, the pharaoh's responsibility to his people is not over." "But it will take seventy days until he is ready to perform the most important test of his kingship and deliver them from chaos." "Summer is approaching, and they face the threat of drought once more." "Without their pharaoh the villagers fear for their future." "As the season of hardship intensifies" "Egyptian vultures are drawn closer to the shrinking river in the hope of finding a meal." "A column of vultures riding the thermal currents is a sign of death." "The villagers cattle are dying." "A vulture's hooked bill cuts easily into the hide, and its bald head and neck saves prolonged feather-cleaning." "It uses its bulk and outstretched wings to try and dominate the carcass." "It's midsummer." "The Nile is now so low it's possible to walk across it." "The flood is very late." "The words of an ancient prophesy are becoming a reality:" "'What will become of this land?" "..." "The river of Egypt is dry..." "Let me show you the land in turmoil'." "All the villagers can do now is wait." "In the midst of drought, the entire kingdom faces catastrophe." "Have the gods deserted their world?" "At last, the moment has come:" "the pharaoh is ready for his final journey." "On the day of the his burial an extraordinary ceremony is played out in secrecy through the Valley of the Kings." "Food from the dwindling reserves becomes sacred offerings." "The pharaoh's spirit must be nourished." "Inside the coffin, his body has been preserved and bound together in imitation of his father Osiris." "The mummy and the provisions for his final journey are carried to the tomb - carved fifty metres inside the mountain." "As the sun dies on the horizon, the Pharaoh enters the underworld." "The mummy is left in the tomb, the entrance sealed" "and hidden for eternity." "Their fate is in the hands of the dead pharaoh." "Can the chaos of Seth be lifted?" "Will the flood come?" "The Pharaoh is now traveling through the underworld, a distorted reflection of the Nile valley." "Here he encounters familiar Nile creatures again." "This time they play a pivotal role in Egypt's destiny." "The Pharaoh finds himself in the presence of the gods." "This is the Hall of Judgement." "It's time for the ultimate test the weighing of the heart." "The pharaoh's heart is to be weighed against a feather - symbol of order and justice - principles by which the Pharaoh should have ruled his people." "The jackal-headed god Anubis places the heart on the scales." "The ibis-headed god Thoth stands by to record the result." "The ceremony is overseen by Osiris." "If the Pharaoh's heart is too heavy with sin it faces annihilation by the Devourer, a crocodile-headed monster." "The Egyptian world will be doomed to remain in chaos." "The scarab amulet that was placed on the pharaoh's chest ensures his heart will not betray him." "'I have not committed crimes against my people..." "I have not done what the gods hate..." "I have not obstructed water when it should run... '" "At last the Nile rises again, and its miracle is performed once more." "The valley is revitalised." "Egyptians have proof the scales have balanced." "The pharaoh has earned his place alongside the gods." "From here he can help maintain the balance of their world and keep chaos at bay." "The Ancient Egyptians developed a sophisticated culture." "Where the world of the natural and the supernatural were intimately bound together." "Never before or since has there been such a close bond with the Natural world." "The age of the Pharaohs prospered for over three thousand years." "Their civilisation would inspire all those that followed." "But for all that the Egyptians never understood the truth behind the miracle that provided them with life." "The gifts of a great river" " The Nile." "Next Week." "Why do the Nile's waters rise and flood each year?" "Where does its cargo of fertile soil come from?" "Journey far upstream, to swamps and mountains in the heart of Africa." "Witness the creation of a force powerful enough to bring life to a desert four thousand kilometres away." "The Nile." "Draining over three million square kilometres of Africa, then flowing through one of the harshest deserts in the world." "It's the world's longest river." "This river was the power house behind the world's first great civilisation." "Without the Nile's extraordinary fertility, there would be no Tutankhamen, no Cleopatra, no pyramids." "It changed the world forever." "Each year, the Nile performed a miracle - a great flood that brought not only water to the parched desert, but a staggering one hundred and forty million tonnes of fertile volcanic soil." "Somewhere far away, powerful forces gathered to swell the river and send it racing downstream." "But the Ancient Egyptians had no idea where this flood came from." "They believed it was the gods who sent these vital gifts so reliably each year." "Impassable rapids prevented the Egyptians travelling far enough upstream to discover the truth." "They lived in isolation, believing this one green valley contained their entire, god-given Universe." "They knew nothing of what lay beyond." "But where does the Nile's great flood really come from, and how is it able to perform its miracle?" "The river has been reluctant to give up its secrets, now we can unravel the mystery." "The answer can only be found at the end of an extraordinary journey, far upstream, into the remotest and strangest corners of Africa." "It's an epic journey... in search of the great flood." "The Nile's influence as a lifeline in the desert stretches a long way south from Egypt - onwards into Nubia, now part of northern Sudan." "For over a thousand kilometres, the Nile is the only source of life in a forbidding desert known as "The Belly of Stones"." "For millennia, there have been human settlements here on this green strip clinging to the banks of the Nile." "But it's a man-made oasis, extending only as far as farmers can pump the river's precious water." "Animals have also benefited from this transformation of barren desert into lush paradise." "These, the rivers original inhabitants have witnessed more than one civilization born of the Nile." "These pyramids are the tombs of the so-called" ""black pharaohs" of the Nubian Kingdom of Kush." "They too harnessed the Nile's riches, and were at one time powerful enough to rule their Egyptian neighbours, a thousand kilometres to the north." "But unlike the Egyptians, little is known about their mysterious culture and language." "A little way upstream from those enigmatic pyramids, the Nile's story becomes more complicated." "Now there are two rivers the Blue Nile and the White Nile." "Here they meet and merge in what Arab poets call "The longest kiss in history"." "The clearly different colours of the Blue and White Nile suggest different characters and origins." "This meeting of the waters is the site of another great human settlement" "Khartoum." "Khartoum is the capital of Sudan - a country of nearly six hundred tribes and over a hundred languages." "Centuries old," "Khartoum remains to this day one of the most important crossroads in the African landscape." "The Nile has seen Kushites, Christians and Arabs each rule here in their time." "But Islam has emerged as the dominant voice in modern Khartoum." "Every Friday, Islamic mystics still gather to affirm their beliefs." "A crowd urges them to spin." "They enter a state of trance believing in this way that they can span the divide between heaven and earth." "These are the legendary "whirling dervishes"." "Like the waters of the Blue and White Nile, people have merged here." "In a human kaleidoscope," "Arabia meets Africa, and the old ways meet the new." "But throughout Khartoum's fluid history, the Nile's yearly flood has remained the one true constant." "Beyond Khartoum, both branches of the Nile lead into a wilder Africa..." "But which branch brings the great flood?" "This, the larger branch, is the White Nile." "Just a few hundred kilometers upstream from a desert city, the White Nile flows through a wholly different and stranger world." "This is the Sudd." "It's one of the largest swamps in the world." "Sudd means "The barrier"." "Throughout history, anyone who tried to navigate this shifting landscape found it well named, and it still is." "Arab and African worlds collide here." "Southern Sudan has seen many civil wars the latest raging for 20 years." "Hostile geography and politics combine to keep the Sudd hidden from the outside world." "The course of the White Nile becomes lost in an ocean of papyrus reeds." "The labyrinth of papyrus provides food and shelter for enormous numbers of fish." "These waters are clearly fertile, but did they nourish the far away fields of Ancient Egypt?" "The world of papyrus is always on the move." "Air sacs in the stem give it great buoyancy." "Huge papyrus rafts drift on the current." "These restless islands of reeds constantly redefine the channels of the waterways." "It's no wonder explorers found the Sudd impenetrable." "A healthy population of dangerous animals also helps maintain the Sudd's inhospitable reputation." "At this time of the year the huge swamp is, in fact, shrinking." "Fish become more densely concentrated, making them easier prey." "But it's not just the water that's becoming overcrowded..." "White-eared kob retreat into the dwindling grasslands of the Sudd during the dry season - when they were last counted there were thought to be a million of them - one of the greatest concentrations of large animals on Earth " "one thousand per square kilometre." "But the over-crowding has encourages strange behaviour." "The males are forced to fight over females by protecting tiny, merely symbolic, territories." "But they aren't the only ones for which the White Nile is a lifeline in the dry season." "Over a million people and their cattle live in the Sudd." "Among them - the Dinka." "Their cattle are at the centre of their world - they depend on them for survival." "The relationship is certainly personal and spiritual, but above all it's practical." "Rarely killed and eaten, each cow is a precious source of milk or blood, forming much of the Dinka's diet." "Cow dung is burned for fuel - the smoke and the ash deters the hordes of biting insects." "When they can, the Dinka catch fish from the swamp." "How can the Sudd sustain such huge numbers of people, antelope and cattle?" "It's all about to change..." "As the rain sets in, the entire swamp begins to swell..." "The Dinka are forced to move or the rising waters will trap them." "The kob too." "Their migration is massive " "It rivals that of the wildebeest in East Africa." "In a year they will travel thousands of kilometres, keeping one step ahead of the floodwaters." "Since the time of the Ancient Egyptians these people have moved in rhythm with the Nile." "Unable to settle, they couldn't build great cities or monuments like those of Egypt or Nubia." "Distant tributaries bring yet more water to the Sudd." "The Nile bursts its banks." "Grasslands become lakes." "As the rising waters reach all corners of the swamp, the transformation continues." "Strange beasts begin to appear." "This is a fish - a lungfish." "It's been cocooned in mud and mucus underground for months, waiting for the waters to rise." "Primitive lungs allow it to breathe air as it searches for the nearest pool." "But reaching water doesn't mean safety." "The shoebill stork is a giant of the swamp - well over a metre tall." "Its bizarre beak is perfectly designed for feeding in muddy water where prey is difficult to target." "A huge beak increases the chance of success." "It's surprising what a muddy pool can hide..." "As the flood reaches its height, the Sudd has doubled in size." "Now covering thirty two thousand square kilometres, it's one of the world's biggest wetlands." "For a few months, this water-world is left to nature." "For some, it's paradise." "Fish can now colonise areas that were recently grassland." "Forjust a few weeks they can take advantage of the huge new supplies of food." "Spot-necked Otters are very social." "They live in close-knit family groups, often hunting together." "Intelligent and agile, they hunt using speed and cunning." "Webbed feet give propulsion and a long tail helps them steer." "Although they prefer fish, these otters will sometimes eat snails, frogs or even insects." "But there's one swamp creature that really will eat anything...!" "With a muscular body one and a half metres long and a powerful, poisonous bite, the Nile Monitor is understandably avoided by all its neighbours." "Relatively clumsy on land, underwater it's transformed into an agile hunter." "But the huge lizard is just as happy eating others' rotting leftovers on the bottom of the swamp." "In fact, it will eat and digest almost anything it can fit in its mouth." "The Nile monitor is one of the most adaptable of all the Sudd's animals." "In this constantly changing water world it's a winning strategy." "Soon it's all change again..." "The tropical sun burns off the Nile's shallow waters, leaving a shifting mosaic of pools and new grassland." "Now it's time for the Dinka to return." "But others fare less well as the land re-emerges." "This catfish could easily find itself stranded but it has a curious ability that might just save it." "If it can't swim, it'll crawl." "Specially adapted fins allow the catfish to walk on its elbows." "Like the lungfish, it can also breathe air." "It may have to perform this trick many times as its habitable world gets smaller by the day." "Meanwhile, the kob are on the move again." "Their world is expanding rapidly." "As the floodwaters recede, a huge green carpet of new grass rolls out before them." "This explains how the Sudd can support such massive herds." "But is this the same flood and fertility that sustained Ancient Egypt?" "There's no doubt that the White Nile has enough water and nutrients to completely transform the Sudd." "But the great marsh holds onto its riches." "It soaks up the water like a massive sponge and the labyrinth of papyrus traps any sediment." "Despite a great influx of water, the flood goes no further North " "the flow of the White Nile out of the Sudd changes little through the year." "Ancient Egypt's desert world relied on the annual flood brought by the Nile." "With it arrived millions of tonnes of fertile soil." "So where did it come from?" "The search upstream from Egypt and then up the White Nile stalled at the Sudd." "This branch of the Nile is not the source of the great flood..." "But there is an alternative... to return to Khartoum " "and take a different journey" "along the Blue Nile." "Upstream from Khartoum, the Blue Nile flows through dry savannah." "Then, on the fringe of the Ethiopian Highlands the river emerges from deep inside a gorge so steep and hostile that it has claimed the lives of many who have tried to explore the river further." "But the bottom of this gorge shows little promise of a great flood." "It's barren." "This is a tough place to make a living." "They're crossing the dried out river bed of the Blue Nile." "Right now it's no more than a trickle - just enough to warrant a trek of many hours to bring livestock to drink." "But the huge boulders that cover the river bed suggest that at some time a powerful force of water must flow through here." "The lammergeyer," "Africa's mountain vulture, seeks out those who succumb to the heat and the drought - in this brutal season the lammergeyer will have plenty to choose from." "Ethiopia hosts eighty percent of Africa's highest mountains - a legacy of the region's volcanic past." "Thirty million years ago, a huge plug of molten volcanic rock welled up through cracks in the Earth's crust, then cooled and solidified to form the Ethiopian Highlands." "Since then, erosion has carved the edges of this rocky dome to spectacular effect." "And there is a surprise up here - in this arid land... a lake!" "...at nearly two thousand metres," "Tana is Africa's highest." "Tana's hippos live at a higher elevation than any other." "Could Lake Tana be the elusive source of the Niles great flood?" "The mere trickle flowing out of it doesn't look promising." "But the rocks here tell a different story... only a raging torrent could have carved these shapes." "Further up on the highland dome above Lake Tana, the land is similarly dry and barren." "Yet if the Blue Nile is responsible for the great flood, it must surely start somewhere up here." "These mountains might appear lifeless, but look closely and they are alive with rodents." "These moor lands support one of the highest densities of rodents on Earth - up to three tonnes of them in every square kilometre - something that has not gone un-noticed by other local residents." "The Ethiopian Wolf, also known as the Red Jackal, is a master rat-catcher normally..." "The parched vegetation gives very little cover to the rodents - they have to risk it out in the open but it's not much good at concealing a wolf either." "The rodents aren't necessarily safe underground." "The wolf has acute hearing, amazingly sensitive smell, and a narrow, stabbing snout full of sharp teeth." "Danger's past, but they must always be on the alert..." "Gelada Baboons no monkey lives at higher altitude - they are found only in these mountains." "They use the steep cliffs of the Blue Nile's gorge to provide overnight protection from leopards and humans." "In fact, the rodents have nothing to fear the baboons feed exclusively on grass the only monkey that does so." "Males use those teeth to intimidate rivals." "They live in a complex ordered society of many hundred animals..." "It can be bitterly cold up here." "Geladas shuffle while feeding, to save energy - crucial with such a poor diet..." "It probably stops their bare bottoms getting cold too." "This is a tough time of year they are forced to dig for roots." "How can such a place provide the water for the Nile's great flood?" "From June, moisture-laden clouds from the Congo basin collide with these steep mountains and the heavens open." "A metre of rain and hail fall in just a few weeks." "The Ethiopian highlands are known as "Africa's Water Tower"." "The roof of Africa can be a miserable place during its three month rainy season." "But the rain brings the mountains back to life." "The rodents' world is transformed." "The lush vegetation provides them with as much food as they need, and cover from predators like this Augur Buzzard." "Provided, of course, they see it before it sees them." "The soil here is volcanic." "That means it contains a rich cocktail of nutrients." "It was soil as fertile as this which nurtured the crops of Ancient Egypt." "With the plentiful rain and intense mountain sunshine, the grass here grows fast." "This explains why these highlands can support such huge numbers of animals." "The rains are transforming the highlands in another way." "Night temperatures can be low enough to freeze any water in the ground." "As the ice expands, it breaks up the topsoil." "When the ice melts the next morning, the soil is left crumbled and fine" "Millions of nest-making rodents loosen the soil further." "The highlands are full of people, too." "They have exploited the rich soil here since the time of Ancient Egypt." "The rainy season turns the highlands into a busy patchwork of farmland." "This is one of the largest and oldest areas of cultivated land in Africa." "Inevitably, this great bounty attracts unwelcome visitors." "Ethiopian children play their part in protecting the family crops." "The flute is played to scare away animals at least that's one theory." "Sometimes more direct action is necessary." "The rains continue for up to three months." "It may appear bleak, but in fact it's a time of celebration and thanksgiving for the highland farmers." "They're accustomed to the yearly rhythm, and they see the rains as a blessing." "Beneath their feet, the land is undergoing one final dramatic change." "The rain-sodden earth can hold no more water." "It spills out across the mountainsides, creating a host of tiny streams." "As they merge, the cargo of fertile soil driven downstream increases." "Streams become rivers." "Finally these rivers flow into the mountain bowl that is Lake Tana." "The lake is filling up all the while, creating marshland on its shores." "Here, Weaver birds turn the flower heads of papyrus into building material and they set about constructing a woven city over the growing lake." "Papyrus is one of the Niles great gifts growing along much of the rivers length it provides a strong waterproof building material for expert craftsmen such as these." "The people of the Nile have also found it useful for building." "The Ancient Egyptians even used it to make the paper on which they recorded the story of their great civilisation." "People here still put papyrus to good use." "The design of these boats has changed little since ancient times." "Tana has become a vast mountain reservoir for the Blue Nile." "The dissolved volcanic soil has enriched the lake." "It's good fishing for people and animals." "It's thought that the Ancient Egyptians heard rumours of this lake, but they never realised the critical role it played in their lives." "Every day pelicans gather near the lakeshore in response to especially dense concentrations of fish." "But sometimes the fishing is easy." "The pelicans aren't fussy about where their food comes from." "Fisherman's off cuts dojust fine as Lake Tana's pelicans have learned." "Like the Ancient Egyptians, the people of the Ethiopian highlands know they must live within the Nile's rhythm." "It can be good to them and give them all they need." "But it can also turn on them and even threaten their lives." "Some years the flood is so great that crops, livestock and even homes are swept away" "Even though most highlanders are devout Christians, older, pagan beliefs, with a deep connection to nature, still survive here." "Discreet offerings are made to Gihon a river spirit." "Usually, Gihon is asked for help." "But if the flood is too great, the spirit is begged for mercy." "More than sixty mountain rivers have flowed into Lake Tana, but only one river flows out - the Blue Nile." "Virtually dry just a few months ago, it has now become a very different river..." "The highlanders call these falls Tis Isat." "It means "smoking fire"." "This, surely, is a force powerful enough to carry the great flood thousands of kilometers to the deserts of Egypt." "Gathering speed and power, the floodwaters sweep on into the Blue Nile Gorge." "Well over a thousand metres deep, nearly twenty kilometres wide and over six hundred kilometres long, this is Africa's Grand Canyon." "From all over the highlands, other huge rivers pour into the Blue Nile Gorge." "By the time it leaves Ethiopia, the Blue Nile will be fifty times the size it was in the dry season." "Now the Blue Nile is carrying a hundred and forty million tonnes of fertile soil." "For a million years, the Blue Nile has been carving this huge gash through the Ethiopian highlands - grinding down the volcanic rock, grain by grain, to form the enormous gorge." "Finally, the Nile's great flood spills out of Ethiopia and across the flat lands of Sudan" "It sweeps past Khartoum, elbowing the steady flow of the White Nile aside." "And on through the desert to revive and enrich the parched lands of Egypt." "Thousands of years ago this was the great flood that allowed the Ancient Egyptians to build a great civilization." "But they passed into history without ever finding out where the riches they depended on really came from." "The Nile has never given up its secrets easily." "Next week... for centuries, mankind struggled to find the source of the White Nile." "It was this great prize that drew an army of explorers to Africa - men who were ambitious, dedicated, obsessed." "Their endeavours made them legends." "Doctor Livingstone I presume." "And revealed why a river that flows through a desert never runs dry." "From the heart of Africa to the Mediterranean Sea, runs the world's longest river." "Since the Egyptians first settled along its banks men have dreamt of discovering the place where the Nile is born." "But for centuries the river kept its secrets close." "The obsession grew and by the mid 19th century some were prepared to risk their lives to be the first to discover the source of the Nile." "Over a period of 30 years the Nile finally yielded." "It demanded a terrible price." "Many died or suffered horribly." "One man had the resolve to finally piece together the puzzle of the Nile." "He was Henry Morton Stanley." "Doctor Livingstone sync Yes." "Meeting Livingstone changed my life." "He was a remarkable man - he inspired in me the determination to finish the work that he had begun." "From as long ago as 5000 BC, when the first nomads settled along the banks of the Nile, people realised that it was an extraordinary river." "Not only did it offer a constant flow of water in the middle of the Sahara but it also provided an annual flood, which brought with it millions of tonnes of rich black soil." "Year after year, the fields lining the banks of the river" "Nile were replenished with water and nutrients." "It's now known that this sediment-laden water came from the Ethiopian mountains down a huge tributary called the Blue Nile." "This water, with its heavy load of volcanic soil, thundered down the Blue Nile gorge into Sudan and then on through the desert to Egypt." "This miraculous flood of water and silt was the powerhouse of the ancient Egyptian civilization." "But there is an even greater miracle." "Because here is a vast river that flows through 1500 miles of scorching desert yet never runs dry." "What could be capable of generating this much water?" "When at last the source of the Nile was found it provided the answer but one that no one could have foreseen." "Now, I'm an old man, surrounded by the comforts of home." "They've even made me a knight of the realm." "But do people understand, I wonder, the price we all paid, those of us who were drawn into this quest." "I was sixteen years old in 1857, and at last free of that terrible workhouse." "That same year Burton and Speke were setting out for Africa." "This is Central Africa, gentlemen, as we know it now, and as you can see the most interesting feature is this lake" " uniamesi - sometimes called Tanganyika." "800 miles long and 300 wide." "Estimated distance from the coast 900 miles." "And that, gentlemen is about all we do know." "I fear we're no wiser than the Ancient Egyptians." "We think, we think that this lake has sufficient altitude to be the source." "So there it is." "The Nile is somewhere within this area of 500 miles." "And so it began." "The Royal Geographical Society was determined that an Englishman would be the first to find the source." "They enlisted the most intrepid explorer of the day," "Captain Richard Burton." "He chose as his companion, Captain John Speke." "The jungle seems infinite." "The atmosphere has corroded everything and food is at a minimum." "Every morning dawns upon me with a fresh load of cares and troubles and every evening reminds me as it closes in that another and a miserable morrow is to follow." "Their route took them first through thick jungle, then into the dry heat of the open savannah." "Rather than follow the Nile upstream, which was reported to be impossible," "Burton took the most direct route and struck inland from the East African Coast." "Burton was the leader of the expedition," "Speke found it hard to take a subordinate role." "Their relationship became increasingly strained and by the end they were barely on speaking terms." "It didn't help that the journey proved more arduous than they had expected, and both men were continually plagued by disease." "If one of us is lost the other might survive to carry home the results of the exploration." "I have undertaken the journey with the resolve to do or die." "Burton fell prey to malaria, and Speke was almost blind with trachoma." "But after eight terrible months they reached their goal, the shores of Lake Tanganyika." "Arab slave traders told them of a river that flowed north from the lake and they went in search of it." "If this river proved to be the Nile, the prize was theirs." "But their provisions ran low and the porters mutinied - they were forced to give up." "The Nile continued to keep its secrets." "Although they had found Lake Tanganyika they had not been able to prove that it was the source of the Nile." "While they rested in the small town of Tabora, some Arab traders told Speke about another great lake, an even bigger one to the north, and only 2 weeks march away." "Burton felt that finding this new lake was outside the scope of his orders and showed no interest in it." "But Speke saw a chance for himself." "Despite Burton's lack of enthusiasm he set off to the north with a handful of porters." "He was about to make the discovery that would guarantee his place in history." "The vast expanse of the pale-blue waters burst suddenly upon my gaze..." "I no longer felt any doubt that the lake at my feet gave birth to that river, the source of which has been the subject of so much speculation, and the object of so many explorers." "Speke was convinced that here was the headwater that fed the Nile." "This lake's worthy of the Nile." "On my enquiring about the lake's length, the man faced to the north, and began nodding his head to it;" "at the same time he kept throwing forward his hand, to indicate something immeasurable;" "and added, that nobody knew, but he thought it probably extended to the end of the world." "Speke could see this new lake was large but he had no idea that it covered an area of 26,500 square miles." "More like an inland sea, this is the largest lake in Africa." "Water evaporates from the surface, falls on the surrounding mountains, and then drains back into the lake." "This continual circulation of water means little is lost to the equatorial sun - the lake holds water like a vast reservoir." "I claim this lake for England and the crown, and I name her Victoria after our gracious sovereign." "Speke returned to England ahead of the invalided Burton." "Though he had promised to wait, he revealed his great discovery to the world and claimed the glory for himself." "Now, if anyone would like to answer any questions." "Sir" "Though his news was greeted with excitement, his lack of detailed information generated some doubts at the Royal Geographical Society." "...regarding the lake you named Victoria." "You have not claimed to actually have seen the Nile." "Of course, those who explore the world from their comfortable armchairs are always the first to carp." "I'm very happy to announce that the Council have asked Captain Speke to return within the year to Central Africa in command of a new expedition, whose object is to inspect the actual exit of the Nile from Lake Victoria." "The focus now switched from Lake Tanganyika to Lake Victoria." "Speke was joined by a young army captain," "James Grant." "Grant idolised Speke, and was prepared to follow him to the ends of the earth." "They navigated from the south of Lake Victoria around the western side in search of an outlet." "The quantity of mosquitoes on the borders of the lake is perfectly marvellous;" "the bushes, and everything growing there, are literally covered with them." "As I walked along it's shores, disturbing the vegetation, they rose in clouds, and kept tapping, in dozens at a time, against my hands and face, in the most disagreeable manner." "The lake has an insect population unrivalled anywhere on Earth." "An extraordinary event is triggered during the rains by the new moon." "Insect larvae ascend from the lake bottom to the surface to emerge as flies." "On their way up they have to run the gauntlet of shoals of greedy fish." "Those that make it past the fish emerge at the surface, struggle free of their larval shells and rise up into the air." "There they join others to form vast breeding swarms." "In turn, the swarms merge to form immense clouds comprising billions of flies." "Drawn by the flies, terns migrate here from Europe and gather in their thousands." "Unpredictable winds often blow the flies ashore." "Although Speke and his party found the flies irritating, they don't bite - they only emerge to mate." "The party approached the northern end of Lake Victoria where Speke expected to find the outflow from the lake the beginning of the Nile." "By this time Grant was limping badly from an ulcerated leg, but Speke wouldn't wait." "He pressed on leaving Grant, bitterly disappointed that he had been abandoned so near their goal." "On 28th July 1862," "Speke reached the point where water flowed out of Lake Victoria as a boiling rapid." "The expedition had now performed its functions... and as I had foretold, the lake is the great source of the holy river..." "As far as Speke was concerned, this was the birthplace of the Nile." "And he named it Ripon Falls." "But in his haste to get there he had made a mistake - by leaving Grant behind, he had no witness with him who could silence any critics back home." "Speke rejoined Grant and they set off downstream, planning to follow his river to Egypt, and prove conclusively that it was the Nile." "But tribal wars blocked their route and so they were forced to leave the river and travel overland to the town of Gondokoro." "This diversion was critical because it meant that Speke could still not prove that the river flowing out of Lake Victoria was the river Nile." "By an extraordinary co-incidence they met with another pair of explorers in Gondokoro - a most unlikely couple to chance on in the heart of Africa." "Samuel Baker had rescued Florence Von Saas from white slave traders and had made her his wife." "They too were in search of the source of the Nile, but they were doing it the traditional way by doggedly travelling upstream." "For a year they explored various tributaries of the Nile and finally reached the vast papyrus swamp known as the Sudd." "This had been an effective barrier to explorers through the ages." "But the Bakers had been lucky, somehow they had navigated the labyrinth of marshy channels in only 40 days." "Nevertheless, in Bakers words, they had braved 'malaria, marshes, mosquitoes and misery' in these swamps." "In Gondokoro," "Baker learnt that Speke had apparently discovered the source of the Nile at Lake Victoria." "Well of course Baker was bitterly disappointed, but he was reluctant to give up." "Then he heard about a third large lake still to be explored." "So off he went." "He hoped that a river as large as the Nile could have more than one source and that there was still a chance for a share of the glory." "Once forced to travel cross-country, the Bakers soon found the going hard." "Florence collapsed with fever, their baggage animals died and their food supplies failed." "For ten months they suffered terribly." "Then, in March 1864 they finally found it the new lake." "The glory of our prize burst suddenly upon me!" "There, like a sea of quicksilver, lay the grand expanse of water a boundless horizon on the south and south-west, glittering, in the sun... it is impossible to describe the triumph of that moment..." "My wife who had followed me so devotedly stood by my side pale and exhausted." "Baker named the lake "Albert" after Queen Victoria's late consort." "Impressed by it's size, it took little to convince him that this lake, along with Lake Victoria, was ajoint source for the Nile." "Now surely he would share Speke's glory." "Anxious to return to England that season, they followed the shoreline north expecting to sail down the river Nile, back to Gondokoro." "But something was troubling Baker it was the relationship between the two lakes, Victoria and Albert." "Which had the higher elevation?" "Speke's figures suggested it was Victoria." "So when Baker found a river flowing into Lake Albert, although I'm sure he wanted to go home, he knew he had to follow the river upstream to find the answer." "Less than twenty miles upstream from Lake Albert the Bakers had their answer." "The elevation readings now made sense and Baker surmised that Lake Victoria flowed down this river," "Speke's Nile, into Lake Albert." "Although Baker was mesmerised by the waterfall, something else caught his eye." "In the river at the bottom of the falls there was a concentration of surprisingly large crocodiles." "I never saw such an extraordinary show of crocodiles." "They lay like logs of timber close together, and upon one bank we counted twenty seven." "Every basking place was crowded in a similar manner." "The Bakers' struggle to explore the Nile had left them bone weary." "They were out of provisions and they were suffering from malaria and other fevers" "It's little surprise that they had no stomach for further exploration." "...if death were to be the price, at all events we were at the goal and we both looked upon death rather as a pleasure, as affording rest" "there would be no more suffering no fever no long journey before us," "the only wish was to lay down the burden." "Far from home, in the grip of fever, the African night can play tricks on the mind." "A mournful cry just a bush baby." "These harmless little creatures are doing no more than advertising their territories." "In the stillness of the night they can be heard for over half a mile." "The Bakers pushed on to the place where Speke had been forced to leave the river on his way downstream establishing once and for all that" "Lake Victoria and Lake Albert were linked by the river that Speke was convinced was the Nile." "Like Speke the Bakers were held up by the whims of a local king and tribal wars." "It took them a further six months to reach the safety of Gondokoro - their struggle home turning into an epic on the scale of their outward journey." "The Bakers had confirmed that a river flowed out of Lake Victoria to Lake Albert." "And it became generally accepted that this was the Nile." "But there were others who thought differently." "Lake Tanganyika had still not been ruled out as a possible source and Dr David Livingstone, who supported this theory, was asked to resolve the issue." "I was thirty years old in 1871 when my newspaper sent me to Africa." "I suppose I had something of a reputation for bringing home stories that people wanted to read." "And this story was one of the biggest." "Five years earlier, Livingstone had set off for Lake Tanganyika, but almost nothing had been heard of him since." "He was lost somewhere in the dark heart of that frightening continent and most people presumed him dead." "But after 236 of the hardest days" "I had ever known I found him." "Dr Livingstone I presume." "Yes" "I thank God Doctor that I have been permitted to see you." "I feel thankful that I am here to welcome you." "He was the most extraordinary human being that I ever had the privilege to know and it's no exaggeration to say that the man changed my life." "He was still convinced that Lake Tanganyika would prove to be the source of the Nile." "If the lake's outflow headed north into Lake Albert, his theory might yet prove to be correct." "I put my considerable resources at his disposal, and together we explored the northern end of Lake Tanganyika." "But Livingstone's hopes were dashed when we discovered that the river there flowed into not out of the lake." "On that trip we never did find the lake's outflow." "I had to return home, the world was waiting for news." "You must forgive me if I have not told you before, you have done what few men could do, far better than some great travellers I've known." "I'm very grateful." "If I gave you this, and I've nothing else in the world to give, would you consider it as a memento of our leave taking?" "Bombay" " Prepare them... kwende, kwende..." "Stanley never saw him again." "Livingstone died 14 months later." "His loyal African servants brought his body back to Zanzibar and the doctor made his final journey home." "Stanley was not yet an explorer like Burton, Speke or the Bakers - he had arrived in Africa a newspaper man looking for a story." "But there is no doubt that" "Livingstone had a huge impact on his life." "He had taught me that suffering produces perseverance and perseverance character." "Standing by Livingstone's coffin I had realised that it was my duty to continue the work he had begun." "The extent of Lake Victoria was still unknown and Lake Albert, according to Baker seemed to be equally vast." "Sound the advance." "Stanley had no choice but to circumnavigate and map all three lakes:" "Victoria, Albert and Tanganyika." "Only then could he finally settle which was the main feeder for the Nile." "Stanley bypassed the scientific institutions and persuaded his newspapers to fund this huge enterprise." "He set off once more from Zanzibar in 1874, a general at the head of an army of porters." "People who have no conception what such an expedition entails have sometimes called me ruthless, brutal even." "But to me there's only one judgement would I accomplish what I set out to do?" "He circumnavigated the vast Lake Victoria and was able to confirm that Speke's Ripon Falls was indeed the major outlet." "Speke had now the full glory of having discovered the largest inland sea on the continent of Africa." "With Lake Victoria finally settled," "Stanley set off towards Lake Albert but his route too was blocked by warring tribes." "He turned south to Lake Tanganyika to clear up its role in the Nile's story." "It was good to know that" "I was completing Dr Livingstone's work." "After charting Lake Tanganyika," "I followed its outflow west, but it proved not to be the Nile." "It was a river that fed the Congo, and for 999 days I followed that great river to its mouth in west Africa." "The question of the Nile was still not yet fully understood." "Ten years later" "Stanley found himself heading back towards the Nile." "Only this time he approached from the west, through the dense tropical forests of Central Africa." "...if the lightning severs the crown of a proud tree, and lets in the sunlight, then the race for air and light causes a multitude of baby trees to rush upward." "They crush and strangle one another, until the whole is one impervious bush." "Untracked jungle is pitiless terrain to move through." "I began with eight hundred men, but our casualty rate was high, and many deserted." "I think I came as close as I have ever come to knowing despair on that terrible journey." "...not every person has the gift of finding his way in a forest." "Within 200 yards any man would be hard pressed to find his way back to the place where he started." "Sometimes we would cover only 400 yards in an hour." "Nevertheless we pressed on." "Now and then troops of monkeys bounded with prodigious leaps through the branches, others swung by long tails a hundred feet above our heads, and with marvellous agility they hurled their tiny bodies through the air across yawning chasms." "Then they rested for an instant to take a last look at our line before burying themselves out of sight in the leaves." "Then we hit the marshes." "...thick scum-face quagmires green with duckweed into which we sank knee-deep, and the stench from the fetid slough was sickening." "The forest could never sustain the needs of so many men and the people who lived in its depths were suspicious of us, and often would not trade, taking us for Arab slavers." "Most of our food, certainly our staple of rice, we had to carry with us." "Meat was in short supply." "Hunting hippo, crocodiles, buffalo and elephant proved unsuccessful..." "Even though an animal may have been only a few feet off on the other side of a bush, it was impossible to obtain a view of it through the impervious mass of vegetation." "Finally, they emerged from the green Hell of the forest near the western edge of Lake Albert." "Albert was now known to be much smaller than the Bakers had optimistically drawn on their maps." "But Stanley discovered yet another lake, a little further south, which he named Edward after the Prince of Wales." "It was clear to me now that there was a family of lakes and waterways that must feed the Nile." "There was no single source." "These lakes created one enormous reservoir system for the Nile." "It's no wonder that its such a great river." "Of course, there remained one final mystery." "Where was the water coming from to fill all these lakes?" "I saw a peculiar shaped cloud of a most beautiful silver colour, which assumed the proportions and appearance of a vast mountain covered with snow... it dawned on me that this must be the Ruwenzori I had discovered the long lost Mountains of the Moon..." "The Mountains of the Moon, so called for thousands of years, sit between the humid forests of the Congo basin and the monsoon lands of East Africa." "Ruwenzori, the local name, means 'rainmaker' and for much of the year they're shrouded in dense mist." "No wonder so few white men had ever seen them." "The altitude of the mountains attracts clouds from both east and west... and this steady supply of water, trickles down on both sides of the range into" "Edward and Albert, and a third lake" " George feeding the headwaters of the Nile." "But these mountains are more than just an interceptor of rain." "They contain the final secret of the Nile's steady flow and strength." "This world of ice, moss, forest and bog, acts as a reservoir, slowly releasing the rain." "At the base of the mountains lie enchanted forests." "Mosses, liverworts, ferns and lichens carpet the ground and envelop the trees, helping to regulate the release of water." "The Ruwenzori's glaciers drip feed the bogs which, together with the forests, feed mountain streams, rivers and the great African lakes." "Frozen at some 16,500ft above sea level, it is the Ruwenzori's glaciers that provide a steady supply for the lakes, that power the Nile on it's" "4000 mile journey to Egypt." "His African days over," "Stanley settled in England." "He was elected a Member of Parliament and in 1899 was knighted." "We had all sought a definitive answer, a bubbling spring or a single lake where we could plant a flag and say 'here is the source of the great Nile!" "'" "But the truth, as it often is, was more complicated." "I, and all those who'd gone before me," "Burton, Speke, the Bakers, Livingstone, we had all done as much as was humanly possible with the resources available to us." "We would have to look to future generations for the final answer." "It would take another 100 years of scientific research and discovery, boosted by huge technological advances, before the origins of the Nile were fully understood." "Between 10 and 15 million years ago movements in the Earth's tectonic plates caused a vast plateau to rise in East Africa." "It stretched some 600 miles across and to nearly one mile high." "At this stage there were no large, well-defined lakes in the region and certainly no great river flowing north." "As the plateau rose, fractures developed along its flanks - these fractures in the Earth's surface form what we now call the African Rift Valley." "About 12 million years ago, the Mountains of the Moon began to rise as a block near the western arm of the rift and by eight million years ago the maturing rift valleys began to collect water." "The lakes of George, Edward and Albert developed, but the water never broke out of these lakes into a permanent major river." "Then, less than one million years ago the centre of the vast plateau sagged a little." "This slight depression began to pond with water and developed into what we now call Lake Victoria." "At the end of the last glacial period, when huge quantities of water were released from the retreating ice, a very wet phase in Earth's climate followed." "Over thousands of years the lakes filled up, and then about 12,500 years ago, an event occurred which was to change the fate of mankind forever " "the water in Lake Victoria spilled north." "The Nile was born." "This new river found a route west to Lake Albert." "From there, with a huge boost from the waters now pouring out of lakes George, Edward and Albert, the young Nile burst north." "This vigorous river cut a route over hundreds of miles before entering the flatlands of Sudan." "Here, within this vast marsh, the spirit of the river was tamed and steadied." "It emerged into the northern deserts strong and reliable." "Finally it was joined by its sister, the sediment-filled Blue Nile." "The two Niles, now one, brought the gifts of water and nutrients into the desert of Egypt." "The stage was set for the birth of a great civilization..." "It began just 7000 years later."