[narrator] This is The Americas,
an extraordinary journey across Earth's great supercontinent.
The widest variety of life on the planet.
[snaps]
The untold story...
[burbling]
...of our home.
[epic orchestral music]
Tonight on The Americas...
The Andes.
A spectacular sky world
and the longest mountain range
in the Americas.
[rumbling]
Forged by fire
and ice.
[rushing]
It's a world of unrivaled beauty.
But here,
life must battle to survive
in the most perilous places imaginable.
[thunder rumbling]
The planet's driest deserts.
Frozen peaks.
And strange, magical forests in the clouds.
[wings whirring]
Every animal
must triumph
in life lived truly on the edge.
The Andes is the spine of South America.
Running from the southern tip of this supercontinent,
it stretches 5,500 miles
forming the high peaks of Bolivia and Peru
before pushing north toward the equator
into the heart of the tropics,
where the mountains of Ecuador
can seem like looking back in time.
[water rumbling]
Sheer cliffs and deep gorges
are cloaked in forests.
[animals chittering]
Here, giant higuerón trees,
draped in bromeliads, are fruiting.
[birds chirping]
And that's exactly what one family
has been waiting for.
[bright orchestral music]
Hiding over a thousand feet above the forest,
a spectacled bear mom.
[cubs bleating]
These bears are the rarest in the Americas
and the inspiration for Paddington.
Mom, known by scientists as "Silvestre,"
is nursing her three-month-old twins,
"Yoyo" and "Irene,"
secluded in their tiny nest.
The towering cliffs have kept them safe from predators.
[cub bleats]
But now the family must leave.
Mom's milk is running out.
They need the fruit
nearly half a mile below.
The sky-high rock face that protected them
is about to become their biggest challenge.
The most dangerous journey of their lives
begins.
[cubs bleating]
[bleating continues]
Tracked using her collar,
scientists know Silvestre has made this descent before.
[tense music]
[loose rocks clattering]
But it's the first time for the cubs.
[cubs bleating]
Yoyo and Irene will need to follow their mother closely.
One misplaced step...
[rocks clattering]
...could be a disaster.
Cubs have fallen to their death here.
[cubs bleating]
[rocks clattering]
[cubs bleating]
A moment of reassurance from Mom.
She knows the hardest part is yet to come.
- [cubs bleating] - [rocks clattering]
Irene takes a wrong turn.
[rocks clattering]
She has lost sight of Mom.
- [bleating] - And at the worst possible moment.
[bleating continues]
[rocks clattering]
[bleats]
[suspenseful music]
[rocks clattering]
[clattering continues]
Yoyo has made it down okay.
[bleating]
[bleats]
And so has Irene.
The worst seems behind them.
But there's no time to rest.
[gentle music]
[insects chirping]
Silvestre is bringing them to the very same fruit tree
that she returns to every year.
[cubs bleating]
[bleating]
[gentle music continues]
Plants and fruit like this
can make up over 90% of a spectacled bear's diet,
and the cubs are not holding back.
[gentle music rises]
[bleats]
Spectacled bears navigate these mountains
by having a detailed mental map of their world.
The cubs can stay with Mom for over two years
to build a map of their own.
One day, with luck,
Irene will be able to lead her own cubs
down the same cliffs.
[gentle music continues]
It all seems so easy now,
but the cubs have just undertaken a death-defying start to life.
In the mountains of the Andes,
all life is pushed to the limit.
[music crescendos]
These remarkable high-rise forests hide other extraordinary secrets.
Spectacular animals so small and fast,
they're almost impossible to capture on camera.
[whizzing]
Our journey in the tropical Andes continues,
rising to 10,000 feet,
where the peaks trap moist air from the Amazon,
creating a mysterious cloud forest.
[majestic music]
Here, nature is at its most magical.
Curiously-shaped flowers shine out like beacons,
signaling they have energy-rich nectar inside.
[grand music]
If they can entice a visitor,
they will be pollinated.
Usually, bugs do that job,
but these forests are too cold for many of them.
So instead, it's done by...
[harp glissando]
...hummingbirds.
[wings whirring]
Most not much bigger than your thumb.
[fluttering]
In fact, the Andes is home to more species of hummingbirds
than anywhere else on Earth.
[wings whirring]
[flapping]
Feisty and agile,
they'll fight to be the first in line for a drink of nectar
on shimmering wings that can beat over 80 times a second.
[upbeat music]
[wings whirring]
[flapping]
The Andes has thousands of remote valleys like these,
but just one in Peru
is the home to an almost mythical hummingbird,
hardly ever seen in the open.
[gentle flute music]
He is a Marvelous Spatuletail,
one of just 500 or so left on Earth.
Deforestation has meant their habitat is disappearing.
[light music]
Only males have these extravagant tail feathers,
which have just one purpose...
to attract a female.
[gentle music]
He's keeping them in top condition,
for the performance of his life.
[low murmur]
An audience has arrived,
but this is not who he wants.
[dramatic music]
Rivals.
Every male around, even stumpy-tailed youngsters,
have turned up to fight to control this exclusive courtship area.
[dramatic music continues]
He's not the only one who wants the limelight.
[dramatic music continues]
[gentle flute music]
Fighting off so many is exhausting.
He really should refuel.
But that's going to have to wait.
A female Marvelous Spatuletail is here.
[enchanting music]
Now the show can begin.
[chiming music]
He'll be judged on the length of his tail feathers
and the quality of his performance.
[stately music]
[chirping]
[stately music continues]
She's interested.
[wings fluttering]
Time to take his display to the next level.
And now, it's all about stamina.
[enchanting music]
In this thin mountain air, he's got to dig deep.
[enchanting music continues]
It's a critical moment, both for him,
and the future of the species.
If he wins her over,
together, they will produce the next generation.
[enchanting music rises]
And at last,
she accepts his invitation.
[wings whirring]
A sign of hope for this remarkable hummingbird.
[birds chirping]
Throughout the Andes...
[loud blast]
...the land itself can feel alive.
[hissing]
And in a way, it is,
with an eruption occurring every few years.
[loud blast]
[light orchestral music]
Immense earth forces forged these mountains...
[loud blast]
...leaving a legacy of over 200 active volcanoes...
- [loud blast] - ...more than anywhere else
in the Americas.
[dramatic orchestral music]
For 40 million years,
they've pushed higher and higher.
[dramatic orchestral music]
And in a few places,
an eerie ice world
has formed at the peaks.
[loud blast]
Home to a true marvel of nature.
The Andes is so high
that 99% of the world's tropical glaciers are found here.
The largest is in southern Peru.
It's certainly cold,
but at an altitude of 18,000 feet,
ultraviolet radiation is very intense.
So when the sun shines,
the ground heats to a jaw-dropping 111 degrees Fahrenheit,
transforming ice world to sauna in the blink of an eye.
It's the last place to expect to find
a frog.
[playful music]
Marbled four-eyed frogs
live at the highest altitude of any frog on Earth.
[playful music continues]
Every year, females must breed in pools formed by glacial meltwater.
But their world is changing.
The glacier is retreating further up the mountains.
Each year, she climbs higher,
enduring hotter days,
but also...
[soft lapping]
...colder nights.
And that's become
a real problem.
[ominous music]
The temperature is dropping fast.
She needs to find shelter.
[ice crackling]
But as her muscles chill,
they are starting to seize up.
The deeper underground, the safer she'll be.
But a clear sky means extreme cold is on its way.
[heartbeat thumping]
[thumping continues]
On these nights,
the ice...
is relentless.
[ice crackling]
[tense music]
[ice crackling]
Its reach stretches far beneath the surface.
[tense music continues]
[heartbeat thumping]
[faint crackling]
[crackling increases]
Her journey
looks to be over.
She is frozen solid.
[bleak music]
[soft dramatic music]
[gentle flute music]
As the world warms up,
something strange happens beneath the surface.
[crackling]
These marbled four-eyed frogs,
living in the highest reaches of the Andes,
have evolved a remarkable talent
almost beyond belief,
and never filmed before.
They can freeze solid
and come back from the dead
every single day.
[heartbeat thumping]
[flute music continues]
[bright orchestral music]
The only frog in the world that can do this.
[orchestral music continues]
She drives forward once more.
[distant chirping]
The frog that cheats death every night
is ready to continue her journey,
and, with luck, meet a new mate.
[chirping]
- [chirping] - [splashes]
This frog may be a miracle worker,
but its future is not certain.
The glaciers on which it and so many other animals depend
are in trouble.
They're shrinking
due to a global rise in temperature.
Over the last 50 years,
the neighboring Qori Kalis Glacier has halved in size.
At the current rate,
it will disappear entirely
in just 30 more years.
Which could be a disaster not just for the four-eyed frogs
but for all life in these mountains.
[birds chirping]
As water from the sky-high glaciers of the Andes
cascades down the steep slopes,
it creates a unique network of 100,000 rivers.
[water rushing]
Water that is crucial both for wildlife
and for millions of people.
Most of these rivers are ice-cold,
but this one in Argentina is near boiling,
superheated by geothermal activity deep underground.
What in their right mind would live in these dangerous waters?
In the mountain rivers of the Andes,
only one animal can master turbulent waters
that range from boiling point to near-freezing.
[dramatic music]
A torrent duck.
Not just any duck,
but a super duck.
He comes fully equipped...
[quacks]
...with heat-resistant feathers,
armor-plated leg skin,
and built-in protective goggles,
a third eyelid.
This specialist gear means he can survive a daily temperature range
of minus 13 degrees above water
to plus 122 degrees under water.
All to reach a sumptuous buffet.
These superheated waters
are a hothouse for growing fly larvae
in the thousands.
Delicious and nutritious for a duck.
Especially one with a family.
[ducklings chirping]
These baby super ducks must find their own food from day one.
[ducklings chirping]
Luckily, they are equipped for extreme swimming too.
Tail feathers develop early to act as a rudder,
and huge feet provide propulsion.
[chirps]
Downy feathers trap air to keep them insulated and afloat.
- [duckling chirping] - [quacks]
They already have superhero swagger.
[playful music]
[peeps]
But their buoyant down has, well, a downside.
Where the water is deep,
those delicious bugs are out of reach.
[playful music continues]
They need to find shallower feeding grounds.
But as the family heads downstream,
things get dangerous.
[rushing]
[tense music]
The parents lead the way.
[quacks]
[low quack]
The ducklings can't yet fly.
They will have to swim for it
in these deadly, scalding waters.
[quacks]
- [chirps] - [duck quacking]
Only a third survive to adulthood.
[quacks]
[chirps]
Where they make their jump...
[quacks]
- ...decides their fate. - [chirps]
[tense music continues]
[chirping]
[dramatic music]
As this chick's about to find out.
[dramatic music continues]
The parents try to keep tabs on each of the chicks.
[quacks]
- But in these raging waters... - [duckling chirps]
[duck quacks]
...that's not always possible.
[dramatic music continues]
[chirps]
[dramatic music continues]
As the chick scrambles out,
he must quickly look for another route to get back to his family.
[tense music]
[chirps]
[tense music continues]
Now...
it's all or nothing.
[tense music intensifies]
[jubilant music]
His air-filled feathers pull him to the surface.
[bright music]
Saved by their superpowers,
the whole family has reached the shallow feeding ground.
A bug buffet
now within reach for all.
[bright music continues]
If you've got what it takes,
this wild river,
born of fire and ice,
can be a kind of paradise...
[quack echoes]
...for a duck.
[mystical music]
Traveling south, the Andes spread to their widest point.
Here, the highest peaks block moisture from both the Amazon and the Pacific,
which helps create a desert like no other,
the Atacama.
The driest place on Earth.
so arid that NASA uses it to test equipment destined for Mars.
But in exceptional years,
a miracle of nature changes everything.
[light music]
The Atacama Desert in northern Chile is the driest on Earth.
But maybe once a decade,
a stormfront from the west
can have enough power to reach around the mountains...
[thunder rumbling]
...and bring salvation.
Torrential rain.
[pattering]
[mystical music]
Summoning one of the rarest wonders in nature.
What is known as a "superbloom."
[mystical music continues]
Billions of seeds that have been sleeping in the sand,
some for more than ten years,
can finally burst into life.
[mystical music rises]
This new world draws strange creatures from beyond the desert.
[chittering]
The coruro, a mountain rodent,
seldom seen on the surface.
A giant caterpillar-hunting wasp
brings food to her young.
[wondrous music]
And like the rest,
a family of burrowing owls
packs a whole lifetime
into these few weeks of plenty.
Because as fast as the superbloom emerges,
it's reclaimed by the desert.
And life begins the long wait for water once more.
[music fades]
Just to the north is Salar de Uyuni,
the largest salt flat on Earth.
[dramatic music]
When the rains reach here...
[thunder rumbling]
...another brief wonder of nature is created.
A giant mirror
larger than Yellowstone,
set beneath the clearest skies on Earth.
[grand music]
Here, we look into deep space
for answers light-years away...
[grand music continues]
...while an exquisite vision of the universe
comes to our feet.
[grand music rises]
But it, too, doesn't last long.
[crackling]
And soon, all that remains is a salt crust,
a world utterly hostile to life.
And yet, for some, it's home.
[rustling]
[eerie music]
A salt flat lizard.
A young male on the lookout for a territory.
There's no time to waste.
[valiant music]
[valiant music continues]
[flies buzzing]
An oasis?
No.
This water is full of salt.
He can't drink it,
but these brine flies can,
converting it into freshwater inside their bodies.
It's a perfect combo meal.
A drink...
with a side of flies.
[swooshes]
[valiant music resumes]
But for a rookie,
this is going to take some practice.
[fly buzzing]
Two hundred flies contain just a thimble of water.
[flies buzzing]
He's sure got his work cut out.
[valiant music]
[flies buzzing]
Almost there.
[valiant music continues]
- Nailed it! - [crunches]
[playful music]
[flies buzzing]
Could life get any better?
[tense music]
Maybe it can.
It's a female salt flat lizard
wafting a powerful, seductive scent into the air.
[enticing music]
What young flycatcher could resist?
But all is not as it seems.
[suspenseful music]
Another male.
She will only mate with the strongest males,
dominant enough to hold the precious waterfront territories.
And she wants to see what the young flycatcher is made of.
[dramatic music]
She's set him up.
- It's trial... - [swooshes]
...by combat.
[dramatic music continues]
[intense music]
[intense music continues]
Overpowered,
and now in deeper trouble than he knows.
Every inch of the water's edge
is controlled by paired-up power couples...
[dramatic music]
...who won't share.
[dramatic music intensifies]
[vigorous music]
[vigorous music continues]
Retreat is his only option.
[vigorous music continues]
[mischievous music]
He's not ready to take on the big males right now.
But he is alive
and has learned valuable lessons.
[enticing music]
Well... maybe.
[mischievous music]
Reaching the highest point in our whole Americas journey,
we ascend to over 19,000 feet,
where the salt flats become salt lakes.
Each one a unique, toxic cocktail of metals, minerals, and microorganisms.
[eerie music]
The most extraordinary of all is Laguna Colorada,
a hellscape where morning ice has a daily battle
with the strongest UV radiation on Earth.
More than double that of Death Valley.
And yet, every year,
it's home to the most spectacular event in the Andes.
The Toxic Red Lake of the High Andes.
[grim music]
It takes a special kind of toughness to survive here.
But once a year, this lake becomes the setting
for the greatest party in the Andes.
Although not everyone is invited.
[delicate music]
Right now, this world of extremes
plays host to James' flamingos.
[flamingos trilling]
They gather here from across the Andes
in the thousands
hoping to find a mate.
[chirping]
Males and females might appear almost identical,
but they know the difference.
[chirping]
They all want to look their best,
and the pinker the better.
The secrets to their success?
Tough-skinned long legs
letting them wade through the caustic lake.
And a unique bill that filters out microscopic life from the toxic water.
[chirping]
Eating this food turns their feathers pinker,
making them more desirable.
[all chirping]
But life is about to get more complicated
as the Laguna becomes "Flamingo Central."
Chilean and Andean flamingos are flying in too.
[upbeat music]
Both much bigger, but...
- [trilling] - ...a lot less graceful.
[squawking]
[comical music]
Crowds begin to build to 40,000 strong.
And then, on an unseen cue,
a dance-off begins.
[upbeat jazzy music]
The smaller James' are in danger
of being pushed out before it even begins.
[jazzy music continues]
Over four feet tall,
the Chileans can strut in the deep water...
[jazzy music continues]
...while the enigmatic Andeans
rumba by the smoke machine.
[jazzy music continues]
But at last, the James' get their groove on too.
A tango at the top of the world.
[jazzy music continues]
These courtship dances last for weeks.
One by one, lovers unite...
[jazzy music continues]
...as eventually they find a mate.
[jazzy music continues]
But until then, the dance continues.
The greatest show in the greatest mountain range
in the Americas.
[epic orchestral music]