Rivers of the World

Flowing down into the Amazon basin from the Andes, the Urubamba forms the backbone of the Sacred Valley. It gave rise to the ancient empire of the Incas and today sweeps past its remnants, like the imperial city of Machu Picchu. Take a quest to see how the bygone culture of the region's inhabitants lives on.

Rising out of the Rocky Mountains, the Colorado flows for over 2,300 kilometres before arriving in Mexico, from where it empties into the Pacific Ocean. It rolls majestically across America's mineral-rich western plains, whose breath-taking immensity have an unreal quality. As it moves from Monument Valley to the Grand Canyon, the Colorado weaves through a landscape as if from another world.

The Niger carries its myths across the whole of West Africa. In Mali it bathes the waterfronts of Djenn, a town built from the earth it stands on, and of Timbuktu, the pearl of the desert. From Bamako to Gao the river is for some the mother spirit, for others the magical and mysterious Queen of the Waters, but it is worshipped by all for its immense power.

For all its 1,700 kilometres, the Okavango never reaches the sea. After rushing down from the heights of Angola and crossing Namibia, it empties into the Kalahari Desert. The Okavango winds round in an endless series of bends and channels transforming this arid land into a bountiful paradise for crocodiles, hippos and elephants and revealing its unique biodiversity and thriving wildlife.

The Mekong is one of the world's last great mother rivers. Emerging from the Himalayas, it zigzags across China and Southern Asia, passing through the immense lake of Tonle Sap in Cambodia, near Angkor Wat, and around the four thousand islands of Si Phan Donh in Laos. Rice, trade, fishing - the very life of these regions depends on the Mekong.

In Venezuela, one of the world's largest deltas forms a gateway to Latin America. After Christopher Columbus, the Orinoco was the course followed by the conquistadors who pushed ever further upriver in their search for the mythical Eldorado. Today, the descendants of the survivors of the Spanish invasion live on the banks of the river. Travelling up the Orinoco is like travelling through time, unearthing the secret roots of Latin America, from its founding myths in Ciudad Bolivar to the vestiges of its lost civilizations.

Along the course of the Nile, from Sudan to the Mediterranean Sea, all the history of Egypt unfolds. From the lost remains of ancient Nubia, drowned beneath the triumphant modernity of Lake Nasser, to the wonders of the Valley of the Kings and of Luxor, the Nile has fertilized the surrounding land and fostered one of humanity's oldest civilizations. Following the rhythm of the felucca sailboats, which link the past to the present, discover the legacy of the Nile.