NHK Documentaries

Uyuni Salt Flats lies on the Bolivian plateau in the middle of the Andes mountains. Believed to have been formed 500 million years ago by the earth' s crustal movement, the salt flats extend 100 kilometers north to south and 120 kilometers east to west. The white carpet which spreads as far as the eye can see, turns into a spectacular mirror when it rains with the reflection of the entire sky stretching out to the horizon. Revealing the fascinating secret of its formation, this program takes the viewers into the miraculous world of the Uyuni Salt Flats.

Hordes of tiny terrors march through the rainforest: they are army ants. Known as the most feared animals in the equatorial forests of Ecuador, they hack and dice any unfortunate prey that gets in their path and bring the remains back to their nest. When they wipe out all food sources around the nest, they start a massive migration in search of a new nest, while carefully protecting their queen. This program introduces the unknown social lives of the army ants.

Manu National Park, Peru, which holds 13 species of monkeys among the various types of Amazonian fauna, is praised as a monkey kingdom. Deep in its jungles is a strange open spot about 20 meters in diameter where a peculiar behavior of monkeys can be observed. The monkeys spend a majority of their time up in the canopies of the rainforest, but come down to the ground to consume gluttonously the soil of the spot. The program looks at how this strange behavior most likely developed in the competition for survival in the Manu's rainforests during the ice age.