EARTH’S NATURAL WONDERS: Season 1

Thursday, June 20, 2024 from 8-10 p.m. on KPBS 2 (No longer in the PBS App) / Stream Season 2 now with KPBS Passport!

Filmed on six continents in 12 languages, this series features stunning photography and daring cinematography. EARTH’S NATURAL WONDERS is a three-part series that visits some of the most extraordinary places on Earth and tells the remarkable stories of people who live there. The documentary travels around the globe to Mount Everest, the Grand Canyon and the Amazon Rainforest. And while truly spectacular, each location poses extreme challenges for those who call it home.

Among the stories told in the series:

• A young Sherpa ropes a route across the notorious Khumbu Icefall in time for hundreds of foreign mountaineers who arrive for hunting season.
• Fishermen near Zambia’s Victoria Falls brave crocodiles, elephants and the risk of being swept to certain death to reach exotic and plentiful fishing pools at the Falls’ edge.
• A father and son who brave killer bees and man-eating tigers to find prized honey in Bangladesh’s Sundarbands, the largest mangrove forest in the world.

EPISODE GUIDE:

Episode 1: “Extreme Wonders” encore Thursday, June 20 at 8 p.m. on KPBS 2 - Visit extreme locales, including Mount Everest’s Khumbu Icefall and its dangers to sherpas, the Grand Canyon, where conservationists try to ensure a condor chick’s survival, and the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, where farmers battle with elephants.

Uwe Gille

/

Wikipedia

Episode 2: “Wonders Of Water” encore Thursday, June 20 at 9 p.m. on KPBS 2 - See wonders created by the grand and unpredictable power of water, including Victoria Falls, where men risk death to reach fishing pools; the Camargue, where man vs. bull; and ocean reefs, where a guardian seeks a manta ray to help save the species.

Episode 3: “Living Wonders” encore Thursday, June 20 at 10 p.m. on KPBS 2 - Witness wonders created by the force that makes our planet unique—life itself. In the Amazon, boys face fierce animals in a rite of passage and a Bangladeshi father and son brave killer bees and man-eating tigers to find honey.

Watch On Your Schedule: Season 1 is no longer available on demand. Episodes from Season 2 are available to stream with KPBS Passport, a benefit for members supporting KPBS at $60 or more yearly, using your computer, smartphone, tablet, Roku, AppleTV, Amazon Fire or Chromecast. Learn how to activate your benefit now.

1 of 16

Ice fall doctors climbing snow peaks, Khumbu Ice Fall, Everest.

Courtesy of BBC 2015

2 of 16

Sherpa carrying kit to base camp, Everest.

Courtesy of BBC 2015

3 of 16

Looking to Mount Everest.

Courtesy of BBC 2015

4 of 16

Richard and elephant at Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.

Courtesy of BBC 2015

5 of 16

Local people fishing in Cenderawasih Bay, Indonesia.

Courtesy of BBC 2015

6 of 16

Whale Shark, Cenderawasih Bay, Indonesia.

Courtesy of BBC 2015

7 of 16

Victoria Falls, Zambia.

Courtesy of BBC 2015

8 of 16

Fishermen crossing Zambezi River at Victoria Falls.

Courtesy of BBC 2015

9 of 16

Contributor Ronald and friends on boat, Raja Ampat, Indonesia.

Courtesy of BBC 2015

10 of 16

Manta Ray Raja Ampat, Indonesia.

Courtesy of BBC 2015

11 of 16

Bulls and Cowboy, Camargue, France.

Courtesy of BBC 2015

12 of 16

Boys with horse on the steppe, Mongolia.

Courtesy of BBC 2015

13 of 16

Elders in traditional dress with gloves used in bullet ant ceremony.

Courtesy of BBC 2015

14 of 16

Local people in boats, Sundarbans, Bangladesh.

Courtesy of BBC 2015

15 of 16

Honey hunters in boat, Sundarbans, Bangladesh.

Courtesy of BBC 2015

16 of 16

Sunset, mangroves, Sundarbans, Bangladesh.

Courtesy of BBC 2015

Credits: A BBC production with PBS created by executive producer Mark Hedgecoe (BBC), series producer Arif Nurmohamed (BBC), and was produced and directed by Matt Barrett and Nicholas Shoolingin-Jordan.