Episode 5

Superquark – Season 17

In this episode, the adventurous journey continues in the African Rift Valley, with the BBC documentary, Erba, dedicated to the savannah. In these immense spaces, in the shadow of the Rift volcanoes, there is the highest density in the world of wild animals and especially elephants. At night, the savannah becomes the kingdom of carnivores and predators. In a succession of ever-changing situations, we will see for the first time the extraordinary images of chimpanzees sleeping in their dens. Alberto Angela and Giampiero Orsingher take us to the extraordinary site of Masada, in the desert of Galilee, near the Dead Sea. In Roman times, Masada, a natural fortress of spectacular beauty, was transformed by Herod into a fortress palace, where, thanks to ingenious hydraulic solutions, water was brought. In this sort of "garden in the desert", a group of a thousand Jews decided to dig in and resist Roman rule, in 66 AD, under Nero.