A Wilderness Like Eden Written and narrated by Peter France
Part one of a two-part wildlife exploration of the Holy Land. In Israel's Negev Desert and overcoming all its hostility, an abundance of life flourishes now as in the time of Abraham and Moses, when the Children of Israel wandered in the wilderness. Caracals, wolves and dorcas gazelles share the parched land with monitor lizards, sand vipers and scorpions. Majestic griffon vultures patrol the skies. Each year thousands of storks migrate over the desert, borne aloft on the shoulders of the warm air. In winter, rare downpours bring the precious water which is the source of all life. Flash floods quickly flow and as quickly vanish, but in a few days the Negev blooms and is transformed into a garden of wild flowers.
Photography RODGER JACKMAN and HUGH MAYNARD
Film editor colin CRADOCK Producer KEENAN SMART Series editor PETER JONES BBC Bristol
(Part 2 next week)