Granite islands set in a rolling ocean of grassland. Massive outcrops of Africa's ancient bed-rock dwarfed by the immense surrounding plains of the Serengeti. They call them kopjes. They are an intriguing stage on and around which a drama of African wildlife is played out year by year.
The rocks are a hunter's lair for lion and cheetah. There's water, too, in secret pools abundant with life. and nourishing huge trees and exotic plants that are browsed by giraffe and klipspringer.
But it is creatures like the curious hyrax, the colourful and acrobatic agama lizard and the huge verreaux's eagle that, by never deserting these islands even at the driest time of year when the plains are empty of gazelles and wildebeeste, make these remote rocks a refuge for all seasons. Narrated and produced by BARRY PAINE
Film cameramen
HUGH MAYNARD. STEPHEN BOLWELL Film editor PETER HEELEY
Series editors PETER JONES, ANTHONY ISAACS
BBC Bristol