CAMERA THRILLS

[Music] one of the last frontiers for the venture 'some is Africa the Africa of breathtaking Victoria Falls and the awesome beauty of the Murchison cascade nowhere on earth is water so vital to the life cycle water means abundant gain and when brilliant flamingos dot the landscape natives know that every species from two-ton hippos to 4 ton elephants are in abundance water means big-game grazing on the savanna as far as the eye can see in central Africa there are a thousand varieties of gazelle each species banding against their common enemy the wild dog deservedly called the king of beasts the lion Lords over all other animals while a mother lion as her paws full with a new family there are times when gazelles will fight to the death over a female and other times when the mood strikes them its joust in fun with the dry season life in Africa becomes a desperate battle for survival nomadic natives are better equipped through instinct and learning to find water as months go by without rain but the animals are caught up in the whirling dust devils that plagued every living creature lake beds are dried up streams reduced to a trickle and animals like the wildebeest are futile to find some life-giving moisture as ponds and lakes dry the level of rivers and streams fall and fish by the thousands are stranded instinct brings butterflies from scores of miles to find soil dampened by some underground source not far from the parched savannah is the lush eatery forest nestled in the shadow of the mountains of the moon here lived the most famous tribe of pygmies the BAM beaut the tallest man is less than five feet but they have a king-sized curiosity about everything including the truck [Music] the BAM beaut are a nomadic people and usually attach themselves to a tribe of normal-sized natives they are specialists in plating vines into ropes so strong that they are used to support bridges the women are the workers around the camp while the men spend their days hunting a BAM Butte is fearless in tracking the most ferocious of beasts characteristic of the pygmy is his nose note that it has no bridge and how wide the nostrils flare but all beauty is relative and you'll find beauties primping in the strangest places they use a mixture of banana peel ash and water for this treatment and while the men may scoff this is the kind of beauty that appeals to them [Music] [Applause] boy meets girl it's the universal story the pygmies live in the shadow of the ruins or arrange the fabled mountains of the moon and two pygmy chieftains helped arrange an ascent to the summit first step was to enlist the aid of competent guides for the trails to the top of the mountains of the moon are fraught with perils for the uninitiated it takes three weeks to a month to arrange the wealth of detail connected with a safari to the mountain peaks nothing can be left to chance hundreds of items are on the checklist with no refrigeration the supply of meat comes along on the hoof fifty Porter's each with a 50-pound Burton carry everything from surveying instruments to iodine [Music] the trail up the mountain follows closely the road explored by Sir Henry Stanley of dr. Livingstone Fame the foothills are lush and verdant as we climb the green fades giving away two great forests of bamboo though these mountains lie just north of the Equator it's noticeably cooler as we reach nine thousand feet time for rest and food and the natives quickly turn to preparing for show a staple of their diet it's made of finely ground cassava root mixed with water rolled into balls and popped in the mouth that gives them the energy for a task like this [Music] as we climb higher and higher we find ourselves enveloped in thick clouds that perpetually cling to the peaks it makes for slow dangerous progress the desolation of the region probably contributed to native fear of the mountains [Applause] and here is one of Africa's most intriguing paradoxes though the mountains of the Moon straddle the equator they are ice-capped the year around though the temperature below may be over a hundred here it is below freezing only for a few short noontime hours does it warm enough to feed melting snows to the rivers Mount Stanley the highest peak of the group is nearly 17,000 feet higher than the greatest elk truly this area of ice and snow is the very roof of Africa [Music] mountains of ice and mountains of fires a scant hundred miles to the south near Lake Kibo in the gorilla country of the Congo lies the Karanka chain of mountains two of them breathe fire as active volcanoes and one nyam lee Shira spread death and destruction in recent years when it erupted violently for months on end [Music] [Music] the ground trembles continuously as the volcano spews forth its 2,500 degree lava in its last full-scale eruption the mountain sent forth a river a hundred feet wide that glowed for sixteen miles through the forest consuming everything in its path fascinating Africa the land of extremes a strange and lovely country that ever beckons the adventuresome [Music] [Applause] [Music]