- 7 hours ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00...of extraordinary wonders.
00:01It's epic out here.
00:03Where ancient civilizations...
00:05There were rock inscriptions scattered all over this landscape.
00:09...meet rising modern cities.
00:13I'm Clive Standen.
00:15Time to head to ground running.
00:17And I'm embarking on a journey across the Arabian Peninsula.
00:20This place is unlike anywhere else.
00:23I'm forging far and diving deep.
00:26Isn't he amazing?
00:27Uncovering its best-kept secrets.
00:30A little precarious.
00:31...meeting the people who call this place home.
00:34And the pioneers preserving its natural treasures.
00:37That is remarkable.
00:39I want to show you the beautiful.
00:41It's just a little untouched piece of paradise.
00:43The surprising.
00:44It's an unbelievable sight.
00:46And the heartwarming.
00:47What am I supposed to do?
00:49Exploring the secrets that make this land so captivating.
00:53I really do feel like an archaeologist.
00:56Mum, I'm never coming home.
00:59Wow.
01:00This is Arabia like you've never seen before.
01:04Come on.
01:05There's plenty more to see.
01:06My journey to find the hidden treasures of Arabia has brought me to Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates.
01:20So far, I've been granted exclusive access to a remote conservation island.
01:27Look at the size of that turtle.
01:29Whoa.
01:30And visited its most iconic grand mosque.
01:33I have no idea how beautiful it looked on the inside.
01:36Taking in a view that few will ever experience.
01:40Now, I'm heading to the outskirts of the city to learn more about one of Arabia's most culturally revered icons.
01:48Falconry has a long and rich history in the Arabian Peninsula, where it's been practiced for centuries.
01:56The desert tribespeople, known as the Bedouin, developed a close relationship with these powerful birds of prey, when hunting with falcons was key to survival in the desert.
02:05And to this day, they're associated with grace, power, and nobility.
02:12As treasured status symbols, falcons can come with an eye-watering price tag.
02:21And there's no expense spared either when it comes to breeding champion falcons.
02:25I've come to a place that has over 25 years of expertise of doing just that.
02:31Head of operations, Adian Botha, knows more than most about these revered birds.
02:36Hi, how's it going?
02:37I'm good, man.
02:37Thanks for having me today.
02:39So, Banjara, what am I expecting to see here?
02:41Well, Banjara is a falcon breeding facility, so we can go take a look at the breeding chambers, at the incubation rooms, and you can see what we do.
02:47Fantastic. Lead the way.
02:48Let's take a look.
02:50A total of 120 eggs are laid during the breeding season, and Adian has his hands full from the moment they are hatched.
02:58But let me show you this egg that might be hatching.
03:02Take a look. He's nearly cut the egg all the way.
03:05We can open the door. We can have a quick peek.
03:07So, what we need to do now, we need to take the chick out of here.
03:12We'll make sure the chick is perfectly healthy.
03:14We'll observe everything, and then the chick will go into one of our brooders.
03:18So, the shell comes off, no problem.
03:23Oh, look at that. The baby's perfect.
03:24It hatched completely perfectly.
03:26What are you going to name that one?
03:29I think we'll call it Clive.
03:30Oh.
03:33He's a handsome chap who's going to win the beauty pageant in 2026.
03:39See you later, Clive.
03:41So, I'll show you some older chicks.
03:42So, these are about seven, eight days old.
03:44Seven, eight days old.
03:45So, you can hold that.
03:46Just be gentle.
03:47Hey, bud.
03:48If you'd like to, we can even feed this baby.
03:50Really? Oh, fantastic.
03:51We'll take these forceps, and we'll pick up a small piece of food.
03:55And I'll immediately take it, just like that.
03:58So, what we can do, just to get their attention,
03:59you can just make a clicking sound, or chirp like a falcon.
04:03You'll see the reaction from the baby.
04:05There we go, that's perfect.
04:06You sound just like a falcon.
04:08Oh, there it is.
04:11Not so easy being a mother falcon, is it?
04:13It's not.
04:16These babies may look tiny and vulnerable,
04:18but in just over three months,
04:20they'll have reached maturity.
04:22And next door, Adian has some fully grown adults on display.
04:27What I can do is I can show you this one.
04:29Wow, who do we have here?
04:30So, this is just a jur falcon.
04:32You'll notice behind us, we have some other falcons,
04:34some peregrines, some jurors of different color varieties.
04:37And the hood that he's wearing now, why is that?
04:41They're sight-orientated animals,
04:43and if the bird can't see anything, it's not afraid.
04:46Can you talk me through how the falcon became
04:48such an important symbol for Arabian culture?
04:51Falcons were extremely important to the Bedouin people.
04:53They were able to borrow these birds from the wild,
04:55and they used them to help provide protein to their families
04:58by using them as hunting tools
05:00and becoming their hunting partners.
05:02I have to say,
05:03it's a privilege to be up so close
05:05to these magnificent creatures.
05:07You really can feel their charisma.
05:09No wonder the people of Arabia still want to maintain
05:13that deep, historic bond between man and bird.
05:18Everywhere you go in Abu Dhabi,
05:20everywhere in the UAE,
05:21everywhere in the Middle East,
05:22you'll see falcons.
05:23You'll see them on banknotes.
05:25You'll see them on government documents.
05:27You'll see falcons on posters next to the road.
05:29So, even in the modern day,
05:30when the falcon is no longer required
05:32to provide food to them,
05:33they're still highly regarded.
05:35It's actually a lovely little fan of all this heat.
05:39And if you'd like to hold the falcon,
05:41you're more than welcome to.
05:43Just like that.
05:44Wow.
05:46Wow, he doesn't weigh as much as you think.
05:48No, looking at them,
05:49you think that they weigh a lot more.
05:50He has to fly.
05:51If he weighs too much,
05:52he's going to have a hard time.
05:54And those giant talons,
05:55what can this raptor take down?
05:57He can take down just about anything,
05:59up to about three times his own body weight.
06:01But a geofalcon like this
06:02would specialize in hunting other bird species.
06:05I wish I could take this little man home with me.
06:07If I have to get you a little passport,
06:08you can sit next to me on the plane.
06:10It's my emotional support.
06:12Emotional support falcon.
06:14As much as I'd love to stay,
06:16I must bid farewell to Aideon and his falcons.
06:20It's time to journey onward
06:21to the desert lands beyond the city.
06:24My journey across Abu Dhabi has brought me
06:49to one of its cultural icons,
06:51the falcon,
06:52central to desert life for centuries.
06:55Now I'm leaving the city behind
06:57and heading inland to Aideon
06:59to discover more about the desert way of life.
07:02Aideon is a sprawling city
07:04of half a million people.
07:06At its heart lies the Aideon Oasis,
07:09a UNESCO World Heritage Site
07:11that has sustained life here
07:12for over 4,000 years.
07:14The Oasis itself contains 147,000 date palm trees.
07:21Date farming is big business,
07:23with the UAE producing some 750,000 tons annually.
07:28That's about 14% of the world's dates.
07:31The farmers have to scale every single tree
07:38to pollinate and harvest the dates,
07:41all by hand.
07:43And they make it look so easy.
07:45The success of this lush green oasis
07:50is down to an ancient communal water irrigation system
07:54that has sustained it for thousands of years.
07:57Local guide, Halal al-Kuwaiti,
08:00is here to pour some light
08:01on the history of this place.
08:03Nice to meet you.
08:04Thanks for taking some time out of your day
08:05to walk me through this beautiful sanctuary.
08:10Built by the Bedouin people living here 3,000 years ago,
08:14this ancient watering system
08:16as known as a fallage.
08:19By digging channels in the ground
08:20and connecting them by pipes to distant mountains,
08:23they could direct water into the Oasis
08:25and create a reliable all-year-round water supply.
08:30So the water zigzags down, hits the walls,
08:34the momentum drags it down here.
08:37We have over 550 farms.
08:40And this way, we divide the water for equal.
08:43Can you show me how it works?
08:45So right now, the water has been channeled into this.
08:47Now you will open the gate for the water.
08:49Right, here we go.
08:51So we'll pull it out.
08:55And we'll close the sub one.
08:58Can't see?
09:00How quickly it fills up.
09:02Yeah.
09:02It's crazy to think that this is 3,000-year-old technology.
09:10It makes me realize that sometimes we should be looking to the past
09:14in order to find solutions for the future.
09:18The way of life of the desert people who originally built the Oasis
09:22remained much the same for hundreds of years.
09:24But the transformation that came with the discovery of oil in 1958
09:29saw many of their traditional ways consigned to the past.
09:34But in this hot desert region,
09:37you don't have to go far to find traces of their desert heritage.
09:41Camels were once indispensable to the Bedouin way of life.
09:46They could travel great distances under the blazing sun.
09:49Their wool was used to make clothes,
09:51and their milk and meat provided sustenance in the barren desert.
09:56On the edge of town is the bustling Al Ain Camel Market,
10:00where these magnificent and somewhat gregarious icons of the desert
10:04can be found in all their glory.
10:09There's quite the colorful buzz to this place,
10:12and my fixer, Tuseef Montaz,
10:14has kindly volunteered to show me around.
10:17Camels no longer play such an essential role in daily life
10:28as they once did.
10:30But breeding them for racing is now serious business.
10:36Camel racing has deep roots in Bedouin culture,
10:39and today it remains one of the most popular
10:42and passionately followed sports in the UAE.
10:47Same. Same.
10:50Got to go over and see some racing camels.
10:54Oh!
10:55He will, he will, he will.
10:57He's dangerous. This camel is dangerous.
10:59For over.
11:00What camel is this? This is a racing camel.
11:01Racing camel.
11:03So this racing camel, it's actually a she.
11:06She's pregnant.
11:07The mother of a future camel champion.
11:09Hilary.
11:10Hilary? Her name's Hilary?
11:12Hilary. Hilary.
11:13Helen! Helen the camel.
11:16Hey, Helen.
11:18I have this thing sometimes when I look at certain animals.
11:21I always imagine how they might speak.
11:23Look at this guy over here, and he's like,
11:24Hello, mate.
11:25Is that how I imagine he speaks?
11:27Have a nice day.
11:28Helen's voice.
11:30Oh, hello.
11:32Like Miss Bouquet.
11:34Oh, it's Miss Bouquet, not Bucket.
11:37Hello, Helen.
11:39That camel is from Saudiia, and that is dancing camel.
11:42The dancing camel?
11:43Yes.
11:43Like dressage?
11:44Yes.
11:45They actually do, is there a competition for that?
11:47Yes.
11:47I had no idea camels could dance.
11:50But it's not just camels on sale here.
11:53There's another animal that always gets me acting the goat.
12:05Arabia's Best Kept Secrets, presented by Gulf Air.
12:10Arabia's Best Kept Secrets, presented by Gulf Air.
12:17My trip across Abu Dhabi has led me to Al Ain's famous camel market.
12:26But that's not the only animal on sale here.
12:29Another creature has caught my eye.
12:32Goats.
12:33And lots of them.
12:38But this is the locals here.
12:40They have Africans, they have Pakistani, they have Australian, like mix.
12:44So, what is this difference, then, with the Pakistani goats?
12:49Oh, I will show you the Pakistani.
12:51You will see the difference.
12:54This is the Pakistani goats.
12:56These are the goat of goats.
12:58They're the ones that are most sought after.
13:04Can we take him?
13:06Storgan's my producer from here.
13:07Can we take him?
13:08Two for one.
13:10Oh, done.
13:10Look.
13:11Thank God, yeah.
13:12Oh, it's really cute, but it's kind of heartbreaking, too,
13:17because I really want to just take them with me.
13:19So, I can feel his little heartbeat.
13:22How much?
13:22How much for these two?
13:24Each for 300.
13:25200.
13:26Okay, done in 250 each.
13:29250 each.
13:30Yeah.
13:30Done.
13:31My producer says, it's just for the show.
13:33It's not, go on, give him the money.
13:34We're taking these goats with us.
13:35Deal, right?
13:37Super.
13:37I want you to introduce you to my new friends.
13:43This one's messy.
13:45And that's Ronaldo.
13:48Greatest of all time.
13:50I'm going to find someone here.
13:53Give them a good home.
13:54Let them run free.
13:56You have a farm?
13:58Well, I need someone who's going to look after these goats.
14:02I know I'm a sucker for an impulse buy,
14:05but I think I've really gone undone it now.
14:08What am I supposed to do?
14:11Would you be able to find them a home?
14:14Yeah?
14:14You'll be able to do it.
14:15Oh.
14:16Yes.
14:16You promise me?
14:17Yes.
14:17Can't break a promise?
14:18No.
14:19Okay.
14:19Little goat pinky promise.
14:22There we go.
14:23I'm glad I found a home for my new pet pals because the reality is, where I'm going, I can't take them with me.
14:30My final destination is renowned for being one of the most inhospitable places on earth.
14:36And it's certainly one of the hottest.
14:40This is the empty quarter.
14:43Over 250,000 square miles of uninterrupted sand dunes and salt flats.
14:50It stretches right across the peninsula, touching Saudi Arabia, Amman, and Yemen.
14:55I'm heading to Liwa to experience this truly epic place and catch a flavor of the romance of the desert.
15:03Once, explorers required endurance skills to survive in this unforgiving environment.
15:08But in one corner of the empty quarter, human ingenuity has defied all the elements carving out a safe haven amid these sun-blasted dunes.
15:22This is Kassa al-Sarab, which means House of Mirages in Arabic.
15:28Rising out of the desert, looking like a fantasy of an ancient desert fortress.
15:33This is actually a luxury hotel set in a man-made oasis.
15:38To learn more about this unexpected edifice, I'm hoping General Manager John Paul Dantiel has the answers.
15:46On the approach up here, driving in, there's nothing for miles around.
15:49And then you see this fortress in the middle of the desert.
15:53And yet, on the approach, when you come in through the archway, it's nothing like that.
15:57It's actually really hospitable, beautiful hotel.
16:00We love this reaction to see you arrive to this majestic fort here in the middle of nowhere.
16:04This was an idea from the royal family in 2009.
16:08And they used to camp and they said, why can we not give this to the people, to the guests coming here to this region and celebrate the deserts?
16:15They were Bedouins originally.
16:17And this is a way of celebrating it, in style, of course.
16:20How did you begin to build something of this magnitude in this environment, this inhospitable desert?
16:27They had to really dig deep and build the foundations 10 meters down here in order to ensure that the construction or the palace, as we call it, stays in place.
16:36With over 200 rooms, suites and villas, plus numerous swimming pools and thirsty landscape gardens, access to water is key if this oasis is to function.
16:49It turns out water is piped from desalination plants in Abu Dhabi, over an astonishing 124 miles away.
16:58You can't help but wonder what the Bedouins of old would have thought of this place, had they come across it in the desert.
17:06I'm deep in Abu Dhabi's interior, in the vast desert known as the Empty Quarter.
17:34A land forever connected to the Bedouin, whose resilience was key to their survival in this unforgiving wilderness.
17:44And as my journey draws to a close, I'm glad to say I've got one last chance to let the desert carry me away.
17:52But this time, in the saddle.
17:56I'm in the middle of the Empty Quarter.
17:59It's epic out here.
18:00And I would be a fool not to ride a camel.
18:03This is essentially how the Bedouin got around the desert.
18:07It was the only form of transport from one end to the other in harsh conditions.
18:10And I just want to get a taste of this.
18:13Let's go.
18:13Let's go.
18:14Let's go.
18:15Let's go.
18:16Let's go.
18:17Let's go.
18:18Let's go.
18:19Let's go.
18:20Let's go.
18:21Let's go.
18:22Let's go.
18:23Good?
18:24Good, yeah.
18:25So today we're going to be going on these cheeky chappies.
18:27Yes.
18:28Who's this one?
18:29This one's Baba.
18:30Yes, Baba.
18:31Yes.
18:32How do we get on Baba?
18:33Yes, Baba.
18:34Yes, ready?
18:35Yep.
18:36Yeah.
18:37Okay, go.
18:38Hold tight.
18:39Hold tight, lean back.
18:40Lean back.
18:41Yes.
18:44Apparently this one is used to obnoxious Brits.
18:55In summer, temperatures here can reach over 122 degrees Fahrenheit.
19:00But Arabian camels are perfectly adapted to survive these harsh extremes.
19:05They can travel over a hundred miles without water.
19:09And are well equipped to deal with dehydration, converting the fat stored in their humps into
19:14water and energy when food is scarce.
19:17It's no wonder these creatures became the long trusted companions to the people of the desert.
19:24They couldn't have survived without them.
19:30They really wanted to get a sense of the empty quarter and its vast epicness.
19:45And what it would have been like to be a Bedouin traveling from one end of the desert to the other
19:49with just what you have on your back.
19:52There's so much more to Abu Dhabi than meets the eye.
20:01You know, of course there's the grandness of the mosque and the royalty in the city.
20:06But you've got to leave all that behind to really understand this place.
20:11You know, from an off-the-grid piece of paradise to this.
20:16This is like epic, otherworldly landscape.
20:21But you really have to just sit here, at this time at magic hour,
20:26in the silence of the sand dunes to really understand its majesty.
20:31Your majesty.
20:32Your majesty.
20:33Your majesty.
20:36Your majesty.
Be the first to comment