With the National Geographic Society turning 125 years old, the National Geographic Channel (DStv 181) will have a special documentary once a week for the duration of 2013 from its library titles under the banner of "Explorer Top 125" as well as new titles such as A New Age of Exploration, a 125th anniversary TV special which viewers can see on Saturday 12 January at 22:00.
In A New Age of Exploration viewers will see National Geographic's explorers-in-residence Robert Ballard and Albert Lin and find out how surgeon Sam Bhayani is searching for a cure for cancer. The special will look at virus hunter dr Gary Kobinger, storm chaser Tim Samaras and feature antropologist and geneticist Spencer Wells and the Genographic Project.
Below is a line-up of the Explorer Top 125 special programming for January 2013 and the beginning of February on the National Geographic Channel:
Titanic: The Final Word with James Cameron
Saturday 12 January 22:55
James Cameron and Titanic experts seek answers to the baffling questions remaining about exactly how and why the Titanic sank. Forensic experts piece together what exactly happened during the last moments of the ship.
The Human Family Tree
Saturday 19 January 22:00
The Genographic team take random DNA samples from 200 New Yorkers to trace the ancestral footsteps of humanity and reveal how interconnected mankind really is. Everyone's lineage can be traced back some 60 000 years to the cradle of mankind in east Africa.
Last Lioness
Saturday 19 January 23:50
Lady Liuwa is the last lioness in the Liuwa Plain in Zambia. For 10 years cameraman Herbert Brauer watched her life unfold. In May 2009 a plan is made to introduce a male lion so that she may no longer be alone.
Saturday 26 January 22:00
Shrouded in mystery for 4 500 years, the British archeologist Mike Parker Pearson offers a groundbreaking theory on Stonehenge - one that places this ancient monument at the centre of one of the largest prehistoric religious complexes in the world.
The Two Million Year Old Boy
Saturday 26 January 22:55
A 9 year old boy makes one of the greatest fossil finds of all time, stumbling onto the 2 million year old skeleton of a pre-human boy, and throwing everything we thought we knew about our own origins of mankind up in the air. As mankind explores the mystery of how a newly-discovered pre-human species lived and died, it may yield some answers to the ultimate question of how we became human.
What Lies Beneath: Draining the Ocean
Saturday 2 February 22:00
See a world you've never seen before - a world hidden below kilometres of water: the landscape of the ocean bed. Combining the latest scientific data with state-of-the-art special effects, this documentary drains the water from the oceans to reveal the mountains, canyons, plains and volcanoes hidden below the waves of the world.
Super Pride
Saturday 2 February 23:50
The Serengeti in northern Tanzania has one of the largest lion populations in Africa with 3 500 lions living in 300 individual prides. In central Serengeti one pride reigns supreme - a "Super Pride" boasting 22 strong lions. Few lion prides ever reach this status and it requires practically perfect conditions including plenty of prey and resilient males.
