The Greatest Places

Amazon: This mightiest of rivers forms a network of water channels that permeates nearly half of South America. "There's one sound you always hear in all the old jungle movies. I expected to hear that sound in the Amazonian rainforest, and its absence surprised me." --Robin Tams, Assistant Cameraman Greenland: Harsh, foreboding and almost completely buried beneath a cap of permanent ice and snow, Greenland is the world's largest island. It is estimated some 10,000 to 15,000 icebergs are calved by Greenland's glaciers each year. "When the ice calves off the icebergs, there is a huge explosion that sounds like a bomb." --Mike Braniger, Key Grip Iguazu: Strung out along the rim of a crescent-shaped cliff about 2.5 miles long, some 275 individual cascades and waterfalls plummet up to 269 feet into the gorge below. The thunderous roaring can be heard from miles away. "It's like white noise on a million televisions with the volume turned all the way up!" --Vince Purcell, Sound Recordist Namib: Stretching 1,200 miles in length, but averaging a width of only 70 miles, the Namib Desert is home to the highest sand dunes in the world. "It's absolutely silent: On a windless day, sometimes all you can hear is a deep, deafening silence." --Mal Wolf, Director Okavango: A 6,000-square-mile maze of lagoons, channels and islands helps Okavango earn the description "the river that never finds the sea." Think hippos are nice and slow? Think again! Ever try making your own paper? The first paper was made out of papyrus, still found in Okavango. Tibet: The Chang Tang Plateau, at an average height of 15,000 feet, gives birth to many of Asia's mightiest rivers. "They strike me as truly enlightened people, very appreciative and grateful. The Tibetans have based their lives on interdependency and cooperation - things we in the West could use a little more of!" --Christopher James Thomas, Composer Madagascar: The world's fourth largest island is currently home to a