Come Explore With Us

Two South African women have brought beautiful wildernesses to our homes in a breathtaking new nature documentary

-  Maxine Peters

The swirl of greens, pinks and yellows cascading across the sky is enough to take your breath away. It’s a symphony of colours and one of the most majestic displays in nature – and something people across the globe pay big bucks to see.

Not even the -20ºC temperatures of the Arctic Circle can scare off those wanting to see the famed Northern Lights, or aurora borealis. But thanks to a certain pandemic, many of us haven’t been able to put a foot in the airport, much less travel that far, in months.

Which is one of the reasons a new documentary by two South African filmmakers has struck such a chord with people at home.

Kingdoms of Fire, Ice & Fairy Tales, now on streaming service Showmax, is a celebration of three of nature’s most spectacular spots. Presenter Bonné de Bod (39) and director Susan Scott (48) take viewers on a journey from the comfort of their couch to the geysers and hot springs at Yellowstone National Park in the United States, the enchanted Black Forest in Germany and the Northern Lights in the Arctic Circle.

“We wanted Kingdoms of Fire, Ice & Fairy Tales to be a reminder that there’s a planet waiting to be discovered,” Bonné tells YOU in a video call from Johannesburg. “The planet never forgets to remind us of its power.”

The documentary was actually meant to be a 13-part series exploring national parks around the world, at locations in the US, Europe as well as China, Australia and New Zealand. But then Covid-19 reared its ugly head.