Esoteric Words

trog·lo·dyte (n.)
a. A member of a fabulous or prehistoric race of people that lived in caves, dens, or holes.
b. A person considered to be reclusive, reactionary, out of date, or brutish.

The phrase caveat emptor arises from the fact that buyers often have less information about the good or service they are purchasing, while the seller has more information. Defects in the good or service may be hidden from the buyer, and only known to the seller. Thus, the buyer should beware. This is called information asymmetry. Under the principle of caveat emptor, the buyer could not recover damages from the seller for defects on the property that rendered the property unfit for ordinary purposes. The only exception was if the seller actively concealed latent defects or otherwise made material misrepresentations amounting to fraud.

Revanchism (from French: revanche, "revenge") is a term used since the 1870s to describe a political manifestation of the will to reverse territorial losses incurred by a country, often following a war or social movement. Revanchism draws its strength from patriotic and retributionist thought and is often motivated by economic or geo-political factors. Extreme revanchist ideologues often represent a hawkish stance, suggesting that desired objectives can be achieved through the positive outcome of another war. Revanchism is linked with irredentism, the conception that a part of the cultural and ethnic nation remains "unredeemed" outside the borders of its appropriate nation-state. Revanchist politics often rely on the identification of a nation with a nation-state, often mobilizing deep-rooted sentiments of ethnic nationalism, claiming territories outside of the state where members of the ethnic group live, while using heavy-handed nationalism to mobilize support for these aims. Revanchist justifications are often presented as based on ancient or even autochthonous occupation of a territory since "time immemorial", an assertion that is usually inextricably involved in revanchism and irredentism, justifying them in the eyes of their proponents.

"Primordial soup" is a term introduced by the Soviet biologist Alexander Oparin. In 1924, he proposed the theory of the origin of life on Earth through the transformation, during the gradual chemical evolution of molecules that contain carbon in the primordial soup.
Biochemist Robert Shapiro has summarized the "primordial soup" theory of Oparin and Haldane in its "mature form" as follows:[1]
The early Earth had a chemically reducing atmosphere.
This atmosphere, exposed to energy in various forms, produced simple organic compounds ("monomers").
These compounds accumulated in a "soup", which may have been concentrated at various locations (shorelines, oceanic vents etc.).
By further transformation, more complex organic polymers – and ultimately life – developed in the soup.

The Cambrian explosion, or Cambrian radiation, was the relatively rapid appearance, around 542 million years ago, of most major animal phyla, as demonstrated in the fossil record. This was accompanied by major diversification of other organisms. Before about 580 million years ago, most organisms were simple, composed of individual cells occasionally organized into colonies. Over the following 70 or 80 million years, the rate of evolution accelerated by an order of magnitude and the diversity of life began to resemble that of today. Ancestors of many of the present phyla appeared during this period, with the exception of Bryozoa, which made its earliest known appearance in the Lower Ordovician.

The Cambrian explosion has generated extensive scientific debate. The seemingly rapid appearance of fossils in the “Primordial Strata” was noted as early as the 1840s, and in 1859 Charles Darwin discussed it as one of the main objections that could be made against his theory of evolution by natural selection. The long-running puzzlement about the appearance of the Cambrian fauna, seemingly abruptly and from nowhere, centers on three key points: whether there really was a mass diversification of complex organisms over a relatively short period of time during the early Cambrian; what might have caused such rapid change; and what it would imply about the origin and evolution of animals. Interpretation is difficult due to a limited supply of evidence, based mainly on an incomplete fossil record and chemical signatures remaining in Cambrian rocks.

Apostasy (/əˈpɒstəsi/; Greek: ἀποστασία (apostasia), 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from or abandonment or renunciation of a religion by a person. One who commits apostasy (or who apostatises) is known as an apostate. The term apostasy is used by sociologists to mean renunciation and criticism of, or opposition to, a person's former religion, in a technical sense and without pejorative connotation.

Glossolalia or "speaking in tongues" is the fluid vocalizing (or less commonly the writing) of speech-like syllables that lack any readily comprehended meaning, in some cases as part of religious practice. The significance of glossolalia has varied in context, with some adherents considering it as a part of a sacred language. It is most prominently practised within Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity but it is also practised in non-Christian religions. Glossolalia also sometimes refers to xenoglossy, the putative speaking of a natural language previously unknown to the speaker.

Atychiphobia or synonymously Kakorrhaphiophobia is the abnormal, unwarranted, and persistent fear of failure. As with many phobias, atychiphobia often leads to a constricted lifestyle, and is particularly devastating for its effects on a person’s willingness to attempt certain activities. A person afflicted with atychiphobia considers the possibility of failure so intense that they choose not to take the risk. Often this person will subconsciously undermine their own efforts so that they no longer have to continue to try. Because effort is proportionate to the achievement of personal goals and fulfillment, this unwillingness to try that arises from the perceived inequality between the possibilities of success and failure holds the atychiphobic back from a life of meaning and the realization of potential. By definition, the anxiety of any particular phobia is understood to be disproportionate to reality, and the victim is typically aware that the fear is irrational, making the problem a largely subconscious one. For this reason there are no simple treatments for atychiphobia, however there are several options available.

preponderant
/prɪˈpɒnd(ə)r(ə)nt/
adjective
predominant in influence, number, or importance.
"the preponderant influence of the US within the alliance"synonyms: dominant, predominant, prevalent, in control, more/most powerful, superior, supreme, ascendant, in the ascendancy; Morecontrolling, more/most important, pre-eminent, predominating, ruling, leading, principal, chief, main;
rareprepotent, prepollent
"the Western states remained militarily preponderant in the region"
Origin: late Middle English: from Latin preponderant- ‘weighing more’, from the verb praeponderare (see preponderate).

Crudely translated as bourgeois or petty bourgeois, Spießbürger or Spießer is a derogatory reference to a narrow-minded persons, which is characterized by mental immobility, pronounced conformity with social norms are characterized and aversion to changes in usual life environment. In Switzerland Spießbürger are also called Füdlibürger (Füdli = buttock) or as Bünzli.

Gazumping occurs when a seller (especially of property) accepts an oral offer of the asking price from one potential buyer, but then accepts a higher offer from someone else. It can also refer to the seller raising the asking price at the last minute, after previously orally agreeing to a lower one. In either case, the original buyer is left in the lurch, and either has to offer a higher price or lose the purchase. The term is most commonly used in the UK and Australia, although similar practices can be found in some other jurisdictions.

Why do the Irish seem so quiescent?

The Taoiseach (/ˈtiːʃəx/; Irish: [ˈt̪ˠiːʃəx] is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (parliament), and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The earliest known use of the term is from a 5th- or 6th-century ogham inscription in both the Gaelic and Brythonic languages.

Portugal’s finance minister criticised his colleagues after a meeting in Brussels for dithering over the details of expanding the euro-area’s bail-out fund, saying the delay was harming the currency block.

Mr Weber had been the putative front-runner to succeed Jean-Claude Trichet as head of the European Central Bank.

Egypt remained in the throes of political upheaval as large numbers of demonstrators again demanded the departure of President Hosni Mubarak.

Stalwart

stal·wart
/ˈstôlwərt/
Adjective

Loyal, reliable, and hardworking: "he remained a stalwart supporter of the cause".
Noun
A loyal, reliable, and hardworking supporter or participant in an organization or team: "the stalwarts of the Ladies' Auxiliary".
Synonyms: sturdy - stout - strong - robust - firm - lusty - hefty

Detritus

de·tri·tus
/diˈtrītəs/
Noun
Waste or debris of any kind; Gravel, sand, silt, or other material produced by erosion.
Synonyms: debris

Recalcitrant
re·cal·ci·trant/riˈkalsətrənt/
Adjective:
Having an obstinately uncooperative attitude toward authority.
Noun:
A person with such an attitude.
Synonyms:
insubordinate - contumacious - refractory - disobedient


An eponym is a person or thing, whether real or fictional, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named.
For example, Léon Theremin is the eponym of the theremin; Louis Braille is the eponym of the Braille word system created by him for use by the blind. Eponyms are aspects of etymology.
A synonym of "eponym" is namegiver. Someone who (or something that) is referred to with the adjective of eponymous is the eponym of something.
An etiological myth can be a "reverse eponym" in the sense that a legendary character is invented in order to explain a term, such as the nymph Pirene (mythology), who according to myth was turned into Pirene's Fountain.


A Loanword is a word borrowed from a donor language and incorporated into a recipient language. By contrast, a Calque or loan translation is a related concept where the meaning or idiom is borrowed rather than the lexical item itself. The word loanword is itself a calque of the German Lehnwort, while calque is a loanword from French. The terms borrow and loanword, although traditional, conflict with the ordinary meaning of those words because nothing is returned to the donor languages. However, note that this metaphor is not isolated to the concept of loanwords, but also found in the idiom "to borrow an idea." An additional issue with the term loanword is that it implies that the loaning is limited to one single word as opposed to phrases such as déjà vu, an English loanword from French. While this phrase may be used as one lexical item by English speakers, that is to say, an English speaker would not say only déjà to convey the meaning associated with the full term déjà vu, in the donor language (French), speakers would be aware of the phrase consisting of two words. For simplicity, adopt/adoption or adapt/adaption are used by many linguists, either in parallel to, or in preference to, these words. Some researchers also use the term lexical borrowing.

Schadenfreude is pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others. This German word is used as a loanword in English and some other languages, and has been calqued in Danish and Norwegian as skadefryd and in Swedish as skadeglädje and Finnish as vahingonilo.

The Antediluvian period – meaning "before the deluge" – is the period referred to in the Bible between the Creation of the Earth and the Deluge (flood) in the biblical cosmology. The narrative takes up chapters 1-6 (excluding the flood narrative) of Genesis. The term found its way into early geology and lingered in science until late Victorian era. Colloquially, the term is used to refer to any ancient and murky period.

Catharsis (Ancient Greek: Κάθαρσις) is a Greek word meaning "purification", "cleansing" or "clarification." It is derived from the infinitive verb of Ancient Greek: καθαίρειν transliterated as kathairein "to purify, purge," and adjective Ancient Greek: καθαρός katharos "pure or clean."

Hegemony (leadership) (Greek: ἡγεμονία hēgemonía, English: [UK] /hɨˈɡɛməni/, [US]: pronounced /hɨˈdʒɛməni/) is the political science term originally denoting the military dominance (“leadership”) of a Greek city-state over other city-states, then the political dominance of one nation over other nations — via the type of indirect empire that controls its subordinate states with power (the perception that it can enforce its political will), rather than with force (military compulsion of the imperial political will), (cf. suzerainty).

A Palimpsest is a manuscript page from a scroll or book that has been scraped off and used again. The word "palimpsest" comes through Latin from Greek παλιν + ψαω = ("again" + "I scrape"), and meant "scraped (clean and used) again." Romans wrote on wax-coated tablets that could be smoothed and reused, and a passing use of the rather bookish term "palimpsest" by Cicero seems to refer to this practice.

The term has come to be used in similar context in a variety of disciplines, notably architectural archaeology. 

Praxis [prak-sis]

1. practice, as distinguished from theory; application or use, as of knowledge or skills.

2. convention, habit, or custom.

3. a set of examples for practice.

Prognostic [prog-nos-tik]

–adjective

1. of or pertaining to prognosis.

2. predictive of something in the future: prognostic signs and symbols.

–noun

3. a forecast or prediction.

4. an omen or portent; sign.

Among other things, Sanguine can refer to Sanguine personality -optimistic, cheerful, even-tempered, confident, rational, popular, fun-loving; the temperament of blood. One of the four humours, the others being choleric, phlegmatic, and melancholic

Schizoid personality disorder (SPD) is a personality disorder characterized by a lack of interest in social relationships, a tendency towards a solitary lifestyle, secretiveness, and emotional coldness. SPD is rare compared with other personality disorders. Its prevalence is estimated at less than 1% of the general population. It is not related to and should not be confused with schizophrenia.

Simulacrum (plural: -cra), from the Latin simulacrum which means "likeness, similarity", is first recorded in the English language in the late 16th century, used to describe a representation of another thing, such as a statue or a painting, especially of a god; by the late 19th century, it had gathered a secondary association of inferiority: an image without the substance or qualities of the original. Philosopher Frederic Jameson offers photorealism as an example of artistic simulacrum, where a painting is created by copying a photograph that is itself a copy of the real. Other art forms that play with simulacra include Trompe l'oeil, Pop Art, Italian neorealism and the French New Wave.

Stilted (adj.)
Stiffly or artificially formal; stiff.

I've Been Told of the Living Edens

Denali - Alaska Great Wilderness
There is a place on Earth where an Alaskan wilderness spreads over more than six million acres like a living tapestry at the foot of the tallest peak in North America. Here, seasons of unfathomable extremes march beneath a mountain known as The Great One. In Denali's fierce winter, 20 hours of darkness and temperatures dipping nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit below zero are routine; in summer, 20 hours of sunlight. Grizzly bear, wolf, moose, ground squirrel and golden eagle have each found their own way to live in this sub-Arctic eco-system where life pulses in a series of harsh, dark winters, framed by the light of June and August. In this land of extremes, plants and animals alike must be strong to survive. The place is an Eden called Denali.

Namib - Africa Burning Shore
There is a 1200 mile strip of land off the southwestern coast of Africa where the searing Namibian desert meets the frigid Atlantic sea. Here the basic elements of the earth exist in paradoxical extremes. Namib, the hottest of lands, is obscured in mist created by the Benguela, one of the coldest of ocean currents. Fur seals and penguins divide their time between the sandy shore and the icy water of the sea, while elephant, ostrich, springbok, hyena roam the wind-swept dunes. Ingenious adaptations to this ancient desert's extreme heat allow these and other creatures to survive in an Eden called Namib.

Patagonia - Life at the End of the Earth
Journey to the end of the earth, where the Andes stand like giant skyscrapers above a land of vicious and beautiful extremes. Patagonia has stood in its aloof majesty - untouched by modern civilisation - for millennia. This is a place where strange and awesome creatures like the guanaco, elephant seal, rhea, penguin and armadillo are totally adapted to a kingdom of endless and punishing winds. Here, the Andean condor reigns over a mystical landscape. Come discover this Eden where only nature's most adaptable creatures flourish beneath the peaks of snowy mountain towers, icy glaciers and petrified rock.

Manu - Peru Hidden Rainforest
Along the eastern base of the Peruvian Andes is a great river named Manu, the life blood for one of the world's great secrets - the Manu Biosphere Reserve. This Eden is the richest Amazonian wilderness on Earth. As mist rises off the great river, howler monkeys issue the wake up call it is morning in the rain forest. Hundreds of parrots form a brilliant kaleidoscope as they feast on the cliff-side clay. Giant otters take their first swim in the cool waters while sloths get a slow start to their day beneath the mystical canopy. Discover what the day will bring in this mysterious tropical paradise where 90 per cent of the flora and fauna have yet to be identified.

Etosha - Africa Untamed Wilderness
There is a place on earth where all life is pushed to the limits of endurance - a landscape of stark beauty and brutal extremes where survival is constantly challenged. Southwestern Africa's Etosha is a vast and ancient land of seasonal paradox. During the bloom of the wet season, lions, cheetahs, elephants, jackals, giraffes, springboks and zebras continue the timeless cycle of life in glorious abundance. But at the peak of its scorching dry season, the heart of Etosha is a parched and blistered wasteland where drought and thirst endanger predator and prey alike. For those who survive its harshest interval, Etosha becomes, once again, a Living Eden.

Bhutan - The Last Shangri-La
Here in a place an Eden where time stands still - where nature and religion have combined to turn a tiny Buddhist kingdom into the world's last Shangri-La. Locked between Tibet and India, Bhutan is the jewel of the Himalayas. To the north of the kingdom, towering virgin peaks rise to 25,000 feet. Beneath steep glacial walls, alpine highlands fall to misty forests. Mountain streams cut through gorges on their way down to warmer valleys and wide marshes in the heart of the kingdom. One distinct landscape drops to the next before finally descending to the jungles and grasslands of the southern plains. For the people who have adapted to this domain of extremes, Bhutan is a Living Eden where respect for life, in all its many incarnations, endures like the land itself.

Palau - Paradise of the Pacific
Far to the east of India and Indonesia is a place where the sea hides a treasure of living riches - a secret corner of the ocean where ancient species still thrive in dazzling abundance, wildness and wonder. It sits alone at the edge of the vast Pacific Ocean, sheltered from time and the outside world. As lush as any paradise of our imagination, it is not one emerald island but an archipelago of more than two hundred, nearly all uninhabited. Along its submerged shoulders flourish some of the richest coral reefs remaining on Earth. In the reefs' shadows, life seeks shelter from the open water. This place is call Palau, a Living Eden where all is not what it seems - a home to a world of novelties concocted by nature unconstrained.

Madagascar - A World Apart
Three hundred miles off the east coast of Africa lies an island forgotten by time. A place where evolution has taken the familiar and created the bizarre. Separated from the mainland for over a hundred million years, life here has followed its own Darwinian path. Home to a host of creatures found nowhere else - this is an alternate world where lush rainforests fall to sun-scorched plains and trees seem to stand with their roots in the sky. Preserved by its isolation, this wondrous realm is a land unlike any other.

Borneo - Island in the Wild
As the Earth's third largest island, Borneo straddles the equator, carved up between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. The island is dominated by Kota Kinabalu, a massive outcrop of rock more than 13,000 feet high and the tallest peak in South East Asia. Far below, warm morning mists shroud the rainforest, concealing the exotic creatures teeming in and below the canopy. The vast jungle provides shelter for some of the rarest, strangest and most magnificent creatures on Earth. It is a Living Eden both rich and fragile - a self-contained world of surprises and transformations.

Kakadu - Australia Ancient Wilderness
Over hundred kilometres from Australia's north coast, the Yellow Waters and the South Alligator Rivers cut through an ancient limestone plateau to create Kakadu National Park. This is a rich natural world where nature has sculpted rainforest niches and deep gorges that fill with wild rivers with each monsoon. Here, the mighty saltwater crocodile reigns supreme. In the rivers, up the creeks and on the shores, the saltwater crocodile swims, hunts and lays eggs. Living alongside this giant prehistoric reptile are wallabies, pig-nosed turtles, king brown snakes, water lizards and hundreds of species of brightly coloured birds. For the Aborigines, the first humans to live here, there is no afterlife paradise is here and now in a Living Eden called Kakadu.

South Georgia Island - Paradise of Ice
In the South Atlantic Ocean amid huge, frozen glaciers and giant ice floes, a range of rough, ice-capped mountains rise up to form Antarctica's liveliest neighborhood: South Georgia Island. At 106 miles in length, this imposing icy island regularly endures storm winds in excess of 120mph while nearby ocean waves swell to 50-foot heights. Home to bull elephant seals and the wandering albatross, this stark, snowy land boasts the world's largest penguin population. Frigid and windswept, it is an unlikely living Eden. But South Georgia Island is both a haven and a paradise - one of the world's true wonders and the single most important nesting and breeding ground on Earth.

Canyonlands - America's Wildwest
Deep in the vast American West lies a high, lonely land called the Colorado Plateau. Lying mostly in Utah, it extends south into Arizona and east into Colorado. In the very heart of the plateau lies a geological spectacle where millions of years of exposure to weather and the chiseling force of the Colorado River has created a labyrinth of pinnacles, chasms, arches, gorges and canyons. It is not just form, but colour that creates the beauty of this rugged place. The varied mineral content of the layers of rock creates an entire palette of hues that change as the sun moves through the sky from canyon rim to canyon rim. This Living Eden is a stark and untamed wilderness, home to an incredible array of creatures that instinctively embody the spirit of the West. From the elusive mountain lion to the resourceful coyote, only the strongest survive in Canyonlands.

Kamchatka - Siberia Forbidden Wilderness
Jutting south from the far east of Siberia lies an isolated and mountainous peninsula where volcanoes, geysers and bubbling hot springs create the smoke, steam and fire that prevail in this icy and remote place. This harsh and beautiful land is home to the densest population of grizzly bears in the world and the biggest brown bears in Eurasia. Siberian bighorn sheep, silver foxes, sables, mink and black-capped marmots have all adapted to the severe climate. Walruses, northern fur seals, sea lions dot its coastline, and bowhead whales breed in the waters just offshore. Millions of salmon swim in its streams while the world's largest eagles soar above all that make Kamchatka a living Eden. Narrated by Linda Hunt.

Thailand - Jewel of the Orient
On the shores of the Andaman Sea lies a lush tropical paradise called Thailand, a peninsular finger reaching down from the Southeast Asian mainland as if to touch the equator. Thailand's jungles are the domain of the tiger. Elephants amble through the dense forest while white-handed gibbons swing from branch to branch. This is a mysterious world of flying snakes and lizards where cobra is king. Beneath the warm surrounding waters, brilliant coral reef shelters bustling aquatic life while sharks, manta rays and octopus continue their timeless ballet in the shadow of this tropical Living Eden.

Ngorongoro - Africa Cradle of Life
Nearly three million years ago, a massive explosion tore apart an enormous statovolcano in Eastern Africa's Great Rift Valley to form the Ngorongoro Crater, one of the true wonders of the world. Today, the Ngorongoro Crater is a microcosm of African life enclosed in one unique place. From grasslands, wetlands and lakes to forests and slopes, the crater provides habitats for Africa's creatures both great and small. This Living Eden is a glorious stage where lions, hyenas, cheetahs, jackals, vultures, servals and wildebeest act out a dramatic story of life and death that was set into motion so long ago.

Anamalia - India Elephant Mountain
As the Western Ghats fall away into the heat and haze of India's Deep South, a solitary mountain rises up from the hot, dusty plains of Tamil Nadu. Seen from a distance, the mountain's silhouette is uncannily familiar: the sweep of the trunk and characteristic bulging forehead. It is an unmistakable profile. It is called Anamali - the Elephant Mountain. Here the elephant roams free and unmolested for it is the living embodiment of Ganesh, the Remover of Obstacles. Among stands of rosewood, cardamon and bamboo are forest temples to the elephant-headed deity, perhaps the most popular in the Hindu pantheon. The late Anne Bancroft narrates as we traverse the sacred ground of this living Eden, "home of gods", "lords of protection".

Yellowstone - America Sacred Wilderness
Yellowstone is a hive of activity. Paul Schullery has been watching wildlife here for 30 years and is one of the world's leading authorities on the park. As he guides us through this fresh, sunlit environment, wolves and grizzly bears mount extraordinary chase sequences in their quest for elk, and mountain lions gambol about without worry. Dramas occur in every season, for Yellowstone isn't just the world's first National Park - it's one of the great success stories in wildlife conservation.

Costa Rica - Land of Pure Life
The misty rain forests, rivers and beautiful white sand beaches of Costa Rica are home to one of the most diverse assemblages of life on Earth. Along the coast, giant crocodiles fight for the right to mate, while in the trees, troops of capuchin, squirrel and howler monkeys, as well as resplendent quetzals and beautiful songbirds, forage for food above the forest floor that is home to Hercules beetles, deadly army ants and poison dart frogs. On the sandy beaches hatchling sea turtles emerge by the thousands to race to the safety of the sea and, though few survive and reach open ocean, enough return to lay their eggs and complete the cycle of life unique to this Eden called Costa Rica.

Tasmania - Land of the Devils
Off the southeast coast of Australia is the island refuge of Tasmania. Safe from the forces that have changed much of the Australian continent, Tasmania is an Eden of magnificent forests, snow-capped mountain ranges, giant waterfalls, wild rivers and pristine coastlines. Tasmania is also the home of the largest marsupial carnivore - the Tasmanian Devil. Voracious eaters with powerful jaws, they often leave behind only the jawbone of their prey. Some of the oldest trees on earth, Huon pines over 2,000 years old, and the tallest flowering tree, the Swamp Gum, share this unique island with wallabies, bettongs, quolis, tiger snakes and ground parrots. Off the coast, giant kelp forests and sponge gardens host the prehistoric handfish, king crab, sea dragons, red velvet fish and deep sea anglerfish, many of which are found nowhere else on earth.

Glacier Bay - Alaska Wild Coast
Nestled in the heart of southeast Alaska, Glacier Bay is a wild paradise of ocean and ice. This film chronicles the lives of brown bears, bald eagles, humpback whales and other charismatic species. Nearly all life here is ultimately tied to the salmon, and the heroic migration of these fish provides the thread that weaves together the remarkable fabric of life in this story. Glacier Bay, a stunning formation of fjords, is the centre stage for this great drama.

Temple of the Tiger - India Bandhavgarh Wilderness
Once a hunting preserve for the Indian Maharajas, Bandhavgarh National Park is one of the most important tiger habitats remaining in Asia. Within the park, an abandoned palace harbours a flourishing population of tigers, bats, cobras, and monkeys who share their domain with a solitary temple priest. The dominant male tiger that has ruled this domain for years is now being challenged by a younger, stronger male.

Big Sur - California Wild Coast
It has been called the greatest meeting of land and sea in the world. The Santa Lucia Mountains rise precipitously from the Pacific Ocean just south of Monterey on the central Californian coast. A sometimes violent, yet fragile place, Big Sur challenges the senses. Here air, water, land and life combine in spectacular fashion and provide refuge for a host of creatures including condors, falcons, blue whales, great white sharks and elephant seals. Wait for the morning fog to rise and enter this vast and impenetrable Big South Country.

Arctic Oasis - Canada Southhampton Island
During the Arctic spring and summer, one of Earth's most dazzling displays of rejuvenation takes place in Canada's far north. A brief season of light and plenty brings great migrations of bowhead and beluga whales, harp seals, caribou, and polar bears. It also brings an Inuit hunter whose aim is to teach his 12-year-old son the traditional survival skills of his ancient people.

The Lost World - Venezuela Ancient Tepuis
The inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's, The Lost World and home to the world's tallest waterfall, Venezuela's plateaus form a strange and isolated wilderness.