The center of the Incan empire, Machu Picchu in Peru, is shown as the sun rises on this city high in the Andes Mountains.

Andean Dawn at Machu Picchu

Amazon Parakeets

Peruvian Rainforest Canopy

The National Park of Tikal in Guatemala is home to Mayan Pyramids, where howler monkeys, parrots, and toucans welcome the new day.

Mayan Pyramid

A wide variety of birds mingle in the Tempisque Basin of Costa Rica's Palo Verde National Park.

Birds of Palo Verde

The crater lake of the Poas Volcano drains from 9,000 feet into this high altitude cloudforest ravine. Stepping downward through a series of five waterfalls, we descend as the sun rises. Rays of light catch suspended water particles from the falling water, as green threads of life cling to sodden cliff walls. From within its pupa, an owl butterfly emerges with the increasing warmth of day, pumping fluid into its silken wings. Through the last rock opening, the water and sun burst out and down towards a restful pool, the famous La Paz waterfall.

Cloudforest Waterfall

The moon sinks into the ocean in the Marino Las Baulas National Park in Guanacaste, Costa Rica.

Playa Grande Moonset

Dawn of Cerro de La Muerte

The life-cycle of a solar eclipse and how it affects the world below.

Total Eclipse

The temples of Angkor in Cambodia are lit by the rising sun.

Angkor Temples of Khmer Kings

Trained Cormorants catch fish for fishermen on the Li River near Xingping, China.

Li River Cormorants

Frogs, spiders, and birds wake to the morning sun on a terraced farm near PingAn, China. Take in the morning activities of the Dragon's Backbone, a stunning sixty-six square kilometers of crop terraces hand-cultivated by 800 farmers that snake up over a thousand feet of vertical altitude. These are marks of the Zhuang people.

PingAn Rice Paddies

The morning chants of monks echo from within a Theravada Buddhist monastery, near the community’s busy crossroads. A vibrant pigeon roost is found on the pagoda’s rooftop, amidst ornamental carvings. School children wander among the votive stupas, maintaining the grounds. A spectacular rainbow soars over the temple.

Buddhists of Wat Svay

Morning exercises similar to Tai Chi in Elephant Trunk Park in Guilin, China.

Elephant Trunk Park

The sun casts its light on a farming village in Aspendos, Turkey.

Foothills of Turkey

Scandinavian Waterfall

The Salisbury Plain in the United Kingdom is the site of one of the most recognizable structures in the world. Stonehenge is thought to be a sun-based calendar, so it's only fitting for a sunrise to be recorded here.

Stonehenge Dawn

The sun rises on a port in Antalya, Turkey and the lighthouse in Alexandria, Egypt.

Mediterranean Port

A geyser in Iceland is shown in the first morning sunlight.

Icelandic Geysir

Polar bears congregate in Cape Churchill, Manitoba in Canada.

Polar Bears

Day breaks in a slice of red over the Southern Atlantic Ocean Península Valdés, Argentina and a colony of southern elephant seals and its new pups.

Argentinean Seal Pups

Two hundred feet high in the canopy of Peruvian rainforest, a pink and distant light encroaches. The dense forest holds the dawn air.

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The largest colony of Magellanic penguins in the world welcomes a new day near Punta Tomba, Argentina.

Patagonian Penguins

Sunrise Earth is a nature documentary television series featuring hour-long episodes that aired in the United States on Discovery HD Theater, now renamed HD Theater. The series focuses on presenting the viewer with sunrises in various geographical locations throughout the world. It is also notable for its complete lack of human narration, concentrating instead on the natural sounds of each episodes' specific location. High-definition video images and Dolby 5.1 stereo surround sound are used to present each natural environment in a clear and detailed manner. The show is an example of the genre known as "Experiential TV", developed by series creator David Conover. The technique has been described by TV critic Tom Shales as "crazily uneventful and thoroughly wonderful."

Andean Dawn at Machu Picchu

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