Bewonder & Bewaar with Bonné de Bod returns with a new season
Bonné de Bod returns to kykNET for the third season of Bewonder & Bewaar with Bonné de Bod. This new season takes viewers on a journey to some of the most remote and spectacular places on Earth, from South Africa’s Kruger National Park and the Namib Desert to snow-covered mountains in North America and the crystal-blue waters of the Caribbean Sea.
Working alongside leading researchers, scientists and veterinarians, Bonné uncovers the secrets of wild animals and meets the people who live out their calling by working in nature every day.
This season sees viewers become part of adrenaline-fuelled adventures unlike anything Bonné has experienced before. One of the most intense moments was diving with sharks in the Caribbean Sea alongside world-renowned shark whisperer Cristina Zenato.
“It’s a wonderful story – it’s about so much more than just diving to the ocean floor and watching sharks swim past you. This is a woman who removes painful fishing hooks from the mouths of these wild marine predators. These sharks approach her, lie in her lap, and allow her to remove the hooks.”
Cristina has already removed more than 400 fishing hooks from sharks’ mouths, and her work has deeply affected Bonné:
“It’s a testament to how one person can make a difference, and to how incredibly brave she is.”
For Bonné, the experience was not only physically demanding, but also emotional and deeply personal:
“At some point in our lives, we all have to overcome fear. And this was one of those moments for me. I was out of my comfort zone.”
She recounts how intense anxiety almost overwhelmed her just before the dive. However, it wasn’t the sharks that triggered the fear, but the extra 10 kg of chainmail in the diving suit. Fortunately, nature soon brought her back to calm:
“Once I was beneath the beautiful crystal-blue waters of the Bahamas, the calm pushed the cement out of my veins, and I had my body back.”
On land there was no shortage of adrenaline either. In the Kruger National Park, Bonné joined Dr Peter Buss and the SANParks veterinary team for a night-time operation in which the famous Satara lion prides were darted with tranquiliser darts so that the world’s first X-rays of free-roaming lions could be taken. Because the operation took place at night, thermal sensors were used to locate the lions and monitor their movements – much like a night-vision viewer. The technology allowed the team to see where the lions were without startling them with bright lights, and also to confirm that the darts had successfully hit their targets. Footage from the thermal viewer – where the lion appears in black and white with only the pink dart visible – offers an extraordinary and rare glimpse into this groundbreaking research.
“It was naturally dangerous – you can’t see at night. The rest of the pride is moving around; hyenas are moving around.”
Another physically challenging experience was filming in the snow-covered Sierra Nevada mountains in California, where Bonné and researchers had to climb the majestic giant sequoia trees.
“The conditions were extremely difficult to film in, but we have to be taken to these ‘uncomfortable’ places, because that’s where the research happens.”
Amid the iconic predators and epic landscapes, it was a small mammal that unexpectedly moved Bonné – the round-eared sengi, also known as the elephant shrew.
“To see the sengi up close – wow! They are beautiful little creatures. The lives they lead are a world we’re not even aware of,” says Bonné.
The season opens with a powerful episode about the devastating floods that struck the Kruger National Park in January 2026. This time, the impact is experienced through the eyes of familiar faces from previous seasons – people viewers have come to know, and who were themselves directly involved in the disaster relief efforts.
Among others, Bonné joins the park’s chief pilot, David Simelane, in a helicopter flight to the northern parts of the park, where the scale of the damage becomes visible from above – the collapsed concrete sections of the Letaba bridge, and the Shimuwini Bushveld Camp unfolding below as a scene of destruction, with rondavel doors lying along the riverbank.
“I couldn’t, in good conscience, broadcast a series without addressing the floods in my favourite place on Earth. It reminds us that nature is powerful, yes, but also how powerful it is when people come together and work hand in hand.”
The rest of the season offers a rich variety of adventures and discoveries. Viewers will see, among other stories, how Cassie Carstens monitors the endangered secretarybird at Dronfield Nature Reserve and how Naude Dreyer and his team free seals from plastic along Namibia’s coastline.
Other highlights include the Kruger K9 anti-poaching unit with Samuel Madelane, the unique flora of the Richtersveld with Pieter van Wyk, the endemic Knysna seahorse with Clement Arendse, Namibia’s “superpower insects” with Dr John Irish, and the elusive black-footed cat with Dr Jessica Humphreys.
Armed with Bonné’s genuine warmth and intimate storytelling style, viewers are taken on an inspiring and hopeful journey that not only showcases animals and their habitats, but also the human passion and dedication behind every conservation effort.
“There’s so much bad news out there. This is feel-good television. It inspires and gives hope, at a time when it’s needed most,” says Bonné.
Award-winning director Susan Scott captures the natural world in breathtaking 4K imagery, from snow-covered mountains to the ocean, bushveld savannahs and desert dunes.
Bewonder & Bewaar with Bonné de Bod is produced by Scott & de Bod Films, also known for doccies such as STROOP, Kingdoms of Fire, Ice and Fairy Tales and documentary series like Africa’s Wild Wonders. The second season of Bewonder & Bewaar with Bonné de Bod has been nominated for a SAFTA in the Best Natural History and Environmental Programme category.
Bewonder & Bewaar with Bonné de Bod, premieres on kykNET (DStv Channel 144) on 19 April at 20:30, and will also be available on DStv Stream and Catch Up. The series includes English subtitles.
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