Going back to his roots
OUR WILDEST DREAMS Channel 4, 8pm
THERE’S a fine line between dreams and nightmares for these families, who are leaving the UK for some of the most remote places on Earth.
It seems that starting from scratch is not always what it’s cut out to be.
But you’ll have huge admiration for the woman in this first episode, who has agreed to follow her husband back to his tribal community in Ecuador.
Mari, 52, is a Londoner, used to the busy streets of Greenwich overlooking the skyscrapers of Canary Wharf. So it couldn’t be more of a cultural shock when she leaves the city to live in a distant and isolated corner of the Amazon jungle.
Mari met her husband Kurikindi, 47, while on a trip to Ecuador – they married and now have a five-yearold daughter Samai. But Kurikindi has long hoped to return to his tiny community of just 26 people, where he is the local shaman.
Two aeroplanes and a fourhour boat ride later, they arrive and are welcomed by ceremonial drumming.
Mari will have to work to be accepted by the community – some people have never seen a white person before.
“Well, it’s not Yarmouth that’s for sure,” says Mari on her first morning.
She’s emotional but gung-ho as she does her best to embrace her new environment.
But with torrential rain, punishing humidity, piranhainfested rivers, panthers nearby and the offer of ants as a snack (they taste like sour lemons apparently), there’s a lot to deal with. “Everything’s more prehistoric here,” she says. “It’s hardcore.”