Mum takes a walk on the wild side
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 remote tribal community in Ecuador.
Mari, 52, is Londoner, used to the busy streets of Greenwich, overlooking the skyscrapers of Canary Wharf. So it couldn’t be more of a culture 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-year-old 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 four-hour 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, piranha-infested rivers, panthers nearby and the offer of ants as a snack, there’s a lot to deal with.
“Everything’s more prehistoric here,” she says. “It’s hardcore.”