Tribal Wives
S01E02: Waorani Tribe, Ecuador
Ecuador's Waorani tribe are the hosts to the latest British woman to immerse herself in tribal living, in the series that provides a unique and intimate insight into the lives of women in tribes across the world, and a life-changing experience for the Western women involved. Deep in the Ecuadorian Amazon jungle is one of the world's most isolated tribes – the Waorani. Once known as "the savages", they have a fearsome reputation. But behind this formidable façade is a way of life unchanged for centuries. Living with them for nearly a month is 46-year-old Karen. Ten years ago, the mother of two walked out of a turbulent marriage. Now she is a successful businesswoman and a workaholic – but she's invested so much time in her work and her children that she's lost sight of just who she is. She wholeheartedly embraces Waorani life as she joins in an exhausting boar hunt in the jungle, bathes in piranha-infested rivers, helps to build the chief's hut, plants manioc and forms a close friendship with the village's champion weaver. The tribe is impressed by Karen's can-do approach to life. This is a woman who doesn't think twice about plucking a wild turkey or gutting a boar. It's not long before they honour her with a special Waorani name, Bopo, which means tall, strong tree. And the Waorani believe they may have found Karen what they think she really needs ... a Waorani husband.
Overview
Six women are given the opportunity to travel to some of the most remote parts of the world and experience life with a tribe in this new series for BBC Two. Like many women today, juggling with the pressures of Western life from careers to home and family, all the women think something is missing. By spending time with tribes in which women's roles are very different, they hope they can find some answers and, in doing so, change their own lives. The series provides a unique and intimate insight into the lives of women in tribes around the world, from the Amazon to sub-Saharan Africa. For the six Western women, it proves to be a life-changing experience as they immerse themselves into living as a tribal woman in some of the world's most remote and beautiful locations.