Tribal Wives

In the first programme, Sass, a 34-year-old from Oxford, spends time with the Kuna tribe in Panama. The Kuna Indians live on a stunning scattering of coral islands off the coast of Panama. A monogamous tribe with tight-knit families, they're a deeply spiritual people who believe that their homes and families are protected by ever-present spirits. At home, Sass packs every moment of her day, leaving no time for herself. When she's not working, she's rowing, horse-riding and doing out-reach work. But there's a reason for her jam-packed lifestyle: 21 years ago, Sass had to choose between her parents. When she decided to live with her father, she never saw her mother again and it's never ceased to haunt her. When she arrives on the island, she does what she always does – throws herself into everyday life, constantly on the go as she helps her host family with all the chores. However, her attempts at the embroidery for which the Kuna are renowned aren't quite so successful. The Kuna are worried by Sass's recurring nightmares and introduce their unique cures to help her vanquish them. And, as the days pass, Sass forms a powerful bond with the woman she's living with. In the process, she makes an extraordinary discovery – it's as if she's found the mother she feels she's never had.

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.

A former alcoholic Scottish air hostess experiences life with one of Ethiopia's most fiercely independent nomadic tribes, as Tribal Wives continues. 28 year-old Lana hasn't touched a drop for over a year, but she is still deeply troubled by her alcoholic past. Ethiopia's nomadic Afar tribe have a tough reputation, carrying guns to protect their cattle and camel herds from rival clans and wild animals. For the women, female circumcision is common and their strict Muslim culture forbids alcohol. Anyone found drinking is immediately beaten and ostracised. From doing house repairs to milking cattle and goats, collecting water from a river where crocodiles prowl to chopping wood, baking bread to walking miles to do the laundry in a lake, Lana discovers how demanding everyday life is for Afar women and learns some of their innermost secrets.