Meet the Himba, of northern Namibia. A family from Britain asked if they could come and stay with them. The villagers said, sure, bring whatever you need... Oh, shit! Oh! ..and they brought... this. SHE SHRIEKS Ha-ha-ha! The County Durham tribe. County Durham... Now, British suburbia... Is it too early for a Prosecco? ..and rural Himba life... You OK? DOORBELL RINGS ..will exist side by side. Hello! THEY LAUGH There's a snake?! Two 21st-century ways of living... Beans, bacon. ..that couldn't be more different... How many cows do you think I'm worth? SHE SNORTS Ha! ..making each other question the choices we make... I... This is... I... I'm going to be honest, it made me question myself. ..exploring together what it means to be human... SHE LAUGHS All of the things that you want, I want to get rid of. THEY LAUGH ..and discovering what really matters... Sunderland... Boo! Boo! Newcastle... Yay! Yay! ..in our short time on this Earth. Say cheese. THEY CHEER HE LAUGHS Yes? It's the final week the Moffatts and Himba will get to spend together. We all feel like we've literally been here a million years. Living next door to all of our friends just seems like the norm now. Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo! SHE LAUGHS You like that, don't you? So, we say, "Good morning". That's how we greet each other. Good morning. Good morning! It is a unique way of life here. I think it's amazing they survive in such extreme conditions. At the end of time, say the apocalypse happened, the Himbas would just carry on as if nothing's happened. Back home, we would be struggling, big style. And then, you would say, "Oh, I'm good, thank you." Good, thank you. Yeah! That was amazing! Oh, my God, that was really good. SHE LAUGHS The village of Otjeme and its inhabitants are looked after by Chief Tijuone, the son of a long line of chiefs. HE LAUGHS Please work. With the end approaching, Mark's invited the Chief and some of his family over for his first attempt at a barbecue out here. I've got a few of the Himba lads round for a barbecue. They've been nice to us, it's nice to repay the debt. Chief, you OK? Sorry. THE CHIEF LAUGHS Joining the Chief are Mark's friend Mboki and his uncle, Kanduuina, the Chief of the area. Are you OK? These are burgers. Back home, this is how we do it. No, no. I should have let it die down a bit first. I was too eager to please, so I rushed them, and I shouldn't have. My barbecue skills aren't very good. Thank you. I'm supposed to be doing it for you but, obviously, you're better than me! THEY LAUGH HE LAUGHS Yes, it's looking good. Oh, Come Dine With Me with Himbas - if your food doesn't taste right, they will tell you, as blunt as possible as well. Back home, we stick it in... like that. Yeah. Seems to be going all right now. Granted, it's my barbecue, but I didn't cook it, so... Ha! It doesn't say a lot for my barbecue skills, but they're all happy. THEY LAUGH Have any of you ever played darts before? Do you want a go? Have you played before? I've never met anybody like the Himbas because, let's be honest, back home, you sort of knock about with people with exactly similar interests, whether it be football, or whatever. We've got nothing in common at all, except... we're all humans. And that's what I'm taking away. Oh. Yes! Nice one! Natural darts player. That's good, that. Unlike the bought-in burgers that the Moffatts have to offer, traditionally, what the village eat, they produce themselves. But Namibia has been historically susceptible to droughts, and the villagers have been coping with a succession of them for the last six years. When times are hard, the Himba turn to their cattle. Kandisiko and Ueripanga are in charge of this week's shopping trip. THEY LAUGH Is this why you've got your... Is that ready to fill up? # Oh, Kandisiko! # THEY LAUGH Is this place far away? That normally means it's about five hours away! Ha-ha-ha! Until the rains return, the villagers need to hitch a ride to the shops around once a week. A four-night walk?! I don't like shopping THAT much! SHE LAUGHS Bloody hell, Kandisiko! Oh, my God! Just 70 miles from Otjeme, Opuwo is by far the biggest town in the area, home to almost 8,000 people. Ooh, there's...Arsenal bar? Arsenal mini-market, Arsenal...bar? There's lots of people here with clothes on like ours. It's like being in London, like, there's loads of different cultures, isn't there? I've never seen so many cars in ages. I forgot what loads of cars look like! There's quite a lot of Himba people around, actually. I didn't think there was going to be. CAR HORN BEEPS All right, chill out, mate! Is this how loud it is at home? If I lived here, that's where I would spend a lot of time in, there. Is it a bar? SCARLETT LAUGHS Is it this one, this big one? This one? 50kg?! Mmm. It's just like a supermarket back home, really, I suppose. Just...it sold a lot more maize. Ha! SHE HEAVES SHE LAUGHS It's taller than me! That's a lot of sugar. Yeah, but it's 50kg of maize, isn't it? So, can I ask, what did you do before supermarkets? Ah. Each cow they sell raises 6,000-9,000 Namibian dollars, which pays for about six weeks' worth of shopping. AUTOMATED VOICE: Next customer, please. Teller five. Thank you. Ha-ha! Kandisiko! SCARLETT GIGGLES Do you think if you could, you would want to live here, or do you like living in the village best? SHE LAUGHS It feels great buying New Zealand-made goods ` it's a chance to experience the quality, design and style that our products are renowned for worldwide. * Chief Tijuone has decided to bestow the ultimate honour on the Moffatt family. Thank you! Thank you so much. Oh. Cattle are the villagers' most precious possession. I know this sounds silly, but probably the best gift someone's ever given to the family. And, in light of the current drought, the villagers were reimbursed for their gift. The cow will be shared amongst the whole village, the meat lasting for around three days. And practically every part of the animal will be used. OK. To keep their prized cattle in the best health, the villagers have always been extremely mobile. So, how does it work? Oh, right, so if it's better grazing, you up-sticks everything and just move? Wow. The whole year out and not coming home? That's extreme, that. That is extreme. As with many semi-nomadic people, the Himba's strong community bonds make it possible for the men to be away from their families for long periods. There's no jealousy. There really is no jealousy. Sometimes they go away for years to look after their cattle, and then they could come back, and they could have a couple of kids that weren't there when he went. Nothing's said, and they look after them kids like they're their own. But that's how they... That's how they survive. One of the bulls splits from the herd. Mboki instructs Mark what to do. Yeah. The shite? Oh, right, right. I can see why you use that. You're picking up the shite to throw, you can't be putting your hands in your mouth, can you? It doesn't taste very nice. The Himba and the Moffatts share a love for animals, though the Moffatts express theirs in a somewhat different way. So me Nanny always knits us stuff. So it starts off as that yarn of wool there, and then she turns it into that. Mm! Christine is knitting a jumper for Scarlett's pet Chihuahua. I'll show you a photo of my dog. It's dressed as a Minion. Er... It just looks cute. Here she is as a Ghostbuster. LAUGHTER Where we live, dogs are called our best friends, so, we love dogs so much, we even buy them presents and stuff when it's their birthdays. The slaughtered cow has now been butchered. Half the animal is cooked on the first day, the other half the next day, and finally, the head is cooked. Thank you. It's nice, that. Very nice. Really nice. Back home, there's no such thing like that. No, no, I'm not. I haven't been called a woman back home, but here, I've been called a woman numerous times. And that's just... That's just cos I've made a cup of tea! To be honest with you, I think they've started to follow us to the toilet - see if I squat or not! Night, loves you all. As night-time falls, there's one British custom the villagers still find perplexing. Hello! You coming in? Moro! The following morning, Kandisiko and Ueripanga pop in for a British fry up. Right there you go. There you go. So... ..sausages, beans, bacon, mushrooms. Bacon's pig. I don't know. That's just how our houses are set up. Obviously, there's like a big age difference between me and Ava, so we like our own space. Like, sometimes siblings can share, and stuff. Like if we were nearer the same age, we would probably share a bedroom. This is going to make me sound awful but, like, do you never just get sick of people sometimes? Want your own space? Sometimes I just want my own space. I think I would go crazy if I was to spend time not doing anything by myself. One of my favourite things to do is to just lie on my bed and watch YouTube videos. I can do that for about four hours. I can't imagine, like, never just being able to go off and... ..just be on me tod. * This morning, there's a commotion in the village. What is it? I don't know. What is it? What's happening up there? Careful, Dad. I will. I'm quite nimble. A zebra snake, whose bite can be fatal, has been seen hiding in this tree. Dad. Yeah? Do you want to stand with us, or...? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I was just wanting a closer look, that's all. You're not having a go. Not when there's a poisonous snake going to pop out - no, I'm not! I would, like... Oh, they reckon... Oh, they must be getting close now. God, I'm ready to... He's not taking no chances. Am I being morbid, getting a closer look? Go and have a look, Mark. Why are they not hitting it yet?! Dad, is it dead? It's dead, aye. It's dead. Oh, right, oh. When you first see it, you think, that's just cruel, just let the thing go, it's not hurting you. But like everything else, there is a reason, it's where the goats were, and these kids are out milking them goats, where that snake was, so that's why they did it. It's survival. Now, if our Ava had been out with the goats, that could have been our Ava, do you know what I mean? Let's go and get a biscuit. As their month draws to a close, there's one thing the Moffatts have not yet done. Moro. Live entirely as their hosts do. We've been here for weeks now and yes, we've learned lots, but we haven't felt the feelings that they feel because we've always got the comfort of the house. This is the time now to do the whole routine of what every day my friends here go through. We're going to go full Himba. Chief Kanduuina has arranged for them to borrow a vacant hut. I'm impressed. This isn't a mattress I'm used to. Yes! Thinner than this?! Thank you. No, it's nice. We appreciate it, thank you. All the villagers live in similar sized and similarly furnished huts. Here, everyone is equal. Like the Chief, for example. He's the person with the most cattle. He lives exactly the same as everyone, there's no hierarchy at all. Everyone eats porridge, everyone goes and collects water. Everybody has a job to do. And I think there's something wonderful in that. There's no pressure of being at the bottom, or at the top. OK. Thank you very much. Thank you. * Have we got something to stir stuff with? Normally they'd just use a stick. Are yous forgetting something? What? Like some water and some wood! Give us five! Let me settle into me surroundings first! Give us five. I'm only joking. I'm going to do what the men do. Bugger all. We don't have a door, like, do we? That's not like that all night, surely to God? We'll have to find something to put there. I'm not sleeping without a door, like. We'll have a nice breeze. We could have anyone wander in! You'll have to have a wander round and find something. That's your manly job this afternoon. See if I can find something. You're a welder, aren't you? You're the best man for the job. Yeah. I don't weld wood! Are we going now? We're going for water! That's good wood. Definitely good wood. No go? Is that too strong and thick for you? We've got this. Let's look for some more. Here you are. I am tempted to help, but it's the Himba way, isn't it? If a man collects wood he's a woman, so... ..I won't look cool in the village! The water point is a kilometre away from the village. Oh, I don't know how they do this three times a day. Ohh! Himba women are used to carrying up to 25 litres on their heads. Yaaay! We made it. Does your head not feel like it's going to drop off? Oh! LAUGHTER Jeez, me head! Going to start cooking some porridge. That's not very strong... Ueripanga, how much porridge do I put in the water? Oh, right! Hot, isn't it? Is that right? Can I be honest? When I seen you sitting round, making this porridge, I thought it looks really nice and it looked quite fun. It's proper hard work. When we make porridge, we just stir it with a little tiny spoon like that, done. Not like this. Mark's search for a front door has been successful. Is this our door? It's our door. In part, at least. Is that our garden table? Yes. Yeah. It's called improvising. Made to measure. Hell of a door, that. Hell of a door. Made to measure. Improvisation, Himba way. We've got half a door. Hold on, hold on, wait there! Criticising... Wait there. That's not going to be strong enough... Dad! The roof's caving in! You're ruining the roof! Our roof's come in! Oh, my! You just put your hand through it! No! That was already like that. It's not strong enough. Who's got the key? The thing what I'm realising here that being selfish, it just isn't a choice. Hang on, don't waste any of that. We've stirred for an hour. From the moment you are born, you cannot be selfish, otherwise the whole village would just crumble. If I lived here, the way I do at home, by myself, that'd mean I'd have to get up, go and get wood, go and get water, come back, put the porridge on, start stirring the porridge, go and tend to the goats, go and milk the goats, come back, probably by the time I've come back the goats would've ate me porridge, then I'd have to go back, get some more water, get some more wood. It's not feasible. I literally would not survive. Well, me and me mam made it, and Ueripanga helped us as well, yeah. We all made it. It was a group effort. That'll be enough. It's the first time we've made it. It's not going to be perfect. I like it, me. I quite like it. I'll be honest, I think with a bit of milk, it'd be even nicer. Exactly, that's with just water. Imagine it with milk! Melt in your mouth. To be honest with you, for the first attempt I'm quite impressed. It's all, like, effort isn't it? When you think of, like, I know we make meals that are, like, time consuming but they're not strenuous. No, it was quite strenuous. Right. I'm putting your front door on. Right. Thank you, Dad. I was going to take the back gate off, but the goats would've got in. Aye, yeah. Why didn't you take the shed door off? It's too narrow. It's like made to measure, isn't it? CRASH Jesus! Are you all right? Who's that? All right, Muvii? Yes, yes, mate. Muvii has come with a special invitation for Mark. It's too dark. No, no, no. Not allowed. Not allowed, mate. Thank you for the offer. It's nice. It's nice of you, but no, I'll have to decline. SNORING It's 6am, and the Moffatts have just spent their first night in a traditional Himba hut. Dad! Sorry, sorry. I take my hat off to you, Mam. I don't know how you sleep next to Dad. Thank you. I've never heard anybody make so many noises in my life. I love you... I love you, but... It's... ..the snoring! SHE SNORES AND WHISTLES And then this one... That's not me, that. It is, and then he does this one... I genuinely thought someone was knocking at the door! Have you enjoyed being in the hut? I like that we're all together. It's a bit odd sharing a whole bedroom with all of, like, your daughters and your mother-in-law... Yes. It's a first, isn't it? Yes. I think it's a first. When I do things with the family, which is a lot of the time, it's either like me and my Mam, or me and Ava, or me and my Dad. It's never really as a collective group. If we have got anything from this experience, it's going to be that we do more things all together because we had such a laugh. I think we should all try and do more family stuff, shouldn't we? Would you like that? Whatever. What did she say? Whatever! Whatever. For the Moffatts' last night in Otjeme the villagers are throwing them a final party. I always love a party, but it sort of feels like it's an ending really. Just really going to miss everyone. So I'm going to hold back the tears and I'm just going to dance with my friend until my feet hurt, and enjoy the last night. That'll be the last memory, so we've got to make it a good one. OK. The thing I most envy about this village is they live for the moment. They don't worry about what's happened in the past, and they certainly don't worry about what'll happen in the future. And I hope that we can take home a little bit more of that spirit. I speak on behalf of all of my family. I just want to say a massive thank you to everybody for making us feel like part of your family. We'll always remember you for ever, and there'll be a place of every single one of yous in our hearts. And this is something that we will never, ever, ever forget. After four weeks living in the village of Otjeme, the tribe from County Durham are preparing to return home. I'm almost a little bit scared to go back. Cos we're always wanting the next best thing. You do feel a little bit like, "Oh, they've got the new iPhone" - and it's stupid material stuff, really. Here, the main priorities is food, water, and happiness. And I think, maybe, that really should be the only thing that we worry about. The rest's irrelevant, really. Mboki, I've enjoyed your company. Thank you. They feel like real friends. It feels like we've had genuine connections with people, and I've really enjoyed getting to know them, and I hope that they've enjoyed getting to know us as well. Hello. I've come to see you. I just came to see you, to say that it's been really nice getting to know you. I feel like I've had a really good friend in you while I've been here. I just wanted to give you a picture of my family. So you can remember what I look like. I didn't think I'd come somewhere and then genuinely miss someone, and not even speak the same language. I will miss them. I'll miss all of them. I genuinely will miss them cos they've made us so welcome. Moro moro! Eh! Are you all right? I just feel like I've known Kandisiko my whole life, and we're like childhood friends. I just wanted to say thank you for being my best friend while I've been here. Honestly, I can't even put into words what you've taught me. You've actually given us a lot more confidence. I've realised that it doesn't really matter what other people think. I'm honestly going to make sure that I always talk about you, and eventually, when I do have children, they'll know all about you and I'll tell them about the time I made a best friend called Kandisiko. Bye! Bye-bye. Oh, bye, Ueripanga. Thank you. We are so different. We see the world from a completely different perspective. We live differently, you know, there's lots of things that divide us, but ultimately, the things that bring us together are far more important, and... ..mean more. Bye! In line with the wishes of the community, and the Namibian authorities, a week later, the Moffatt's house is dismantled and removed. Not a trace remains. And Himba village life continues. The coming years may bring fresh challenges to this region. Climate change could worsen the droughts. But, whatever the future holds, the villagers have endured here for generations, thanks to their ability to adapt to change... ..and their communal values, which remain as powerful as ever.