Wild Shepherdess with Kate Humble - Season 1

In the first film, Kate, who bought her own farm in Wales two years ago, treks for two days in Afghanistan to reach the wild and remote mountains of the Wakhan Corridor to live with some of the most traditional shepherds on earth. The Wakhi shepherds of north-east Afghanistan are one of the world's last truly traditional herding cultures. The Wakhi live as they have done for thousands of years, at the mercy of nature and utterly dependent on their animals for survival.

Though she learns that there is nothing romantic about life in such a tough environment, Kate discovers strong, proud people, whose close and vital bond with their animals echoes the ten thousand year-old relationship between shepherd and flock.

The Inca Empire is famous for architectural achievements, but the ancient people of the Andes were as skilled herders as they were builders, producing some of the finest textiles the world has ever seen. Kate travels to the mountains of southern Peru to live with the Incas' modern-day descendants to see if any of this heritage remains. She discovers an ancient culture based around alpaca herding, and immerses herself in everyday life - herding and shearing animals, assisting with dramatic births, spinning and weaving alpaca fibre, and feasting on roasted guinea pig. But the people here are struggling to make ends meet - lack of pasture and poor quality animals threaten this traditional way of life. Kate sets off in search of solutions, but soon learns that the whole alpaca industry is on a knife-edge. Only by re-learning the skills of their Inca ancestors can Peruvians secure the future of alpaca herding in the High Andes.

Kate meets farmers working to maintain Australia's position at the vanguard of the industry, employing the latest breeding technology and leading the way in embryo transfer and genetic testing. With the global demand for meat set to rise exponentially, Kate asks if this is the inevitable future of herding - or is there another way?