TRAVERSE CITY - Jay and Maureen Berger don't know much about the South American country of Guyana, but they're about to have a baptism by fire.

The Traverse City couple and their three children - Ben, 17; Luke, 14; and Emma, 12 - will spend two weeks roughing it in a rural village as part of the National Geographic Channel's "Worlds Apart" television series. The program, which takes different American families to live in remote places to experience the cultures firsthand, airs Mondays at 8 p.m.

The Berger family will fly to Guyana and then travel to an unidentified village to live with a host family, which also has three children, said Jay Berger, a partner in Integrated Wealth Management, a financial planning and investment firm.

He said he doesn't have many details but expects living arrangements to be "very basic."

"That's the premise of the show. There's no electricity, there's no plumbing. They're taking a family that may not think they're spoiled and seeing how they can interact with another similar family in a completely different culture," he said.

On a previous show, an Oakton, Va., family spent 14 days in a small, one-room hut in the Trobriand Islands, about 100 miles off the coast of Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific. With no electricity or running water, they worked alongside villagers, gathering food - and in one case killing a chicken - farming, fishing and experiencing the daily life of the islanders.

Until now, the closest the local family has come to adventure travel was a cruise to Alaska, Berger said.

"And that was a pampered vacation, nothing like this," he added.

Berger said his wife, a stained glass artist, applied to "Worlds Apart" in April after watching a segment about the show on "Oprah." The Bergers learned a week ago that they had been selected, and found out Tuesday night where they will go.

A National Geographic team arrived in Traverse City Wednesday to film at the Bergers' house and to advise the family on what they need to take.

"It's not like packing for 10 days here, but 10 days where you're not going to do much wash," said Berger, noting that the list includes mostly sandals, T-shirts and pants in deference to the country's average temperature between 75 and 87 degrees.

Perched on the northeast corner of the South American continent, Guyana stretches 450 miles from its Atlantic coastline into dense equatorial forest and a broad savannah. It is known for its unspoiled beauty that includes virgin rainforests, rivers and mountains, making it one of the world's most exciting destinations for adventure travel and exploration.

The primarily English-speaking country also is known for the 1978 Jonestown Massacre in which 911 members of a cult killed themselves by drinking a cyanide potion.

Berger said the "Worlds Apart" adventure is an opportunity of a lifetime for his family and something his children are gearing up for.

The Berger episode is expected to air sometime in December, he said.