I have to put my hands up and admit it; I’m just dead jealous – but when Saba Douglas-Hamilton is featured in the Saturday Telegraph Weekend, on the ‘My Perfect Weekend’ column (aug 11th 2007) my hackles cannot fail to rise. This is because she has the perfect job, clattering around the Masai Mara in her long wheel base Landrover, whispering into the camera about the movements of leopard and lion for ‘Big Cat Diary’, fashioning stories out of age old wildlife behaviour and transfixing viewers back home.
The problem is that she is a very ‘white Kenyan’ type, third generation or so and extremely comfortable with living in Africa where everything she does is ‘fabulous, amazing, stunning’ and never ‘mundane, boring, normal’ (like say, my suburban Nairobi life). Her name ‘Saba’ (Swahili word for the number seven), is typically exotic and rooted in East Africa, her sister is called ‘Dudu’ (Swahili meaning: insect), their parents have made game conservation their living and hang out at an ‘amazing’ ranch in Naivasha. There are quite a few people like Saba in Kenya, and sadly they never fail to make you outsiders feel more than a little inadequate.
In the column she says:
‘Weekends and weekdays really have no relevance in my life. I do things according to seasons or full moons, or during the migration of the animals I’m filming.’
(I say; how decadent!)
This is a girl who claims she packs up the Landrover and just drives, to the desert, mountains or any other hostile Kenyan landscape that I’d always shy away from unless there was the promise of a stone built lodge with a bar and a swimming pool. Her simple camp comprises;
‘…a tarpaulin on the ground, a bedroll and a small fire.’
It’s all so damn effortless for her. Camping sends shivers down my spine as my mind starts racing about the sheer volume of planning and packing it involves. Weekends in Nairobi are about visiting restaurants, cinemas, entertaining the children and seeing friends, whereas Saba says;
‘We only go back to Nairobi because it is the one place where we can communicate with the outside world, but we try to spend as little time there as possible.’
My guess is, that the reason she doesn’t like being in Nairobi is that it’s all too fearfully boring and normal with too many people (or rather plebs).
After I’d read the 600 or so words I felt thoroughly down hearted. She’s not tied by school runs, her weekends are about night swimming in the sea at Lamu amongst the phosphorescence, putting up a ‘simple camp’ on the edge of a desert and diving along cattle trails and dry river beds in her beloved Landrover before jetting off to the next film shoot. The quirky ‘shack’ she describes as her Nairobi home is doubtless also effortlessly ‘stylish’.
I was cheered by the fact that she seems not yet to have reconciled herself to having a husband yet (she’s only been married a year and says she travels a lot without him) and admitted to being ‘territorial’, even hinted at being ‘bossy’ on previous ‘perfect weekends’. Children may put the kibosh on such a fabulous lifestyle – but then again they probably won’t, she will doubtless still manage with ayahs and an unconventional lifestyle.
However, I’d just like to say to ‘Big Cat Diary’ or any other fascinating documentary maker with an eye on Kenya, if Saba is not available next time (hopefully she’ll be busy changing nappies or something), I’d be glad to slip into her glamorous shoes and ‘help out’ with some TV presenting.
(Dream on! I hear you chorus….)
The problem is that she is a very ‘white Kenyan’ type, third generation or so and extremely comfortable with living in Africa where everything she does is ‘fabulous, amazing, stunning’ and never ‘mundane, boring, normal’ (like say, my suburban Nairobi life). Her name ‘Saba’ (Swahili word for the number seven), is typically exotic and rooted in East Africa, her sister is called ‘Dudu’ (Swahili meaning: insect), their parents have made game conservation their living and hang out at an ‘amazing’ ranch in Naivasha. There are quite a few people like Saba in Kenya, and sadly they never fail to make you outsiders feel more than a little inadequate.
In the column she says:
‘Weekends and weekdays really have no relevance in my life. I do things according to seasons or full moons, or during the migration of the animals I’m filming.’
(I say; how decadent!)
This is a girl who claims she packs up the Landrover and just drives, to the desert, mountains or any other hostile Kenyan landscape that I’d always shy away from unless there was the promise of a stone built lodge with a bar and a swimming pool. Her simple camp comprises;
‘…a tarpaulin on the ground, a bedroll and a small fire.’
It’s all so damn effortless for her. Camping sends shivers down my spine as my mind starts racing about the sheer volume of planning and packing it involves. Weekends in Nairobi are about visiting restaurants, cinemas, entertaining the children and seeing friends, whereas Saba says;
‘We only go back to Nairobi because it is the one place where we can communicate with the outside world, but we try to spend as little time there as possible.’
My guess is, that the reason she doesn’t like being in Nairobi is that it’s all too fearfully boring and normal with too many people (or rather plebs).
After I’d read the 600 or so words I felt thoroughly down hearted. She’s not tied by school runs, her weekends are about night swimming in the sea at Lamu amongst the phosphorescence, putting up a ‘simple camp’ on the edge of a desert and diving along cattle trails and dry river beds in her beloved Landrover before jetting off to the next film shoot. The quirky ‘shack’ she describes as her Nairobi home is doubtless also effortlessly ‘stylish’.
I was cheered by the fact that she seems not yet to have reconciled herself to having a husband yet (she’s only been married a year and says she travels a lot without him) and admitted to being ‘territorial’, even hinted at being ‘bossy’ on previous ‘perfect weekends’. Children may put the kibosh on such a fabulous lifestyle – but then again they probably won’t, she will doubtless still manage with ayahs and an unconventional lifestyle.
However, I’d just like to say to ‘Big Cat Diary’ or any other fascinating documentary maker with an eye on Kenya, if Saba is not available next time (hopefully she’ll be busy changing nappies or something), I’d be glad to slip into her glamorous shoes and ‘help out’ with some TV presenting.
(Dream on! I hear you chorus….)
Your writings about Kenya make me smile... you have a different outlook on many issues, compared with those of us who have spent our whole lives here.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Saba's lifestyle looks impossibly glamorous from the outside, but also being one of those fortunate people to have grown up in the bush, and still to be living a "wild unusual life", I know that it's not all glamourous - while it is undeniably unique and wonderful in so many ways, and we are the fortunate few to be able to experience life like this, life is not always easy, even if spinning a positive gloss for the cameras (or for a blog) can be deceptive.
I am sure Saba, like the rest of us who live in unusual places, does not have a smooth ride all the time...we all have our insecurities and fears...and - believe it or not - even the odd day when we do wish the supermarket or the cinema was just around the corner!
I love living in the bush, and I realise how lucky I am to know this kind of life, but all I am saying is that it's not all plain sailing all the time!
Tanya
http://www.wildernessdiary.com
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI found your blog after doing a search on google for Saba. I too drive a long wheel base Land Rover in search of wildlife, but in a different part of the world. I like your description of her lifestyle, and yes it is quite enviable. I am apologise for my next comment as it is not meant to be sexist. I think Saba is so popular in the UK as she breaks a lot of stereotypical ideas about women. Yes, she is very good looking, slim, well spoken and obviously well educated, but would not be immediately placed in the African bush! In the big cat diary production she certainly adds glamour to a usually male dominated area of film making.
We are looking for a photographer to come here to photograph the wildlife in our location, so if you have contact with her could you please pass on the following link, which contains all our contact details:-
www.transylvania4x4tours.com
or
www.transylvania4x4tours.blogspot.com
I also came across your blog while searching Saba. I enjoyed reading this from the other side of the world because to this suburban housewife in the USA you both seem exotic.
ReplyDeleteSince I was a child I have been drawn to Africa, and my enchantment with it's complexities, rugged beauty and history has persisted over my life. As I am sure you could imagine my life is "easy" here in the USA, charmed and abundant. Nonetheless my mind wanders off sometimes to that distant place I have never been. Sometimes I wonder if I spent a past life like Saba’s or perhaps there was a road less traveled I didn’t take…I too am living vicariously through her!
I am surprised I have made it to 40 years and have yet to travel to the continent! That is bound to change and when it does, at the risk of sounding completely mental, a piece of me will be home.