The River Crossing This Wild Life

In the heart of Africa,

a young family is heading

for an epic adventure.

They are moving with their three children

to a remote Kenyan wilderness.

Mum, Saba, is here to run a safari camp...

Welcome.

..while Dad, Frank, is helping to protect elephants.

Collar's almost on, now the scary bit.

But raising a family and running a business in the bush

is going to be a massive challenge.

Shoo!

There are monkeys in the kitchen...

Oh, you monkeys, I'm going to kill you!

..floods threatening the camp...

It's looking like it's going to be a mega storm.

..medical emergencies...

It's bad and it needs urgent action.

..and wildlife in need of help.

My heart really is in my mouth.

It's going to be a huge gamble.

Will the business survive Saba's first season in charge?

Oh, my God.

This time, the drought is hitting hard and camp is feeling the strain.

It picks up all the sand from the other bank

and it just hurls it across straight into your eyes,

scours off your skin and it becomes unbearable.

The guests are expecting to see elephants.

But to find them, Saba's forced to take drastic action.

Ready, girls?

And an orphan elephant urgently needs Frank's help.

She's just taken off in a straight line towards an area

which is pretty dangerous for her.

Samburu is in the grip of a severe drought.

It's transformed the reserve into a scorching dust bowl.

This morning, Elephant Watch camp is caught in a sandstorm.

I'm just trying to create a bit of a barrier between us and the wind.

Because it's getting to the point where we're getting a huge amount of

sand just blowing straight in here, and it's really painful on the eyes.

The winds couldn't have come at a worse time.

It's the middle of the high season,

and Saba has a camp full of guests arriving today.

But the sandstorm isn't her only problem.

Her visitors want to see elephants.

It's really important that they have a deeply meaningful experience

with elephants, because this is their big trip

to come out to Africa to meet the elephants,

to see what we're doing, and really understand what it's all about.

Seeing elephants is easier said than done.

They have all left the reserve.

The severity of the drought has forced wildlife

to travel in search of food.

It hasn't rained here for three months,

and the vegetation has been reduced to a few scrubby bushes.

The lifeblood of the reserve, the Ewaso Nyiro river, is drying up.

For the animals, every day has become a struggle to survive.

It's a big concern for Saba's husband, Frank.

It's his job to protect Samburu's elephants.

So a busy day today,

but I think the first thing I'm going to do is talk to David.

He gave me a call earlier.

He's a bit concerned about one of the orphan herds that we've now got,

that don't really know how to survive when times get tough.

Orphan herds are elephant families that have lost their matriarch -

their leader and most experienced female.

The recent rise in poaching has seen these older females

targeted for their larger tusks,

leaving one in five families in Samburu without a mature matriarch.

In a drought, younger orphans lack the knowledge they need to survive.

Hey, David. How's it going?

Hi, good.

David Daballen,

Head of Field Operations at Save the Elephants,

is concerned for a 13-year-old orphan called Habiba.

So what's going on?

Well, I'm trying to look at some of these elephants.

She's fitted with a tracking device,

and David has noticed she's heading into danger.

I think my main concern is that she doesn't know where she's going.

This area, as far as I know, it's completely bare area now,

there's just no food.

All they're depending on is a little bit of browsing near the river.

It's a big concern as far as the food situation is concerned.

We've got a problem in Samburu.

Because of this surge in poaching that we've had,

a lot of the elder females - these are the matriarchs,

the experienced elders who led the herds -

seems like one of the orphans in particular, Habiba,

is stuck in a pattern of behaviour that might suggest

that she just doesn't have the experience to go elsewhere.

We know the feeding is really bad in the area she's in,

so it's a bit of a worry.

Is she going to be able to survive in this drought?

They urgently need to find Habiba so they can check on how she's doing.

Frank heads to her last known position.

At camp, the dust barriers are nearly up...

..which leaves Saba free to deal with the bigger problem

of trying to find elephants for her guests.

The drought has driven almost all of them across the river.

On the other side of the river,

you've got swamps and these little copses of trees and stuff,

so there's more food for the elephants to eat.

Or certainly they seem to prefer that area.

So when my guests come, at the moment,

there are just no elephants on this side of the river.

I'm just hoping I can find a way to get across.

To avoid disappointment for her guests,

Saba must find a way to reach the other side.

The key thing is whether or not the water's gone down enough.

Because if the sand is very saturated and wet,

then there's going to be quite a lot of sinking sand.

So there's a very high probability that I'm going to get stuck.

Wildlife guide Bernard is on hand in case Saba's crossing goes wrong.

We just want to give our guests the best

and going to the other side will surely be something special,

because we're not going to see a lot of cars.

It's just elephants and wildlife.

We'll go down and check it on foot, shall we?

Joined by her daughter Selkie,

Saba checks out the potential crossing.

It's a place used by local herders. An encouraging sign.

I've been looking up and down the river for quite a while now

and I just haven't found anywhere quite like this.

So it's really good.

-All right, shall we try?

-Let's try.

-Yeah?

-Let's do it!

-OK!

Wahoo!

We've done it!

Yay, wasn't that easy?

OK, Bernard, you want to give it a go?

OK, good luck.

Go, go, go, go!

Well done, Bernard! That was fantastic.

That's really, really exciting!

-What do you think?

-Whoo!

What do you think?

That was fun!

I'm so excited, this is just amazing.

-It's really good.

-Couldn't be better!

Yeah, I know. Well done.

-All right. Shall we head back, then?

-Yeah.

They've found a good crossing.

But will things run so smoothly in two hours,

with a vehicle loaded with guests?

A few miles away, Frank is still searching for the orphan, Habiba.

Habiba is a special elephant

because she's only 13 years old and she's lost her mother.

And she's without an experienced adult to guide her through life.

And as a result, she's...

It doesn't look like she's doing very well.

And Frank's not just concerned for Habiba.

Although Habiba's only 13 years old,

which is about the same as being a 13-year-old human

in terms of life experience, she does have a little baby.

And that means that the stakes are high,

not just for her, but she's also got a dependant.

And what would really help Habiba right now

is if she could find an elder, experienced female

from another family to take her in and show her the ropes.

Elephant herds are usually made up of family members.

But in Samburu, some matriarchs are taking unrelated elephants

under their wing.

This behaviour is helping orphans survive at a time

when their families are being torn apart by ivory poaching.

Joining a larger, more experienced group

could offer Habiba's herd a vital lifeline.

Frank reaches the location where Habiba was last seen.

Sorry, girls.

We got her.

Morning, Habiba.

It's one thing to see a group of elephants on the plain,

munching grass.

It's another to know it's Habiba with her particular history,

and the fact she's on her own in life,

she's struggling with this little kid.

It does give an extra tinge to this morning's scene.

Habiba's looking a little bit scrawny.

The calf looks a little bit on the thin side too.

But it's to be expected in this dryness.

Habiba's calf is not the only one depending on her.

Even though she's only a teenager, at 13,

Habiba is the oldest in her herd.

The younger orphans look to her for leadership,

but she's half the age of a normal matriarch.

It's such a tough thing.

There's so much responsibility on her shoulders now.

I mean, look at all these other elephants that are with her.

They're relying on her, they're looking up to her,

but she doesn't really know what she's doing.

Most of the time, she's staying within the safety of the reserve,

and as long as she doesn't do anything too erratic,

then the rains will be here soon, and everything should be rosy.

Until the rains come, they'll have to try and make it on their own.

With other herds scattered because of the drought,

it's unlikely she will find an experienced family to join.

Back at camp, Saba's new guests are arriving.

Welcome!

Welcome, everyone.

This is Kihara. John.

And Keresai.

And Titike.

Lenairisha.

She's so determined they see elephants,

Saba's decided to guide the first safari herself.

All right, everybody ready?

Ready.

Lori and John McBride are from the US.

They've brought their grandchildren here

to see wild elephants for the first time.

We're going on a big adventure.

And I've found this wonderful new crossing to go across the river.

This is the first time we've done it.

So we might get stuck, but if we get on the other side,

we've got a good chance of seeing a lot of elephants.

It's time for Saba to test out her crossing.

-Ready, girls?

-Hang on!

-And boys!

-Hang on.

Yeah, we've got a woman driver, watch out.

Ruby, hang on.

This is an adventure.

Hold on to me, darling.

Mutti!

With the car full, the extra weight has caused it to sink in the mud.

Oh, boo! I can't believe this has happened, I'm so sorry.

They're well and truly stuck.

If Saba can't get them out, they won't be seeing any elephants.

David Daballen has had some worrying news.

The latest tracking position has shown Habiba and her calf

heading straight for danger.

Frank's on the other side of the reserve,

so David decides to check it out himself.

Attan Swamp is outside the reserve.

It's an area where people have settled

to grow crops during the drought.

In Habiba's desperation for food,

she might be heading there to raid the farms.

If she does, it could cause conflict with the farmers.

Having thought we would find Habiba here,

I drove all the way to the edge of the park,

and we've not seen any sign of Habiba.

So we're going back again,

to start our search right back at Ewaso river.

But still, we have not found her.

Time is ticking by.

David needs to find her if he is to have any hope

of turning Habiba's herd away from the farms.

Saba isn't having much luck either.

OK.

We're going to have to come up with another plan.

This is the famous Saba short cut!

She's putting on a brave face for the guests, but Saba's concerned.

Frank, Frank - do you copy?

'Saba, Saba?'

I'm stuck!

'I can't hear you, say again?'

I'm stuck in the river! I need you to save me!

'Saba, I can't hear you properly, but I will get seriously under way,

'and when I can hear you properly I'll come find you.'

-OK, thank you.

-'OK.'

We should have brought a cup of tea!

Save Saba, don't save the elephants!

The humiliation. I can no longer call myself a bush girl.

Frank needs to get there soon.

The car is sinking deeper, and the sun is setting.

Back on the trail of Habiba, David's also running out of time.

We've got about literally a quarter of an hour.

I feel she is somewhere there, so let's hope for the best.

He must find her before it gets dark.

If he doesn't, he'll have to call off the search until morning.

LOUD CRASH

Fixing this puncture will use valuable minutes

that David doesn't have.

Frank is on his way to try to rescue Saba and the guests.

It's just typical, isn't it?

Just as the sun's going down and the river's coming up,

Saba makes her last-ditch attempt to cross the river and gets stuck.

This is a real Saba road.

Yee-ha!

Mayday, mayday!

We've got to move fast because it's sinking.

We've just jacked it up and got everything out.

We're going to make it this time.

I'm just mortified that I have to be rescued by Frank.

Oh, God.

I'm never going to hear the end of this. Never, ever.

You know, I'm just...

Oh, God, I hate these Land Cruisers.

Ready?

I got it out.

APPLAUSE

-BERNARD:

-Bravo!

Oh, they're so fantastic. Thank God we are with the McBrides,

because they have a sense of humour and a great sense of adventure.

Saba is THE expert at getting stuck

because she goes places she shouldn't go,

and then unstuck again.

I think so!

Thank you, John.

Did you expect this to happen when you came to Africa?

No!

What did you learn from this experience?

Never drive a car...

-On sand?

-On sand or across a river.

When you don't know the car.

They may not have seen elephants,

but the McBrides have had an adventure they'll never forget.

You're going to think I'm the worst guide in the world.

We're not - they learned a good lesson.

What? Don't go into the river?

You should see how their father drives on the road.

Not at all, not at all.

Shall we go and have a cup of tea?

Whatever. As long as we know there's elephants on the other side.

Come on!

David hasn't been able to find Habiba and the orphan herd.

Fixing his tyre has taken too much time.

We've spent hours and hours looking for these guys.

There's nothing frustrating than looking the whole day

and you don't find them.

My hope is she's all right.

It's a big worry.

He'll just have to hope they can stay out of trouble overnight.

First light, and Frank is looking for Habiba.

He's got the latest GPS fix from her tracking collar.

But he needs to make sure the herd is safe.

We've just got a little group here.

We've just crossed the river to come and have a look at these girls

and see who's here.

It's Habiba and the orphans.

Frank is straight on the phone to David.

Hi, David. We found her.

She's looking fine.

She's with her baby and four others.

Little bit on the skinny side, but she's fine

and she looks like she's heading back into the reserve.

She's turned away from the swamp. So a big relief, yeah.

OK, yeah, bye.

I think what I'd like to do now is just to stay here with them.

Just make sure that they're not going to go any further that way.

I'd just like to see what her strategy is now.

And it's just as well he's stuck around.

An elephant family with a mature matriarch has appeared.

Habiba and the orphans are making their way towards them.

They might be trying to join this larger herd.

So Habiba's group

and this new family are moving directly towards each other.

One of them has already gone over to greet them

so the mingling has begun.

We're getting some contact rumbles

as they start talking to one another.

ELEPHANTS MAKE A LOW NOISE

These friendly rumbles suggest the other family

is welcoming Habiba and the orphans.

That's so great.

There's at least, I don't know,

15 elephants joining up with Habiba's five.

It's exactly what Frank and David have been hoping for -

that the new family will take these inexperienced young elephants

under their wing.

It's a happy day to see her united with a bigger group,

with some elder females that she can rely on.

There's a better chance she'll be given the guidance

she needs to make good decisions in life.

Not to go wondering off into danger areas,

to stick where the feeding's good.

Have the courage to go out and be shown areas

where there's even better feeding.

That's really lovely to see.

Back at camp, the guests are tucking into breakfast.

This morning, someone's invited himself for a bite to eat.

Hi, old guy!

Good morning, Sarara!

The visiting male finally gives the McBride family

their first elephant experience...

..without crossing the river.

Can't get much more of an experience than that.

Right outside the tent.

That's crazy!

That's so cool.

I think all the animals are just so hungry right now.

There's so little food around,

and the bulls are willing to take this high-risk strategy

and come right into the middle of a human settlement

just to get their seed pods,

because there's not very much else to eat.

You don't need binoculars here.

They come and sit on your front porch.

(He's eating this tree right here.)

(Can you see him?)

(He's going to get in my bed.)

He's going to my room!

I hope he takes your side of the bed, not mine.

Although I have a feeling if he takes your side,

I'm going to roll into him.

But this is amazing, Johnny,

that he feels so comfortable he can walk through this camp.

It's the way the world should be.

Next time -

the drought continues to challenge the business...

Hey! Out, out, out!

..driving animals to invade camp.

Naughty monkey!

And Frank takes on a dangerous mission...

We've got him on the transmitter, so we're going to try and walk in.

..to find the biggest bull elephant in northern Kenya.

Sticking together is very important.