Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby (2017) s01e03 Episode Script

1
All over the world,
there are remarkable hotels
born of bold vision and daring endeavor.
Oh, my goodness, look at that.
Whether it's an epic structure
housing a sky park
the length of the Eiffel tower…
This is definitely the biggest space
I've ever been inside.
…or a glass box perched
in the cloud forest.
-Look at that view!
-Wow.
They're all products of innovation,
creativity and hard graft.
The people running these hotels
strive to create the perfect sanctuary.
But what does it take to offer
once-in-a-lifetime experiences
in stunning locations?
To build a hotel in a place like this,
everybody thinks I'm crazy.
In total, we have about
160,000 pieces of uniform.
Oh, my word!
I'm a restaurant writer,
newspaper columnist and critic.
I have opinions on just about everything.
What a mad place to build a hotel.
I feel like Scott of the Antarctic
and it did not end well for him.
And I'm a chef who's worked
for the top end
of the hospitality industry
for, well, over 20 years.
How many opportunities do you get to cook
breakfast with elephants and giraffes?
We'll travel to amazing hotels
in every corner of the world.
To spend time getting to know the people
working away behind the scenes.
When did you last have
a full night's sleep?
I don't remember.
-Really?
-Yes.
-Hooray!
-Yes!
You're the engineer,
you're like Scotty in Star Trek.
Precisely, I've been called that.
Join us as we venture inside…
The world's most extraordinary hotels.
We're in Kenya.
The country's beautiful savannahs
and thousands of exotic animal species
draw visitors from around the world
with the promise
of awesome wildlife encounters.
Yet arriving at this hotel
on the outskirts
of the capital Nairobi
it's easy to forget that we're in Africa
as this feels more like a grand suburban
house in the English home counties.
It's very nice.
But here,
nothing is quite as it seems
as we're about to find out.
It's dawn, the guests are still asleep,
but downstairs we're hard at work
because something extraordinary
is about to take place.
Does the spoon just go on the side?
You'd think I'd never laid a table before,
wouldn't you?
I mean this is like a breakfast at home
for me,
because basically my son
doesn't eat breakfast,
'cause he doesn't want to
and my daughter has it in front of the TV
even though she's not allowed to
and my wife would still be asleep.
So laying a table for people that are
actually going to eat is quite weird.
Breakfast preparation starts
painfully early here
as guests arrive
to eat before first light.
I'm with duty manager, Tony Levy.
So how many people have you got
staying at the moment?
We have about 22 guests tonight.
Twenty two?
And are they all having breakfast?
Yeah, they're all having breakfast
'till they get cracking.
-You want them quite fine?
-Yeah.
-Skins on?
-Finely chopped yeah. Skin on.
Okay.
I'm helping head chef, David Kisevu.
He's been preparing highly anticipated
breakfasts here for seven years.
Mornings are always busy.
Here we do our breakfast
according to the wakeup call.
By 6:30, everything should be ready.
One of the dishes on offer catches my eye.
And what is this very large muesli?
Are they tasty these things?
It's pellet made out of molasses.
-Oh, with some grit in it.
-Yes.
Oh, quite a lot of grit in it.
-So, why do the guests get up so early?
-They will miss the special opportunity.
People travel the globe for breakfast
at the manor.
To share their first meal of the day
with some extra special guests.
-Hello?
-We have Stacey here.
Stacey? Hello, Stacey.
I've never done anything like this.
Amazing, I mean she's massive.
The size of her head it's just…
-So how many giraffes can you fit in here?
-About six at a time.
Six?
Here at the apply named Giraffe Manor
you share your morning coffee and eggs
with the world's tallest animals.
And if you want breakfast in bed,
you can share it with a giraffe
from the comfort of your first floor room.
Breakfast is quite a boring meal, isn't
it?
I think it ought to be
always ought to be served with a giraffe.
Giraffe Manor has over
7,000 guests a year,
prepared to spend between 500
and 1,000 pounds a night.
Several rooms are named after giraffes.
And with only ten rooms,
guests often have to book a year
in advance to stay here.
The Manor serves up old school nostalgia
in the form of classic cucumber sandwiches
and cream teas.
But it's the hotel's unusual neighbors
that lure guests here.
We've been to every other continent
and I've never experienced
anything quite like this.
-You're obsessed, aren't ya?
-Yeah I am a bit obsessed with giraffes,
it's just perfect. Absolutely perfect.
The experience of having a giraffe
walking towards your bedroom window
in the early hours of the morning
as the sun is just starting to rise
is a very surreal dream moment.
Wonderful, absolutely amazing.
To have them lower their heads
and look in your eyes,
you just feel a connection with them.
Giraffe Manor occupies 13 acres
of a natural enclave,
surrounded by the expanding city
of Nairobi.
The Manor is owned by Tanya Carheartly,
a fourth generation Kenyan
who has lived locally all her life.
When my mom and dad moved here,
46 years ago,
it was really out of the way neighborhood.
And at that point there was
no tarmac roads, no fences.
Actually, when we were children, my sister
and I would ride to the Manor with my mom.
Giraffe Manor is very much
a family affair,
run by Tanya and her husband Mikey.
He's also a fourth generation Kenyan,
whose family have been involved
with wildlife for generations,
running safaris.
So can we arrange to get one from Abatulah
and bring it to the Manor?
Tanya and Mikey bought Giraffe Manor
in 2009
and have strived to establish it as one
of the most unusual holiday destinations
in the world.
Mike and Tanya, I think,
they work super hard.
They're just at it, seven days a week,
five hours sleep a night,
just never giving up.
I think that's a driving factor.
So what exactly is it like to run
a hotel surrounded by wild giraffes?
-Hi.
-This is Tanya.
-Hello.
-Hi, Tanya.
-Lovely to meet you.
-Lovely to meet you, too.
How's your morning?
-Amazing.
-Early.
Early but worth it.
A surreal experience too.
-It is.
-Even for you? You're not.
Even on a regular basis.
Why do people care so much about giraffes?
I guess its gracefulness,
the big eyes, big eyelashes,
giraffes are just unique animals, really.
I mean is it easy to run a giraffe hotel?
No, it's not easy.
The biggest downside
is people understanding
that the giraffes are still wild animals
which means the safety of people is key.
When you say that the dangers of
wild animals, like what?
So, a giraffe can obviously kick
very hard,
and kill a lion in fact you know,
that kind of kick.
And they head-butt a lot, we have to
sort of manage people's expectations
where they you know,
the animal puts its neck through here
and they feel like it's their best friend
but in the same instant
that same animal can do an injury.
I'm sorry that's it,
I haven't got any more.
It seems giraffe aren't
the only wild animal
wandering through the grounds
on the scrounge for tip bits.
It's a warthoglet or a warthog piglet.
So sweet.
It's quite strange having pigs
in a hotel of this kind.
I think it's brilliant being so close
to these animals,
my children would go mad, it's just,
properly the lion king
although luckily without lions.
The ten giraffe here
are all Rothschild giraffes.
They're named after
Lord Walter Rothschild,
a zoologist and member
of the famous banking family.
He first came across them
in the early 1900s
when they could be found in abundance
across Kenya, Uganda and Sudan.
But by the 1970s, they were under threat.
The Rothschild giraffe at that time
was rapidly diminishing,
there were only 17 or so left.
-Why were they diminishing?
-Couple of reasons,
one being that their habitat
was being cut up into smaller plots,
and also in Uganda,
where there was actually more of them,
they were used as target practice
by Idi Amin
so the '70s was a very trying time
for them.
It was at this point that a couple
called Jock and Betty Leslie-Melville
bought the Manor.
They were delighted to find
three wild Masai giraffe
on the grounds
that slept on the lawn at night.
And when they heard that endangered
Rothschild giraffe
were living on local land
due to be redeveloped,
Jock and Betty adopted one of the babies
called Daisy,
and later bought in another,
called Marlon.
So that's the Leslie-Melville's,
Betty and Jock.
I love that one with Betty
with her dog and the giraffe.
So was she a conservationist?
Was she into giraffe's?
She became very into giraffes.
In response to the dramatic decline
in giraffe numbers,
the Leslie-Melville's started a sanctuary
and a breeding program.
And so how many did
they start off with here?
Just two.
So the descendants
of the original giraffe,
are they still here?
Most of them are still here,
some of them are still here.
Forty years on,
the giraffe center next door
started by Betty and Jock
is still going strong.
And has released 15 of these rare
and endangered giraffe into the wild.
I'm really looking forward
to finding out a bit more
about how Giraffe Manor is being managed,
and how the whole team work
together to make this happen.
Giraffe Manor employs over 65 people.
Three for every guest
to serve their every whim.
Five chefs, five porters,
11 waiters, four drivers,
and four gardeners, it's a tight team.
And Duty Manager, Tony Levey,
has the job of keeping everyone on track,
whether staff, guests or giraffe.
So the biggest challenge
I face as Duty Manager
is probably guest expectations.
You don't realize we have 140 acres here
with ten giraffe on site,
I have to manage unpredictable
giraffe movements
in the sense that the giraffe
refuse to show up.
This way, please, after you.
I have to manage the guests
between check out and check in time,
try and get rooms ready
just constantly moving.
This way, please.
It's 8:00 a.m. and Laura and Emmanuel
are arriving on the first day
of their honeymoon.
We spent probably twice as much
on the honeymoon
as we did on the actual wedding.
And to know that tomorrow morning
we can wake up
and be feeding a giraffe
out of the bedroom window is really cool.
I'm going to feel like I haven't woken up,
it's going to feel like a dream.
Despite the charms of the giraffe,
Laura and Emmanuel
are only staying here for one night.
Like most guests, they're using the Manor
as a staging post on their way
to other parts of Kenya.
This means the Manor's nine housekeepers
face a pressurized change over rooms
every 24 hours.
I'm joining head housekeeper, Pamela,
on her morning rounds.
She and her team usually have
between 45 minutes
and an hour to turn over all ten rooms.
Pamela is one of the longest
serving members of staff.
At 64, she's been making beds here
for the last 17 years.
I love the feel of clean sheets.
Aside from the mess caused by guests,
Pamela has to deal
with long necked intruders.
-Does this stay down here?
-Got to put it on here.
Do they just come and stick
their heads in?
Yeah. No, when we shake the bucket,
the giraffes will come
and then you'll take one by one giving it.
Do they make a mess for you when you--
Yeah when there's nobody around
and the window is open
if they come near here
they'll push the bucket and then down.
Give you a bit of a headache, yeah.
Do you have a certain time
when you have to have it all finished?
-By 12. They'll be checking in at 13.
-At one o'clock. Okay.
Yes, please.
If you can show me a quicker way,
I'll show you my way.
-Fine.
-That's got to be a simpler way to…
It's like a Zumba class.
Look how strong you are.
As a single mother, Giraffe Manor
has had a big impact
on Pamela's family life.
One of her children works here too.
Working at Giraffe Manor, I have used
my money in bringing up my children,
paying their education for high school
for four of them and in college.
Do you have enough to cover the mattress?
At the moment, I'm now saving
for a piece of small land
then I build them a house.
Happy to call my home.
That looks pretty good to me.
I'd sleep in that.
One of the oldest buildings
in suburban Nairobi,
Giraffe Manor was built in 1932
when Kenya was still a colony
of the British Empire.
The most surprising thing
is how suburban it feels,
you sort of prepare for something wild
and obviously it looks
like African savannah
but it feels like Surrey with giraffes,
there is this desire to recreate something
that looks like suburban England,
something sort of normal
and kind of golf clubby,
it's just that they're giraffes
and I guess that's Africa
as imagined by English people.
But what are the challenges
of running this historic hotel?
-So this is the dining room.
-Wow.
Which has absolutely no electricity,
all candlelit.
So you're offering people
a nostalgic return
to a simpler way of living.
Is that one of the things
that people are looking for?
Definitely. People are definitely
looking for a time
in a simpler environment, I think.
-With Wi-Fi?
-With Wi-Fi.
So you provide that for them and that
freedom and that return and that nostalgia
but do they have other expectations
of home comforts?
Food, accommodation, I mean this house,
we really struggle
because a lot of you know,
certainly the plumbing is archaic and…
Yeah, it's nearly a hundred years old
and it's Africa--
Yes and then you're dealing
with what's available on the market
which isn't what's available
in London or New York
but I think generally people
are quite forgiving,
thankfully, to us
'cause we've got giraffes.
Duty Manager, Tony, works
so closely with the giraffes
that they're on first name terms.
This is Kelly and this is Ed.
Ed is our biggest male and Kelly
is almost the tallest female,
she's about 14 years old.
I'm quite scared of animals,
I wouldn't normally choose
to get this close to a cow,
let alone a giraffe.
On a country walk, I will turn around
and go back if I see cows.
Can you catch? Yeah.
In the grounds of the Manor
the giraffe eat the leaves of acacia,
croton and African olive trees.
I just feel like a nut vending machine.
But here, Tony gives them treats
of oats, bran, and molasses pellets.
The tongue of a giraffe
is up to 50 centimeters long
and is surprisingly versatile.
-This is a giraffe kiss.
-No, I'll try it.
Yeah, good girl.
Do they ever bite when you do that?
So there's no risk attached
to kissing a giraffe?
-Do you wanna kiss?
-Yeah, all right. Oh, you mean, I see.
It's easier after two o'clock
at the Groucho Club to be honest.
A giraffe's saliva is actually antiseptic,
to protect them
from thorn cuts and cynics.
I'm feeling quite a strong emotional bond,
I mean you know, I've had some kisses,
he's nuzzled in a few times
but I mean he's only after one thing.
Young giraffe born in the grounds
of the Manor
are introduced into Kenya's protected
wild areas from the age of three.
Back from the brink, there are now
780 Rothschild giraffes overall
living in the wild.
Whilst pellets are on offer
for the giraffes,
guests at the manor feast
on dishes like poached fillet of beef
and tamarillo tarte tatin
prepared by a team of ten.
My names are David Kisevu
and I am the head chef of Giraffe Manor.
We have hosted so many celebrities
in the Giraffe Manor.
One of the guys I will never forget
I cooked for him was Richard Branson.
I always remember.
I love to cook, it's my passion.
I want to make so many things to make them
so yummy so that the guests feel.
Giraffe Manor is an extraordinary hotel.
The guests who come here want a variety
of wildlife experiences.
So Tanya and Mikey use the Manor as
the hub for a luxury safari business.
They have remote lodges
in Samburu County and the Masai Mara
and getting supplies out there
is not an easy feat.
The man in charge of all things logistical
is Head of Operations, Ben Evans.
We are providing a service to some of
the most demanding customers you can get
and it's my job to make it look easy.
So on almost a weekly basis,
Ben dispatches lorries that travel
hundreds of miles to the camps,
delivering everything
from plumbing supplies to food stuff.
Braving pot holes,
wildlife and uncovered roads,
the lorries are the lifeline
that keep the camps alive.
Ben and his team service
one of the most remote
and inaccessible lodges,
Sasaab which is in Samburu County.
I'm looking forward to heading up
there next
as I'm ready to explore the wilder side
of what Giraffe Manor has to offer.
I've not been in Nairobi very long
and to be here standing on the edge
of this beautiful hotel,
feeding this beautiful thing,
it feels a little bit too easy,
I feel slightly uncomfortable spoon-fed.
I kind of want my game experience
to be wild, to be more difficult.
I kind of want more of
a struggle, you know,
something's almost more worth having
if you have to work for it.
Ben has invited us to hitch a ride
on one of his supply flights to Sasaab.
We're on our way
to meet him at the airfield
where we've been told
he's waiting in a rather small plane.
This was my only hesitancy
about coming here at all was the plane.
Because, you know,
I don't like flying that much.
You know if you have an engine failure
in a jumbo jet, you know,
you're all dead whereas,
and theoretically a little plan
like that you can still land it,
but then you land it
and then you get eaten by lions.
You're such a great companion
to travel with.
I feel so much better
that I'm going to die with you.
I'm gonna pass on
some of my heebie-jeebies to you.
I think you've done a great job.
Looks like a nice day for flying.
I hope we're going in that
slightly bigger one there.
It's a Robin Reliant with wings.
I have never flown in a plane
like this before.
My honest and first reaction
was shock horror at how small it is.
What happens if you have
some medical incident or something,
you have a cardiac or?
Well, then, we can talk you through it.
I just boot you out
and talk to air control.
I'll tell you when to press the button.
It's hard to believe they'll be space
for anything else.
But we need to squeeze in bottles of
champagne and a small gang of chickens.
Ready?
They seem to be dreading it
as much as we are.
I'll have the champagne next to me here.
Very cozy.
-Ready?
-Yep.
You are coming, aren't you?
Why have I got controls?
Just in case I mess up.
Hold on to your knickers.
It's like an old car. I had a car
when I was a student,
a kind of 40 year old car
that smelt like this and looked like this
and broke down all the time.
Might get a little bit of turbulence
coming through here.
-Why did you put that seat belt?
-My head actually hit the roof.
But we soon forget our fears as we see
the landscape unfolding beneath us.
My goodness. That looks so beautiful.
Sasaab Lodge is 230 miles
north of Nairobi.
Whilst Giraffe Manor
boasts lush manicured gardens,
out here temperatures can hit
45 degrees, it's hot, dry, and arid.
-There are elephant.
-Look at them.
That's amazing.
Here we are, Sasaab.
Perched on the banks
of the Ewaso river in the Rift Valley,
Sasaab lookout towards the heights
of Mount Kenya.
The six-acre plot of Sasaab Lodge
lies within 82,000 acres of community land
owned by the local Samburu people.
I've literally had my arse
clenched for the entire trip.
That was so fun. I actually I don't know
what I enjoyed more,
the plane ride or just watching
Giles squirm and scream in there.
Would not imagine a hotel out here.
The only way to access the lodge
is down a dirt track.
It's also very beautiful.
And the nearest town is 91 miles away.
Sasaab was built in 2007
by Tanya and Mikey
with a team of 100 people
working in searing heat.
Because of its isolated position,
building materials were moved
by hand and wheelbarrow
as trucks couldn't reach the site.
Oh, look at…
Look at this place. Oh, my goodness.
Oh, this view, my goodness.
To get water out here,
the hotel had to dig its own well
and the whole complex
is powered by solar energy.
Up to 800 pounds per night gets you
one of the nine high-spec rooms
with outdoor bathrooms,
private plunge pools
and if you're lucky views of giraffes,
big cats and elephants
casually strolling by.
Scott Dyson is the manager
of Sasaab Lodge.
He and his team want to depend less
on deliveries from Nairobi
and are trying to be self-sufficient.
Providing luxury in places like this
involves thinking outside the box
or in this case, the egg carton.
-Giles?
-All right, how are you?
Very good, how you doing?
Scott couldn't source eggs locally
and the long bumpy journey from Nairobi
results in eggs being smashed.
Not quite the scrambled eggs
his guests demand.
So I'm looking forward to seeing
what you've done with my chickens.
So he's nurturing his own brood.
After you.
My feathered fellow passengers
are reinforcements.
But newcomers aren't
always welcome in this coup.
Because they're going to be a minority,
the resident flock
could start picking on them.
What are we gonna do with them now?
We will release all four of them
simultaneously,
not one at a time, we give them four
to choose from it may help.
What are you expecting,
really it's like a cage fight?
-I mean--
-They can be brutal.
Let's see what happens.
I'll get these three out first.
Okay everything seems fine.
My word this one looks
like an evil, what do I do? Tip him out?
-Yeah, tip him out.
-Go on, my son.
Let's see what happens.
Is he gonna come for me?
No. Just close that.
This is the one that's been bullied.
-You got him, good shot.
-Put it in its own little spot.
Very good, there you go,
you can just relax in there.
Whilst this hen is put into solitary
for her own protection,
Scott shows me his chicken fortress.
So this is so far
the impenetrable coup where they sleep.
Why is it so impenetrable?
Because of leopard, honey badgers,
mongooses, and janets,
there's a host of different animals
that have the wit and strength
to be able to cause major damage
to a flock of chickens.
-And if anything does get in there?
-We will accept defeat and realize
that whatever it was very hungry,
and deserved the chicken
at the end of the day.
And also I guess because your guests
have come here
for the leopards, not the chickens.
Exactly.
I suppose it goes without saying
if you're having breakfast in a hotel
anywhere in the world you expect eggs,
the problem that Scott obviously
has is leopards and lions,
and attacks from jackals, let alone
the strife of the chickens
within themselves. I mean,
he's bringing in new kind of animal
to this teaming savannah
and trying to make a go
of keeping them alive.
It's a lot to think about when you're
tucking into your morning omelet.
Giles has emerged unscathed from
the chicken version of West Side Story.
But I'm heading in to the bush
for some eggs from the coup
to make a safari breakfast on the go.
Our guests are honeymooners,
Florence and Frank.
-Wow, we're doing well.
-Yeah.
Doing very well actually.
Amazing!
Once we find the perfect place,
it's time for me to help the lodge staff
prepare breakfast.
What a spot for breakfast.
The food on offer today is quite different
to the safari fare of days gone by.
I'm being spoilt.
When Mikey's family first took people
on safari,
a square meal, a roast and potatoes
was basically accepted by anybody
and they really appreciated that.
In today's world, they're expecting
first class food, wine,
and everything else that goes with it.
I'm preparing a champagne breakfast
you might expect at a restaurant.
Eggs, smoked salmon and hollandaise sauce.
But I'm miles from power,
cooking on a camping stove
and what seems to be a wooden box.
This could not be any more different
to working in my kitchen.
Never would I have thought in my career,
I'd be out here in Kenya cooking breakfast
with elephants and giraffes
just across the way there.
Life is great.
Delicious, absolutely delicious.
I'd love to swim but I know
there's crocodiles in there.
The guests who come to Sasaab Lodge
have certain expectations.
This means manager Scott has to maintain
high standards throughout the grounds
regardless of the remote, dry,
and dusty location.
I'm helping him patch up
one of the lodge's ten plunge pools.
So are these guests going to be happy
with their white pool as they look out
over their river and all that?
What are the nice things
of most extreme elements of luxury
that they expect or complaints
that they make?
There are some properties that will have
every possible amenity under the sun,
if some clients' friends
have been on safari before,
at one of these places that are
really over the top with air conditioning
and everything like that,
then you know some people
could be a little bit let down
or disturbed by certain things.
People are coming from Europe
and North America,
places where food is so plentiful that
they invent all kinds of imaginary things
that they think they need
to make themselves healthy, you know.
They're obsessed with vitamins
and fiber and hydration
and these kinds of things,
which to people who have so little
it must just seem ridiculous.
Exactly and the local,
we'll be walking along this river,
bend over and cut their hand
and take a sip
and then guests come here and insist
that they need to have bottled water.
Obviously all the staff scratch their
heads in amazement when that happens.
Out here, Tanya and Mikey
have to rely on the Samburu people
who live alongside the lodge.
Perhaps surprisingly it's the Samburu
who are the landlords here,
Tanya and Mikey are the tenants.
It's totally different to running
a big hotel in Nairobi.
This is what we call
a community group branch
whereby the Samburu community,
550 families own this land,
the land where the lodge is situated on
and we rent the land from the community,
from the Samburu people
and give them a bed night fee
for every guest that stays in the lodge,
the community gets paid money as a rent.
So, it enables them
to have an income from tourism,
which enables us to protect
the wildlife for future generations.
Mikey and Tanya pay 58 dollars
per guest per night to the community.
As well as deriving some income
from the lodge,
the local Samburu people have access
to new job opportunities.
Tanya and Mikey have committed to employ
75% of their workers from the local area.
On average, the wage paid to one
such worker will go on to support at least
ten other people
in their family and community.
And it seems that work here
is highly sought after.
Go ahead, Nicks.
So this is a normal thing,
you're painting a plunge pool
and you get a call on the intercom
there's a warrior at reception
looking for a job.
We do often have the local warriors
coming in looking for work,
we've actually got one employed now
who's helping look after our camels.
I like the sound of this
job-seeking warrior.
Do you have any idea
what sort of work he's going to want?
Welcome, I'm Giles.
Can you ask him for me why he wants
to work here?
He knows a lot of the staff here,
it's very close to his home
which is another big perk.
Sadly, at the moment you know,
we've got all,
all the positions covered for
but in the event that you know,
we get higher occupancy
or some of our staff
require their off days,
then we will be able to call him.
-Good luck.
-Good luck.
It's quite an interesting thing
seeing this fellow
basically arrive looking
for a job just walked over from
the nearest village.
When I've seen other guys like that,
Samburu warrior, you can't help wondering
have they dressed up like that for me,
have they dressed up like that for the BBC
when actually they're just wearing
Man United strips all the time.
But this guy's just walked over
looking for a job in the clothes
that a Samburu warrior wears every day
and he's not gone lucky today
but he may another time.
However, for people used to living
and working in the bush,
delivering western forms of hospitality
often requires a degree
of cultural adjustment.
After years of training staff,
Tanya has her own observations.
Seeing a straight line does not
come naturally to people
who have not had to have
straight lines around them.
You look out into wilderness,
there's nothing straight about it
actually, and hanging a mirror
or a picture straight is a challenge.
The most coveted role at the lodge
is safari guide.
Twenty eight year old Jacob
is one of the most senior guides.
It's taken him three years
to get the necessary licenses
and now he educates international guests
about his region and his wildlife.
This is a footprints.
So they are heading up that way.
But on days off,
Jacob still herds the family goats.
He's also a Samburu warrior.
In Samburu culture, a warrior
is a single man under 30
responsible for protecting the village
and looking after animals.
When I go home when I'm not working
I'm still going back
to look after the goats, cows,
camels and helping
in every day duty in the village.
When he's herding animals,
Jacob walks the savannah.
When he's a tourist guide,
he makes his journeys by car or camel.
I'm joining Jacob to see what kind
of experience he offers his guests.
-I'm Jacob, nice to meet you.
-How are you?
Although I'm not sure I fancy getting
close to one of these feisty beasts.
He's very big. Do they bite or anything?
They bite. Sometimes they spit
but it's not very much.
It's enough.
Shall I put it on that one?
And then just chuck it over?
I've never ridden a camel before,
it never occurred to me
till this morning that I never had,
I've never particularly wanted to it,
it's just it's better than,
than going in a Land Rover isn't it
because you're not going to scare away
the lions and the leopards,
in fact you're probably
going to attract them
with the possibility
of a tasty camel lunch.
So we are going with the ranger here.
'Cause we have the elephants
where we're going to.
-Will that kill an elephant?
-One bullet, one or two. Maybe three.
Okay, it's taken a whole different
complexion, these trips.
Okay, let's go, then.
All right. First of all you put your leg,
your left foot.
-This one there?
-Yeah, then should be okay.
And you hold tight here.
I'm not sure my legs bend like that,
where are they meant to go?
Just right there.
What's up?
Well, my legs don't really bend like that.
-So what shall I do?
-Maybe change your shorts.
I've just changed
into the researcher's shorts
because mine were a bit tight
to get on the camel
so like a bit embarrassing,
will try and do it now.
Don't be afraid.
Supposing the elephant comes and then
the camel is afraid,
and the camel runs off over there.
What do I do?
You just really need to hold on the camel.
-What if he bites me?
-No it's not going to bite you.
What if my nuts just go back
inside my sternum?
So hold tight, it's like going
to drop you down.
Thank you. That was brilliant,
Thank you that was fantastic.
No wonder they invented the horse
and the car.
I take the opportunity
to sit down carefully with Jacob
to talk about
local perceptions of tourism.
What do the other ones think,
the more traditional ones
think about people coming here,
driving around
looking for lions and elephants?
Do they think that's strange?
Is it okay if we walk home?
It wasn't very comfortable.
I'm walking a bit funny even now.
-Because of the camel?
-Yeah.
The arrival of the lodge nine years ago
means life is changing for the locals
in an unprecedented way.
Whereas previously, Samburu people
would breed and herd livestock to trade,
through tourism they can now
earn a wage for the first time.
This means that warriors like Jacob
are now able to buy more livestock sooner,
out of 43 people employed at Sasaab Lodge,
three quarters are local Samburu,
their wages go on to support
many other people
within their families and community.
-Yeah.
-Hello.
Today is a warrior ceremony
in Jacob's village.
It's a chance to see whether the lodge's
existence has changed the daily
lives and culture of the villagers.
-And they're singing.
-Yeah.
-For me?
-Yeah!
I'm moved by the vibrant welcome
and the deep sense of tradition here.
Oh my head's too big.
My cultural in Samoa, we do
a lot of singing to welcome people
but that's a mix of women and men.
It's never just the women that do it
alone, here it's very segregated.
I'm with Jacob and the warriors
who are about to prepare a feast.
And it's a world away from smoked
salmon and hollandaise sauce.
-So you're going to kill it right here?
-Going to kill it here.
And I'm being offered the best bit.
-Are you going to drink the blood?
-Of this fella?
It's not my normal thing
but if it's good I'll try it.
Oh from the actual,
straight from the neck.
I see. Cool.
All I've known is a thing that warriors
in Eastern Africa do
and I never wanted to put myself
in a situation
where I would risk offending my host.
-You ready for the blood?
-Yeah just a little bit…
Okay, enough.
It means "delicious" in Samburu,
by the way.
I realize this looks gross to you
sitting at home
having your dinner in front of the TV,
this is what these guys do and I felt like
I ought to give it a go.
Thick, it's like egg yolk
Seeing this side of Jacob's life
makes me wonder
what it's like balancing
two very different worlds.
Is that easy for you
to go backwards and forwards?
Msungus, me, white people.
Whilst the lodge has bought some
fresh opportunities
for local men and their families,
for most of the ladies, it seems daily
life has remained the same.
The women of the village still walk
for over an hour each day
with donkeys to collect water.
Are responsible
for all the domestic chores
and get the left overs
from the men's feast.
And do you think the women
are okay about that?
Because it's their normal way of life?
But can we ask them
are they happy to do that?
So they're happy with the way things are?
Samburu people working inside
the lodge wear hotel uniforms,
but in his role as a guide,
Jacob can wear his own clothes.
-Chubby msungus.
-Did you say chubby msungus?
-Sorry.
-I heard you.
Chubby white bastard.
I heard you say that.
My outfit for the ceremony
on the other hand is borrowed.
So I'm now dressed,
I'm ready for the party.
Yeah very much ready to party.
But I'm feeling a bit self-conscious
as a chubby msungus dressed as a warrior.
Hey, you all right? You did it.
-Wow. You want me to do that?
-Yeah.
I haven't got a spear.
-Can I be in the back?
-Yeah, on the back.
At this point it should be said
that I loathe dancing.
But I'm doing my best to keep up
with 30 fierce some pogoing warriors.
There's a lot of laughing
going on I think.
No, it's not.
It's the last dance of the night
and a chance for the men
to choose the most desirable partners.
Oh, my god.
-You go and dance, I'll watch.
-Make sure someone…
That's absolutely typical,
I've spent all day
becoming a Samburu warrior,
dressing up already to dance
and now my date Monica
has gone off with Jacob.
I can't really blame her,
he's a fine figure of a Samburu warrior
and I'm chubby msungus.
So it's not surprising
I ended up without a date.
The lodge generates money, jobs, and
some security for the local community
but with that comes the prospect
of all kinds of other changes.
I hope all the European influence
or the white influence on this way of life
and this culture doesn't
overtake that, you know.
This doesn't get lost
within the next 20, 30 years.
Samburu is a passionate place
and they're passionate people,
they have this cultural love of wildlife
that makes working in harmony
with them a great asset.
Of course it's more than a business,
it's you know we do this for our family
and for other people's families
and just to help people understand
and realize what a special place
or country we have.
Back at the Manor,
it's time for afternoon tea.
This is civilized.
Over four decades since Betty and Jock
welcomed giraffe into their grounds,
it can feel like nothing much
has changed in Kenya.
I like how.
Yet we've come a long way
since the big game hunts of the past.
Today, travelers are offered the
experience of Africa in various packages.
Some more safe
and comfortable than others.
Don't do this at
the Dorchester Grandma, do we?
Feed a giraffe after afternoon tea.
Look at this baby running.
Oh, she's beautiful. Oh, I mean, yeah.
I don't think you could ever get
tired of giraffe.
People, a different story,
but no, not the giraffe.
Oh look, they're so cute.
-Oh, they love it, don't you?
-What?
-Feeding the giraffe.
-Yeah.
It's that up close
and personal thing really,
it's an intangible feeling wildlife,
being with wildlife, being in the bush,
it's not something you can really explain,
you have to feel it
and I think that's what draws people
emotively to this environment
because it makes you
more alive, definitely.
At its heart, the allure of this
extraordinary hotel
and the people who run it rests
on enabling guests to get close to animals
and to be moved by that.
Yet the sensitive dynamic between tourism,
wildlife and local communities
will continue to challenge
all who visit Kenya
and everyone who calls it home.