Raised by Elephants: Saba Douglas-Hamilton on Love, Legacy, and the Wild

by Frank Roller

For Saba Douglas-Hamilton, elephants have never been just animals—they’ve been family, teachers, and a guiding force. Raised in the wilds of Tanzania and Kenya amidst her parents’ pioneering conservation work, Saba’s early life was shaped by intimate moments with some of Africa’s most iconic matriarchs. From being sniffed head to toe by a wild elephant as a baby to navigating life in Uganda during the civil war and ivory poaching crises, her story is one of extraordinary proximity to nature, shaped by awe and urgency.

Now a wildlife filmmaker, conservationist, and co-director of Elephant Watch Camp & Safaris in Kenya’s Samburu National Reserve, Saba carries forward her family’s legacy with fearless dedication. In this conversation, she reflects on her earliest memories in the bush, what elephants have taught her about love, courage, and healing, and how the deeply personal is inseparable from the deeply political in the fight to protect our planet’s most sentient beings.

Let’s step into her world.

POH – Frank : Could you share your earliest memories of elephants and how they influenced your passion for conservation?

Saba: I can’t remember exactly when my interest in wild things began, only that I’ve always been aware of the importance of compassion for all life. Early immersion in the elephant world led to a lifelong commitment to wildlife and wilderness—first with Save The Rhino Trust in Namibia, then as the first COO of our family NGO “Save the Elephants” (STE), then a decade as a wildlife filmmaker with the BBC, and now with Elephant Watch Safaris, as the tourism partner of STE, Kenya.

My early years were spent in Manyara National Park, Tanzania, during my father’s research on elephant social behaviour. We lived in small rondavels by the Ndala river, near a waterfall, with elephants drinking nearby and Cape buffalo on the paths at night. I remember the magical Ground Water Forest, where elephants would disappear for weeks, and we’d stop to pick watercress or explore the forest, climbing up massive vines, that snaked up into the trees.

With ethologist parents, elephants were the centre of our lives. My sister and I considered them part of our extended family. All our toys were elephants, the art on our walls was elephants, and conversations focused on their conservation.

As a baby, my mother introduced me to Virgo, a wild but curious elephant. She reached out her trunk to sniff my body from head to toe in a rush of warm breath, then allowed her calf to approach.

Boadicea, another key elephant, would charge like a Tyrannosaurus rex, but my father would calmly turn off the engine, showing me her fear disguised as courage—a lesson in protection and empathy.

From early on, I saw elephants as intelligent, sentient beings and absorbed my parents’ way of being with them deep into my soul.

POH – Frank : Growing up in Kenya, what role did your family play in shaping your views on wildlife and nature?

Saba: Both my parents have been enormously inspirational as role models, leading by example in their battle to save Africa’s elephants and protect the intrinsic right of wild species to exist with or without mankind. I share this passion, shaped by a conservationist mindset rooted in biology and science. We live on a beautiful, finite planet—a fact we ignore at our peril.

After my dad received his DPhil from Oxford, we returned to Kenya from Tanzania, just as the ivory trade spiraled out of control. My parents launched a fifteen-year campaign against elephant poaching, seeing the crisis coming before most. But the trade was deeply entrenched and lucrative—few wanted to believe them.

To awaken the world, they needed hard data. This led to the first pan-African elephant census, counting live elephants and carcasses, even using dung counts in forests. As a teenager, from about 15 onwards, I flew over Tsavo National Park with my dad and saw entire families of elephants gunned down in heaps, having fallen as they ran—the smell of death reaching us 500 feet above.

In 1980, we moved to Uganda, shortly after Idi Amin’s fall. Amidst civil war and ivory wars, my father served as stand-in warden in the national parks. Gunfire echoed each night. We lived under curfew, surrounded by chaos.

As a child, I absorbed it all. The starvation, that we saw all around us, the stories of Amin’s cruelty, and the environmental devastation left a deep imprint. Raised as conservationists, my sister and I chose different paths from one another, but both of us remain 100% engaged and hands on committed to conservation. Now, with children of our own, leaving the world better is our absolute priority.

POH – Frank : What do you believe makes elephants so unique in the animal kingdom, both emotionally and spiritually?

Saba: Elephants are special because they’re so like humans in so many ways, yet also utterly different. They feel things very deeply, just like us. Love, grief, anger, lust – and more complex emotions like empathy and compassion that – as far as we know – are shared only by elephants, cetaceans and great apes (obvs humans are in this last category!). 

They’re super-intelligent too with a type of consciousness parallel to our own.  Recent research by Cornell Institute of Ornithology and Save The Elephants, in collaboration with the Amboseli Trust for Elephants, and Elephant Voices  proved that elephants call each other by abstract names. (More info here) 

As highly social animals they’re always doing something interesting, and the more you get to know them as individuals, the more you understand that each one has its own unique personality and character, is defined by its life experiences, and relies heavily on the elephants it knows for love and support. All of which are very similar to humans. 

Elephants are important because they also symbolise something much greater – as a keystone species, their presence or absence shapes entire ecosystems, so if we manage to protect enough space for wild elephants then we are also potentially protecting the biodiversity of their natural habitat that we need for our own long term survival.

What I’ve learnt from elephants is that their love for one another and consistent mutual support is the social glue that binds them together. The importance of an extended family in raising offspring is central to their society. Matriarchs have also shown me that being female doesn’t make you the weaker sex.  In fact the opposite is true. Their ferocity and courage is legendary, especially when it comes to protecting their young. As is their wisdom and the social reach of their long memories.  In fact, the intense lifelong relationships elephants have with their female offspring epitomises the saying “you get back what you put in”. Which is why I’m a firm believer in the role a mother plays raising her kids to be conscious, altruistic, ethical and responsible citizens of the world.

POH- Frank: How do you define healing, and what role do elephants play in the healing process for humans?

Saba: Healing should involve body, mind and spirit/soul.  I think that elephants symbolise so much of what is magnificent, mysterious and awe-inspiring about the natural world. When that relationship is broken there is an impoverishment of the spirit that reduces what we are.  Communing with elephants – even if it’s one-sided, opens one’s heart up again to all the things that are greater than ourselves. 

POH- Frank: Could you walk us through a typical day at the Elephant Watch Safari Camp?

Saba: Elephant Watch Camp is a conservation-led social enterprise offering guests unforgettable encounters with wild elephants, guided by ambassadors from the local nomadic community. Thanks to a long-term study by Save The Elephants, over 1,000 elephants in Samburu are known by name, and our deep relationship with them helps open people’s hearts through “elephant-watching.”

Designed and built by my mother Oria in 2002, the Camp was created as a “home from home” for those passionate about elephants and their conservation. It’s beautiful and rather luxurious, but we are conservationists first, using our love for Africa’s wildlife to build alliances for elephants with people from all around the world who come to Africa with the same passion for wildlife and diverse cultures—a very different experience from a typical Big Five safari.

Every detail is eco-conscious and beautifully integrated into the natural world. Each tent is built from upcycled natural materials and fitted around the trees. Located by the Ewaso Nyiro River, mornings begin with birdsong, and nights are filled with the music of frogs and insects. Showers are heated by the sun, and moonlight is the only glow that disturbs your dreams.

Despite its rustic charm, the Camp is comfortable and stylish, with delicious homemade food and thoughtfully designed interiors. Sustainability is our standard, and what makes us truly special is our deep relationship with the Samburu people. All staff are hired from nearby communities, and their resilience and humour bring the Camp to life. Their presence is our secret weapon in winning people over to the conservation cause.

With Save The Elephants nearby, we share unmatched access to elephant research. We introduce guests to individual elephants like Anastasia, Cinnamon, and Euphrates, from the Royals, Spices and Rivers families – and introduce guests to their family histories, behaviours, and personalities—making every safari deeply personal.

Elephants regularly wander through Camp, especially in the sagaram season. I was once held hostage in the Mess tent by three bulls for six hours. We know them by ear patterns and tusk shapes—they feel like extended family. Some sleep next to us; others like Sarara loudly scrape pods from our roof. Our kids have grown bush-wise, mentored by young Samburu warriors. Teaching them to see and respect the wild world is the greatest gift we can offer.

Here more info about the Elephant Watch Safari Camp

POH-Frank: Is the camp open year-round, and what seasonal differences might guests experience?

Saba: The best time in Samburu is just after the rains – Dec/Jan or May/June – when the landscape is verdant green and the herbivores fat and happy.  It’s when elephants can be seen in great numbers with the biggest bulls in musth, lots of babies being born and females coming into estrus.  In the dry season (July-Oct and Feb-March) the herds break up into smaller units out of necessity, close female relatives with their offspring, or, when times are really tough, right down to their natal units, as they have to cover greater areas in search of food and water.  But the dry season is when the predators come into their own, with lots of cubs born and fat happy cats feasting on weakened prey, which, in turn, improves the health of the ecosystem.  We close for the rains from 20th Oct to 10th Dec and then again from 20th March to 10th May.

POH-Frank: Beyond safaris, what other therapeutic, wellness or spiritual activities do you offer at the camp?

• Long walks through the bush up along sand rivers or to beautiful viewpoints to watch celestial events – sunrise, sunset, moonrise, star-gazing, moon-bathing, unusual planetary line-ups, meteor showers, or the coming of rainstorms – and celebrate with the Samburu by feasting and dancing by firelight. 
• Hiking up Ol Donyo Sapache – a flat topped mountain sacred to the Samburu, to collect medicinal herbs and watch eagles catch thermals along the cliff edge
• Meditation by the mystical Ewaso Nyiro river
• Samburu traditional blessings, prayers,cleansing and healing ceremonies
• Early morning tea spiced with cinnamon, ginger, cardamon during the dawn chorus, as a host of small creatures rustle around in the nearby undergrowth
• Picnics with elephants
• Botanical walks to discover the healing/medicinal plants
• We have a private exercise area for yoga, stretching or TRX / HIIT workouts.