I swapped war reporting for life in Uganda

Ali finds happiness by going off-grid

- BY HANNAH BRITT

iving off-grid on a remote Ugandan island populated with deadly snakes would be a terrifying prospect for most people. But after a career risking her life reporting from war zones, it is paradise for Ali Porteous.

The former TV camerawoman spent the 1980s reporting on wars in Afghanistan, Peru and Sri Lanka - getting up close to a guerilla army in Ugandan capital Kampala and filming in Osama bin Laden's hideaway.

Now 66, she lives in a basic home on Bulago in Lake Victoria, where she has spent 27 years.

Ali, from Chichester, West Sussex, tells us: "Watching the full moon rise as the sun sets takes precedence over everything. I'm happy to live quite frugally, growing my own fruit and veg where I can. I'm mostly vegetarian, but eat like a queen thanks to 'the pearl of Africa's' lush abundance.

"We grow the juiciest pineapples I've ever tasted and the best avocados."

Her incredible story is revealed in episode one of the new series of Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild. Ali says: "I run everything on solar and don't have heating bills. When I go to the mainland, I drive a 1996 Rav4 car, too old to have airbags.

"Most of my clothes come from a wonderful secondhand shop on the mainland, where I can buy beautiful designer clothes the owner brings from Hollywood."

Her family includes a horse, a donkey and several camels.

She also has dachshunds, Jack Russells and Pomeranians, though life can be dangerous for dogs.