YOU ARE ALIVE FOR THIS MOMENT
The actor tells us how being present — and the kindness of strangers — can make all the difference
Describe the first holiday you remember as a child.
My parents loved the Drakensberg. We usually checked into Giant’s Castle in the July holidays. Those early Natal Parks Board resorts were a comfortable compromise between rustic and pampering. (A cook used to collect whatever food you’d brought along and make something, according to your request.) Every time I return to those mountains, I hear my mother’s voice.
And your first trip abroad?
Backpacking around the Middle East and Europe once I’d completed my degree. I started on a kibbutz up in the Galilee, hitchhiked around Israel and then took a ferry to Turkey ...
What is the most difficult, remote or adventurous destination you’ve ever been to?
I was a presenter on Going Nowhere Slowly for a few seasons, and landed up in Madagascar at some point: I was tasked with covering the geologically surreal landscape that is the Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park.
We landed in a single-engine plane, in a remote village somewhere in central Madagascar, and the landing strip was filled with ant hills. Mercifully, the pilot negotiated those and we came to a jerky stop, only to discover that we had landed about four hours off target. So the rest of the journey had to be on motorbikes. But that landscape … imagine a few million of Notre Dame’s gothic spires clustered together. Unforgettable.
What is the best way to travel once you are abroad?
Impromptu. I like spotting opportunities once I’m there.
What is your favourite city here or abroad?
Cape Town. The proximity of that mountain … those mountains, including the Cederberg, is magical.
Do you prefer roughing it or luxury when travelling?
I’m not happy with pretentiousness when it comes to accommodation, but I wouldn’t turn down a luxurious experience. Generally, I enjoy access to natural environments, so camping and hiking (and sleeping in caves in the ’Berg) are more alluring than a hotel.
The five-day traverse across Cathedral Peak includes four cave sleepovers — it’s a profound experience. The last time I was there, just after sunset, I sat alone in a small valley with hundreds of fireflies glowing around me.
What has been your worst travel experience?
I lost my passport in Turkey. I left it behind at a truck stop a whole day’s journey from the border. The border police were unforgiving to say the least. It became quite dangerous, until an expat (a Turk, now living in Germany), stopped and drove me back into Istanbul.
What is your best piece of travel advice?
Be present. You are alive for this moment.
What do you hate about travelling or holidays?
Queues.
Oddest thing you’ve experienced/that happened while travelling?
When I arrived with the expat in Istanbul, the driver leaped out at a bus station to buy me tickets for a return to the border the next day. When he left me, a water seller saw that I was distressed and gave me a drink.
The shoe-shine boys at the truck stop I stayed at packed me a lunch for the next day, and sent me off with a blessing. I think about those moments of serendipity often.
What elements — destination, people, attractions, etc — make up your perfect holiday?
Nature and present people. The serendipity of that magical kind mentioned above.
Name one place you really want to go, now or at least some day?
George Monbiot mentions in his book, Feral: Searching for enchantment on the frontiers of
rewilding, that the forests of Eastern Europe have begun to return to as pristine a state as we can only imagine. That’s where I’d love to travel to next.
Dowds is starring in The Curious Incident of
the Dog in the Night-time at the Pieter Toerien Theatre at Montecasino until December 2.