Snorkelling? I had a whale of a time
HOLIDAYS OF A LIFETIME CHRIS PACKHAM
CONTINUING our series featuring the holiday memories of famous people, this week wildlife presenter
CHRIS PACKHAM, 57, recalls his lifetime of adventures…
My first proper holiday:
I went to Holland with my family when I was about 11 in our not-so-trusty Vauxhall Viva. We went on the ferry and drove to Katwijk aan Zee, a coastal resort on the North Sea. I was really excited about catching lizards on the sand dunes. Then we toured some of the country, going to museums and galleries in Groningen, Arnhem and Amsterdam.
First time abroad:
A day trip to France with my dad when I was nine. We lived in Southampton, so we took an overnight ferry to Le Havre, which was so exciting. I had a temporary passport. It is a piece of cardboard featuring a picture of me with a very bad haircut. I saw a white Citroen DS in the street that day and I wonder whether my love of cars started at that moment.
Most memorable school trip:
A coach trip to London’s Natural History Museum when I was at secondary school, aged 12 or 13. Many of our school outings were cancelled around that time because of the IRA bombing campaign, and security was strict as we entered the museum. I was far more interested in looking at the exhibits than the other kids. The Dinosaur Hall was my favourite then, and still is.
My best break:
A trip to Sri Lanka two years ago with my stepdaughter Megan and my partner, zookeeper Charlotte Corney. The sole purpose of the trip was to snorkel with sperm whales on the north-east coast in Trincomalee. Megs and I swam from our boat and one huge whale popped up and was eyeballing us from a few feet away. We floated while these massive animals moved around us. Afterwards, we were so overcome that we couldn’t speak.
My holiday nightmare:
A trip to Hawaii in the early 1990s. I’d read a book about surfing and another on the Hawaiian honeycreeper bird, and I was so inspired that I booked a two-week holiday with my then girlfriend. Shortly afterwards, I became bankrupt – I had no house, no money. The holiday was paid for, so we were determined to go, but the weather was dreadful. An enormous hurricane had blown all the birds away and there was no wildlife to see.
Essential holiday item:
I always have my binoculars in my shoulder bag. It means I can identity birds that are a long way away and get cracking views of things, especially if I’m on a boat.
Dream destination:
Kamchatka in Russia. It’s on a peninsula that runs down the eastern coast of Siberia and is accessible only by boat. There are some superb birds there, such as the Steller’s sea eagle and a white goshawk, which I’d love to see. I also want to see the Araripe manakin on the Atlantic coast rainforest of Brazil. This extraordinary rare bird is white and has a stunning red crest – it looks like a New Romantic. There are only 100 of them left.