The stars aligned for us in Zanzibar
CONTINUING our series featuring the holiday memories of famous people, this week actress AMANDA
REDMAN, 60, recalls her lifetime of adventures.
My first holiday
I remember going to Tintagel in Cornwall with my family when I was about seven. We drove there from Brighton, which took forever. The area is so steeped in myths and I was fascinated by all the Arthurian legends. We visited Merlin’s Cave and I had a Cornish cream tea for the first time. I still adore them now.
First time abroad
We went to South Africa when I was 11. My dad Ron worked for publishers Hutchinson and he had to man the Johannesburg office for six months. It seemed so exotic seeing local women carrying baskets of fruits on their head. I went to school there and adapted quickly.
I remember being given biltong, a dry cured meat, and hating it. But I loved drinking root beer which I thought was alcoholic. And going to the drive-in hamburger joints was so exciting. It was just like being in the movies.
Most memorable school trip
We took a cruise to Moscow, Finland and Denmark when I was 16. It was in the 1970s and we were visiting these extraordinary places. It seems incredible now.
I remember buying vodka in Moscow, secreting it back on to the ship, and getting drunk in our cabin. I attended an allgirls’ grammar school but all the local state schools were on the trip too so there were boys on board. Of course there were shenanigans. Where there’s a will…
My honeymoon
My husband Damian and I headed to a beautiful private tropical island called Benguerra in the Indian Ocean in 2010. To reach the island, we flew by helicopter from Mozambique. Benguerra is the second-largest island in the Bazaruto archipelago and has white-sand beaches and turquoise sea. We had our own plunge pool and a butler and it was Margherita Time every day.
I am an all-or-nothing person. I work really hard but when I relax, I can lie on a sunlounger for an entire day.
My holiday nightmare
I split up with my thenboyfriend during a trip to Morocco. We then had to stay together until we returned home a week later because we were in the middle of nowhere. To say it was strained is an understatement – it was utterly horrific.
My best break
Damian and I went to Zanzibar in 1999, our first holiday together. It cemented our relationship and made me realise that he was my soulmate.
It was also one of the most magical places I’ve ever been to. It was so romantic that I sobbed when I got there and couldn’t stop crying. I had never seen a place so lovely in my life.
The stars were unlike anything else I’ve ever seen, and as Damian is interested in astronomy, in the evenings we
Dream destination
Bora Bora. I’d love to go to the French Polynesian Islands. The beaches and the people look so stunningly beautiful. Anything to do with the South Pacific islands intrigues me because they are so far away. I loved the movie Mutiny On The Bounty and the book Moby-Dick is a favourite too. My husband has been there and every time it is suggested, he says I wouldn’t like it and I’d be disappointed by all the American chain hotels. But I will insist we go one day.