My Kind of Holiday

Where did you spend your last holiday? Barcelona and Catalonia. What was the best thing you did while there? Had a meal at the world’s No 1 restaurant, Celler de can Roca. Who would be your fantasy holiday companion and why? The world's best travel writer, Pico Iyer. I'd love to see unfamiliar places with his ability to get beyond the obvious.

Your favourite SA destination, and why? The Kruger National Park, for its unrivalled game viewing and superb infrastructure.

Your favourite restaurant, anywhere? What is the most exotic dish you have ever eaten on holiday?

Bhutan. Grabbing some leaves to use as loo paper in Rwanda without realising there were stinging nettles in the bunch. Eina!

Your favourite city abroad and why? Barcelona. It’s full of energy, with a marvellous mix of old and new, and not complacent about old glories.

What must a first-time visitor see there? Anything that has the Gaudi touch, especially the Sagrada Familia.

What should they not bother with? The dozens and dozens of over-priced tapas bars on the main tourist streets.

What was your best holiday, ever? Three weeks in Cameroon, Central African Republic and Republic of Congo. I enjoyed gorillas, forest elephants and dancing with the Ba-Aka pygmies. Which is the worst hotel you have stayed in? Hotel Elephant in Yokadouma, Cameroon — 40°C, 100% humidity, no electricity, so no working fans or cold beers. There were 100 insects per square inch and sullen staff. But we were offered a (live) dwarf crocodile for supper. What is the best thing you’ve been given on holiday?

A bottle of 1990 Romanee Conti.

Terroirs Wine Bar in London. Karite caterpillar in Cameroon — it tasted like a briquette marinated in sewage. One place you want to see before you die? Have you had any embarrassing moments as a traveller?