My Kind of Holiday

Where did you spend your last holiday?

Maun in the Okavango Delta, Botswana.

Your favourite city abroad and why?

Brussels impressed me a lot: the architecture and infrastructure are amazing.

What must a first-time visitor see there?

Mozambique. We went to Pemba, Nampula and Maputo. A very beautiful country it is.

And your worst to date?

The underground train system.

What should they not bother with?

Speaking anything but French.

What was your best holiday, ever?

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. We were apprehended by immigration officers, who confiscated our passports in an attempt to extort a bribe of $1 000 from us. We spent the next three days held up at the South African consulate trying to resolve the matter.

What is the best thing you have been given on holiday . . . or pinched from a hotel?

While walking along the beach one morning in Maputo, I saw a group of people who were walking into the sea, where a prophet was baptising them. I joined them and when the prophet put his hand on my head and sank me into the dirty water, I felt a sensation impossible to articulate in simple English.

Who would be your fantasy holiday companion and why?

Richard Branson. The man is an adventure freak, so I assume there wouldn’t be a dull moment during that holiday, and he is my business role model as well.

One place you want to see before you die?

New York City.

Have you had any embarrassing moments as a traveller?

Diarrhea on a taxi from Dar es Salaam to Blantyre, Malawi. It was two days of hell with only pit toilets along the whole way, even at the border-gate. I never thought I would treasure the sight of a bowl toilet the way I did when I reached Blantyre.

What do you avoid on holiday?

Food that I don’t know.

What’s your best piece of travel advice?

Do not visit foreign countries without arranging to have a local meet up with you at the border or the airport.