Club People • May 2014
My club: Ben Fogle
Modern adventurer and TV presenter Ben Fogle has raced to the South Pole, rowed across the Atlantic and crossed the Rocky Mountains on a mountain bike. He’s also a Silver Executive Club Members and tells us about his next big challenge, adventuring with kids and snacking on creatures great and small
Interview by Pierre de Villiers
Do you travel mostly for business or leisure?
Most of my travel is for business, but we also travel as a family, perhaps half a dozen times a year. Our little boy, Ludo, has already been to Mozambique with us.
How long have you been an Executive Club member?
I joined about 12 years ago. I was travelling so much – up to 30 long-haul flights a year – that it made sense.
What do you redeem your Avios on?
I don’t usually have the time, but I try to use them for short breaks with my wife.
What’s the most extreme adventure you’ve faced?
The scariest thing I ever did was swimming with Nile crocodiles in Botswana. I wouldn’t do it again. In fact, I don’t think it should be done because the more people who dive with crocodiles, the more habituated they become to humans – and then accidents will happen.
What’s the strangest thing you’ve eaten on your travels?
I’ve eaten everything, including tarantula and guinea pig. Controversially, I ate tree kangaroo in Papua New Guinea. It’s a highly endangered species, which I am rather horrified that I ate. But we visited the local community for whom killing one of these animals was a great honour, and culturally it was very sensitive. The most disgusting thing I’ve eaten was putrefied shark meat in Iceland, which they steep in shark’s urine.
On Ben’s bucket list: the remote and beautiful Comoros Islands
Where haven’t you been that’s on your bucket list?
I’d like to get to the Comoros Islands off Madagascar, and visit Siberia and Hawaii. In terms of big challenges, I still have grand hopes of swimming across the Atlantic Ocean, but it is very much in the planning stage.
Where do you go to escape the crowds in your hometown?
My secret place in London is this café that overlooks the Serpentine in the middle of Hyde Park. We go there with the children and sit and watch the ducks – you feel as if you’re in a different world.
Describe your Perfect Day
I’d travel in First with my family to South Africa, where we would go on safari. We’d then go to Cape Town and eat fresh fish on the beach while the children played in the sand.
What makes you choose to fly with BA?
I am always proud to fly on our national airline. There is something very comforting about BA. And the lounges are excellent.
This article has been tagged BA, Travel Tips