I was born in New Brighton, Port Elizabeth. My father came from a village near Kenton-on-Sea, where my grandfather had a farm with 300 cattle, and that is where I first went on holiday as a child. It was the most beautiful place to visit. We were considered"the spoilt brats from PE" because we weren't used to sleeping on floors and collecting firewood and so on.
Going there was my first lesson in conservation - we had to collect firewood and would get into trouble if we came back with any branches that still had green on them. We'd also go hunting for dassies and rabbits and if I wanted to go again the next day my father would say no. Suddenly these little rabbits and dassies had faces and families! So that was my lesson in nature conservation and it has stayed with me...A subscription gives you full digital access to all Sunday Times content.