Q&A with Peter Giraudo

• What is your greatest accomplishment?

  Managing to reach elder status despite decades of ignoring doctors.

• What drives you and what are you passionate about?

  The wilder, stranger and more remote a place is, the better.

• If you had one last safari where would you go and why?

  I’d go to Masoala Rainforest in Madagascar,1 million acres of unique flora and fauna that run down to sandy beaches, with a magical bay full of breaching whales.

• How did you start out in guiding?

  Safaris were the chief recreation in Kenya when I was growing up – we did not have opera, theme parks, great libraries and so on we had nature.

• What’s your favorite place in Africa and why?

  Gol Kopjes, Serengeti at 6.30 am on a clear sunrise – the beauty is numinous.

• Have you ever been really scared on safari?

  Walking a riverbank and meeting a hippo coming my way.

• What three books do you recommend your guests read before going on safari?

  • The Tree Where Man Was Born
  • The Garden of Mars – Madagascar
  • Any good regional field guide

• What are the three most important pieces of kit for guests to bring along?

  The senses of adventure and humour plus good binoculars.

• What is your motto in life and what concepts are sacred?

  Think for yourself, question conventions, puncture pretences and live freely.

• Which rules have you made, which ones do you follow and which rules do you break?

  One should cultivate a fine disregard for all rules except the Golden One.

• What's your most embarrassing or comical moments ever on safari?

  In the days before GPS I took a wrong turn and ended up 30 miles from camp, in Serengeti, at night.