Romulus Whitaker

What is my favourite holiday destination When did I last &lsquodo&rsquo a holiday I suddenly realized I just don&rsquot do holidays. My work with films and reptiles takes me to the most remote and beautiful spots on the planet. I&rsquom tempted to say my favourite holiday destination is my home. I suspect that will disappoint readers, so I&rsquoll do my best.

A couple of decades ago, the United Nations sent me to the Rouffaer river in the Indonesian province of West Papua, then called Irian Jaya. A Cessna had dropped me off at a tiny grass airstrip in Korodesi village. I had an Avon inflatable boat, a barrel of petrol, a tent and the good company of two brave tribesmen. For a month, I cruised this beautiful river, counting crocodile eyeshines by night and looking for pythons and monitor lizards by day. It was a herpetologist&rsquos dream job.

I could whine about the bothersome ticks, leeches, mosquitoes, horseflies and sweat bees. But what&rsquos a little suffering when there were fantastic close-up and personal encounters with reptiles. One eighteen-foot-long saltwater croc became most enamoured of our rubber dinghy and we had to beat him off with our plastic paddles Fishing for catfish and barramundi with a handline, using big snails for bait, kept us amused and satiated with plenty of fish to eat. I spent the Christmas &lsquovacation&rsquo in Korodesi with tribal people who just loved dancing and singing. Appropriately for the tropics, my new friends wore hardly any clothing.

The New Year&rsquos feast doubled as my farewell party. Yams, sago grubs, flying foxes, crocodile, python, deer and pig meat were all wrapped in leaves and baked underground using hot rocks, a cooking style called mu-mu. It was a sad farewell, I still don&rsquot know what those lovely people thought about me and my pursuits, but their genuine affection (shown by swatting mozzies on my back) and eagerness to be in on my strange doings, stays with me to this day and makes me warm inside.