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Frans Lanting Interview with Joanne Thomas, Holland Herald, August 2003
Frans Lanting is one of the best and most well-known nature photographers of our time. He tells Joanne Thomas about his favorite view, eating eyeball soup in Kyrgyzstan, and his "wonders of the world".
What do you love most about travelling?
What I love most is to arrive in a place I have never been before and immerse myself in a new culture and environment - to experience first-hand what I thought I knew, but which turns out to be much more interesting and surprising once you are there.
What's the worst travel experience you've ever had?
From a physical point of view, when the Congo was still Zaire and I was one of the last photojournalists allowed in there, I contracted near-fatal cerebral malaria. I was taken to the Harbour hospital in Rotterdam just in the nick of time.
What are your Seven Wonders of the World?
Okavango Delta; Antarctica; Madagascar; The Eastern slopes of the Andes (Peru); The Galapagos; Monterey Bay, California. I'll keep the seventh wonder open, as I am still hoping to explore more!
What is the most exotic place you have been to?
Depends what you mean by exotic, but one of the most extreme places I have been to involved camping on sea-ice for a month in Antarctica. Apart from the colony of emperor penguins, there was nothing alive. you could hear your own blood in your ears. It is the closest I've ever felt to another planet on earth.
Apart from your travel documents and essential clothing, what would you never travel without?
There is a long list - I don't travel lightly. I took 23 suitcases to Borneo. Since then I have trimmed down, but I still take over 200 kilograms of gear on many trips.
Which view from a hotel window will you never forget?
Years ago, before China opened up, I had an assignment in southern China, covering Guilin. Tourist officials fixed me up in big hotels but I managed to find a small hotel on a bend in the Li River overlooking the most glorious landscape you could imagine. The hotel was run down, the food was dubious, but the view outside the window was priceless.
What's the most touching display of the kindness of strangers you have come across while travelling?
I have found that the poorer people are, the more generous they become. Tribal people in Southwest Madagascar taught me a lot about basic civility.
Do you still entertain the idea of "roughing it" or is it five stars all the way?
Whatever is necessary. It's the travel itself that dictates how I travel - sometimes comfy, sometimes dirty. I still like to camp.
What is the most unusual or exciting experience you've had on a trip?
On my last big trip I was flying in a small bush plane over glaciers in Alaska. In one month we travelled 8,000 kilometers over ice and snow.
What is the funniest experience you've ever had in a hotel?
I don't know about funniest, but the most unusual was having to bribe the operator in the Intercontinental Hotel in Kinshasa to accept telephone calls from my wife.
What is the strangest food you have ever eaten while travelling?
The strangest food I have rejected is eyeball soup in Kyrgyzstan. I managed to talk my way out of eating the actual eyeballs!
What recording and book would you take with you to a desert island?
Music for 18 Musicians by Steve Reich, and my laptop, with all the books of the world downloaded onto it.
Where would you still like to travel?
More widely in my own backyard. I overlook the Pacific Ocean and to my left is a Redwood forest with ravens circling. And beyond the horizon...there are too many places.
Describe the most dangerous aspect of your travels.
It is not necessarily the animals - I get along with animals. It is the customs officials and bureaucracy in certain countries. I have had some nightmarish experiences in places like India and Russia.
Nowadays do you choose to travel or does your career force you to travel?
Travelling is a necessity for my career, but it goes hand-in-hand with my interests. I love to explore and probe around.
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