Emily Child: fleeing lightning in Rwanda, loving locals on Lake Malawi

I’m an actor and I’m playing Blanche DuBois in the Tennessee Williams play A Streetcar Named Desire at Theatre on the Bay. It’s a classic American tale of passion, longing, rage and beauty. It’s a great privilege for me to get to perform this work alongside the Luitingh Alexander Musical Theatre Academy (Lamta) students.

Three words that describe my travel personality are “adventurous”, “curious” and “hungry”.

A bizarre thing that’s happened on my holidays: My husband and I were camping in Akagera National Park in Rwanda, and the weather was perfect. Sunshine was predicted for the next few days. After a perfect sunset, we went to sleep, but were later woken up by gale-force winds and rain so hard it flattened our tent. Lightning was striking the ground around us, but we managed to crawl out of our tent and get to our car. We slept there for the rest of the night. It was wild!

My first trip abroad was to London and Leeds, England, to visit family. I remember going to the theatre to see Oliver. It was the first time I had ever seen a musical. I was completely enthralled. Everything felt so real to me! One of Fagin’s boys slept in a drawer, and I found this fascinating. I was filled with wonder. It was the first time I recognised the power of design and performance, as well as the beautiful trickery of the theatre. I fell in love with it.

I grew up in Johannesburg, and we would often go to Durban on holiday. The thing I remember most is spending hours looking in rock pools by the sea, wishing I was a mermaid.

I really love Rio. Brazilians are kind, confident and joyful. There is incredible music and art everywhere, and I love a caipirinha. On a perfect day there, I would start by grabbing a pastry from one of the amazing little bakeries in Urca and going for a walk around the botanical gardens. I would then head to Copacabana for a long swim, followed by caipirinhas and prawns on the beach. I would also go to The Maze in Comunidade Tavares Bastos to watch the sunset and hear live music. I would then dance the night away and sleep somewhere I could hear the sea.

My worst travel experience was getting stuck on the tarmac in 45°C heat in a full plane on one leg of the journey to Sierra Leone. The air conditioning was broken, and we couldn’t go outside.

Here’s a funny travel story I would tell at a dinner party: our backpacks, hiking shoes and all our camping equipment got lost by the airline on our way to the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. Geoff and I hiked almost the full two weeks of the Hebridean Way without any gear, using dustbin bags as raincoats. Dustbin bags are very loud in the wind, so it was like walking with a train station right next to your head. It was hilarious and brilliant.

I am an adventurous eater when I travel. I like to try as much new and interesting food as I can! The weirdest food I have ever eaten is probably grilled cane rat in Ghana. It’s pretty tasty, actually!

One tourist attraction everyone should see before they die? The red sand dunes in southern Namibia. Camp there and watch the stars at night.

A memorable restaurant I ate in overseas was the Ben Abeba in Lalibela in Ethiopia. It’s basically an artwork in itself, and has the best food and the most incredible views.

My hometown is Cape Town. If I were showing tourists around, I would take them on a hike up Table Mountain, for a sail around Table Bay, and for a burger and a beer at the Taproom in Salt River. It’s the best eatery in town and has the loveliest staff.

The one thing I always make sure I do on holiday is keep my passport safe and eat all the new food I can! You can learn so much about a culture from how and what people eat.

I try not to collect too many souvenirs along the way because it’s easier to travel light. But I always try to support small local businesses, so I buy useful things when I can. My husband and I bought two Tonga stools from Zambia, and we use them all the time, so those are probably my favourites. Those and art. We always try to buy a piece of art from wherever we happen to find ourselves.

My ultimate bucket-list destination is Antarctica. We are sailing there in December, so let’s see what happens!

My most relaxing destination is Lake Malawi. Time slows down there, and whenever I am there I feel I would like to stay forever. Malawi is also the place with the most friendly locals. I have never encountered a gentler and more generous people.

One tourist attraction that surprised me is the Guggenheim Museum in New York. It is so beautiful, but it was very crowded when I was there, and the spiral design made me feel trapped, so I had a panic attack and left. I’d love to go back and experience that design again — albeit sans anxiety.

Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town is my favourite museum. It’s such a beautiful building, and to walk around the Company Gardens afterwards is one of my most cherished things to do in Cape Town.

The most difficult, remote or adventurous destination I’ve ever been to was Sierra Leone. My husband and I hiked for days through the Gola Forest to see a bird, the white-necked rockfowl (Picathartes gymnocephalus). It was incredible. 

• Emily Child plays Blanche DuBois in Lamta’s A Streetcar Named Desire at Theatre on the Bay, on now until August 24. Book via Webtickets.