If you could spend a day with anyone in history, who would it be and why?

                “My childhood in Corfu shaped my life. If I had the craft of Merlin, I would give every child the gift of my childhood.” 

― Gerald Durrell, My Family and Other Animals

Gerald Durrell 

with Ulysses the Owl

     My entire life, my father who is a vet but also a nature lover, has always been pushing me to read books about wildlife, and animals. There was one book that he actually managed to convince me to read, that ended up being one of the best reads I have ever come across. It's one of those few books that you cannot put down until you reach the final page, one of those that open your mind to see the world from a whole new and more colourful perspective. Not less importantly, the author's irresistible humour makes this read even more enjoyable. When I was eleven, while on vacation in France, I finally decided to read My Family And Other Animals by Gerald Durrell. I swallowed it in two days. Without any thought, if I could spend one day with anyone in history, I would definitely like to spend it with Gerald Durrell.

On the Azure Coast in the Yellow Villa with Blue Shutters 

reading 

My Family and Other Animals

      Besides being a famous author, Durrell made a carrier as a naturalist, zookeeper, conservationist, and a television personality. He was born in 1925 in British India, but his widowed mother soon moved the family back to England. At his age of ten, the family - unable to acclimatize to the grey and rainy homeland, relocated to the sunny Greek island, Corfu. This is where Durrell spent the most wonderful years of his childhood, creating a bunch of hilarious, sad and happy memories, that he later wrote books about- including Birds, Beasts And Other Relatives, The Garden of the Gods, and the most famous of all, My Family And Other Animals. As a child, he never wanted to learn about anything other than animals and nature, but his mother refused to accept no formal education as an option. He was home-schooled and tutored by some of his oldest brother Lawrence's friends, and by Dr. Theodore Stephanides. Theodore became Gerald's idol in no time because Theodore understood Gerald's interests in nature better than anyone else. When World War Two broke out, the Durrells thought it was best for them to move back to England. Everyone was heartbroken, especially Gerald. 

Dr. Theodore Stephanides

     As a teenager, he managed to find a job in a pet store, and later in a zoo. This opened his mind to the thought of working with animals as a career.  He desperately tried to join animal collecting expeditions overseas, but was denied many times due to lack of experience. Finally, using inheritance from his late father, he financed his first expedition to Africa, to collect animals for various British zoos. Soon, Gerald Durrell came to the realization that one of the main roles of zoos today should be in preservation of endangered species. He started focusing on collecting specimens of disappearing species and organizing their breeding in captivity. In 1958, after a few successful expeditions to Africa and South America, Durrell first founded his own Jersey Zoological Park that housed his growing collection of animals, and only a few years later, the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust. In the 1970s, the Trust became a leading organization in the field of captive breeding, helping to rescue species like the Lowland Gorilla, and various Mauritian fauna. The Trust later opened chapters worldwide. Even in Canada, the Trust is among the most successful nature conservation funds.

    It was a very long and exciting journey that Gerald took: from the little adventures boy passionately exploring all shapes and forms of life on island of Corfu, to the celebrated author and one of the world's most famous conservationists. Although Gerald Durrell's entire life was an extraordinary adventure, I would still choose to spend a day on Corfu with Gerry the ten year old boy.

    It is early morning and I imagine myself sitting alongside Gerry in an olive tree grove, watching scorpions nest, listening to cicadas warble, and eating fresh figs. We are just on our way to meet the Rose-Beetle Man, and Roger is running around us, exploring with his nose and happily wagging his tail. The Rose-Beetle Man will sell us a little tortoise that we will name Achilles. That day, we would also get a ride from barrel-bodied, with ham-like hands, taxi driver Spiro Americanos in his ancient Dodge and have an outdoor lesson with Theodore. We would go home for lunch and see that Lawrence's very strange friends are back once again.  I'd say that the sun would be so hot, that the whole family would be up for a dip in the Mediterranean where the fish would nibble our toes, followed by a nice fig, grape, and olive snack in a local families home. By evening, when we return to the Daffodil Yellow Villa Gerry's mother, with Lugaretzia's help, would have prepared a delicious greek dinner. To finish off the evening, we would all sit around the fire place listening to Les' terrible attempt to sing and play the guitar.  
The way that Gerald described the tiny island, makes the entire thing seem like a dream. The warm, friendly, yet superstitious people who live on it, it's beautiful beaches, and the unlimited roaming and discovering. Spending a day with Gerry on Corfu would be full of scents, island sunshine, exploring for hours on end, swimming in the Mediterranean, and having lots of fun with his strange yet, loving family: 'Mrs. Durrells' (that is how Spiro called Gerry's mom), Larry - the oldest brother, already a famous author, Les who is obsessed with guns and weapons and Margo, his sister who just cares about her looks! Spending just one day with the Durrells in Corfu would teach me more then a week of school would! 

Gerry and Spiro with the Dodge in the background

    
It seems now that the world Gerald Durrell grew up in is long gone! That way of life belongs to the past, but as he depicts it so colourfully and lively I wish if we would try to live like that today: close to nature, with patience and kindness, in a big and strong family, true friendships, and enjoy simple things and simple life.

      Unfortunately, Gerald Durrell passed away just a few years before I was born, so I will never get a chance to meet him. However, his work lives on, and I hope I will one day get a chance to visit Jersey.