I remembered reading about a disease called Leishmaniasis, which matched my symptoms. I'd always thought it was an old wives' tale - a sand fly bite that eats your flesh. But when I looked on the internet and saw pictures of people who had it, their lesions looked like mine.
— Ben Fogle
I'm not one to complain about illness. I suppose I have a bit of a stiff upper lip. I just tend to get on with things.
When I was a child, Lego came in brick form, you'd buy boxes of random bricks. You used your imagination and your mind in your build.
I'd love to go to a remote part of the world or maroon myself on a tropical island, and shoot the whole thing myself. I've always adventured with other people and I'd like to spend some time completely on my own.
I'm a naturally upbeat person. Friends sometimes compare me to a labrador puppy, and I take that as a great compliment. I love life, I love people and I've got loads of energy right up to the moment when I'm suddenly asleep.
I've had enough of the bleak headlines and divisive politics, dark TV dramas and hate-filled social media. I'm embracing a new movement with a slightly ridiculous name and a single mission, to make the world a better place. It's called 'hopepunk'.
I'm a bit dyslexic so I found learning to read hard. I muddled up the letters but learnt to power through.
Holidays are our one big family indulgence.
Both my wife and I are optimists and we look at the positives in life.
I don't enjoy doing exercise at the time, but I enjoy the feeling afterwards.
Part of the beauty of wilderness schooling is that the overheads are very low. You want a classroom? Build a shelter from nature's store. You want to eat? Forage for it.
I don't want my children to feel the same sense of failure I did growing up because they're not good at passing tests.
Ivory is quickly becoming the new blood diamond of Africa and one that fuels militia battles. Some of the most notorious armed groups on the continent, including the Lord's Resistance Army, are hunting down elephants and using the tusks to buy weapons.
I have spent time in many of the world's popular wilderness locations and I would say Nepal should be proud. It is an example of man repairing the damage he has done.
At 19 I left school and embarked on a 9-day bike ride with friends from London to Monte Carlo.
I have found myself increasingly moving away from meat. It hasn't been so much a conscious choice as an organic change.
In terms of TV shows, if you're a public figure, we've all been asked to do some sort of ridiculous show at some stage.
The jungle is my least favourite environment. It's always damp, and everything tries to bite you, whether it's flora or fauna. But I think it's important to face your fears and not just go for the comfortable option.
Many of us will endure a lifetime following others. Institutionalisation suits many but not all. Some of us thrive beyond those boundaries.
Lego for many parents is the antithesis of the high tech world. We are desperate to wean our little ones away from the tablets and into the bricks.
The reality is that my wife would be pretty upset if I went and bought a plot of land somewhere in Outer Mongolia or the Arctic Circle!
Hopepunk works. Try it and I guarantee you will feel better - and so will the people around you. It's positively infectious.
Reading aloud could be humiliating, I was shy about doing it. Bear in mind I failed my English GCSE and A levels, which goes to prove that if I can embrace it, so can anyone.
I love reading. I spend a huge amount of time travelling on planes and have always got a book on the go.
The majority of the time I live out of a rucksack in some jungle or stuck up some mountain. The luxury tends to be when my wife and children are there.
If you look at the positives, if you test yourself and challenge yourself... I describe myself as a 'yes' person. If you say no to too many things, you think 'what if'.
I take echinacea to ward off colds and I go through phases of taking vitamins, but I'd rather eat a lot of fruit and veg than take pills.
The wilderness rescued me. I have been shaped by my experiences in the great outdoors. Feeling comfortable in the wild gave me the confidence to be who I am, not who others want me to be.
Many locals in east Africa are calling for fences to separate wildlife and people. They argue it will reduce conflict and also make it easier to protect the wildlife from poachers. From my experience in Tanzania, no fence and no militia will hold back the tide of poachers drawn by the huge sums of money at stake.
I saw firsthand the devastating consequences of poaching. I saw elephants with ivory hacked from their faces and the lengths private parks go to protect their precious wildlife.
As United Nations patron of the wilderness, one of my roles is to report back from the Earth's remaining wildernesses and to act as a voice for the wild.
I am honoured to be taking part in the Diamond Jubilee flotilla along the Thames in my 20-foot rowing boat. The energy levels will be high, partly because I'm planning to ply the crew with thermos flasks filled with Typhoo!
We experienced a miscarriage at 13 weeks and then a few years later we lost our son Willem at 30 weeks. I held him in my arms and had to organise his funeral.
There are a lot of people that I think look very good - Bryan Ferry and Jude Law dress really well, Steve McQueen was cool, and all the James Bonds have been very dapper.
I like collecting things, much to my wife's annoyance. I keep mementoes because I'm proud of all the things I've done, but also to remind myself, when I'm having a difficult time at home, that there are always tougher, harder things to get through in life.
Where once Lego offered a whimsical form of escapism into the world of the subconscious, encouraging creativity and imagination, it's transformed into a rigid 'box ticking' discipline where children are encouraged to build by conformity.
I stayed with a family in the bush in Alaska and there were absolutely swarms of mosquitos. The crew were wearing full body nets but the family weren't, so I decided that if I was going to do things properly I wouldn't wear them either. I was eaten alive!
There is something very appealing about moving to a faraway place.
Hopepunk is a spirit or a mood. It isn't an actual thing. It is a feeling. It is the Scandinavian concept of 'hygge' or 'coziness' of the mind. It is a warm, happy, charming, uplifting concept that leaves you with a fuzzy feeling in your tummy.
I eventually realised you don't have to understand every single word, and that reading in your head doesn't have to be perfect. Once I took that pressure off, it gave me confidence.
I'd quite like to run the Great Wall of China. I've never been to China and there's something about the Great Wall of China that is so iconic and evocative. It's only 3,000 miles. It's not that far.
I really, really loved Fair Isle. I'd always wanted to go there. It's so beautiful and a very small but very international community. Every nationality that you can imagine have settled there.
Stroking my dog calms me down.
I have an overactive mind and I find that doing exercise clears it.
Let's be honest, some people are better suited to exams than others in the same way that some of us are more sporty or arty.
Armies and former soldiers are working in the field to help protect elephants. Some have suggested staining the ivory; cameras and trackers have even been embedded within the tusk; others have arranged for tusks to be removed pre-emptively by conservationists.
As our focus turns to the oceans and the seemingly impossible task of repairing our marine habitat, we could look at Everest as a fine example of turning back the clock.
In many people's minds, Everest has lost her crown. She has become a mountain synonymous with death, exploitation and pollution.
My wife Marina likes salad and fish and I have reduced my meat consumption to just three times a week. It wouldn't take much to go vegetarian and I may well make that decision soon.
What I miss is being close to nature - collecting your own water and generating your own electricity, catching your own food. I still dream of doing that with my own family, even if it's just for a year-long experiment, I would love to have tried that.
