Sir David Attenborough hails you as the new wildlife guru. How did you get into it?

I grew up in Nepal ... it gave me a love of animals and wild places. Plus, I find the overlap between the animal kingdom and the human world fascinating.

Do you live a nomadic lifestyle?

I've just been in Uganda, filming chimps. I've never been to the site before but just felt so at home.

Does it take long to bond with the chimps?

The researchers gain their trust over a long period, and then I go and stand on their shoulders. Some chimps are bolder than others, others are shyer, but they will certainly tolerate you coming within a few metres.

Ever had any close calls?

A few. There are a lot of poisonous snakes in the bush, and the law of probability dictates that if you spend your days crawling through the undergrowth, at some point you will get bitten. I've been charged by an elephant in the Congo and kicked by a mating gorilla ... but it's all fun and games.

Life back in Blighty must seem a bit dull

I used to be away a lot and would come home just to use the washing machine. But since my marriage last year, I've decided to spend more time at home with my husband. Also, you do need to recharge your batteries on these trips, and I don't want it to ever stop being exciting.

Are you a bit of a safari Barbie?

I think it's always nice to look attractive on television - but sometimes, when you get up at 4am and there are obviously no make-up artists or hairdressers or anything . . .

Camera shy?

A bit. But as soon as I see the chimps, I leave it up to them to do their amazing things and I translate. I've never asked them whether they feel nervous though.

Are you an outdoorsy type?

Yes and I'm quite active. But I often feel that all I want to do when I get back from the bush, with all the walking and climbing that I have to do, is flop in the hammock. I certainly don't go to the gym three times a week.

Are you naturally slim?

I wouldn't say that I'm thin, but I eat quite a lot and manage not to put weight on. I've pretty much stayed the same size all my adult life.

So no diets?

No, and certainly not on these trips.

Do you have to survive on leaves and berries?

It's always very basic - rice and beans, for example - but we'll take something like chorizo to spice it up a bit.

Ever been served anything nasty?

In West Africa, I was given a fiery stew that was impossible to swallow. Later I found out that it was rat, and the chillies were to disguise it.

Find it hard to adapt between cultures?

When you spend a lot of time in countries that are so desperately poor, it does seem as if we've gone a bit mad in the Western world. Just being able to turn on a tap and have water, rather than walking for three hours and carrying back a huge bucket on your head, is a huge luxury. I'm a great believer in contrast - roughing it, then going out for a really lovely meal in London.

Not one for the more materialistic things in life, then?

If I had a run-in with an elephant, then I might have some plastic surgery to try to put my face back together.

Any vices?

I smoke. I want to give up and it's a shoddy habit, but when you're in the middle of nowhere and it's the end of the day, there's something really lovely about having a cigarette.

Pick up any natural remedies in the jungle?

I had terrible toothache in Tanzania. One of the locals I was working with told me about the bark of a root that I then shaved off, boiled up and gargled over two days. It cured it.

Look to a higher being to keep you safe at night?

In a very personal way, yes. I don't really subscribe to any established religion, but I think that I have my own spiritual connection. Whether that's with a higher being, or an energy or life force, I'm not sure.

Any life philosophies?

Realising that I'm just a small cog in a pot of something much bigger.I think it's a very Indian way of looking at things. They have a sense of responsibility and think about what they're going to achieve during their lives to benefit the planet and humanity as a whole, rather than just for themselves.

What makes you happy?

My husband, my family and friends, or my dog. The best things in life really are free.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

Give up smoking . . . or maybe to be more self-disciplined in general.

Animal Life, by Charlotte Uhlenbroek (Dorling Kindersley), is out on October 1

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