Brighton to Cape Town - by Ellen

Monday 4th Jan - Wednesday 6th Jan 2010

By the looks of things we left England at just the right time. Sky News is full of reports of snow, freezing temperatures and travel disruptions. The lack of commuting in my life now seems all the sweeter. Our flight from Gatwick to Dubai was pleasant enough; helped along by the a couple of films, a couple of beers and a couple of naps. Once at Dubai airport we set out to find the elusive lounge that our Silver frequent flyers card would let us into. Once we'd been turned away from both business and first class (ho-hum) we were directed to the other end of the airport to the 'common' Emirates lounge to enjoy the free champagne and food there instead. An unexpected upgrade to Business class was the icing on the 'travel cake'.

I saved my giddy 'ooh we've been upgraded this is the most exciting thing ever' dance until no one was looking. Once we were settled into the flight and I'd polished off yet more complimentary champagne I set about pressing all the buttons on the control panel of my seat. Oh, joy of joys, the chair reclined....FLAT! Oh, and there was the magical button that switched on the massage function....bliss. For a few minutes anyway. Then I started to feel a little sick; the seat vibration was not getting on well with the champagne. And then 'off' button would not work. Luckily an hour later the cabin crew manged to over-ride the system, so jiggle and nausea free sleep commenced.

I awoke during the descent to Jo'burg, still feeling a little sniffly and hot and fuzzy, but well rested. We wondered through to customs and stood in front of the thermal imaging camera. Worryingly, where my face should have been was a suspicious yellow blur. Even more worryingly, there was no green' step this way to enter South Africa' light either. My temperature (37.78oC) and I were promptly escorted to the Medical Centre for further testing. Luckily, my next reading was much lower so I was signed off and sent on my way. I never did ask the question 'what happens if my temperature is to high...?'

Bags and car collected we set off to Bloemfontain. The drive was straight, and flat, and straight and flat and flat and flat and flat.

The next morning, fortified by sleep and a fry up, the 1,000km mission to Cape Town began bright and early. The scenery was just as sparse, but now the scrub land was beginning to be folded into hills; some round others triangular. About 100km north of Beaufont West we could see mountains in the distance, topped by threatening looking clouds. Then the lightening started, and we drove right into the middle of the storm. I genuinely love thunderstorms, but watching the lightening strike the ground just a few hundred meters from the road was a little...unnerving. It also sparked the debate: windows open or windows closed? I was safe in the knowledge that our lovely rubber wheels would keep us alive were we to be hit. But if the windows were open could the lightening get in??? And if the windows were closed would it stop the air inside equalizing with the air pressure outside and we'd implode??? In this situation we though it best to compromise, so continued through the storm with one window open and one window closed.

A major bonus of the storm was that the temperature dropped to a bearable 20oC. The highest we noted whilst driving through the Keroo was 44oC; a little different to the -4 we'd left behind in Brighton. At this temperature the car's feeble AC was blowing out hot air, so we resorted to using the old WWO (Windows Wide Open) trick. Psychologically, this worked a treat. Realistically, it was like being inside an enormous hairdryer, with almost unbearably hot air rushing around us. But accompanied by a blasting sound track of Duran Duran it was surprisingly fun.

A few hours later we were greeted by the sight of Table Mountain, and our very welcoming hosts Collin (Evan's cousin), his wife Sarah, and their youngest son Andrew. We'd finally reached Cape Town, our home for the next few days.

I wonder how many times on this trip I'll be in the sweltering, relentless heat wishing for cold and snow. And how many times I'll be lying on a thin camping mattress, feeling every lump and bump and longing for that massaging seat, wondering how I ever managed to complain about a free business class flight.

African wildlife count: a number of unidentified birds, some (pet) ostriches and a few fields of sheep that looked like they were melting.