London to Cape Town 2007 - Follow Nick and Vicki's preparations for their 2007 trip here
Join Eric and Amaya on their 30 country, 30 000-kilometre bicycle trip through Africa here
Dick and Judy W, glider pilots, Australia: We just returned from a somewhat more civilised safari in Kenya, and a not at all gliding-oriented trip to South Africa.
Flew to Johannesburg on Qantas late September, had two nights with friends in there before flying SAA to Nairobi. On the Qantas flight we went down to 61deg S and saw ice flows and very large icebergs.
From Nairobi we picked up a personalised Safari Vehicle and driver and had a 10-day safari, visiting national parks such as Samburu, Mt Kenya, Lake Baringo, Lake Nakuru and Maasai Mara. In so doing, saw all types of wildlife whilst we were in a mobile cage. The animals looked far more comfortable than us as the tracks were rough and even the main(?) roads in Kenya are indescribably bad! 
In the Maasai there were at least six balloon operators in the early morning taking the usual complement of international travellers for a low-flying airborne safari. (You can see by the cheetah's yawn that she was quite bored at having us interrupt her nap!.
Back in Johannesburg we rented a 1300cc Toyota to drive from there to Capetown via Durban.  Beautiful roads (a huge contrast after Kenya), signposted at 120kph which none of the locals observed. We were most impressed with the patient Porsche Boxster which closed in quickly behind us, waited patiently for the various Audis, BMWs, VWs, and Mercs to pass us (we were travelling at about 125kph and he didn't have to wait long) and then it zipped past us and in no time at all was just a speck on the distant horizon.
Spent two days looking at the Drakensberg Mountains, just west of Durban, where Jim Bannatyne and Ian Robertson gained Diamond C's in about the mid-1970s. The aerodrome was at about 4000ft and the mountains topped out at over 10500ft.  The site is not far from Howick (about 100k west Durban) where I gathered some gliding takes place.  The mountains are most impressive all throughout South Africa, mostly barren and rocky but fantastic shapes.  The corresponding mountain passes provide breathtaking views and exhilarating driving.  (Picture taken in Drakensbergs on a very hot day on which we decided to do a bit of a hike).
The rest of our trip was coastal and obviously not much for gliding.  However scenery, gorges, farming activity, wineries and the like were interesting. Hermanus was a wonderful site for whale watching without having to hire a boat and there were plenty in the bay to entertain all the watchers.
We had six days in Cape Town and were blessed with lovely fine weather the whole time.  We were told it can be a bit like Melbourne and produce four seasons in one day!  Table Mountain, including the cable car, ride was fascinating and the views over the city and bay were fantastic.  Saw everything we wanted to see including a trip out to Stellenbosch and Franchshoek  vineyard areas.  The vineyard settings with huge mountain backdrops and many with beautiful old Cape Dutch mansions was spectacular.
The flight back to Johannesburg was interesting and economical (1Time and internet booking A$100  each). The terrain looked very similar to our remote inland,  Cloudbase must have been about 8000ft above the terrain meaning about 14000ft AMSL.
Departure for Australia was early evening on a 35-degreeC day from Johannesburg. For those who count seconds to lift off ands get anxious after 40 seconds, you had better adjust your expectations -  6000ft, 30-degrees and fuel for and eleven-and-a-half hour flight leads to about 60 seconds for lift off for 747-400 - big sigh of relief when we finally left the tarmac..
Some hard work researching before we left, some anxious moments, some care needed about being a tourist and aware of your surroundings in displaying wealth or money but modest care suffices. The change of culture is enough to make you notice the differences and enjoy it in retrospect.
B&Bs were excellent throughout the whole trip to Cape Town and the operators were most helpful and easy to get along with.