AS I write, I have been travelling for the last 24 hours and have escaped the cold, grey winter in the UK for a few days.

I am in the sun of Cape Town, staring at the bulk of Table Mountain, which dominates the city. It’s one of those things that so impacts you as you go about your business, it’s never far from your thoughts. I can’t think of a UK city that has the same physical presence, except possibly Edinburgh with its volcanic plug, Arthur’s Seat.

Sitting outside at a bar with a milkshake, it was interesting watching the plentiful supply of tourists walking up and down. Most stopped to admire the mountain and then took the ubiquitous selfie – this is one of the world’s most photographed lumps of rock, for sure.

The rocks that make up Table Mountain are about 600-million years old and the mountain itself is over 200 million years old, making it one of the oldest on earth. This is because mountains are a temporary feature, in geological terms, as they are subject to erosion and therefore reduce over time. The mountain formed when Africa and South America collided and it’s estimated it was originally three-to-four times higher. In about 10 million years there won’t be much left.

Table Mountain forms the centrepiece of the Table Mountain National Park, which has 8,000 plant species in it - we have about 1,500 in the UK.

From here, we head across to Madagascar in a few days, travelling down to the arid south of the island. Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world, with an astonishing diversity of flora and fauna. We will be at a camp in the remote south but with modern tech I’ll be sending a report from there in a week’s time!