Spectacular, edgy, thrilling and sexy...

For the few hours we were there, Rio was hot, wet and enveloped in low cloud. 

At no point did the place look anything like what the guidebooks show, yet from glimpses I knew that everything I'd ever heard or read about the place was true. 

Nowhere else on earth is there a city setting like this. For drama, Rio beats hands-down Sydney, San Francisco, Hong Kong and Cape Town.

Tall mountains clad in rainforest and favelas; a coastline punctuated with bays, lagoons and legendary beaches; vast concrete fly-overs and tunnels ploughing through mountainsides. 

Between all this - on every buildable square metre of land - the city sprawls and climbs, a chaotic din of dirty and dishevelled styles and scales.

Rio is spectacular, edgy, thrilling and sexy, and I can't wait to return.

Returning to summer.

After five sensational weeks in Africa and five busy but cold, windy and mainly grey days back in London, my friend, Stein, and I are bound for S America tomorrow. 

First stop: Rio de Janiero, then onwards to Buenos Aires. From there, southwards to Ushuaia, Argentina's last frontier and the departure point for our ten day trip to the White Continent, Antarctica.

From what I've read and heard, no place on earth compares to this vast pristine wilderness. It's beauty, scale and majesty supposedly blows the mind. And it's somewhere that I have always wanted to experience.

It's been great to return home for a few days and to catch up with family and some friends - but I can't wait to get back to the southern hemisphere's summer and to embark on this incredible trip.

The last few days in Cape Town...

Apart from leaping off mountains with a parachute (plus, thankfully, a professional) strapped to my back, my last few days in Cape Town have been pretty quiet and very relaxed. 

The weather has settled down to clear, wind-free sunny days so the beach has been top of the To Do list. And recently the seas have also been unusually warm. 

Coming straight-up from the Antarctic, CPT's waters are famed for their year-round iciness and frozen, aching brass monkeys usually ensue after a dip of just a couple of minutes. But unusually warm currents have meant the water has been not just tolerable, but beautiful - and a relief from the heat of the beach. Plus, with a recent full moon, the waves are huuuge.

With it like this, and the prospect of returning to cold Europe, it would be rude not to make the most of the city's beaches in these days; so that's exactly what I've done, with some of the friends I've met since arriving here five weeks ago...

The best way to see Cape Town.

Yesterday I paraglided off Lion's Head in Cape Town. It was an INCREDIBLE airborne 17 minutes. 

New Year's Eve - with a splash of Italian.

A perfect and unforgettable NYE with great (and new) friends.

Around 8pm Howard and I headed over to Ariel and Veit's place. Ingredients for the evening included:

- 14 fun people from Switzerland, Portugal, Italy, SA, Germany and the UK

- perfect Cape Town weather

- copious amounts of Champagne

- a stunning dinner and wines by candlelight.

The evening was relaxed and fun. Everyone came from a variety of backgrounds and got on famously. We toasted our hosts and, of course, midnight. Heart-felt wishes for a wonderful year ahead were shared, fireworks were seen over the ocean and then the lure of the infinity pool kicked-in.

Laura, from Florence, dived into the pool fully clothed. Actually, 'dived' is an exaggeration. In her little black dress and high-rise Roberto Cavallis, she kind of teetered in. A quick succession of others followed.

I wondered how 2009 would play out.

At 4am a number of us headed into town for the remnants of the celebrations there. These were a bit sad, but the good looking (no, make that incredibly good looking) and up-for-it crowd was not.

Just after six, I took a cab back home to Camp's Bay with a crazy driver. Despite feeling lousy, it was an unforgettable Cape Town moment as we drove along the coast road, the sun rising over the Twelve Apostles. 

The blog is about to get out of date order (which for an obsessive like me is a bit of a problem!), but it's time to share some recent Cape Town days and events. 

I'll come back to Namibia.

La Grande Vue.

My friends in Cape Town, Ariel and Veit, have been incredibly kind and generous hosts. 

I always love staying and spending time with them, and am hugely grateful to them for helping make the first few weeks of my time off so wonderful and relaxing. Their company, the friends they've introduced me to here and what we've done together have helped make this trip to CPT the best I've ever had, by a long way.

Thank you, guys. Can't wait to see you in London soon. 

(Your pad - LGV - isn't bad either).