It’s official. This isn’t some elaborate hoax or cry for help (okay, maybe it is…), we’re actually going to cycle to Kampala. We’ve got bikes and everything.

After a brief, illness enforced, delay as well as unwanted enforced purchase of a return flight – you didn’t expect things to run smoothly, did you? – I landed in Cape Town on Monday morning. By the end of the day I’d found a bike, watched some live music, eaten worms and Impala, and (this is the most impressive thing) worked out what the exchange rate is. I believe it’s the most productive day I’ve had in years.

Check out my steed, it’s got a post-modern, mismatching colour scheme to add the all important sartorial touch.

I’m currently lying in a teepee (or tipi?, we can’t decide) in Noordhoek, south of Cape Town, cocooned in a sleeping bag, blanket and down jacket yet still feeling the chill – why, Africa, why?