Born to cruise

I've got my car. It coughs in the mornings and splutters but I just need to master the choke. It doesn't like the cold, poor mite. Here is a picture of one just like it... I told you it wasn't pretty!

The long weekend that was due to national 'youth day' on Friday was sunny and lovely, but in the end I stayed in Cape Town. There is so much to see with a car! Next weekend I'll venture down the cape peninsula, or up to the vineyards. Cousin is very keen on not having to be the designated driver and I need the practice.

I'm slowly recovering after last week's hiatus and am thinking about what to put in my next issue. There's a chinese premier minister travelling around the continent shaking hands and announcing things, so I thought I'd take an in-depth look at their financing of African science. It's no secret that China is VERY interested in Africa's natural resources - its oil in particular. Presumably they are interested in Africa's brains as well...

There's all sorts of delays to do with printing the cover letter to go with the first issue mail outs. So I don't think those of you who are reading this from the UK or elsewhere will get your hands on a copy until early next week. But I'll say when the site goes online and you should be able to download pdf versions.

For those of you who are interested, SciDev.net has an interesting editorial about science in Africa. http://www.scidev.net/content/editorials/eng/african-science-now-is-the-time-to-deliver.cfm