Reflections on two wonderful weeks

Barbara and I are now in Johannesburg airport waiting for our flight back to Cape Town, and catching up on emails. Many thanks to all of you who have commented on Flotation '11. We appreciate your views, which will be invaluable in improving the quality of MEI Conferences.



While relaxing in Madagascar I was reflecting on last week's Flotation '11, and on how privileged we are to have a life in the minerals industry, travelling the world to wonderful places and meeting new and interesting people. It would be hard to find a more beautiful conference venue than Cape Town's Vineyard Hotel and to spend 5 days in the company of old friends and the many new faces who I hope will become part of the MEI fold.

Before we return to a cold and wet winter in Cornwall, we will be spending a week in Noordhoek, just south of Cape Town. I will be responding briefly to emails when possible, but apologies once more to Minerals Engineering authors - I will be getting to grips with your submissions on my return to UK in just over a week's time.

As to Madagascar- we would highly recommend it, and below are a few photos taken during our week on this fascinating and colourful island. Hopefully they capture the various facets of Madagascar, although we saw only a tiny fraction of this huge island, the 4th largest in the world.