Finally, I can put a big tick on my list of things-to-do-before-I-die, attend a World Cup ... Check!!
The missus and I visited South Africa last week for the football World Cup. The planning for this trip started in June 2009, when we applied for the match tickets, though I must really thank Challa for applying for the tickets for us. We did most of our planning, arrangement for accommodation etc. in December and from then on it was a wait, a long long wait but it was totally worth it.
Our trip started with a long hike to JFK (not amongst my favorite airports) , followed by a flight half-way round the globe to Johannesburg or Jozi as the locals call it, the financial capital of the rainbow nation, South Africa. The airport was alive with World Cup fever - banners, sculptures, FIFA help-desks and a general buzz (though I have to admit that it could have just been me getting high seeing all the FIFA stuff :-)). Given our apprehension about the city, we decided to take the complimentary ride from the airport to our hotel. It was a small guest-house called Dove's Nest close to the airport. In the night, the place seemed secluded and the sliding metal doors behind the glass doors in our room didn't do much to ease our qualms and we were happy that we were leaving early next day. The place looked a lot better during the day though.
The next morning, we took a ride from the hotel to the airport, rented a car, a GPS, picked up some snacks and, most importantly, our match tickets! We then started for Kruger National Park, some 600 km from Johannesburg. After getting lost and driving around for a hour, including driving through some townships, we were finally on N1, a freeway from Johannesburg to Kruger. From then on it was a smooth and a very scenic drive all the way to the Letaba rest camp in Kruger, though we made it only a hour before the gates closed! :-) On the way to our rest camp, we saw African elephants, wild buffaloes, impalas and some birds.
We checked in, registered for a night game-drive and headed to our hut. It was a very nice and cozy room, our favorite accommodation in this trip. We dumped our stuff, grabbed a quick bite at the restaurant and headed for the game drive. We saw a hyena, hippos, elephants, impalas, scrub and spring hare. It was pretty cool to be out in the jungle in the dark. We had seen two of the big five and the rest of the stay in Kruger was about hoping to catch a glimpse of a lion or a leopard but our quest was unsuccessful. We did get to see zebras, more buffaloes, elephants, hippos, kudus, impalas, some birds like the yellow-billed hornbill, the Kori Bustard and the yellow-billed stork but, sadly, no big cats.
After spending the night in the not so impressive (We were really spoilt by the Letaba!) Punda Maria rest camp, we were on our way back to Jozi for the match between Argentina and Mexico in the Soccer City Stadium. We met up with Challa for this game. We reached the stadium a good 2 hours before kick-off to soak in the atmosphere. As the stadium slowly started to fill up to its full capacity (around 85,000 that day), we saw the teams warm up and El Diego showing-off. By the time the match started, the stadium was jam-packed and vuvuzelas were at their loudest and a bunch of Argentina fans were playing a nice rhythm on the drums that continued throughout the match. The match itself had everything - Messi(ah) playing, great goals (Tevez's second and Hernandez's), controversy (Tevez's first) and good overall play. We thoroughly enjoyed it! It was full paisa wasool and then some!
The next day we drove to Durban for the game between Netherlands (I tipped them for the title before the world cup began and boy, am I close to getting it right!) and Slovakia. I had full plans of face painting and the like but we got delayed on the way and just about made it to the game. The drive from Jozi to Durban was even more scenic than the one to Kruger. The South African countryside is just amazing to drive through! The Moses Mabhida stadium at Durban is smaller than Soccer City but it was packed when we got there (64000 people). The atmosphere was much better in Durban but that could have been because Netherlands were playing and the Dutch had an enormous following in South Africa. Our seats were also much better for this game and we had a great time. Robben scored a scorcher (ok, a bit of an exaggeration is allowed, it's the world cup!), Kuyt made a goal for Sneijder after showing some good skill and Slovakia scored from a penalty. We could, actually, see the guy being tripped, that's how close our seats were :). After the game, we were starved for some desi food, so did a take-out from the Pavilion, a huge mall close to our B & B, and made it back in time to watch the Brazil vs Chile game on TV.
After the hectic first four days, we took it easy in Durban, the day after the match. After a really good breakfast served by our hosts, we went to the UShaka Marine World. It was designed to look like a shipwreck and is by far, the best aquarium we have visited. We also saw some tarantulas, snakes, pythons, lizards and other creepy creatures in an exclusive section there. I was totally kicked though after a while the missus wanted to get out :-). After UShaka, we walked along the beach for a while, stopped by the FIFA fan fest and then left for Wilson's Wharf. At Wilson's Wharf, we tried the bunny chow! A popular dish made by the Indians in Durban, it is an unsliced loaf of bread, scooped out from the center and stuffed with veggies or meat. It tasted good, nothing exceptional though, but then it's all part of the experience! We got back in time for the Portugal vs Spain game.
On our last day in South Africa, we stopped by the Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton, the fancy side of town in Jo'burg, for lunch, saw a SONY 3D TV presentation (Shakira in 3D looks hotter than on a flat 2D TV!;-)) and then headed to the airport. The flight back felt like we were traveling in a state transport bus, sitting on the last seat and on a really bumpy road! So, after a really looong and bumpy 18 hours journey, we got back home! It was quite an experience, this trip. But a great one, both of us came back wanting to go back for more. Some day, we hope to go back to South Africa to see Cape Town and to spend more time at Kruger..
