Not sure where to put this but thought I would share our trip to South Africa with CBF.After a long wait the world cup finally arrived. Everything was so exciting untill England showed how pathetic they played and rightly kicked out by zee Germans but hey, we are used to getting beat at the world cup by them and give them the honour of winning something (not going to mention wars here).
With a fistful of quarter final tickets in hand we headed out on July 2nd on a direct flight from Istanbul to Jo'Burg. Flight was packed and had some Romanian sat next to me who asked if English people ate fish and chips all the time or were sophisticated enough to eat something else. Also had the pleasure of the hostess dropping food right next to me 3 times during the flight.
Arrived in Jo'Burg after a 9 hour flight to be greeted by cold weather and was it cold. Didnt know monkeys and lions could survive in this.
First match was that evening in soccer city, Ghana v Uruguay. We caught the train there as we knew that by road would be a nightmare. We donned our England colours along with hats and vuvuzelas supporting Ghana. Atmosphere was electric on the way with the constant drone of the vuvzelas which although received lots of negative press from those watching on TV did add to the general party and carnival atmosphere. Soccer city was a fantastic stadium with great facilities but the beer was budweiaer and was shocked to see they were charging 6 lira for something that calls itself beer. The game finished in penalties for which Ghana undeservedly lost.
Next day was spent on a coach tour with our hosts going through Soweto. Considering the history of this township, the place looked far more better then most gecekondus in Turkey but there were some areas where you saw the metal shacks and outdoor toilets. These areas were mainly populated by non South Africans and mostly Zimbabweans, Nigerians etc. Still they had a shopping mall that could run circles around Istinye park. We then went to a traditional Shebeen, a bar in someones backyard. Here we watched zee germans destroy the argies and had some great local food which was chicken done on a Braai with putupap. After the game had finished we had to rush back to be able to make it back in time for the game at Ellis park to watch Spain beat Paraguay. game was not as exciting as the Ghana game but the stadium was amazing and was the stadium from the recent film, Invictus when SA won the rugby world cup. Advantage of this stadium was that it only took 30 mins to get back home and no train journeys required.
Next day we flew to cape town after a breakfast at Wimpey, the chain that vanished from the UK in the 80s. After a 2 hour flight we arrived with BA to Cape Town and was immediately impressed with the city and the amount of things that can be done. We found our way to our apartment thanks to a GPS at Camps Bay which was just 15 mins drive away from Green point stadium in the middle of the city. We stayed at the Ebb Tide apartments in Camps bay which had fantastic views over the sea. It was cape Towns version of bebek with many bars and restaurants on the sea front. One place we had 2 cocktails each, starter and main course followed by 3 bottles of wine in an up market restaurant and the bill came to around 200 lira for the 3 of us.
Next day we decided to extend our stay in Cape Town by 3 days and then went to the waterfront and the fifa ticket office to try and blag some tickets.
We found an Israeli guy who wanted to get rid of his tickets for face value for which we immediately purchased down a back alley. The game was the next day so we spent our time browsing through wine shops and bars.
Next day we attempted to go up Table Mountain but after seeing the queues we dideded to go to another look out point from the hill called the Lions head and then went to Llandudno, a small town 10 mins from camps bay and then onto Hoeks bay. We then went to Stellanbosch to meet some friends and had dinner in a place called muyo which was in a tent and the waiters painted varios tribal signs on our faces with white paint. Lovely buffet that had ostrich, springbok and other various meats that look better in the wild.
Next day was Table Mountain, we got up early for this to beat the queues and the cable car was only a 10 min drive away. We got to the top and it was bloody freezing but the views were something else. We walked to the other end (took around 1 hour) and then opened a bottle of champers to celebrate, Afterwards we prepared for the match and got a taxi down to the waterfront and booked a couple of tours. One for a safari which was 2 hours outside Cape Town where we could see the big 5 and then another tour which would have gone around various wine lands.
We then proceeded to the match and was impressed by another stadium apart from the fact you had to walk 6 flights of stairs to get to the beer counter. Here Holland beat Uruguay convincingly. After the match we got back to the apartment very quickly thanks to a very dodgy cabbie.
Next day was safari and we needed to be up at 6am to be able to get there in time for our tour. Drive was amazingly scenic and plenty of car stripping baboons on the road side waiting for me to park and take snaps but didnt give them the pleasure. We had a champagne reception once we arrived at the safari park then it was in the back of a land cruiser to be taken and shown lazy hippos, stoned zebras, boring rhinos that wouldnt charge, elephants that couldnt give a toss we was there and then the lion enclosure. Here there were 8 of the things waiting for us and after 5 mins of going wow and taking photos, daddy got urinated off and came over to us to eye up the little lad in the front and then chased us for a bit when we hot tailed it out of there.
Next day we were picked up at our apartment by Chantal, the tour guide. We had a large vito type vehicle waiting for us and I was expecting to be taken to a bus and then carried on with a larger group but to my surprise we had our own guide between the 3 of us for the entire day and was just perfect. We were take to 2 wine places where we spent a long time tasting wines and refusing to use the spit jar. We also visited a couple of other places like a butterfly farm and a crocodile farm. A perfect day out and was timely as it was Jackies birthday too.
Next day we flew back with BA to Jo'Burg and spent time trying to obtain tickets for the final. We went down to where the ticket office was in Sandford and there were quite a few people hanging around looking for tickets and a few shady guys aswell. I found a dutch guy that did have 3 tickets all next to each other which was a result, we did pay a few times over the odds for them and made the deal in a nearby cafe. I came out with the tickets after getting them checked at the office to make sure they were kosher and all 3 of us was standing outside looking at the tickets excited to be going to the world cup final. I then saw to dodgy characters coming towards us and I immediately thought we was going to get turned over as Roz was waving the tickets in the air. The guys come straight to me (one was wearing flip flops) and showed me a dirty old ID case and said he was an under cover copper. I didnt believe him and turned around to get away but they both grabbed me and put me up against the car. I said I didnt believe he was a copper and he took his ID out of the old case but was still not convinced. With them both holding me they then took my tickets and then searched me and asked if I had anymore. They found my money belt and passports and then Jackie and Roz tried to explain that we were altogether and I was not some hoody trying to sell them dodgy tickets. They asked why I tried to run away and I told them that I wasnt convinced they were coppers and that they had done a good job being undercover as I thought they were bandits. Then our South African hosts came on the scene and they left us alone and gave back our passports and tickets and told us to be careful. I shat a brick.
We then went to the train station and got the train early to Soccer city stadium and then joined in the carnival atmosphere of the world cup final. A fantastic closing show topped off with an appearance from Madiba (Nelson Mandela). Afterwards we started to watch the game and slowly got more and more frozen as the temperature dropped below freezing and we was in the wind. So much for me not putting on my thermals.
All in all, South Africa is an amazing place, not much to do in Jo'Burg but plenty in Cape Town and yet there is still a whole load of the country to see. After all the negative press about SA and its crime, we did not see any of this and also not trouble at all between the fans. Great country with great people.
If you ever find yourself in cape Town, then you should definitely book a tour with Chantal. Details below.
Chantal Pero, chantal@ctours.co.za
www.ctours.co.za and her prices are really good.
Our apartment was called Ebb Tide and their link is below.
www.ebb-tide.co.za/
