Waking up sunday morning, the status screen said we only had about 3 hours and 30min until our arrival in Atlanta. Sweet! That means I slept about 9 hours of the 15 hour, 30min flight!
Landing in Atlanta, clearing customs was a breeze (the jerky made it through!) and then we finally boarded our flight home to Boston after a 90min delay. So as I type this on our ATL-BOS flight, we left our hotel in Cape Town about 28 hours ago and we both cannot wait to get home...
Stuff to do when we get home:
1 - Shower
2 - Upload the rest of the pictures - we still haven't had a chance to upload all of them from the US-Algeria match or any days after.
3 - Watch the DVD they took of us diving with sharks! And also develop the pictures from the disposable underwater camera we bought.
4 - Relax, unpack, and watch the rest of the world cup. Maybe even go to work tomorrow too. :-)
5- Call our mom's!
Sunday, June 27, 2010
June 26, 2010: Last day in South Africa
After breakfast we strategically packed our two bags in order to pad all the wine bottles and also hide the various flavors of jerky I was smuggling home. Springbok, Kudu, and Ostrich were my 3 favorites. I hope everyone knows what an Ostrich is but the others are:
Kudu:
Springbok is the south african national animal, also mascot of the world champion rugby team:
All three are very good!
After packing our bags we headed off to the V & A Waterfront to walk around seeing we have about 3 hours until our ride to the airport would arrive. We found some more souvenirs and then were searching for some of the local music we had been hearing at the fan parks and in the stadiums. Every pre-match playlist followed the same order of songs including Bob Marley's "could you be loved" and a bunch of african artists. Freshlygound is one with a style called "afro-pop" (almost any song by them is good) and K'naan the other (his song "Wavin' Flag" seems to be the world cup anthem here). I highly recommend both if they are available in the US anytime soon. This was the 6th music store we had gone to during our trip but it seemed the entire country was sold out of K'naan's album. We spoke with one of the store employees who told us they were expecting a new shipment any day now. When we told him we were heading to the airport in an hour for our flight home he offered to sell us his personal copy! Which we bought, for what amounts to around $28 (we gave him an extra few $ for being so kind).
People in south africa are too nice, everywhere we have been. The whole country is beautiful and everyone will say hi to you and ask about where you are from, what it is like back in the US, how we like South Africa, which team we support, and on and on. Made the whole trip so enjoyable!
After the waterfront it was time to head back to our hotel (Protea Hotel Victoria Junction) for the trip to the airport. By the way, we learned at Kirstenbosch that a Protea is a type of flower with many varieties.
On to the airport leaving picturesque Cape Town behind. Our flight to Johannesburg left at 3:50pm (9:50am EST on the 26th). Arriving in Johannesburg we had to collect our bags at baggage claim and hurry over to the international terminal and check-in for our Delta flight to Atlanta. Turns out my bag was a few kilograms overweight with the souvenirs at the waterfront so we had to quick shuffle some stuff around between our 2 bags - thank goodness I had the hand-held scale my mom gave me! Made it much easier to figure out when my bag was under the proper weight rather than guessing before going back to the counter again.
It was a little chaotic getting to johannesburg, getting our luggage from British Airways (which took FOREVER), checking-in with Delta, returning my Vodacom SIM card rental, and getting to our gate, but we managed to make it! We finally settled into our seats after 4 of 5 different security screenings. 3 seats across with me at the window and Sarah next to me and a nice woman from Oregon on the aisle. The nice thing about international flights is the food is quite good (chicken and mushrooms for dinner and then an omelette for breakfast) and they come by with free drinks and such at various intervals. We watched "Inglorious Basterds" at the same time on our in-seat tv's so it was like watching at home. Good movie. All the while the pilot was providing updates on the US-Ghana round of 16 match that kicked off just as the flight left the ground. Sad to hear the US lost in extra time, but they had a good run. Then it was time to take my ambien and get comfortable...
Kudu:
Springbok is the south african national animal, also mascot of the world champion rugby team:
All three are very good!
After packing our bags we headed off to the V & A Waterfront to walk around seeing we have about 3 hours until our ride to the airport would arrive. We found some more souvenirs and then were searching for some of the local music we had been hearing at the fan parks and in the stadiums. Every pre-match playlist followed the same order of songs including Bob Marley's "could you be loved" and a bunch of african artists. Freshlygound is one with a style called "afro-pop" (almost any song by them is good) and K'naan the other (his song "Wavin' Flag" seems to be the world cup anthem here). I highly recommend both if they are available in the US anytime soon. This was the 6th music store we had gone to during our trip but it seemed the entire country was sold out of K'naan's album. We spoke with one of the store employees who told us they were expecting a new shipment any day now. When we told him we were heading to the airport in an hour for our flight home he offered to sell us his personal copy! Which we bought, for what amounts to around $28 (we gave him an extra few $ for being so kind).
People in south africa are too nice, everywhere we have been. The whole country is beautiful and everyone will say hi to you and ask about where you are from, what it is like back in the US, how we like South Africa, which team we support, and on and on. Made the whole trip so enjoyable!
After the waterfront it was time to head back to our hotel (Protea Hotel Victoria Junction) for the trip to the airport. By the way, we learned at Kirstenbosch that a Protea is a type of flower with many varieties.
On to the airport leaving picturesque Cape Town behind. Our flight to Johannesburg left at 3:50pm (9:50am EST on the 26th). Arriving in Johannesburg we had to collect our bags at baggage claim and hurry over to the international terminal and check-in for our Delta flight to Atlanta. Turns out my bag was a few kilograms overweight with the souvenirs at the waterfront so we had to quick shuffle some stuff around between our 2 bags - thank goodness I had the hand-held scale my mom gave me! Made it much easier to figure out when my bag was under the proper weight rather than guessing before going back to the counter again.
It was a little chaotic getting to johannesburg, getting our luggage from British Airways (which took FOREVER), checking-in with Delta, returning my Vodacom SIM card rental, and getting to our gate, but we managed to make it! We finally settled into our seats after 4 of 5 different security screenings. 3 seats across with me at the window and Sarah next to me and a nice woman from Oregon on the aisle. The nice thing about international flights is the food is quite good (chicken and mushrooms for dinner and then an omelette for breakfast) and they come by with free drinks and such at various intervals. We watched "Inglorious Basterds" at the same time on our in-seat tv's so it was like watching at home. Good movie. All the while the pilot was providing updates on the US-Ghana round of 16 match that kicked off just as the flight left the ground. Sad to hear the US lost in extra time, but they had a good run. Then it was time to take my ambien and get comfortable...
June 25, 2010: Cape Point
Up early yet again - what happened to vacation? I think we slept in past 9am once on this whole 18 day trip...
Breakfast at 7:20am followed by meeting Simpiwe (or "Sim") in the lobby for our full day tour of various Cape Town area attractions. In our van were 2 other couples, one from China and one from Holland. Both were very nice to spend the day with.
We started in Hout Bay harbor where we saw some seals. Next we headed up Chapman's Peak Drive. The morning was very foggy so instead of seeing the ocean on Chapman's Peak Drive we mostly saw clouds and bits of ocean here and there. Following Chapman's Peak we entered Cape Point which is some 7,500 hectares and part of Table Mountain National Park. We drove down to the edge of the African continent at the Cape of Good Hope and got our tourist picture at the southern-most point of Africa next to the big sign with map coordinates on it. Along the way we also got to see a group of wild Ostrich wandering the park and staring at us as we stopped to take some photos.
Next stop was the Cape Point lighthouse, on arrival to the base we couldn't see the lighthouse at the top of the mountain as the thick fog was obscuring it completely. We hiked the 15min up to the top anyways and within 10min the fog had lifted and it was a clear day up there. When we got to the top we could see a thick layer of fog covering the ocean but we were above that so created some impressive views.
After Cape Point we headed into Simon's Town, also home to the South African navy. We stopped at Boulders Beach, where a colony of about 2500 african penguins made their home starting with 2 penguins back in 1982. We walked around there for a bit then headed to lunch with the rest of our tour group. We ate at a sseafood restaurant where I had tasty lobster bisque and a local pizza. Sarah had the seafood curry.
Following lunch we drove to Kirstenbosch botanical gardens, which is famous around the world for its flowers and various plants. It was located in a valley surrounded by mountains which made for some great scenery.
After leaving Kirstenbosch we headed back to our hotel, driving by the presidential house currently lived in by South African president Jacob Zuma. After arriving back at our hotel we went out for a walk around Cape Town near our hotel and then watched some World Cup matches.
Tonight we met up with my friend Ben again who lives in Cape Town and works at a township school. He recommended Mitchell's Brewhouse down at the waterfront as a good spot to watch the game so he picked us up in the VW and we headed over to the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront. There we had a few local beers and watched Spain-Chile on one set of tv's and Honduras-Switzerland on another set of tv's. Then back to our hotel for the night. Sadly our last night in South Africa. :-(
Breakfast at 7:20am followed by meeting Simpiwe (or "Sim") in the lobby for our full day tour of various Cape Town area attractions. In our van were 2 other couples, one from China and one from Holland. Both were very nice to spend the day with.
We started in Hout Bay harbor where we saw some seals. Next we headed up Chapman's Peak Drive. The morning was very foggy so instead of seeing the ocean on Chapman's Peak Drive we mostly saw clouds and bits of ocean here and there. Following Chapman's Peak we entered Cape Point which is some 7,500 hectares and part of Table Mountain National Park. We drove down to the edge of the African continent at the Cape of Good Hope and got our tourist picture at the southern-most point of Africa next to the big sign with map coordinates on it. Along the way we also got to see a group of wild Ostrich wandering the park and staring at us as we stopped to take some photos.
Next stop was the Cape Point lighthouse, on arrival to the base we couldn't see the lighthouse at the top of the mountain as the thick fog was obscuring it completely. We hiked the 15min up to the top anyways and within 10min the fog had lifted and it was a clear day up there. When we got to the top we could see a thick layer of fog covering the ocean but we were above that so created some impressive views.
After Cape Point we headed into Simon's Town, also home to the South African navy. We stopped at Boulders Beach, where a colony of about 2500 african penguins made their home starting with 2 penguins back in 1982. We walked around there for a bit then headed to lunch with the rest of our tour group. We ate at a sseafood restaurant where I had tasty lobster bisque and a local pizza. Sarah had the seafood curry.
Following lunch we drove to Kirstenbosch botanical gardens, which is famous around the world for its flowers and various plants. It was located in a valley surrounded by mountains which made for some great scenery.
After leaving Kirstenbosch we headed back to our hotel, driving by the presidential house currently lived in by South African president Jacob Zuma. After arriving back at our hotel we went out for a walk around Cape Town near our hotel and then watched some World Cup matches.
Tonight we met up with my friend Ben again who lives in Cape Town and works at a township school. He recommended Mitchell's Brewhouse down at the waterfront as a good spot to watch the game so he picked us up in the VW and we headed over to the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront. There we had a few local beers and watched Spain-Chile on one set of tv's and Honduras-Switzerland on another set of tv's. Then back to our hotel for the night. Sadly our last night in South Africa. :-(
Saturday, June 26, 2010
June 24, 2010: Netherlands - Cameroon
We arrived at Cape Town International Airport to find our driver waiting to take us the 30min into the city. He was very chatty and into sports, telling us all about the world champion South African rugby team. He also asked about all the sports in the US so I spent some time explaining the NFL rules and how games are played.
Tipping in South Africa is fun, makes you feel like a big spender giving the driver a 100 dollar bill for the long trip when that comes out to around $15, which is still more than they expect (80 Rand is normal for 2 people, but if the driver is really nice we give them 100).
Dropped our stuff in our hotel room and then walked down the street to a market area to search for souvenirs for our families, but all we ended up doing is tasting a bunch of Ernie Els wine at a wine shop and buying some for ourselves. :-)
Next we went back to our hotel where we watched Slovakia shock Italy and send the defending champion Italians home from South Africa early.
By this time the streets were starting to fill with a sea of orange (or "Oranje" as the Dutch supporters are known). Our hotel was right on the FIFA fan walk so we could open our second floor window and watch the thousands of fans walk by on their way to the stadium.
2 hours until kickoff so we donned our orange holland shirts and headed out into the street and towards Green Point Stadium. On the way there were lots of small vendor shacks on the side of the road where we settled on a German sausage vendor where I got a Bratwurst and Sarah a frankfurter. I also picked up a vuvuzela to take home and annoy my neighbors with. :-) Then on to the stadium.
With Group E already having the Dutch clinch first place and a spot in the round of 16 and then Cameroon already eliminated, we weren't sure what sort of match would unfold. To our surprise, both teams put out their top lineup which made for a great match. Injured Dutch star Arjen Robben came into the match late and within a few minutes clanked a trademark left-footed shot off the post which was then slammed into the net by Klaas Jan Huntelaar - which some Dutch people told us his nickname in their language which meant "clumsy" and sounded pretty close to his real name. Can't remember the word though.
After the match, where we got to see Samuel Eto'o, Robin van Persie, and Clumsy Huntelaar each score goals (all are top international stars) we followed the sea of oranje back onto the fan walk towards our hotel. When we got back I practiced blowing my new vuvuzela out the window for a bit, then time for sleep as we were getting up early the next morning for our tour of Cape Point National Park.
Tipping in South Africa is fun, makes you feel like a big spender giving the driver a 100 dollar bill for the long trip when that comes out to around $15, which is still more than they expect (80 Rand is normal for 2 people, but if the driver is really nice we give them 100).
Dropped our stuff in our hotel room and then walked down the street to a market area to search for souvenirs for our families, but all we ended up doing is tasting a bunch of Ernie Els wine at a wine shop and buying some for ourselves. :-)
Next we went back to our hotel where we watched Slovakia shock Italy and send the defending champion Italians home from South Africa early.
By this time the streets were starting to fill with a sea of orange (or "Oranje" as the Dutch supporters are known). Our hotel was right on the FIFA fan walk so we could open our second floor window and watch the thousands of fans walk by on their way to the stadium.
2 hours until kickoff so we donned our orange holland shirts and headed out into the street and towards Green Point Stadium. On the way there were lots of small vendor shacks on the side of the road where we settled on a German sausage vendor where I got a Bratwurst and Sarah a frankfurter. I also picked up a vuvuzela to take home and annoy my neighbors with. :-) Then on to the stadium.
With Group E already having the Dutch clinch first place and a spot in the round of 16 and then Cameroon already eliminated, we weren't sure what sort of match would unfold. To our surprise, both teams put out their top lineup which made for a great match. Injured Dutch star Arjen Robben came into the match late and within a few minutes clanked a trademark left-footed shot off the post which was then slammed into the net by Klaas Jan Huntelaar - which some Dutch people told us his nickname in their language which meant "clumsy" and sounded pretty close to his real name. Can't remember the word though.
After the match, where we got to see Samuel Eto'o, Robin van Persie, and Clumsy Huntelaar each score goals (all are top international stars) we followed the sea of oranje back onto the fan walk towards our hotel. When we got back I practiced blowing my new vuvuzela out the window for a bit, then time for sleep as we were getting up early the next morning for our tour of Cape Point National Park.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
June 24, 2010: Cape Town
(Sigh) - another flight today. Wake up, breakfast, over to the airport, and sit around for an hour waiting for our Kulula flight to depart for Cape Town.
I guess things could be worse, such as spending the night in a prison in Pretoria (not a safe city for tourists at all) followed by getting deported. :-)
I guess things could be worse, such as spending the night in a prison in Pretoria (not a safe city for tourists at all) followed by getting deported. :-)
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
June 23, 2010: US-Algeria
Up early today for US-Algeria match day! Breakfast and then a taxi to the airport where we flew the 2 hours from Cape Town to Johannesburg. Upon arrival we met our driver who would be taking us over to Loftus Versfeld stadium in Pretoria, a 45min trip.
Among our group were a man and his wife from Seattle and a girl and her co-worker from California. The girl was very bossy and rude to our driver, we tried not to talk to them (the guy was friendly, felt bad for him having to travel with her). But more on the rude girl later! =)
We arrived near the stadium and walked the last few blocks in. Was surprised to see about 1/3 Algerians and 2/3 US fans, which was more Algerians than we expected. They were singing their songs and here and there you would hear "Ah-MAY-dicans" - wonder what they were saying about us...
Arriving at our seats we were in the 3rd row of the upper deck near mid-field. Sweet! The US started off slowly yet again, with Algeria clanking a shot off the crossbar early in the match. As things progressed the US got stronger and stronger but just couldn't find the net. Finishing practice anyone??
Our hopes were starting to fade, as the score in the other match was 1-0 to England, which meant the US was going home in 5 more minutes. Then... a break by Donovan, passes outside to Altidore... who fires a cross/shot into the path of Dempsey who directs it on goal... saved by the Algerian keep, but a rebound trickles out just beyond the 6-yard box. In comes Donovan, who slams the rebound into the lower left corner!!! Pandemonium breaks out in the stands as all the US fans go absolutely crazy! Fans jumping everywhere and beer raining down from the sky. After the final whistle blew, Donovan blasted the ball up into the crowd toward us, just missing the first row of the upper deck in front of us by a few feet. The players celebrating on the field, jumping and hugging, Altidore on the ground with tears streaming down his face. A great moment was seeing all the players on the field, arms around each other, watching the match highlights on the big screen with all the fans. Then after the players saluted all the fans they headed into their dressing room. As we finally began to depart the stadium, we noticed that my chair was broken sometime in the celebrations.
Among our group were a man and his wife from Seattle and a girl and her co-worker from California. The girl was very bossy and rude to our driver, we tried not to talk to them (the guy was friendly, felt bad for him having to travel with her). But more on the rude girl later! =)
We arrived near the stadium and walked the last few blocks in. Was surprised to see about 1/3 Algerians and 2/3 US fans, which was more Algerians than we expected. They were singing their songs and here and there you would hear "Ah-MAY-dicans" - wonder what they were saying about us...
Arriving at our seats we were in the 3rd row of the upper deck near mid-field. Sweet! The US started off slowly yet again, with Algeria clanking a shot off the crossbar early in the match. As things progressed the US got stronger and stronger but just couldn't find the net. Finishing practice anyone??
Our hopes were starting to fade, as the score in the other match was 1-0 to England, which meant the US was going home in 5 more minutes. Then... a break by Donovan, passes outside to Altidore... who fires a cross/shot into the path of Dempsey who directs it on goal... saved by the Algerian keep, but a rebound trickles out just beyond the 6-yard box. In comes Donovan, who slams the rebound into the lower left corner!!! Pandemonium breaks out in the stands as all the US fans go absolutely crazy! Fans jumping everywhere and beer raining down from the sky. After the final whistle blew, Donovan blasted the ball up into the crowd toward us, just missing the first row of the upper deck in front of us by a few feet. The players celebrating on the field, jumping and hugging, Altidore on the ground with tears streaming down his face. A great moment was seeing all the players on the field, arms around each other, watching the match highlights on the big screen with all the fans. Then after the players saluted all the fans they headed into their dressing room. As we finally began to depart the stadium, we noticed that my chair was broken sometime in the celebrations.
We filed out of the stadium, taking in the celebratory atmosphere with all the US fans singing and dancing and the Algerian fans looking at the ground and shaking their heads.
We arrived back at our car with the driver and couple from Seattle already there. The driver was on the phone with the tour company - the other 2 people were missing. The couple told us that the bossy girl and her co-worker had been arrested before the match for trying to sell tickets to the match right in front of the stadium (big FIFA no-no!!). The were taken away to prison, didn't get to see any of the match, and were likely facing deportation in the morning. Can't say we feel bad for the annoying bossy girl, but too bad for the guy she was with. I'm sure she yelled at the police like she did our nice driver. So anyways we left them for the tour company to deal with and headed back to the hotel in Johannesburg, all the way talking about possible round of 16 matchups and going over highlights of the great spectacle we had just witnessed. Upon arrival at the hotel we checked in, dropped a few things in the room, and headed down to the bar to celebrate with the other US fans we were seeing all over the hotel. Got some dinner (and just a few adult beverages) and watched the group D matches in the hotel bar, then to sleep, exhausted from all the events of the day.
We arrived back at our car with the driver and couple from Seattle already there. The driver was on the phone with the tour company - the other 2 people were missing. The couple told us that the bossy girl and her co-worker had been arrested before the match for trying to sell tickets to the match right in front of the stadium (big FIFA no-no!!). The were taken away to prison, didn't get to see any of the match, and were likely facing deportation in the morning. Can't say we feel bad for the annoying bossy girl, but too bad for the guy she was with. I'm sure she yelled at the police like she did our nice driver. So anyways we left them for the tour company to deal with and headed back to the hotel in Johannesburg, all the way talking about possible round of 16 matchups and going over highlights of the great spectacle we had just witnessed. Upon arrival at the hotel we checked in, dropped a few things in the room, and headed down to the bar to celebrate with the other US fans we were seeing all over the hotel. Got some dinner (and just a few adult beverages) and watched the group D matches in the hotel bar, then to sleep, exhausted from all the events of the day.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
June 22, 2010: Camps Bay
After the shark dive we arrived back at the hotel and relaxed for a few hours before meeting my friend Ben (who is living in Cape Town) for dinner. Ben used to work at my office back in the US. He picked us up in his sweet VW
and we headed over to Camps Bay for dinner at an Italian restaurant where we had another excellent meal with some local wine. After dinner Ben dropped us back at our hotel.
June 22, 2010: Gansbaai
The big day was finally here. "Baby", our driver from White Shark Dive Company collected us up at our hotel at 8am for the 2 hour ride from Cape Town to Gaansbaai. Upon arrival we were greeted by breakfast and eventually the dive briefing by our guide Lalo. Our group of 12 then boarded the boat and headed out to Dyer Island which took about 15min. We anchored at a perfect spot between the breaking waves, the island, and the indian ocean current and the crew began chumming the water while we all struggled to get into our wet suits as the boat pitched back and forth in the swells. Within about 20min the first shark appeared, slowly cruising by to investigate. As the crew began moving people into the cage, what followed next was complete CHAOS! The sharks would cruise by and take a bite out of the floating tuna head, when the huge shark would get close the crew would shout "down left" indicating that those in the cage should take a deep breath and drop down under the surface and look left. The water was freezing, and as soon as we got in the cage I instantly forgot everything the guide told us. He would shout "down right" and we would drop under the surface, forgetting to take a breath and completely missing the bar near the bottom where you could put your feet. Looking down to try and find the floor bar I quickly pulled my foot back inside the cage after seeing a massive dark shape coming out of the haze in the water towards us, completely silent. It is at that moment your andrenaline kicks in and the water is no longer freezing cold. Visibility under water is only about 5-7 meters but the guide told us that sharks can see underwater almost as well as us on land between their senses and eyes. The cage bars felt solid, but the inside bars where you hold on were rickety and broken in places making us wonder how that might have happened. The floats on the cage didn't seem attached very well to it, making you wonder what you would do if the cage started to sink. With only about 1 ft of space between the water and the top of the cage the large indian ocean swells would put the entire cage under water about every 20-30 seconds. This also made 4 of the 6 England fans in our group spend most of their time depositing some extra chum over the other side of the boat. Both Sarah and I were just fine though.
Everyone on-board rotated through the cage, which held 5 people at a time. With all the chaos it seemed as if we were out there for 30min, but in reality it was about 2 hours. We rotated in and out of the cage as the guides called out shark sightings with a total of 4 sharks circling our boat. The largest shark was 3.8 meters long, or about 1/2 the length of our whole boat!
Getting out of the cage was yet another adventure, as you had to us the bars of the cage as a ladder but that meant your toes were exposed so you would scramble as fast as possible back onto the boat. There was also a viewing deck up top and to get to it there was a ladder on either side of the boat, but climbing it meant you were out over the water. Climbing up the ladder to the viewing deck was precarious at best with the boat swaying over the swells and the wet steel ladder being too slippery for comfort. Then you get halfway up, look down, and see a 12 foot shark circling below you seemingly waiting for you to slip and end up as a tasty snack (I think I look more like a seal in my black wetsuit than sarah does).
Up top provided the best views of the 4 sharks circling us with them taking turns swimming by the cage to investigate. The 3 smaller sharks might all be in view at the same time, but when the massive 3.8 meter shark took its turn the other 3 kept their distance. The guide told us that is due to great white sharks being willing to bite anything their size or smaller, and that smaller sharks always yield to the largest one in the area. Our second turn in the cage was quieter, but when you are sitting there bobbing around in a little cage you see the 3 smaller sharks disappear into the haze. Then nothing for a few minutes. Looking up to the crew on the boat, they are all standing there looking around and you keep looking into the water to make sure no body parts are sticking out between the bars. Then all of a sudden, "down straight ahead" the captain shouts and we all take a deep breath and drop into the cage. Nothing. Then we see what all the fuss is about - the 5 meter shark comes into view and the cage is complete chaos again, the shark grabbing the tuna head in
its mouth, realizing it is attached to a rope and it starts thrashing around. With the sharks tail right in front of me I entertain the idea of reaching out my left hand another 8" to touch the shark. Just as I take my hand off the bars the shark thrashes its tail, crushing my left hand against the cage - and the shark is gone into the hazy
water. Then quiet for a few minutes, and suddenly the 3 smaller (if 2.8 - 3 meters each is small) sharks are back circling around.
Before we knew it was time to get out of the cage. I grabbed my camera and scrambled up to the viewing deck to get a few more glimpses of the sharks around us before it was time to head back into port. There they provided us with some hot soup to warm us up before the 2 hour car trip back to Cape Town.
As we got back into the car our driver Baby immediately scanned the radio stations and found an English broadcast of the South Africa - France match that was just underway (there were plenty of stations with commentary in Afrikaans) which made the trip back relatively quick. Sad to see the South African squad not going through to the round of 16.
What a day! Pictures here
Everyone on-board rotated through the cage, which held 5 people at a time. With all the chaos it seemed as if we were out there for 30min, but in reality it was about 2 hours. We rotated in and out of the cage as the guides called out shark sightings with a total of 4 sharks circling our boat. The largest shark was 3.8 meters long, or about 1/2 the length of our whole boat!
Getting out of the cage was yet another adventure, as you had to us the bars of the cage as a ladder but that meant your toes were exposed so you would scramble as fast as possible back onto the boat. There was also a viewing deck up top and to get to it there was a ladder on either side of the boat, but climbing it meant you were out over the water. Climbing up the ladder to the viewing deck was precarious at best with the boat swaying over the swells and the wet steel ladder being too slippery for comfort. Then you get halfway up, look down, and see a 12 foot shark circling below you seemingly waiting for you to slip and end up as a tasty snack (I think I look more like a seal in my black wetsuit than sarah does).
Up top provided the best views of the 4 sharks circling us with them taking turns swimming by the cage to investigate. The 3 smaller sharks might all be in view at the same time, but when the massive 3.8 meter shark took its turn the other 3 kept their distance. The guide told us that is due to great white sharks being willing to bite anything their size or smaller, and that smaller sharks always yield to the largest one in the area. Our second turn in the cage was quieter, but when you are sitting there bobbing around in a little cage you see the 3 smaller sharks disappear into the haze. Then nothing for a few minutes. Looking up to the crew on the boat, they are all standing there looking around and you keep looking into the water to make sure no body parts are sticking out between the bars. Then all of a sudden, "down straight ahead" the captain shouts and we all take a deep breath and drop into the cage. Nothing. Then we see what all the fuss is about - the 5 meter shark comes into view and the cage is complete chaos again, the shark grabbing the tuna head in
its mouth, realizing it is attached to a rope and it starts thrashing around. With the sharks tail right in front of me I entertain the idea of reaching out my left hand another 8" to touch the shark. Just as I take my hand off the bars the shark thrashes its tail, crushing my left hand against the cage - and the shark is gone into the hazy
water. Then quiet for a few minutes, and suddenly the 3 smaller (if 2.8 - 3 meters each is small) sharks are back circling around.
Before we knew it was time to get out of the cage. I grabbed my camera and scrambled up to the viewing deck to get a few more glimpses of the sharks around us before it was time to head back into port. There they provided us with some hot soup to warm us up before the 2 hour car trip back to Cape Town.
As we got back into the car our driver Baby immediately scanned the radio stations and found an English broadcast of the South Africa - France match that was just underway (there were plenty of stations with commentary in Afrikaans) which made the trip back relatively quick. Sad to see the South African squad not going through to the round of 16.
What a day! Pictures here
Monday, June 21, 2010
June 21, 2010
Today was a long travel day. Up early to check-out of our guest house in Umhlanga Rocks, say bye to the pugs, and head to the airport. When we arrived at the airport, we found that our flight had been moved back 2 hours. Thanks for letting us know Kulula Airlines! They said it was a last minute thing. Blah.
So after sitting at the airport for a few hours (the flight was delayed about 30min as well) we finally got to Cape Town, met our driver, and headed into town. Our driver gave us a bit of a tour of town, pointing out the oldest college in the world (Cape Town), parliament, and the hospital where the first heart transplant was performed back in 1967. The Portugal - North Korea match near our hotel had finished about 2 hours before we arrived so there were Portugal fans everywhere celebrating their 7-0 victory. We dropped our bags off and headed down to the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront area to get some food (chicken wings, calamari, line fish, prawns) and a few Black Label beers. Was fun seeing all the Portugal fans. After dinner, back to the hotel room to watch Spain - Honduras then to bed early as we have to get up early tomorrow to swim with the sharks!
So after sitting at the airport for a few hours (the flight was delayed about 30min as well) we finally got to Cape Town, met our driver, and headed into town. Our driver gave us a bit of a tour of town, pointing out the oldest college in the world (Cape Town), parliament, and the hospital where the first heart transplant was performed back in 1967. The Portugal - North Korea match near our hotel had finished about 2 hours before we arrived so there were Portugal fans everywhere celebrating their 7-0 victory. We dropped our bags off and headed down to the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront area to get some food (chicken wings, calamari, line fish, prawns) and a few Black Label beers. Was fun seeing all the Portugal fans. After dinner, back to the hotel room to watch Spain - Honduras then to bed early as we have to get up early tomorrow to swim with the sharks!
Sunday, June 20, 2010
June 20, 2010: Umhlanga
Well, today is our last full day in Umhlanga, a suburb just North of Durban. Cowrie Cove guest house has been our home for the past 7 nights. What a great place it has been, enough that we were looking forward to getting "home" on the flight back from Johannesburg to Durban after US-Slovenia. The staff (Caroline, Jason, and Ben) have been great and we will miss them (including Justin the cat and the 4 pugs - Daisy, Donut, Lucy, and Gooseberry). Cowrie Cove at night:
Today we slept in taking today as our day off. We headed over to the Gateway "Theatre of Shopping" around 12pm and walked around the 400+ stores. Even buying some souvenirs (no not for YOU). We had lunch at the food court, then went outside to the Wave House - a double-point break standing wave where we watched people learning to surf or body board. Very entertaining, and with Paraguay-Slovakia in the background even better!
Today we slept in taking today as our day off. We headed over to the Gateway "Theatre of Shopping" around 12pm and walked around the 400+ stores. Even buying some souvenirs (no not for YOU). We had lunch at the food court, then went outside to the Wave House - a double-point break standing wave where we watched people learning to surf or body board. Very entertaining, and with Paraguay-Slovakia in the background even better!
One other funny thing at stores in South Africa - the Joker seems to have had some influence on the mannequins here. No Batman in South Africa?
After the mall we headed back to Cowrie Cove to watch New Zealand stun Italy with a draw. New Zealand is the lowest ranked team in the field of 32 at the World Cup. Then we decided to head into Umhlanga center for dinner. We walked around a bit and settled on a Thai restaurant where we had some good Thai Fried Noodles with prawns. After our meal we walked over to Europa on the Rocks, a bar with outdoor seating where we had watched Brazil beat North Korea earlier in the week. This evening it was Brazil facing the Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire) which Brazil handled fairly easily.
After the match had ended, we took a taxi back to Cowrie Cove guest house. Tomorrow we are headed to Cape Town!
Saturday, June 19, 2010
June 19, 2010: Netherlands-Japan
Woke up extra tired this morning after a long day of travel and stress watching the US scrape out a hard-working draw with Slovenia. After breakfast at Cowrie Cove we donned our Holland shirts for the taxi trip over to Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban for their match with Japan. But first a few minutes with the pugs who live at our guest house!
Great atmosphere before and during the match. We even ran into 2 South African / Dutch supporters that was talked to at the airport the night before!
The Dutch dominated the match, finally scoring in the second half and then holding on for the 3 points. Not sure Japan even had more than 3 chances to score.
Best dressed fan of the day:
After the match we followed the crowds toward the beach, stopping at SunCoast Casino where they had an outdoor bar setup, packed with Netherlands fans! After a few Castle Lager (or Castle Light for Sarah) we phoned our taxi service and they took us back home to Cowrie Cove for the night. Only 7:30pm here, but we're both dead tired from the busy past few days. Some downtime to enjoy Cameroon-Denmark on tv!
The Dutch dominated the match, finally scoring in the second half and then holding on for the 3 points. Not sure Japan even had more than 3 chances to score.
Best dressed fan of the day:
After the match we followed the crowds toward the beach, stopping at SunCoast Casino where they had an outdoor bar setup, packed with Netherlands fans! After a few Castle Lager (or Castle Light for Sarah) we phoned our taxi service and they took us back home to Cowrie Cove for the night. Only 7:30pm here, but we're both dead tired from the busy past few days. Some downtime to enjoy Cameroon-Denmark on tv!
Friday, June 18, 2010
June 18, 2010: USA-Slovenia
Today was an early start to a long day. Took a taxi to the airport for our 11:10am flight from Durban to Johannesburg. Upon arrival at the airport we waited what seemed like forever for the shuttle to the Protea hotel where we met up with some more US fans and our driver that took us to the match at Ellis Park. Our driver, Godfrey, took us through Soweto Township down some side streets to within 2 blocks of the stadium (roads were closed) - then was nice enough to walk us all the way to the gate.
Ellis Park stadium is very old looking, very different from brand new Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban. Still neat to see it being the site of the South Africa Rugby World Cup victory back in 1995. Can tell the stadium had been around long before that. The rows were narrow and the sun was glaring in our face for the whole first half.
Ellis Park stadium is very old looking, very different from brand new Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban. Still neat to see it being the site of the South Africa Rugby World Cup victory back in 1995. Can tell the stadium had been around long before that. The rows were narrow and the sun was glaring in our face for the whole first half.
I have to say US fans are not very fun to watch a match with, though there were a few annoying Slovenia fans as well. Maybe it was just the pressure of the match or the hot sun. The first half went by very slowly, due to the US off to a slow start, the ref making all sorts of confusing calls, Slovenia scoring twice, and the annoying US fans all around us yelling at each other.
The second half started off much better with Landon Donovan netting a goal fairly early. That helped make the atmosphere in the stadium better. Later Michael Bradley found the net with the equalizer off a header from Jozy Altidore, and the stadium went crazy. Then in the last 10min Maurice Edu put the ball in the net only to have the ref call a phantom foul for no apparent reason.
We left the stadium feeling cheated. Met our driver who took us to the airport for our flight back to Durban. I guess a draw is better than a loss, but I think we should have come out of there with 3 points. On the bright side England drew 0-0 with Algeria meaning the USA holds their destiny in their own hands.
The second half started off much better with Landon Donovan netting a goal fairly early. That helped make the atmosphere in the stadium better. Later Michael Bradley found the net with the equalizer off a header from Jozy Altidore, and the stadium went crazy. Then in the last 10min Maurice Edu put the ball in the net only to have the ref call a phantom foul for no apparent reason.
We left the stadium feeling cheated. Met our driver who took us to the airport for our flight back to Durban. I guess a draw is better than a loss, but I think we should have come out of there with 3 points. On the bright side England drew 0-0 with Algeria meaning the USA holds their destiny in their own hands.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
June 17, 2010
Slept in today (well, until 9:15am) then had some breakfast followed by lounging around the pool at Cowrie Cove guest house. After a few hours playing with the four resident pugs we were looking for something to do and the staff recommended we head over to the promenade area in Umhlanga. They nicely gave us a ride over to the Oyster Box Hotel. As we pulled up, I noticed the Cameroon team bus sitting out front. Cool! We walked around down to the water, and walked along the promenade a bit. Chatting with one of the hotel staff we found that this was indeed the Cameroon team hotel, and that Samuel Eto'o was in the room "right up there" as he pointed to his room.
We had lunch in the hotel, Sarah had vegetable korma and I had a brick oven pizza with spicy chicken. More importantly a few tables over were two Cameroon players having lunch. After lunch we decided to walk the mile back to Cowrie Cove guest house, was a nice day for a walk.
Pictures from our afternoon here
For dinner we headed into Umhlanga to Ile Maurice, French-Mediterranean cuisine. Sarah had a curry dish and I had a steak with mushrooms and we split a bottle of red wine. Everything was excellent! After dinner we moved into the bar area and watched Mexico take care of France. Then back home to Cowrie Cove!
We had lunch in the hotel, Sarah had vegetable korma and I had a brick oven pizza with spicy chicken. More importantly a few tables over were two Cameroon players having lunch. After lunch we decided to walk the mile back to Cowrie Cove guest house, was a nice day for a walk.
Pictures from our afternoon here
For dinner we headed into Umhlanga to Ile Maurice, French-Mediterranean cuisine. Sarah had a curry dish and I had a steak with mushrooms and we split a bottle of red wine. Everything was excellent! After dinner we moved into the bar area and watched Mexico take care of France. Then back home to Cowrie Cove!
June 16, 2010: Spain-Switzerland match
Our departure for the match finally arrived after hours of staring at the clock as we were excited to get over to the stadium. In anticipation of some match day traffic, we left at 1:30pm. We hit very little traffic, as many of the highway exits around the stadium were closed to keep traffic flowing. After a quick U-turn the taxi driver let us out on the side of the highway next to the stadium. We scrambled down an embankment and there it was - Moses Mabhida Stadium!
We had 2 extra tickets to sell, and it took us about 30 seconds to find someone with a sign that read "need ticket". Two nice kids from Japan were eager to purchase our tickets, which we happily sold for face value, all we were interested in was being at the World Cup and more about watching the matches than making a few extra $. =)
Once the crowd filled in, and the teams walked out from the tunnel, the vuvuzelas made the stadium the loudest I had ever heard. We knew it was going to be a great match! Spain dominated play for most of it, but Switzerland managed to sneak a goal in the second half against the run of play. Spain's best chance came late in the second half with Xabi Alonso slamming one off the crossbar. It was not to be though, and the Swiss fans got to celebrate the huge upset.
After the match, we walked with the crowds over to the FIFA Fan Fest on the beach. Starving, we grabbed some Shawarma (spicy chicken and falafel) pita sandwiches as they were the only thing we could find, even though the travel guides advised against eating food from carts. They were delicious!
We then watched the first half of South Africa and Uruguay on the big screen with all the local fans. Then we headed over to the Suncoast Casino, figured we had to at least throw a few Rand down on some video poker (my favorite) and slot machines. After that, we called our driver from Umhlanga Taxi and headed back to our hotel. What a day!
We had 2 extra tickets to sell, and it took us about 30 seconds to find someone with a sign that read "need ticket". Two nice kids from Japan were eager to purchase our tickets, which we happily sold for face value, all we were interested in was being at the World Cup and more about watching the matches than making a few extra $. =)
| From 2010-06-16 Spain-Switzerland |
Once the crowd filled in, and the teams walked out from the tunnel, the vuvuzelas made the stadium the loudest I had ever heard. We knew it was going to be a great match! Spain dominated play for most of it, but Switzerland managed to sneak a goal in the second half against the run of play. Spain's best chance came late in the second half with Xabi Alonso slamming one off the crossbar. It was not to be though, and the Swiss fans got to celebrate the huge upset.
After the match, we walked with the crowds over to the FIFA Fan Fest on the beach. Starving, we grabbed some Shawarma (spicy chicken and falafel) pita sandwiches as they were the only thing we could find, even though the travel guides advised against eating food from carts. They were delicious!
We then watched the first half of South Africa and Uruguay on the big screen with all the local fans. Then we headed over to the Suncoast Casino, figured we had to at least throw a few Rand down on some video poker (my favorite) and slot machines. After that, we called our driver from Umhlanga Taxi and headed back to our hotel. What a day!
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
June 15, 2010
Today the plan was to head over to Moses Mabhida Stadium and go on a tour as well as go to the top of the arch either on the skycam or taking the 500+ stairs. It was an overcast morning, with clouds and some rain off and on. Before leaving, we phoned the stadium and the recording said tours run all day tuesday through sunday, with monday being reserved for school groups. Upon our arrival at the stadium, the taxi dropped us off at a taxi stand area. From there we headed into the stadium, through a 40 ft. opening in the front gate. We walked over to the stadium, but could not find where the tour started. We even asked a police officer, who was not sure where the tours left from and directed us towards the North entrance. We walked over there, by security and into the stadium outer concourse. Something didn't look right, but we kept walking around and nobody asked us who we were or what we were doing as we walked right into the stadium. So basically we wandered around the stadium for about 2 hours on our own. Great opportunity for a personal tour!
Doesn't say much for the security of the stadium, but later on events made us feel much better. After a while of walking around to every area of the stadium seating, we decided it was time to leave. When we walked outside it appeared that security had gone over the area, closed the gate we came in, and the area was completely locked down. When our taxi arrived, we went to exit the secure area and the security staff asked us for our badge to check us out of the facility - which we obviously did not have. They questioned us for a minute, then let us depart.
Next stop on the agenda was the SeaWorld aquarium at uShaka Marine World. There we spent about 2 hours wandering through the aquarium. After the aquarium we had lunch at the Cape Town Fish Market (restaurant). Sarah had grilled prawns and i had fried prawns as a starter and then angel fish with calamari.
After lunch we headed back to our hotel (Cowrie Cove) to relax before dinner. Upon arrival, one of the hotel employees recommended we go into Umhlanga for dinner, and he made us a reservation at Oil & Water for 7:15pm. Back home we watched Ivory Coast vs Portugal, and got in the taxi at 7pm for dinner. Sarah had the ostrich and I had a steak. Both were delicious! After dinner we went across the street to a bar to catch the Brazil - Korea DPR match. Almost every bar had the match live on tv with the sound blaring in the street. Great atmosphere! We are both excited for the Spain-Switzerland match tomorrow!
Pictures from our stadium tour
Pictures from SeaWorld aquarium at uShaka Marine World
Pictures from dinner in Umhlanga
Next stop on the agenda was the SeaWorld aquarium at uShaka Marine World. There we spent about 2 hours wandering through the aquarium. After the aquarium we had lunch at the Cape Town Fish Market (restaurant). Sarah had grilled prawns and i had fried prawns as a starter and then angel fish with calamari.
After lunch we headed back to our hotel (Cowrie Cove) to relax before dinner. Upon arrival, one of the hotel employees recommended we go into Umhlanga for dinner, and he made us a reservation at Oil & Water for 7:15pm. Back home we watched Ivory Coast vs Portugal, and got in the taxi at 7pm for dinner. Sarah had the ostrich and I had a steak. Both were delicious! After dinner we went across the street to a bar to catch the Brazil - Korea DPR match. Almost every bar had the match live on tv with the sound blaring in the street. Great atmosphere! We are both excited for the Spain-Switzerland match tomorrow!
Pictures from our stadium tour
Pictures from SeaWorld aquarium at uShaka Marine World
Pictures from dinner in Umhlanga
June 14, 2010 - Durban
Today we slept in seeing we didn't have anything to get up at 6am for. :-) We woke up around 10am and hopped a taxi into Durban. Our hotel (Cowrie Cove, pics here) is south of the airport, but north of Durban in Umhlanga Rocks (pronounced Um-schlanga i found out). We took the R200 taxi ride into town and had lunch at a place called Moyo inside uShaka Marine World - a water park, aquarium, shopping center, etc all in one and on the waterfront just south/east of downtown Durban. Sarah had a clay pot of rice with other veggie junk, I had the grilled prawns (prawns seem to be a South African thing as they are served everywhere - District 9 reference?).
After lunch we walked up the beach to the FIFA fan fest. There we watched Japan defeat Cameroon, was neat seeing all the different fans watching on the big screen at the beach. Then we wandered through some shops and called our taxi driver to come pick us up again. For dinner we again ordered out from the same place (but had a feta/avocado/ham pizza and a chicken/mushroom sub) and watched Italy-Paraguay to a 1-1 draw.
Pics from today are here
Pics from today are here
Sunday, June 13, 2010
June 13, 2010
Sad to wake up today as it is our last day at the best hotel we have ever stayed in. Up dark and early at 6am, enjoyed my morning tea a little more than usual at the expense of England from the previous night. =) Off we went on the game drive and within 30min we happened upon 2 male white Rhino. As soon as they noticed us they scrambled off deep into the African bush. What a sight they are! We stopped by a river to have a cup of English tea (ha ha!) and watch some hippos floating around in the river. Managed to get that last picture i wanted - a hippo opening it's mouth nice and wide showing it's teeth!
i can now consider my safari experience complete. Back to our room to pack, then off to the airport. Sad to leave the staff at Tinga, they were all so friendly and interesting to talk to.
We landed at the brand new King Shaka International Airport in Durban in the early afternoon. The airport is brand new, only been open for a month! The airport (and our flight) was packed with Germans and Australians (socceroos) as the match in Durban tonight featured Deutschland and Australia. We met our driver and he took us to our home for the next 7 days in Umhlanga Rocks, about 20min south of the airport. We looked into tickets for the match but it was sold out and nobody was selling them for face value that we could find. Once at the hotel we ordered out from a pizza place and watched Germany slaughter Australia.
Pictures of our last day at Tinga
i can now consider my safari experience complete. Back to our room to pack, then off to the airport. Sad to leave the staff at Tinga, they were all so friendly and interesting to talk to.
We landed at the brand new King Shaka International Airport in Durban in the early afternoon. The airport is brand new, only been open for a month! The airport (and our flight) was packed with Germans and Australians (socceroos) as the match in Durban tonight featured Deutschland and Australia. We met our driver and he took us to our home for the next 7 days in Umhlanga Rocks, about 20min south of the airport. We looked into tickets for the match but it was sold out and nobody was selling them for face value that we could find. Once at the hotel we ordered out from a pizza place and watched Germany slaughter Australia.
Pictures of our last day at Tinga
Saturday, June 12, 2010
June 12, 2010
Our second full day on safari, but i'm not sure it would ever get boring. Around every corner is a new animal. And to think the day is finally here where the USA meets England in the World Cup! Sarah wore her US home jersey and I wore my away jersey with Charlie Davies #9 on it. No tea this morning, i will have hot chocolate thank you very much!
We started the day with a giraffe sighting, followed by a young male lion. Followed by another giraffe and a fully grown male lion who was only interested in laying around. Later on we managed to drive between a female giraffe and her young baby and got to see the giraffe run across the road in front of us. They cover a lot of ground quickly!
We stopped for morning tea on top of a big rock that offered us a great view of the surrounding park.
Back to the lodge for breakfast, then while walking back to our room we heard a commotion in the bushes (see video). Turns out a herd of elephants were in the area snacking on trees! We stood there and watched them no more than 20 feet away at times for a good 30 minutes. After that we sat on our private terrace watching various animals amble by in their normal daily routine foraging and eating.
The afternoon game drive started with us driving around a corner where 3 young male elephants were playing. They tried to frighten us away by flapping their ears and swinging their head, eventually we drove off to let them think they had succeeded.
Following a stop to have a drink out in the bush, we came upon a spotted hyena near a river. Then about 2min later another walked right by our range rover! (see video). Then just as Johan was apologizing for not finding a leopard today, we drove up to one standing in the middle of the trail! Perfect ending to another game drive.
We stopped for morning tea on top of a big rock that offered us a great view of the surrounding park.
Back to the lodge for breakfast, then while walking back to our room we heard a commotion in the bushes (see video). Turns out a herd of elephants were in the area snacking on trees! We stood there and watched them no more than 20 feet away at times for a good 30 minutes. After that we sat on our private terrace watching various animals amble by in their normal daily routine foraging and eating.
The afternoon game drive started with us driving around a corner where 3 young male elephants were playing. They tried to frighten us away by flapping their ears and swinging their head, eventually we drove off to let them think they had succeeded.
Following a stop to have a drink out in the bush, we came upon a spotted hyena near a river. Then about 2min later another walked right by our range rover! (see video). Then just as Johan was apologizing for not finding a leopard today, we drove up to one standing in the middle of the trail! Perfect ending to another game drive.
Dinner was called a "boma" which is basically an outdoor dinner around a big fire and all the food is made over a grill or bbq. I tried impala and it was tasty. We had dinner with our guide Johan, was a good time. next stop - Johan walked us back to our room so Sarah and I could watch US-England! The lodge policy is that after dark you cannot walk to your room without a ranger as we are in the middle of a game park with no fences around the hotel.
England scored first, but the US managed to get one back to earn the 1-1 draw. Solid result for the US.
England scored first, but the US managed to get one back to earn the 1-1 draw. Solid result for the US.
Friday, June 11, 2010
June 11, 2010
There was no internet available at our lodge, so we have been writing down notes and posting everything from the past few days now.
The schedule for the safari:
06:00 wake up call, followed by Morning Tea on the main terrace
06:30 safari departs promptly
09:00 safari returns, followed by breakfast
12:30 - 14:00 lunch
15:00 Afternoon Tea
15:30 safari departs promptly
18:30 safari returns to lodge, followed by drinks and then dinner
The first night (June 10th) on safari I didn't sleep more than 4 or 5 hours, kept waking up to lions calling, hippos snoring, and hyenas yelling. Sarah slept like a log. Getting up at 6am was a bit tough, but we were excited for another game drive after the excitement of the previous afternoon. First thing we saw was another leopard. later on we came upon a family of 4 cheetahs, right next to the path. They were pretty comfortable with us there sitting and watching them for 30min or so. So cool! Then we ran into the king - a full grown male lion. He barely looked at us as he ambled by, knowing we were not a threat because this was his territory. As we turned back to follow the lion headed deep into the bush (off our trails). We did pass by the cheetah family again and followed them for a bit.
Back to the lodge for breakfast then we spent a couple hours on our suite's terrace watching various wildlife wander by in their daily quest for food and water.
The afternoon game drive was mostly quiet, but we did see a spotted hyena and a hippo crashing through the trees as we frightened it.
The schedule for the safari:
06:00 wake up call, followed by Morning Tea on the main terrace
06:30 safari departs promptly
09:00 safari returns, followed by breakfast
12:30 - 14:00 lunch
15:00 Afternoon Tea
15:30 safari departs promptly
18:30 safari returns to lodge, followed by drinks and then dinner
The first night (June 10th) on safari I didn't sleep more than 4 or 5 hours, kept waking up to lions calling, hippos snoring, and hyenas yelling. Sarah slept like a log. Getting up at 6am was a bit tough, but we were excited for another game drive after the excitement of the previous afternoon. First thing we saw was another leopard. later on we came upon a family of 4 cheetahs, right next to the path. They were pretty comfortable with us there sitting and watching them for 30min or so. So cool! Then we ran into the king - a full grown male lion. He barely looked at us as he ambled by, knowing we were not a threat because this was his territory. As we turned back to follow the lion headed deep into the bush (off our trails). We did pass by the cheetah family again and followed them for a bit.
Back to the lodge for breakfast then we spent a couple hours on our suite's terrace watching various wildlife wander by in their daily quest for food and water.
The afternoon game drive was mostly quiet, but we did see a spotted hyena and a hippo crashing through the trees as we frightened it.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
June 10, 2010
From there we drove 90min to the gate of Kruger National Park. Once through the gate it was another 20km to our lodge - Tinga Narina Private Game Reserve. Upon our arrival we were greeted with warm towels and 2 champagne flutes of orange juice. After signing a form that basically said they aren't at fault if we get eaten by lions, we were led to our room. After a quick change of clothes we met back in the main lodge for our first game drive at 3:30pm.
Our suite was incredible, and then we hopped in a Range Rover with our guide (Johan) and spotter (Emmanuel) and took off into the African bush.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
arrived in Johannesburg!
The flight went by surprisingly fast. The seats were spacious and the dinner they provided us was pretty good. After watching the Hurt Locker and then ambien-sleep, next thing I knew the system said 2 hours 34 min to landing.
The airport in Johannesburg was impressive - modern and full of friendly people smiling (and blowing their vuvuzela's almost non-stop) Picked up a SIM card for my phone, all our FIFA match tickets, and headed over to our hotel.
Dinner was interesting, but very good. Chicken and some other kind of meat (lamb?) with rice and spinach in a mushroom sauce. The internet isn't working so will post pictures when we get a chance.
Off to bed, tomorrow back to the airport for the flight out to Kruger National Park!
The airport in Johannesburg was impressive - modern and full of friendly people smiling (and blowing their vuvuzela's almost non-stop) Picked up a SIM card for my phone, all our FIFA match tickets, and headed over to our hotel.
Dinner was interesting, but very good. Chicken and some other kind of meat (lamb?) with rice and spinach in a mushroom sauce. The internet isn't working so will post pictures when we get a chance.
Off to bed, tomorrow back to the airport for the flight out to Kruger National Park!
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
We are on our way!
Sitting in the airport, waiting for our flight to board. 21 hours from now we will be in Johannesburg! We are both looking forward to the long flight. Fun.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Final 23-man Roster submitted to FIFA
The 23-man US roster was submitted to FIFA, with jersey numbers. We will see them in South Africa soon! Here they are:
GOALKEEPERS (3)
18-Brad Guzan
23-Marcus Hahnemann
1-Tim Howard
DEFENDERS (7)
3-Carlos Bocanegra
12-Jonathan Bornstein
6-Steve Cherundolo
15-Jay DeMerit
21-Clarence Goodson
5-Oguchi Onyewu
2-Jonathan Spector
MIDFIELDERS (9)
7-DaMarcus Beasley
4-Michael Bradley
13-Ricardo Clark
8-Clint Dempsey
10-Landon Donovan
19-Maurice Edu
22-Benny Feilhaber
11-Stuart Holden
16-José Torres
FORWARDS (4)
17-Jozy Altidore
14-Edson Buddle
20-Robbie Findley
9-Herculez Gomez
GOALKEEPERS (3)
18-Brad Guzan
23-Marcus Hahnemann
1-Tim Howard
DEFENDERS (7)
3-Carlos Bocanegra
12-Jonathan Bornstein
6-Steve Cherundolo
15-Jay DeMerit
21-Clarence Goodson
5-Oguchi Onyewu
2-Jonathan Spector
MIDFIELDERS (9)
7-DaMarcus Beasley
4-Michael Bradley
13-Ricardo Clark
8-Clint Dempsey
10-Landon Donovan
19-Maurice Edu
22-Benny Feilhaber
11-Stuart Holden
16-José Torres
FORWARDS (4)
17-Jozy Altidore
14-Edson Buddle
20-Robbie Findley
9-Herculez Gomez
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
US provisional 30-man roster announced!
Goalkeepers- Tim Howard, Marcus Hahnemann, Brad Guzan
Defenders- Carlos Bocanegra, Oguchi Onyewu, Steve Cherundolo, Jonathan Spector, Jay DeMerit, Clarence Goodson, Jonathan Bornstein, Heath Pearce, Chad Marshall
Midfielders- Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, Stuart Holden, Ricardo Clark, Maurice Edu, Benny Feilhaber, Jose Francisco Torres, Alejandro Bedoya, DaMarcus Beasley, Sacha Kljestan, Robbie Rogers
Forwards- Jozy Altidore, Conor Casey, Brian Ching, Edson Buddle, Eddie Johnson, Herculez Gomez
Sorry to see no CD9 on the roster, looks like a strong team though. I will still wear my CD9 jersey in South Africa.
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