Viva South Africa

Goeie Dag. We have been hanging out in Cape Town South Africa, which we arrived in via Johannesburg. We decided to focus on Cape Town with the limited time we had before starting our overland trip through southern and eastern Africa. While here we have made the most of World Cup fever as well as experiencing many of Cape Town’s attractions (well, those that you can do in winter).



BAGS M.I.A: While we admit to being initially apprehensive about holding on to our possessions in South Africa, it turns out that we should have been more worried about them in transit. We are sure that many people have stories such as these and you will therefore empathise with our situation. Upon arriving in Cape Town we were initially advised that they didn’t know where our bags were and subsequently advised that our bags were still in Johannesburg and that we may get them late that night or sometime the next day. The final kick in the guts? After nearly 40 hours without sleep, being told that when our bags arrived we would have to pay for them to be delivered to our hostel. This may or may not have drawn some colourful Kiwi language. Thumbs down British Airways; you now join Jet Star in our group of black listed airlines.



WORLD CUP FEVER: Like all of South Africa, Cape Town has really embraced the World Cup. On a daily basis the waterfront is alive with football fans from all around the world. We have enjoyed many games down at the waterfront but there have been two standout highlights. First, the pre match build up and game we attended at the Greenpoint Stadium, Italy vs. Paraguay, where we became honorary Italians for the night. Our kit and “Viva Italia” chants ensured that we were loved and adopted by all Italian fans and even got noticed by media from www. goal.com see link for article and photo http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2869/fanview/2010/06/14/1976253/yes-i-am-french-but-support-the-azzurri-they-will-win-2-0. Attending the World Cup game with 70,000 others was amazing but very cold, thanks to conditions similar to watching a game at the Cake Tin in a southerly and heavy rain. Thankfully without even realising it, we had splashed out on covered seats. Our second highlight and proudest moment was jumping up and down at the amphitheatre as the All Whites scored their first ever World Cup point by drawing equal with Slovakia in the final minute of injury time. We have since continually been congratulated on our team’s efforts and have enjoyed highlighting that we are first equal in our group. Keep it up boys, Italy look vulnerable.



TOPPING THE TABLE: Trekking up Table Top Mountain and Lion’s Head were on our must do list in Cape Town, but looked in doubt during most of our stay thanks to the Wellington like wintery conditions. In the end, we bit the bullet, put on the majority of our clothes and went up anyway. We were briefly rewarded with spectacular views when the infamous ‘table cloth’ cloud occasionally lifted.



We have had amazing time in Cape Town and would love to come back in summer to fully enjoy more of the outdoor pursuits that the city offers. For the record we have found the people very friendly and have felt safe at all times. Tomorrow we are beginning our overland trip through Africa, heading initially into Namibia.

‘Till next time and keep cheering on the All Whites,
Rodney and Kirsty.