Once again, it seems that I've gotten behind on the blog... primarily because it has been a really busy summer! After our amazing South African adventure, we were also able to squeeze in a couple more trips, including a getaway to Croatia over the Fourth of July weekend and then Daniel's sponsor parents from USNA came for a two-week visit and I had the privilege of being their "tour guide" around Bavaria. Needless to say, we've been having a lot of fun the last couple of months! Now I have a few quieter weeks before the fall soccer season kicks off, so I am hoping to get caught up on the blog during this down time. To start off, I thought I would share "Part 1" of our South Africa trip... Johannesburg!
We headed out from Frankfurt late on Tuesday, June 15th, on the red-eye. We had a layover in Dubai early the next morning and eventually arrived in Johannesburg late Wednesday afternoon. After picking up our World Cup tickets and rental car at the airport, we drove 45 minutes to the house of Adam and Beth U., friends that live in Pretoria who we'd be staying with for a few days. It was great to see them and so nice to have a "home base" while we attended the World Cup games in the area.
On Thursday morning, we had some time to stop by the Bryanston Organic Market to check out their wares. After a little souvenir shopping, we were on our way to Soccer City Stadium for our very first World Cup game, Argentina vs. South Korea! To begin, parking was... shall we say... interesting. You would think that with such a huge event as the World Cup, they would have organized parking... umm, not so much. Once we finally found a place to park, we had a bit of a hike, but the gigantic stadium was quite a sight to behold, and inside was pretty sweet too.
We got to our seats just as the game started... with over 80,000 people in attendance, the place had an awesome atmosphere. It was a very good game too, with lots of scoring... it was 2-1 with Argentina on top at half-time, but South Korea scored right before the end of the half to keep things engaging. However, by the end of regulation, Argentina had the victory well in hand by a score of 4-1. With the win, all the Argentina fans were blowing on their vuvuzuelas in full force... believe it or not, those crazy horns are much more annoying on television than in person. I think they actually add to the festive mood :) Soon we headed back to our car along with the rest of the hordes leaving the stadium, all with slightly rattled ear drums and smiles on our faces.
The fun continued on Friday starting with a visit to the Lion Park just outside of Jo'burg. There we had a chance to actually pet lion cubs! They were so adorable. Of course, Daniel had to grab one of the cub's tails... one of the things you are not supposed to do!
We also fed the giraffes, which was a total blast. They stick out their long black tongues, bring your hand up to their mouth and scoop the food right out... it totally tickles! Giraffes may be kinda goofy, but I think they are so neat... we had a lot of fun interacting with them.
Following our close encounters with the animals and lunch at the cafe, we did a self-drive safari through the rest of the park. It was a great chance to experiment with our new camera... we especially enjoyed photographing the zebras as well as the adult lions. It was a terrific way to see these beautiful and powerful creatures!
Next it was on to the World Cup game we were most excited about... USA vs. Slovenia! It was held at a smaller stadium in downtown Johannesburg, Ellis Park. We had another "interesting" parking experience, but thankfully we allowed ourselves plenty of time to get there. As we approached the stadium, we saw plenty of American fans pumped up about the game. We were pretty stoked too, especially when we saw what great seats we had... about 20 rows up from the field at the 18-yard line! While we were watching the teams warming up, I randomly saw my friend, Yuki, from San Diego walking by... it was so crazy to see someone you know half a world away unexpectedly! Before long, it was time for the national anthems... it is pretty amazing to hear thousands of people singing the Star Spangled Banner when you're on another continent. We were sitting in a great section too... everyone was singing and cheering their hearts out the entire time.
While the first half wasn't that great for the US, considering we were losing 2-0 at half-time, the second half proved to be incredibly exciting... within minutes Landon Donovan (my favorite player :) put us on the board with an outstanding goal. As the teams continued to battle, USA found an equalizer with a goal by Michael Bradley. With the game winding down, it became more and more intense... and then with 5 minutes to go, we scored a third goal... or so we thought! We were so busy celebrating for a couple of minutes that we didn't even realize that the goal hadn't been counted. Since they didn't replay it at the stadium, we didn't know what had happened or what a controversy it would become until after the game. Needless to say, we were a bit shocked as we left the stadium, but even with it ending with a 2-2 tie, it was still an awesome game and we were thrilled to have been there! After the game, we got to help Adam celebrate his 30th birthday with Beth and their friends... it was a fun way to end a great day.
Since we weren't going to any World Cup games on Saturday, the guys decided to go hunting that day... needless to say, Daniel was ecstatic to have the opportunity! They were out in the bush by the wee hours of the morning, and with the help of his guide, Jean-Tom, Daniel tracked and shot a monster wildebeest! My husband can't wait to get the mounted horns and the pelt back from his African kill.... some very memorable hunting trophies. And while the boys were away on Saturday, I stayed in Pretoria with Beth... we had a fun day of shopping at an outdoor market, but I was too busy haggling to take any photos :) I got some nice souvenirs though!
When Sunday morning rolled around, it was time to say good-bye to Adam and Beth and head south... before leaving Pretoria though, we swung by the Rosebank Market for a little more shopping, plus there was a neat steel drum band playing nearby too. Since we were going to a late game that night (and catching a flight out to our safari the next day!), we were staying closer to the stadium so we made our way down to Jo'burg.
After getting settled down in Johannesburg, we were excited to meet up with some other friends... Ben and Melissa F., our close friends from the Academy and San Diego. They had flown in earlier that day with Ben's dad and step-mom. Since we were all going to be at the World Cup, we just knew we had to get together down in South Africa... needless to say, it was so great to see them! That evening we all rode to Soccer City Stadium together in order to watch Brazil vs. Cote d'Ivoire. With a powerhouse like Brazil playing, we knew it would be a pretty electric game... Brazil walked away with the win 3-1. Afterwards, their many fans were celebrating hardily... so Daniel and Ben just had to get a pic with one of them :)
Monday morning we actually flew east towards Kruger National Park for our safari, and I will definitely be blogging soon about that... but for now, let's fast forward to Wednesday, June 23rd when we returned to Jo'burg for our fourth and final World Cup game. Melissa, Ben, and his parents also returned from their safari that day, so we were able to meet up with them once again. Before heading to Soccer City Stadium that night, we watched the final minutes of the USA's glorious win over Algeria together at their hotel. It was so exciting to see Landon Donovan score the winning goal in stoppage time for us to advance to the next round!
Cheering the US onto victory put us all in a great mood for that night's game... Germany vs. Ghana. Daniel and I were very happy to see our 2nd favorite team in action. With both defenses doing a great job protecting their net, the game actually turned out to be a very low scoring game. However, in the end, Germany was able to pull out the win 1-0... Go Deutschland!
On Thursday afternoon, we were heading off to Cape Town, but that morning we were able to spend a little more time with Ben and Melissa... the four of us decided to make a quick trip to the Apartheid Museum. Though we didn't have long, it was interesting to learn about South Africa's tumultuous history and to see where the country is today. Before long, we all had to say good-bye at the airport. It was wonderful to catch up with them, and our entire time in Johannesburg was simply awesome!
Well, that wraps up "Part 1" of our trip to South Africa, but please come back soon to check out "Part 2"... our amazing safari! Until then, take care!
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