A Bus Odyssey II

Upon arriving at the Cape Town airport, our scheduled ride was not there. This was par for the course with our travel company. We called the office and they told us someone was on their way.

After about twenty minutes our ride showed up. Check it out:

Yes, we had a whole coach bus for just four of us. Good planning! At least this bus driver knew where our hotel was.

A Bus Odyssey

(PICTURE: The four of us at the USA vs. England game.)

Getting to the USA game the other night was quite an ordeal. The travel company we're using is -- what's the nicest word -- moronic. They basically have no clue about logistics and seemingly are flying by the seat of their pants despite having basically four years to plan this trip. Let me sum up our misadventure:

Wrong Move #1: We were told we would leave at noon for the game. The bus didn't show up until 12:45.

Wrong Move #2: About ninety people got on the bus. We were then told we'd be picking up a few more people at another hotel. That other hotel was in the wrong direction of the game. We ended up picking up about 7 people. So 90 of us went the wrong direction to pick up 7.

Wrong Move #3: We waited about 45 minutes in a parking lot to pick up the other 7 people.

Wrong Move #4: Despite being just about 10 minutes from a mall near the stadium (we were scheduled to stop there to get something to eat), the bus pulled over on a random street so a few people could pee at a fast food restaurant.

Wrong Move #5: After waiting fifteen minutes for some people to pee, the bus then stopped at a weigh station because the bus driver thought more people wanted to pee. This stop ended up turning into a thirty minute stop.

Wrong Move #6: At this point our trip had taken about four + hours and many people were getting antsy. We took a "vote" and decided to skip the mall and go right to the stadium. We got to the stadium and found out that our Tour Leader forgot to get the special parking permit. We had to wait about another hour for someone to bring us the permit.

We eventually parked and went into the stadium. It took us six hours from door to door for a trip which was scheduled to take 2.5 hours. Luckily we were still two hours early for the game. The only thing the tour company did right was having us leaving 8.5 hours early for the game.

And that was just getting to the stadium....

(PICTURE: The bus from hell.)

On the way home we waited about an hour and fifteen minutes in the parking lot for a couple people who didn't show up. Literally we were the last bus there. Even security was leaving the stadium. It eventually took us four hours to get home because the bus driver went to the wrong hotel and ended up getting lost. The guys and I ended up having about an hour to pack our stuff and catch a ride to the airport to fly to Cape Town.

All of that would have been worth it had the USA won...but as you all know by now, we tied England 1-1.

Happy Birthday, Big Bro!!!

Happy birthday to my big brother!!!!!

Fan Zones

(PICTURE: The fan zone where we watched the France vs. Uraguay game.)

For those of you who were hoping for a blog about the USA vs. England game, I'm sorry to disappoint. Hopefully the USA won the game and I'll have a good blog to write about it soon. However, I'm prewriting this blog because we won't be returning from the game until probably 1 or 2AM. We're then taking off for Cape Town around 6AM to check out that city and to catch the Italy vs. Paraguay game.

Sooooo, this blog is about the Fan Zones. Throughout the country there are "fan zones" set up. As I mentioned yesterday, we watched the opening game at one of these zones. Basically they are public spaces which have resurrected huge TVs.

The cool thing about the zones is that you get to feel the electricity of the games without having to be in the stadium. On top of that, there are musical acts and entertainment between the games.

A funny little anecdote: We wanted to watch the first game at a fan zone so we headed to Melrose Arch, a promenade turned zone about twenty minutes from our hotel. We got to the zone about four hours early and managed to grab a table at a restaurant about thirty feet from the screen. The zone filled up and had probably a few thousand people finagling for a clear view to the screen. The zone was cool but I had expected something much bigger akin to the fan zones in Germany in 2006. Well, there was a zone much bigger and it was a two minute walk from where we were. We inadvertantly set-up shop in the smaller of the two fan zones at Melrose Arch. For the second game we headed over to the other zone which was much livelier.

Okay, I'm gonna grab breakfast, shower and then head out to the USA game. LETS GO USA!!!!

South Africa vs. Mexico

Yesterday was the opening game between South Africa and Mexico. Devin, Dave, Chris and I watched the game at one of the fan zones in J'burg. By now everyone who cares knows the score ended in a 1-1 tie. I was pulling for South Africa to win but a draw was a pretty good way for them to start their tournament.

Needless to say, the majority of the people at the fan zone were pulling for South Africa. However, there were a few Mexico fans in the crowd. In fact, the Mexico Tourism Board had a stand at the fan zone and were passing out Mexican flags to anyone who wanted.

To get a little glimpse of World Cup fever, check out the vastly different reactions to the two goals scored in the game:

Vuvuzelas

(PICTURE: South African fans blowing vuvuzelas.)

For those of you who are going to watch the World Cup, you're going to constantly hear a horn sound emanating from thousands of vuvuzelas. A vuvuzela is a long plastic horn and perhaps the most annoying sound in the world at the moment. It seems that every person in South Africa has a vuvuzela and love to blow it everywhere and at every time. During our first dinner last night, some British fans starting blowing their vuvuzela at their table a few feet away from us. There's nothing like a loud horn sound in your ear when trying to enjoy a meal. Then this morning, someone/dozens of people started to blow their vuvuzelas outside of our hotel around 4AM.

Here's a couple of my thoughts about the vuvuzela:
1. What's the point in just making noise? If both teams' fans have vuvuzelas how does one team know who is cheering? To me, it is noise for noise sake.
2. After coming from a safari, this noisemakers make everyone just sound like buffaloes (think cows with horns). Basically the buffaloes on the safari would just walk around and then let out a big moooooooo like sound. It's sort of the same thing with these horns. People basically raise the horns up and for no apparent reason give it a big blow.
3. These horns remind me of high school soccer. Randolph High School -- one of Livingston's rivals -- always had a bunch of fans in the stands who blew vuvuzelas. This was circa 1995 & 1996. I hope those fans invested in the horns because they'd be multi-millionaires after this World Cup.

I thought my experience in Vietnam with horn honking would have prepared me better for the noise of the vuvuzelas, but alas it hasn't. That said, I'm sure I'll be picking one up in the next day or so and tooting it to my heart's desire.

Day Off

I'm utterly exhausted after an incredible four day safari. I took way over 1,000 pictures and will try and put together a little montage of the best ones soon. However, today I'm treating myself to a day off of blogging...

Ben