Blogs from Mpumalanga , South Africa, Africa - page 41

28.6.2010 - Montag bin um 7 uhr aufgestanden und bin ein letztes mal runter zum deck gegangen um wasser für die gäste zu kochen... habe mich von allen verabschiedet und bin richtung giriyondo gefahren. Eigentlich waren meine pläne völlig anders. Wollte nach maputo und durch komatipoort richtung nelspruit fahren, aber bin erst um 11 uhr abgefahren und nicht wie geplant um 9 uhr. Habe 1,5 h an der grenze verbracht um mein 3 monatiges visum zu erhalten... was ich nach langem hin und her gekriegt habe. von dort bin ich nach nelspruit gefahren und habe am abend mein erstes spiel der WM gesehen. Bin fast ein bißchen froh, daß sich die CH nicht qualifiziert hat, denn sonst wären wir unter die brasilianischen räder gekommen... 3.7.2010 - Dienstag und jetz ist bereits july - aber es fühlt ... read more

After two red cards to arguably Australia’s best ever players in two straight games it was now or never for Australia in a do or die clash with Serbia. Australia had to win and hope for a Ghana win or Germany to thump Gharnia Fructus by 3or4 goals, minimum. This is how the day went. Basing ourselves in Johannesburg we took the 3-4 hour drive to the far east of the country to Nelspruit. Known as the major stopover for Kruger National Park the cities new purpose built stadium is a new step for the region. (Arguably the best stadium thus far we went to.) Never before has a construction like this been here and the town had a bit of atmosphere in comparison to Rustenburg. But I almost didn’t get there with what was later ... read more

Geo: -23.926, 31.4209Today was our first of 2 days to explore the world-renowned Safari Park - Kruger. Prior to arriving however, we had a cruise along a nearby river. The cruise set off shortly after breakfast and consisted of a few hours. Along the way we caught sight of a couple of crocodiles, and many hippos, well.. at least their eyes and ears popping above the watertop.There was also an amusing Zulu Dance/ Show here, which was very impressive.Eventually by mid-afternoon, we arrived in Kruger and had a couple of hours to explore.We were welcomed by a frisky young elephant, running around on a mission to go someplace.Before long, on our first day, we managed to see Impala, Springbok, Vervet Monkeys, Zebra, Girraffe, many birds, and the grand finale, was a Leopard.This leopard had climbed up ... read more

Geo: -24.5833, 30.8167Today I was picked up from the Ritz Backpackers, nice and early for my ACACIA Tour - Joburg to Vic Falls.We started off at 5am. For the first 5 days of the 7, our group was to be just 5 of us. Myself, and two older couples (30s-40s)One Couple - Paul and Victoria, the other Terry and Mary.It was a really nice group, which made the trip that extra bit special.In addition, we had our tour leader, Vessel (a local white-Africaan from Polokwane) and his girlfriend/assistant, Georgie (an Aussie staying here for a couple years).The Highlight of the first day was definatley Blyde River Canyon, the third largest Gorge in the World, and the Largest Gorge that is Green (unlike the Grand Canyon).There were spectacular views all round.From there we travelled on to our ... read more

After a long drive from Durban, well done Ben and Dan, we arrived in Nelspruit at nightfall at the Hippo Water Front Lodge, 10km outside Nelspruit. Dehaan just happened to have tickets to NZ v Italy, so he and I went to that and watched the Kiwis hold on to an impressive 1-1 draw. Game day on the 25th began with beers over breakfast. We then moved on to the Jock and Java, which was full of about 2,000 Australian fans, crammed in singing songs and smashing beers. Watched the England and US games. There were a couple of Serbian fans cheering when the Yanks won, because they were sure they would beat Australia, then get to play the yanks. How wrong they were! We arrived at the stadium and made our way through the throng ... read more