July 13, 2010
The World Cup is over. My journey is ending. I leave on Saturday. This will most likely be my final post.
Thanks to everyone who followed my first World Cup experience, hopefully this will be only the beginning. I plan on attending as many future World Cups as possible, not only because I love soccer, but because the World Cup is a special time that brings the best out of people from around the world. My goal is to have credentials for the next one.
Not having credentials was a blessing in disguise this time around. I saw the real South Africa while “real” journalists were busy getting bussed from venue to venue in large groups. I met so many locals that I won’t soon forget, several of whom will be life-long friends. I guarantee it.
I was left to fend for myself on more than several occasions, which only added to the experience.
On Tuesday, Janri and I went to Magaliesburg for a canopy tour. I had done something like this in the jungles of Mexico with my family some years ago. We zip-lined from tree top to tree top for a couple of hours, easily 50-plus feet above the jungle floor.
This was a bit different, but still the same. Instead of tree tops, we zip-lined across a gorge in a zig-zag pattern. The length of shoots varied from 20 yards to 140 yards. At times we were 50 yards above the bottom of the river bed below.
It was fantastic. We had a great time.
Mike, I learned to love soccer during the years my kids played youth and high school soccer. This year I watched as many of World Cup the games as I could, and enjoyed lots of the televised “human interest” pieces about the country and the players. But I have to admit that following your terrific blog was another major reason that I enjoyed this World Cup more than previous years. I’ll be looking for your reports in 2014!
Comment by Ann — July 14th, 2010 @ 10:15 pm
First rains have fallen! Summer’s here…best time to visit SA again is NOW!
Comment by Dawid — November 4th, 2010 @ 1:17 am