exploring Cape Town

Week 18 (7th to 13th of June)

Feel it – it IS here!!!
No one who currently is in Cape Town would doubt that. And you definitely feel it – no matter where you go. And yes I am talking about the Soccer World Cup!

You feel it if are trying to make your way to town or out of town… a trip that should be 20 minutes takes you an hour instead as some roads are closed due to the FIFA Fan Fest or you feel it in the queue at the supermarket where instead of a short queue, the queue starts a few meters after the entrance.

But these are only minor things you will willingly accept if the worlds biggest sport event is taking place in your country – or in the country you luckily are in at the moment (like me!).

From the beginning of last week it’s been all about soccer and the upcoming world cup. The closer the world cup came the more excited everyone got. Many cars showed off mirror socks in national colours (mostly South African of course, but here and there also a few German flags too) and people started to wear their Bafana Bafana supporter shirts to work and all around.

Last Friday I was ‘patiently’ waiting for the opening game and the world cup to finally start. Not only because of the vuvuzelas that had woken me up that morning (blown from 6am) but mainly because of the excitement… it was hard to concentrate on work. So I decided to go to the shopping centre and get a Bafana shirt for the match in the afternoon. After visiting the first three shops that didn’t even have South Africa socks (let alone tops) anymore I realized that this could be more difficult than I had expected. And it turned out to be nearly impossible to get any piece of clothing in yellow and green. When I had basically given up I passed a little mobile shop surrounded by a crowd of people holding South Africa t-shirts in their hands. About 15 minutes later (people almost started to fight to get one of the last shirts) I finally had a yellow longsleeve top (even though the sleeves are way too short for me) with “South Africa” printing on the front. Now I was ready for the opening match…

We left work earlier that day in order not to miss the kick-off (South Africa vs. Mexico). The entire Jenman staff went to Banana Jam, a cosy bar just around the corner from our office. As we entered the place I was pleasantly surprised, Banana Jam was already crowded by Bafana supporters who had their faces painted in national colours and were blowing their vuvuzelas.

Finally the referee blew the starting whistle.

The atmosphere there was good, although the first half was pretty nerve-wracking since Mexico seemed to play a better half. After Tshabalala’s goal in the second half the party could start and even Mexico’s equalizer couldn’t do harm to the great vibe.

Afterwards my friends and I headed for Long Street which I had never seen that packed before. Crowds of people were walking on the streets and all the bars and pubs were full of people especially after the France vs. Uruguay game had ended which was held in Green Point Stadium. We had so much fun partying with fans from all over the world.

On Saturday we took a short time out from soccer and went to the Newlands Stadium to watch the Springboks (South Africa’s national rugby team) taking on France. Early that morning I familiarized myself with the rules of rugby so I could understand (at least) the most important things for the first rugby match of my life – I know people don’t understand that here, but in Germany rugby is hardly played at all. I – as a rugby rookie – thought the match was really good and South Africa clearly & easily won by 42:17. Despite the great result the atmosphere in a rugby stadium is totally different to what I am used to from an ice hockey or soccer game. There are no fan songs or drummers and the attempt of a Mexican wave died after a few meters. But apparently that’s normal and honestly it was nice not to hear the any vuvuzelas (they are prohibited in the stadium) for an hour.

On Sunday night there was finally a German game where they played Australia. Although Sunday was a rather rainy day with many showers we decided to go to the FIFA Fan Fest. 5 minutes after we arrived it started to pour down but, we found an umbrella where we took shelter. Just in time for Goldfish the rain stopped and we could see a great performance.

More and more people came ready to watch the game but only half an hour before kick-off it started to rain again and we fled to Zula on Long Street. As you all know the game was by far the best of the world cup and we defeated the Australians with a “friendly” (could have been much worse for them) 4:0!!!

Having seen such a great win we all were in party atmosphere and hit Dubliner to celebrate our team with all the other Germans who are in Cape Town.

Last week was the perfect start for a successful world cup. The vibe in the city is beyond all description and I’m looking forward to the next three weeks and all the German wins, of course.

… Okay besides the world cup soccer (and it’s not just me in the office who is totally excited about it) I have actually been getting quite a bit of work done. The guides website was finally completed (yay!!!) where our guides are able to login to a secure website to get tour related information, forms, registration document etc… anything they need while on tour! I have also been doing some newsletter translations and general website updates. I am also pretty excited about a safari that I might be going on – 99% will be going on!!! But will let you know more about that next week….

Germany is playing on Friday again…..! Hope that you will all be watching and supporting!