Go USA and Thank You Bafana Bafana!

Today, after Landon Donovan scored a minute 91 goal, the US team defeated Algeria to move one step closer to victory! Bafana Bafana did not advance after yesterday's match against France, but they played filled with pride and passion for their home and World Cup host country, South Africa. Thank you for being great ambassadors of your country!

Our partners in South Africa continue to deliver a world-class event in hosting the FIFA World Cup. South Africa spent years preparing for this event, including major infrastructure additions such as the 10 new football stadiums, airports, highways and train stations.

For more information on travel to South Africa for the World Cup or on safari, please contact us at Africa Adventure Consultants.

'The Ball'

'The Ball' is a FIFA project that is used to raise awareness about the Special Olympics through football and it is part of the World Cup activities. On its 2010 journey, 'The Ball' has passed through over 100 countries and over 16,000 people have signed it. Teams of intellectually-challenged children will also be a part of the World Cup activities.

The worldwide journey of the ball started 146 years ago in Battersea Park in London, United Kingdom (UK), where the game first started in 1864. Every four years, the ball travels to the World Cup host country.

This year it is estimated to have covered 15,000-miles to South Africa through West and East Africa passing through Morocco, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Cote d' Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia Namibia and Botswana before reaching South Africa.

Photo courtesy South African Tourism

Cape Town - township tour

During my recent visit to Cape Town, I had the good fortune to take a Township tour of Guguletu and Khayelitsha in the Cape Flats area for the first time in several years. I immediately saw immense change from my last visit. It is evident that the government is working hard to keep its promise of building real homes for people in the townships. Whole blocks have been transformed from shanty's to real homes.

Vicky's B&B in Khayelitsha, 'the smallest hotel in South Africa', probably isn't the smallest anymore! When I was last there, her establishment was 2 rooms for let and was on a street of falling down, cobbled together houses. Her B&B is now a two storey, six room establishment that is often fully booked during high season. The surrounding street has been transformed with newly built, colorful houses with tile roofs.







Vicky is one of many entrepreneurial community members that has found a way to start an informal business to support her family in an area with high unemployment. She has inspired others in Khayelitsha to do the same.

Any visitor to South Africa should consider a Township tour as an activity during their visit. We can set up an excellent tour in Cape Town or Johannesburg, or in smaller communities outside of the major cities. (I also did a township tour in Knysna on this most recent trip; it was very different but equally interesting and touching). Even if you overnight in Johannesburg, you could take the opportunity to visit Soweto and see the thriving communities, the homes of Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu (among others) and get a very real glimpse into the way the majority of South Africans live.

Call or email us to schedule your South African adventure or to add a township tour to your upcoming South Africa or World Cup trip.

World Cup Africa Travel

Have you always dreamed of going to the World Cup games? Well, next year is the chance of a lifetime to combine two trips of a lifetime - attending the World Cup and venturing out on a remarkable Big 5 game safari in what are arguably some of the best game viewing regions in Africa.

With recent news of counterfeit ticket and travel package sales reported by the The Times in London, it's increasingly important to purchase your World Cup Africa travel packages from reputable tour companies.

We've designed several special World Cup Africa travel packages to suit many different travel styles from self-drive to fully guided safaris, as well as complete World Cup travel packages that include World Cup tickets and a safari package. Availability at safari lodges and city hotels is limited during the World Cup dates for June and July of 2010, so plan your safari and travel package right away.

For those travelers interested in spending more time exploring South Africa in depth, our 15-day South Africa World Cup & Safari is ideal. Using Cape Town as a base, spend 10 nights in Cape Town, travel within South Africa to see two US group World Cup matches (cities not yet determined) and then enjoy 4 nights on safari at the luxury Thornybush Game Lodge near Kruger National Park. Thornybush is home to the Big 5 and offering twice-daily game drives in open Land Rovers, as well as bush walks and the luxurious Amani Spa.

For more information on World Cup travel packages call us at 866-778-1089.

Leopard photo by Lyndsay Harshman, Cape Town Waterfront courtesy of SA-venues.com.