The “gees”, meaning enthusiasm, spirit of the game and everything South African, was a uniting factor. All our “woes” were put aside for these past 31 days. We smiled, laughed and sang, also shouted with glee and upset as the 64 games passed at such lightening speed. The world who thought we could not never pull this off are sitting back is disbelief with a little embarrassment of how could AFRICA do this and do it so well.

Well we did, with encouragement, dignity and pride, we showed the world this is AFRICA, we waved our flags, sang the songs and truly a tremendous time was had by all. This is AFRICA” S time just like the opening song said.

Some fools tried their luck and did stupid things, like set up a guy to go into the English teams locker room. Well Simon, your press pass and all your future media work should be barred from publishing and you should be disbarred from any work as a journalist ever again. Shame on you. I think your Mother would be ashamed of your antics.

Despite these “short-sighted” people pulling stunts, generally South Africa, every citizen did us proud and our President Jacob Zuma even thanked us all for our hospitality, for which this country is famous, now given a new name – swop hospitality for – GEES. Pronounced with a gutral G in the back of the throat!!!

So come see what all these supporters felt and saw in this diverse beautiful rainbow nation – as the song says – WHAKA WHAKA eh eh!!

7. Cape Town, South Africa
With the 2010 World Cup bringing a global audience to South Africa, the partying will only get harder as travelers converge on a city already well known for nightlife. Luxuriate on some of the world’s best beaches by day and kick back under the moonlight at suave cocktail bars by night. Two hours east, in the Indian Ocean, lies the elegant beach village of Mossel Bay, with more great beaches and chic flair. Visitors must try some of the wines crafted by South Africa’s world-renowned vintners, either at a Cape Town bar or at one of several wineries nearby.

We set off from Cape Town through to the Garden Route via the R62, the longest wine route in the world, overnighting in Oudtshoorn, the Ostrich capital of the country. Here we visited the Cango Wildlife Ranch, where they have a breeding programme for the endangered Cheetah. They also have White Lion, White Bengal Tigers and many more very interesting animals and birds, many endangered such as the Cape Vulture.

We then visited the Safari Ostrich farm, for a tour and lunch ( no potatoes!!). Afterwards we  then headed to the coastal area over the Outeniqua pass to Knysna for a night. This is where the real adventure began, with sightings of Elephant, Buffalo and Warthog. Yes we saw 2 of the 6 Lion, a female that decided she liked the look of us staring at her from a koppie and decided to walk back up the hill, so back into the car – fast – and then tried to follow her, but she slunk off into the thick Spekboom vegetation fast.

The next morning the sunrise was beautiful and as I was taking a photo of it, I heard a roar, Keith shouted he’s walking at about 200m direction 12 o’clock from the guest house that overlooked a waterhole and low and behold what a beautiful male Lion. More of this was on the cards over this very lucky spell.

We arrived at Shamwari and in the first game drive of the evening, we followed a male Cheetah on the hunt. This happened a few times. We also followed a female with 2 cubs a few times over the 8 game drives we did. The Elephant encounters were also special, with the young bulls really play fighting a lot. Other sightings included a herd of Elephant and a White Rhino with calf, which were in the same location as the Elephant.

In the mix

We also encountered that same White Rhino with calf who had rolled in the red sand with a Black Rhino who was totally out in the open, who took a dip in a very small mud pool. We managed to get a photo of both types of Rhino together – another first for the rangers.

So many firsts for seasoned rangers on this trip the angles were really smiling down on us. And so it went on with one special encounter after the other. A Lioness with 2 cubs of about 6 months, was not happy with the males advances,  and tore a strip off him by growling and chasing him. He tried to block her wanting to leave, but she chased him with lots of growling and roaring – a sight I tried to video but was shaking too with excitement.

More Lion encounters, chasing the Male cheetah out of their territory. I can almost write a book about these 4 days at this private game reserve. Well, the verdict at the end of the tour was – after having visited most of the Sub Saharan countries of Africa over 28 years and doing many game encounters, this was by far the best ever experience for Keith, Liz & Tom. Seb enjoyed his first visit and I am sure he will be back, as I am sure the Somerville’s will be.

Keep reading and I hope to set up a photo gallery for these magnificent safaris we do in MALARIA-FREE area – Cheers for now – Pam Taylor.

Lioness one of many seen