Yesterday morning we woke up early and headed northwest of Johannesburg to the town of Pilanesburg 30 minutes north of Rustenburg, home of the USA v England match, to check out Sun City and the Pilanesburg National Park. Even with our best friend, the GPS, guiding the way it seems to take us twice the time the locals tell us it will take to get anywhere. Better safe than sorry I guess. Accommodations were arranged for us at the Valley View Guest House in Pilanesburg by our host family. We arrived and were greeted by Angela, manager of the estate, with a distinctly American version of local accent. As it turns out, Angela was born in upstate NY to an Italian father and American mother. Not all what we expected, they moved to South Africa when she was 11 years hold hence the accent. We caught the end of the Chile v Switzerland match with her father (sorry i didn’t catch his name) and then were off to find dinner before heading to Sun City, a glittering Las Vegas meets Disney World, 10 minutes down the road. Angela recommended 3 places to catch a bite to eat and possibly see some evening wildlife. We decided on a place called Kwa Maritane on the edge of the Pilanesburg National Park, mainly because the have bunker that overlooks a watering hole where you can occasionally see Hippos. We arrived and low and behold the first thing we see are the Mexican National Team buses and technical staff in the parking lot. Fighting the urge to bust out a “Dos A Cero!” we made our way to the reception desk then to the dining hall. The Mexican team had apparently turned in for the evening and were nowhere to be seen. This place was exceptionally nice. The Buffet was still up and the food looked delicious however at R220 and not being all that hungry we opted to just check out the watering hole. Nothing. You know, there is this stigma that American travelers have for being loud and obnoxious when traveling which I’ve heard called “the ugly American”. Walking through the 100 yard or so stone tunnel toward the viewing area we turned off our cell phones and tip toed through the door found a seat and sat down to view the lighted watering hole. This was like some sort of fortified D-Day bunker with a 12 inch by 8 foot horizontal opening guarded by an electrified wire to prevent any creatures from mauling us. Nothing… There was an African family sitting to our right stone silent and a couple to our left doing their best to “whisper” about the day they’d had in what i think was German. 10 minutes later, nothing… 5 minutes later the couple to our left were greeted by the rest of the party who’d obviously been drinking. They must not have been able to read the huge “SILENCE” signs plastered all over the tunnel on the way in. I’m not exactly Jack Hanna but I’m pretty sure if i could hear them any of the creatures we were hoping to see could as well and were going nowhere near the watering hole so we politely excused ourselves and headed back to the car. The Mexican delegation, as well as the entire Pilanesburg PD were still in the parking lot. We had a look around the place one last time (this place was exquisite) and not finding a fire alarm, we decided to head over to Sun City.
We were told by Angela about a restaurant called Shebeen, an Irish word adopted by black Africans during apartheid meaning “a house that sells illegal booze” at Sun City and decided that was a little more our style. We paid the R45 each to get in (i don’t remember paying $8 to get into Las Vegas) and began winding through Sun City to find this place. No luck. The staff at each of the three hotels we stopped at seemed bothered to try and help us find the place we were looking for, pointing in seemingly pointing in random directions. We had a look around several of the casinos, and compared to Monte Casino, this place was dead. (we later learned that FIFA had booked 700 rooms then got a bill 3X higher than the were quoted and pulled the plug) We did see the Ghana team bus there though so if any of you are planning on placing a bet on the Ghana Germany match, keep that in mind. Anyhow, we finally found the Shebeen in time for the kick off of the Spain Honduras match. I ordered a beer and the “Sweet Sticky Chicken Salad” and settled in to watch the match. The food was fantastic (I’m not even sure how I’d describe the sauce) and the Carling Black Label beer hit the spot after a day of driving. Spain was unlucky not to match the 7 goals Portugal hung on North Korea and all you Liverpool fans may have seen that Fernando Torres transfer fee drop by 10M pounds. (sorry Avin, i couldn’t resist) Knowing that we were waking up early and not wanting to loose the Rand I’d won the night before, we headed back to the Valley View Guest House to turn in for the night.
The next day we woke early, had breakfast and headed over to Pilanesburg National Park. This was a real treat for me! Pilanesburg is home to what is known in African game parks as “the big 5″ of Elephant, Rhino, Lion, Leopard and Buffalo in addition to a number of species i’d only read about. We spent all morning driving around this place seeing and photographing Elephant, Rhino, Hippo, Wildebeasts, Warthogs, various species of Antelope, Baboons, birds of all colors, thorns the size of toothpicks, dung the size of soccer balls, ant hills the size of our Hyundai and just some of the most amazing African landscape I’d been dying to see. Sadly we did not encounter any Lions, Leopards or Buffalo but hey, 2 out the big 5 and everything else made this well worth the trip. I apologize again for not being able to post the pictures but I’m about ready to play frisbee with my laptop. I guess you’ll all have to check back once i return.
I left Pilanesburg really happy and we decided to head to Pretoria to try and catch dinner and the South Africa v France match. Along the way we passed the unfortunately typical shanty towns that dot the landscape as we made our way to the N1 highway. Arriving at the N1 intersection we happened upon one of the most unfortunate scenes i may have ever witnessed in my entire life. I have hesitated to include this and decided now after some thought that i must. It’s part of the experience. TIA.. At the N1 intersection an auto accident had occurred moments before our arrival which saw the front of a small pick up truck as well as the roof and windshield obliterated. A small crowd had gathered and there was a man holding the driver’s head upright in an attempt to obviously stabilize him while the passenger was slumped lifeless over him. I’d be surprised if they survived. Our day had gone from the highest of highs, traversing a 13M year old volcano and witnesses some of the most beautiful creatures on this Earth to moment in time and an image that will forever be burned into my mind. This was a very sobering moment. A reminder that while we’re here to enjoy the tournament and celebrate Africa, bad things can happen at any moment. As we passed the scene we could see the lights and hear the sirens coming. There was honestly nothing i or Chris could have done. i still don’t know if I’ll keep this in. we drove on. typing this now and thinking back i feel guilty but there was absolutely nothing i or Chris could have done..
We decided to stop in Pretoria, the original Boer Capital of South Africa to watch the South Africa France match at the Cafe Riche on the Church Plaza. Even thought Bafana Bafana defeated a France squad in complete disaray, the tournament will be over for them. A Windhoek Lager and Bobotie(my favorite South African dish so far) were perfect after a long day. As we headed back to the car one gentleman passing me decked out in his South Africa Jersey said to me “The tournament is over. Everybody go home now.” The smile couldn’t hide the disappointment in his eyes. There has been much concern by the radio personalities as well as the FIFA organizers that interest in the tournament will diminish should Bafana Bafana become the first host nation not to advance from the group stages. Let’s hope not.
Well, it’s 1:01am local time and it’s been a really long day. The USA v Algeria match will take place tomorrow and we’ll be driving back to Pretoria to Loftus Versfeld Stadium. I get sick to my stomach when i think about the match or read about the possible scenarios that could see the USA advance or bow out. I am confident that we will beat Algeria. So much so that I’ve extended my stay in South Africa to cover the weekend and the potential round of 16 match which will take place Saturday or Sunday.
Thanks again for reading and for the comments and emails. Whether you are going to a local pub, a friends house or locking yourself in your den with the lights dimmed, curtains drawn and peeking out at the blue light of your TV from behind your hands tomorrow, remember “Out of Many, One.”
bradfromohio@gmail.com