20,000 Miles and a Day Off

We have survived the most intense segment of travel of the World Cup and look forward to a much deserved day off. After flying and shooting every day for the last nine days, we arrived back at our Dunvegan Lodge base at half past midnight. Amazingly we have found ourselves on the downhill side of the entire trip. So far we have taken 14 flights and we will be airborne five more times to cover the remaining games. I have set a personal travel record by compiling more than 20,000 air miles in the month of June alone. On average we spent as much time flying everyday as we do actually photographing the matches. Even the members of our team that were not members of a Star Alliance frequent flier program previously will fly over 25,000 miles and reach Silver status during our World Cup voyage.
We have ‘visited’ several cities, searched out food and drink, been escorted from airports, to hotels, to stadiums and back again. As familiar we have become with all the destinations, passing through the same airports several times, it all became a blur. It often takes a moment to remember which coffee shop was in which terminal and where you ride buses to baggage claim and where you ride the escalator up or down to get to ticketing. But what was still missing is a more intimate look at the country. The glimpses of the cities, towns, townships, villages and countryside from the air have been enticing my curiosity.

The terrain changes dramatically as quickly as you leave the beaches surrounding Cape Town the mountains jut skyward and ragged interspersed by low-lying marshlands that collect water headed for the sea.

Areas further inland are geometrically hashed up with agricultural fields. Flying into Durban the outskirts of the city are surrounded by suburban tract homes and tracts of shacks in the townships. The closer you get to the harbors of the port towns reveal cargo holding areas and rail yards. On our inland journey to Johannesburg the geography became more dramatic as the earth gained elevation from sea level to the 5700’ altitude of the city. The hills grew more mountainous and rugged. Canyons cut by rivers. And lush topography near the shores becomes void of vegetation and turns more arid.
Looking at the roads that slice through the sugarcane fields surrounding the Durban airport have me longing for an epic bike ride, being able to take the time to better inspect the houses, to better observe and appreciate the labor of the men cutting and harvesting the sugarcane by hand and aimless turn from paved to dirt roads and back again rolling from the coast, inland and back again.
We now have two days off and hope to shake off the exhaustion of the rigorous travel and get out and explore further beyond the tracks I have already made in the Kalk Bay and Fish Hoek neighborhoods of the Dunvegan Lodge.

Eighth Day This Week

Each day in this stretch seems never ending but somehow I figure we short changed at the same time. We are in a different city every day and I have realized that we never spend 24 hours in any one city. When we land somewhere it has become evident that we end up leaving that city earlier the next day than our arrival time this day. So where does the time go? It is lost to the time warp in the atmosphere. I would have preferred that our time in Johannesburg been lost to a time warp.

Jamie (Mac) warned me that it was going to be culture shock. Thoughts raced through my mind that it was going to be like District 9. Full on third world inner city congestion. An array of all the potential threats that were presented to us that would be our ultimate demise by the private security firm that prepped us at the beginning of our trip. I had visions of the worst aspects of Manhattan, Nairobi, Mexico City and few other international cities all rolled together.

We arrived this morning at the Johannesburg airport and were transported to the Sandton Towers but our newest CABS driver Ignacious. Sandton is essentially a walled city suburb of Johannesburg.

Ezra, Street and Jamie (Squire) have told me they spend their days walking from the Towers to the ‘mall’ and today I followed their steps. After just a couple hours I can’t tell you how ready I am to get the hell out of here! Talk about culture shock! The local team members ushered us through the corridors because I would have been lost without an escort. Lars and I met Stuart Franklin and Martin Rose for lunch before they headed to the airport to catch flights to their German homes. It is the biggest, nicest, most crowded mall I have ever seen in the world. I couldn't get out quick enough.

More glitz and glamour and food and goods for sale than one can imagine, especially I am sure more than the kids in the nearby Townships could even dream of. I figure I saw more people in the mall today that live in our retreat town of Fish Hoek. Can’t wait to get back to the lodge.

And as for the less than 24 hours on the ground time seems to be lost there as well. Our last day spent in Durban revealed just that. We had a 6:30AM car to the airport after our car delivered us to the Sandton Towers in Johannesburg after 1:00 earlier that morning. We beat traffic and arrived at the Jo’burg airport with enough time to spare to get yet another terminally mediocre breakfast. Our estimated arrival time in Durban is 11:10AM. We arrive on schedule and our ever faithful driver Welcome has met us with the luggage trailer we requested attached to his 10 passenger van which seats would now be filled with the addition of Ryan and Hewitt. Again we have not enough time to do anything and too much time to do nothing. The Netherlands v Slovakia match up has not drawn a lot of media and therefore tension is low for barging the field at the two hour window prior to the match. I have the Visa tour duties today so I have to be ready to go three hours before the match. This manages to kill a little time for me. After finishing I figure I have enough time to grab some food in the media center. The line is long, 20 people, but I figure I will wait it out so I can have some institutionally prepared cuisine to get me through the match. Exhaustion has set in at this point and locomotion has become automated and my vision fuzzy. As I stand there in my stupor I realize the line is not moving. I glance to the head of the line again and after minutes I realize the same people are occupying the front. Another glance of the time has shown that 15 minutes have passed and the ‘chef’ serving the fodder has disappeared. Word is passed up and down the line that he has run out of food and has returned to the kitchen to find out why the resupply chain has broken down. I decide to cut my losses and cut to the register and get snacks and drinks for sustenance. A grim selection of prepackaged junk food has provided me with a candy bar and a coke. Lunch of champions and the media hoard. I collect my gear and as I head for the door of the media center I see the people at the front of the line being served their mystery meat of the day. I arrive at my seat which is the farthest distance from the field entry today, get my computer and gear sorted and dive into my sugar laden lunch. I washed it down with a bottle of water just in time for the T minus 45 minute Visa tour. I have completed the tour and realized the need to relieve myself of the fluids. No time. The masses are gathering behind the ropes for the escort to the team benches for introductions. The sprinklers have misted Jamie’s remote, so while he wiped the lens I am toting his gear and angling to save two spots at midfield. Not a great crush of media for Slovakia so we are safe. With pressure building during the first half I am meditating on the fact that I will not be able to make the trek to the toilet until after the game. Nothing is simple. My dream job requires about a one mile round trip jaunt to the toilet at this venue. I have my third Visa tour which dominates halftime which will then leave my praying for the game to end after the second half and not be required to go extra time so as to not risk permanent bladder damage. Done and dusted The Netherlands go through and I rush for the media center. All team members collected we make the first available dinner reservation for 8:30PM. A nicely prepared meal at 9th Avenue more than meets our needs and an 11:00PM bedtime looks like a reality! Better yet a 9:00AM car departure in the morning should render more than eight hours sleep! A brief panicked awakening at 5:30AM has let me settle back in for a couple more hours before my 8:00AM alarm. Back to the Durban airport for the last time of this World Cup has found us at the Rhapsody restaurant again and with an 11:30AM departure schedule I feel rested and excited at the realization that we have finally beaten the system and have spend 24 hours and 20 minutes in Durban. Next stop Green Point Stadium in Cape Town for the battle of the border of the neighbors as Spain takes on Portugal for a spot in the final eight. Weather forecast…….rain.

Over The Hump

“It’s not getting any easier” the words spoken by my Aussie road roomie Quinn couldn’t have been any more true. We have finished game six in a nine day stretch and we have awoken from our requisite 5+ hour sleep. Last night we photographed Uruguay as they sent South Korea home in the first elimination match of the tournament. It was match #49, our 13th, and our fourth in the rain. There has been rain at four matches out of the 49 held. Get the picture? We have returned to the King Edward Hotel in Port Elizabeth for the fourth time. This has been our best experience here so far. Excluding the night they couldn’t have us and sent us to the Radisson. The room is a little humid from the wet parcels we have littered about hoping they would dry over night. We are not fans of Port Elizabeth. We have not had good luck finding good (edible) food here. Crowds have been large and loud. I guess they do have World Cup Fever. Each stay here has been unique. At least this time we were able to check in when we arrived. Everything in the room worked. We were able to order food in the bar and watch the USA game (don’t want to talk about that). The restaurant is only buffet and closes before we get a chance to get in and get settled. The best aspect about all the visits to the KEH was the night they gave us a two bedroom suite. But we didn’t really take proper advantage of it.
I was really looking forward to Friday which was hump day for the current trip within a trip, day five out of nine, knowing that the light was at the end of the tunnel on the downhill slide. But it was just as manic as all the other days and it came and went without much notice. It brought us to Saturday. This is where the hump became a bump. We arrived at the Durban airport only to find out our plane was delayed four hours. It would take off after our deadline to arrive at the stadium, so the day was looking grim, but there was nothing we could do. We went to our usual haunt for breakfast, ordered from memory, and then tried to figure out how to spend the next four hours as we had already spent the fifth hour drinking coffee. We decided to buy our way into the South African Airlines Lounge. 1050 RAND for the crew. It landed us in the not so plush but quiet and safe VIP lounge. Complete with complimentary beverage bar and prepackaged muffins and snack foods. I commenced to get a solid hour plus of sleep and awoke at least being able to see straight. It was a pleasure to not be constantly bombarded by the World Cup sound track playing over and over again in the airport (and EVERYWHERE else in South Africa) and the continued interruptions of the public address system announcing every flight departure except ours. Money well spent, thank you Getty Images. Our PE CABS driver Richard met us faithfully as always and, without stopping and with good use of the horn, we jetted the minibus and attached trailer across town and rolled right into the media entrance and headed straight for the pitch were we arrived after the teams had taken the field for warm ups 45 minutes before game time. Everything in place and ready to go with time to spare I decided to make a quick trip to the standard issue portable toilet trailer. As I briskly walked there with the sun headed for the western horizon, the sky to the south was dark! I did not have a full compliment of rain gear and I texted Carl ‘Mr Fix IT’ to deliver some trash bags to my position. Carl came through as always and saved the day as rain commenced at halftime and was quite heavy in the second half. The gloom of the rain did not match the mood of Uruguay as the rain poured as Luis Sanchez scored his second goal of the game and the game winner to advance Uruguay to the quarterfinals.

As the Koreans head home, so do the Yanks. It was a good match and a couple great goals by the Black Stars. While I would have loved to have seen USA advance, it is a good vibe here to have at least one African Nation advance. South Africa, Algeria, Cameroon and Ivory Coast failed to advance to the second stage. The whole continent is behind Ghana as they have done what only two other African Nations (Senegal and Algeria)have done in advancing to the quarterfinals. I shall take up the support of Ghana which will keep the stock of the USA high as long as the Black Stars continue to win. And as team USA head home so to do my teammates Streeter and Ezra. And never got to see them here in South Africa and It seems like light years ago that we crossed paths in Heathrow. They have passed through Heathrow again today and are nearly home by now.

As the team shrinks, our squad grows. We have added Richard Heathcote and Chris McGraw for tonight’s match between Argentina and Mexico at Soccer City. Mike Hewitt and Ryan Pierce have joined our crew for the duration as two more FIFA photographers. I’ve been anxious to see Soccer City as it has been the gem stone of the venues seen over and over again in television stand ups and broadcasts around the globe. After seeing it on ever channel know to man on the global satellite TV it will be great to see in person…..but at a price...Culture Shock.

Post Script: Germany defeated England!

My Second First Day Of Winter

And the rain came down...

Lightening might not strike twice, but for me winter did. I had another shortest day of the year today as winter came to South Africa. And along with winter came a warm rain. Modern day weather data is fascinating but we found it hard to believe that the two hours it was predicted to rain today were the two hours in which Portugal and North Korea were to play in Cape Town. As we burned time in the media center prior to the match, we listened to the rain pounding on the tent roof. We could only hope the forecast was off by a few hours and the rain would clear up before game time. It stopped right on queue 90 minutes before kick off and we took our places on the pitch. With ominous clouds still gathered overhead I bundled all my gear up in rain covers and plastic bags just in case. I always hope that the preventions help ward off the precip but in this case, no chance. The ball was put in play and the rain came down. 3mm were predicted and I swear we have 3cm by the half. With everything drenched, the rain stopped late in the second half and I was able to pack my soaking wet gear with out the stress of rain filling my bags. Off to Durban tomorrow for the beginning of the third matches in the opening round. Teams will start going home tomorrow and we will have 18 more days until the final.

Portugal drubbed North Korea 7-0

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIM!

News Flash

Just got a Happy Fathers Day text from Devan who is on safari in Tanzania..... 'You're the dad best ever'. Look for more news from her travels soon. She is wrapping up a two week trip to Tanzania where she was volunteering with the Africa School Assistance Project working on the Kirenga Primary School.

Sunday Stroll

View of the False Bay beach in Fish Hoek.

With beautiful weather on tap, this last day before the onset of winter, I took a trek around the neighborhood. Our lodge is nestled in the hills overlooking the ismuth of the Cape of Good Hope between the Atlantic Ocean and False Bay. I started my jaunt over the hill out the back door through Table Mountain National Park on a trail that drops you into Kalk Bay. We have been frequenting the restaurants, watering holes and coffee shops in Kalk Bay but the walk today gave a new perspective. The Harbor House has been our eating establishment of choice. Cape to Cuba serves a nice Mojito and the coffee at the Columbia is awesome. Most of the time spent there has been in the evening hours so daylight gave it a new perception. Families, vendors, tourists and locals were out in force on the Sunday afternoon. Fisherman were casting from the breakwater walls of the harbor. Locals were shopping for fresh fish on the dock. The fish cleaners were feeding the local seals and trying to hock a view to the tourists for a snapshot or two. I could hear a percussion band from the top of the mountain as I descended to town, which was actually providing entertainment for the long line of people queued up to get into Kalky's restaurant on the dock.
Leaving Kalk Bay I walked along Main Road south toward Fish Hoek. Our much traveled vehicle route revealed many hidden aspects. One of note was a man made swimming hole on the beach. There was a pool built to collect water on the rocky shore. A bit chilly this time of year, but I am sure it becomes a venerable hot tub during the new moon phases in the summer. The water is clear and pristine to the view. Visually inviting, physically repelling today. Quite cold.

I continued via Main Road through the commercial strip in Fish Hoek. Dropped into the Pic'n'Pay for some snacks, staples and garbage bags to ward the rain off our gear which is forecast for game time tomorrow.

I headed for the beach access on the south end of town anxious to plunge my toes in the sand. The warm midday sun was being fought off by a marine layer that was lurching bay ward from the Atlantic. Across the rail road tracks and onto the beach i found kids splashing, kayakers paddling, runners running, hand holding lovers and dogs romping. The beach was full of life on this last day of fall. Essentially retracing my steps back toward the house I had to forge the stream of fresh water whose tributaries gather outside my bedroom window from the hills, which flow into the stream that runs through the golf course, through the wetlands and into the sea. An invigorating chill that help invigorate my peds for the trudge up the road to the house.

The cool mist was winning the contest with the waning sun. After tomorrow I can only hope the sun wins the war as it battles back to longer days.

Under The South African Stars

Under the Stars, photo by 'Ronny' Regan

The end of the work week came to a head with three big games representing three of the four nations that comprise our team. We were joined by Michael 'Ronny' Regan our staffer that is following the England squad. On the eve of Friday's matches, Ronny wowed us with his celestial photography as we took turns posing with the Milky Way. To start the day, Lars' German team who was coming off their 4-0 drubbing of Australia to face Serbia. We were all shocked, none as much as Lars, at the German loss in which they had to play most of the game a man down. After the conclusion we headed off to work. On the drive to Green Point, where we would photograph England v Algeria, I listened to the start of the USA v Slovenia match. We arrived at the half and well, I am tired of going over this one again and again..... I witnessed the robbery of the USA's game winning 86th minute goal in the media center. As bummed as I was about that, it doesn't seem to match how gutted Ronny, Alex, Jamie and Laurence were over the hideously boring 0-0 draw that England played to.

We have finally coasted in to our first couple days off. Earned, deserved and needed. We had a few errands to run, camera repair shop, camera store, shopping, long late lunch, scenic drive and back home. Feels nice to be able to catch our breath and not be stressed about catching planes, battling photogs, standing lines, etc. The waterfront is Cape Town was packed with World Cup watchers. England, Brazil, Algeria, Netherlands represented as well as South Africa, and more for sure. Our forced habits carry through into so many aspects of our daily life including going to the same restaurant that we ate at the last time we were are the waterfront two weeks ago. There is a big stage and television screen in the plaza and it was standing room only to watch the Japan v Netherlands match broadcast from Durban. We took the coastal route home and made a few stops for some snaps at the vistas. The tough part of the day was watching all the cyclists headed up and down the coast road. I was a little dubious about how safe cycling might be here, but I now convinced it must be ok seeing the number of people out there. The coastal road is a scenic drive and a toll road so traffic is minimal and slow, the biggest threat might be a driver distracted by the stunning views of the Atlantic and threatening cliffs.

Collar Required

With the excessive travel we put in yesterday, we have freed ourselves up to break the mold today. Our resident golf pro, Lars Baron, was anxious to hit the links at the end of the road, The Clovelly Country Club. Peter, our host, has paved the way for us to play. Lars has the keys to the castle and has permission to use his personal clubs. Carl, Quinn and I had our choice of clubs from the quiver in the garage. Only thing I know is, I like clubbing the hell out of the ball with the big headed driver from Lars' bag. I even out drove Lars on ocassion but couldn't match his score. The time I spent playing in the sand drove up my numbers. The end of day deal is to play as many holes as possible after 3:30PM and being winter here, you get about 2 hours to do it. The gate keeper suggested we play 11 holes. The front nine, the watering hole and the dewatering hole. We took his advice.

Fly, Drive, Eat, Shoot, Eat, Drive, Fly, Repeat

We brought the end of our first tour to an end with a BIG finish (read on). We departed Cape Town to head to Port Elizabeth to cover Portugal v Ivory Coast. After the match we had a pleasant surprise when we arrived at the King Edward Hotel and we were greeted by the concierge with the news that the pipes had burst and our rooms were flooded. They made the arrangements and provided transportation to The Radisson Blu. The contrast of the hotels defies description, the fact of the matter is that Ronaldo and the Portugal squad were staying there, it was nice. We made ourselves comfortable in the bar area, along with the help of our waiter who provided TV trays, and had dinner ‘living room style’ in front of the projection TV to watch the Brazil game.

A 5:30AM wake up call kicked off the day that would take us to the PE airport as we head to Durban for the Spain v Switzerland match. Upon arrival in Durban it was the observation of our Jamie McDonald that with a 4:00PM match we would be finished early enough to catch a late flight back to Cape Town instead of staying in Durban and flying back the next day which would give us an entire day off in Cape Town. Brilliant thinking and excellent follow through by Laurence and Carl who got us on a 9:00PM flight. After a surprise victory by Switzerland, which produced my best photo of the tournament so far, we headed off to the airport. As if the details of our travel isn't astonishing enough, todays voyage is staggering.

OUR DAY
5:30 Wake Up Call.
6:00 Car
6:30 Airport Arrival
7:00 Mugg and Bean Coffee and a BIG MUFFIN
7:50 Flight to Durban
9:00 Durban Arrival
9:30 Car
10:15 Breakfast on the beach at Joe Cool's
12:00 Durban Stadium Arrival
13:00 VISA VIP Photo Tour
16:00 Spain v Switzerland Kick Off
18:30 Car Pick Up
19:00 Airport Arrival
19:30 Rhapsody Restaurant Dinner
21:00 Departure
23:10 Arrival in Cape Town
23:30 Report stolen clothes to baggage services
23:45 Gas up the truck
00:30 Arrival at the Dunvegan Lodge
00:35 Haul all the gear up the four flights of stairs up the terrace to the patio entrance.
1:30 Drop Dead...a mere 20 hour day!!!

Three for Three

Our crew has now begun collecting air miles in earnest as we have covered our first three matches via three flights and completed our first triad tour of our sister cities. We have traveled from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth to Durban to Cape Town. We have begun to make ourselves familiar with what will be frequently visited airports, our drivers in each city and our homes away from home (Cape Town) away from home.

Our driver met us in Port Elizabeth and our 10 passenger van is not large enough to handle the driver plus 7 of us and our excess baggage. I shouldn't say not big enough because we did make it work, but seats were sacrificed for luggage and luggage provided an extra seat. We got better at the in the next couple trips. SEATS FOR EVERYONE! We did not have time to swing by the hotel before the match. So off to the match we went.

The stadium in Port Elizabeth is as well an older fixture and has been retrofitted for the World Cup. It is a smaller venue and quite adequate. As with all the venues I have seen it is distinct in its architecture and ornamentation. From a distance our crew decided it looked like a sea shell resting on the beach.

The King Edward Hotel in Port Elizabeth has obviously just gone under renovation. The 'Port' city is dominated by ports, terminals, warehouses, roadways and rail heads. Laurence has commented that EVERYTHING is made of concrete. It is not very modern, and The King Edward Hotel is prime example. I will research the date, but I am sure it is a century old at least. It sits on a knoll overlooking the ports and a park across the street is adorned with obligatory nautical themed statuary. I say the renovations are new because of the distinct smell of paint and new carpet and the flat screen televisions in the rooms and the glass, stainless, and marble fixtures in the bathrooms don't fit the skeleton key and chandelier motif throughout the rest of the palatial building. The staff in training is also evidence of the burgeoning boutique destination they are striving to achieve.

After the early morning traveling and catching some rays at the rare 1:30PM start, it was down to business....finding a venue for the England v USA match. The KEH was not quite what we had in mind so one of the chiefs of the staff recommended we go to Barney's on the waterfront. Barney's was quite what we had in mind either....but it filled the bill. It was a garish clone of an American sports bar complete with typical chain restaurant eats, loud music, lots of televisions and World Cup fans with those damn vuvuzelas. And the drunker they got the more they blew them. URGH! A large room with picnic tables and a projection TV was perfect for the occasion. I could have done without the coverband in the next room, but the 180db of the TV did good battle with the rock and roll band (160db) and the vuvzelas (100-200db). The wager was 200 Rand each. Jamie, Laurence and Alex (all from England) for England and Carl, myself and Lars (Germany) for the USA. Lars liked the the fact the Brits were so confident in their team they gave us the draw. Our Aussie mate held the 1200 Rand and well....thanks to butter fingers Green I won enough money to cover my entry into our group pool. Updates to come on that competition.


With the 3-0 South Korea defeat of Greece in the books in Port Elizabeth it was off to Durban the next morning. The daily check of the weather forecast was looking bad for Cape Town in two days time, but there was a bright spot in Durban. An Eastern Cape beach destination, Durban's World Cup theme claims it to be the hottest spot of the World Cup. As we were headed in for landing the captain came across the PA per usual with the announcement of time and temperature.....28 degrees C (82F!) and this is supposed to be winter time?!

Durban Beach front with the stadium on the right in the background.

The early morning flight has landed us in enough time for a late breakfast which turned into an early lunch which faded into a late lunch before the 8:30PM kick off. Shorts and a tshirt were the call for the beach side restaurant. Service was on 'island time' which might be nice for the vacationers that dominate the scene there, but it was making us a bit twitchy that we weren't going to get our afternoon nap in before the game. All went well and we got back to our basement room at the City Lodge for some much needed rest.

The new and modern Moses Mabhinda Stadium in Durban, named after a working class hero, is built next to the home grounds for the Durban Sharks Rugby Team. It has canopies on the sides that stretch up toward a center spine that arches skyward above the venue. It is visible for some distance down the beach and seat 70,000 vuvuzela blowing football fans. It was here where Lars' German squad crushed Quinn's not so mighty Socceroos 4-0. Included in the loss was Australia's Tim Cahill who will miss the next two games as a result of a red card. And Quinn's wallet is a little lighter as I noticed some Rand swapping hands in the press room afterwards.

This is Alex under the arch in the Durban stadium.

After sweltering in the relative winter heat of Durban it seemed impossible that the forecast for Cape Town could hold true.....3C (37F) and sideways rain at the 8:30 PM game time. 'This is your captain speaking...' as we approached landing in Cape Town at 1:00PM it was announced, 10C (50F) and rain. The arrival time did not allow us to head back to the villa so it was straight to the stadium for some press food and 5 hours of relaxing in the press tent before the cold, wet, dark, kick off between Italy and Paraguay. So here I sit.......

Alex, Lars and Carl kill time in the Cape Town Media Center.

0-0

Uruguay 0, France 0. Or as my British counterparts say nil, nil. There is one person more disappointed in the outcome than me (we are wagering) and that was Nicolas Lodiero of Uruguay who was sent off in the second half after receiving his second yellow card of the match. France had the upper hand throughout the match and they still couldn't manage a goal with a man advantage after the red card in the 81st minute.

I have just come to the realization that I am going to get as much sleep tonight as I spent time waiting for today's match to begin. We arrived 4 hours prior to the match today to make sure everything was in order. We arrived home shortly after midnight and after I have hauled all my gear in and prepared bags for tomorrows travels, it is a mere 4 hours til my alarm goes off. 530AM departure for the airport for an 800AM flight to Port Elizabeth.

Day One

This is when it all begins. I thought the day would never arrive. I woke up to the sounds of vuvuzelas, here, in Fish Hoek! There was a huge kick off concern in Soweto last night. Everywhere we went it was on the television in the evening. We had a light breakfast this morning and started to plan the days schedule. We got together and synchronized the time stamp on our cameras. All of our photos will be sent back to the International Broadcast Center (IBC) in Johannesburg. Editors will be looking at the work of all of our 6-8 photographers at any one match simultaneously. We are now packing all of our gear for the next four days since, baring a couple hours sleep tonight, we won't be back until Monday night. After our 8:30PM kick off in Cape Town tonight, we have an 8:10AM flight departure to Port Elizabeth for a 1:30PM kick off tomorrow. That game will end early enough that we can reach our hotel and find a suitable venue to catch the England v USA match on TV. I have reminded all my English mates that God might be able to save the Queen but England doesn't have a prayer against the USA!

Here is my schedule for the qualification round. Don't worry, there will not be a quiz, as I hardly know where I am going to be from one day to the next. I have 18 flights in the next 31 days.

Fri June 11 Cape Town 8:30PM Uruguay v France

Sat June 12 Port Elizabeth 1:30PM Korea v Greece

Sun June 13 Durban 8:30PM Germany v Australia

Mon June 14 Cape Town 8:30PM Italy v Paraguay

Tue June 15 Port Elizabeth 4:00PM Ivory Coast v Portugal

Wed June 16 Durban 4:00PM Spain v Switzerland

Thu June 17 OFF

Fri June 18 Cape Town 8:30PM England v Algeria

Sat June 19 WEEKEND OFF (What's that?)

Sun June 20 WEEKEND OFF (What's that?)

Mon June 21 Cape Town 1:30PM Portugal v Korea

Tue June 22 Durban 8:30PM Nigeria v Korea

Wed June 23 Port Elizabeth 4:00PM Slovenia v England

Thu June 24 Cape Town 8:30PM Cameroon v The Netherlands

Fri June 25 Durban 4:00PM Portugal v Brazil

The Sun Sets On Chapter One

Today was our last day of preparation. Everything is in order at the stadium. We have our credentials, tickets, bibs, assignments, and tomorrow is Game One. We will actually be photographing game two. As is customary the host nation opens the tournament. South Africa will host Mexico at the Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg. Soccer City will also be the venue for the Final a month from now. With the opening match kicking off at 4PM we hope to slip into our home pitch the Green Point Stadium in Cape Town for the Uruguay v France match on empty streets as we suspect all eyes will be on the televisions to witness the match in J'burg. So what better to do to get rid of the opening night jitters on the eve of the largest sporting event in the world? Go to the driving range! Our hosts here at the Dunvegan B&B are members of the Clovelly Country Club less than a mile walk from the house. Peter has graciously offered up use of his clubs to Lars (19 handycap). So I used the opportunity to vent some of my pent up energy by whacking some ball down the range. We only hope the weather will be this lovely when it comes time to photograph the football.