Flying through Cairo and now over the Alps on my way back to the USA, it’s time to wrap things up as the road to the World Cup has reached its’ final destination. This has been a trip of a lifetime for me and one that won’t be forgotten.

Over the last year, I’ve been fortunate enough to have traveled the world. Now its time to go back to being a poor college student after spending 16 of the most worthwhile months away from classes.

Spending significant time in Argentina and South Africa has taught me that the world isn’t too big of a place after all. There are so many nice people out there and whether or not they speak the same language or eat the same foods, they’ll welcome you to share in their love of life. Stereotypes are worthless: people from South Africa don’t have lions in their backyards just as I am 100% Texan but not a cowboy. Everyone comes to the table with a different perspective, but the world is more united than you would imagine. People from different cultures are willing to learn from each other and share experiences. This fact was no more important than now, during the world’s largest event.

South Africa has been a grand host. Though many things in South Africa just don’t work or function (forget about customer service), the country has made progress since Apartheid and will undoubtedly benefit from the World Cup. It is a country with much wealth and poverty, but a nation on the rise with much to offer and a light in an otherwise blighted continent. 

Living in other countries has been rewarding, but there is no place like the United States. Other than the comforts of home, the USA is unparalleled in so many aspects. I have a greater appreciation for the luxuries of how we live every day. Our poorest of poor doesn’t hold a candle to Africa’s. I wouldn’t say I live too extravagantly, but coming home to simple comforts like A/C and safe neighborhoods is simply refreshing. Jetting thousands of miles away makes you realize how much you love your friends, family, and being home. 

Thank you for sharing in my experience! I really and truly appreciate everyone for following along and commenting. I can only hope you’ve learned a little, enjoyed the stories/pictures/videos, and get to experience similar adventures in the future. Enjoy every moment, and Get busy living or get busy dying...

It is hard to determine exactly what makes a World Cup. Is it purely the level of play on the soccer field? Is it the number of tickets sold and money made for the host country? It’s sure a lot more than that.

Having never been to a World Cup or even the clearest memories of watching them on TV, I am no expert on a host country’s wherewithal to host the world’s biggest event. But after spending the entirety of the World Cup in South Africa, I am aware of what this country has done successfully and what they’ve done pathetically.

Passing Grades

People (A) South Africans are generally very open and welcoming. Most in the country believed that the nation would be a great host and put forth the best World Cup ever. Few were aggravated that South Africa was chosen as the host because of the potential debt that the tournament could bring, but many are optimistic about the long-term advantages such as upgrading infrastructure that comes with the games. It has already been rumored that South Africa could get the World Cup in 2026 because FIFA is doing a continental rotation of hosts and South Africa and Egypt are pretty much Africa’s only viable options. After hosting 2010, another nod may not be a surprise.

Stadiums (A-) Though nothing can compare to the Cowboys and Yankees new stadiums in the US, the host prepared well in erecting some modern and fitting venues for the world’s stage. Soccer City is a premier stadium with all the normal attributes of a modern arena and more importantly much character, designed in a multicolored pattern in Soweto to resemble a traditional African pot. Durban’s stadium featured arches spanning across the top. Cape Town’s spectacle was another 1st class architectural delight that lit up beautifully. On top of its fulfilled duties, the country built hundreds of new soccer fields across the land for underprivileged people.

Soccer (B) Though the USA came up short and dashed our hopes, the 64 games were entertaining with loads of storylines and drama. Granted the final was one of the worst matches of the tournament, we witnessed a first-time winner and capped off a month of the beautiful game.

Fail

Park and Rides (D) Planning of the park and ride system should have been perfected after the Confederations Cup of 2009. However, almost every game we went to was a disaster in this respect. The parking lots would often be up to 15 miles away, where you would catch a barely labeled bus to the stadium. Then, you would still have to walk another 2 miles. I’m still unsure as to why park and ride was mandated as most stadiums had adjacent open land. If the reason were to prevent terrorist threats, that doesn’t make sense because this system funneled thousands of people into areas waiting for the buses as easy targets. Not to mention, it caused unwanted and extra time to hang around some creepy, vuvuzela blasting fans instead of just getting to your car.

Security (F) After suffering through the park and ride, security was a joke. After the first couple of games, I would just walk through the metal detectors without taking out my phone, camera, or anything. The machine would go off, but the security personnel would either ignore it or wave me through regardless. Clearly, I wasn’t attempting anything naughty, but someone could have if desired. During the England vs. Algeria game, a fan walked right past teams of security guards and into the English locker room in Cape Town. Only after being confronted by the likes of David Beckham and crew was the gentleman escorted out. On the funny side, famous streaker  Jimmy Jump evaded cops at the final while showing off his stuff. 

Many of youhave seen Shark Week on the Discovery Channel. Others of you have been entertainedby sharks at the aquarium. What I experienced today, however, blows any similar experience of my life out of the water.

En route to an epic day, we trekked to Gansbaai, South Africa at 5 inthe morning. At “Shark Alley,” only about 6 miles off the South African coast, there is a nature reserve that protects marine life. Here, ecotourism companies lead groups out to view great white sharks in their natural habitat. The nearby Geyser Rock is home to 60,000 Cape Fur Seals, which have attracted the great whites for years.

Our skipper took us right out to Shark Alley and anchored down. The boat comes equipped with a 5-man steel cage that hangs off one side. Though there is no guarantee that any shark will be spotted, the area has garnered fame as the most successful viewing area of great whites so close to the shore. Each of us got a chance at a close encounter never to be forgotten.

Before diving into our great white journey, here are a few interesting facts about great white sharks.

1)     These sharks are pelagic, meaning the prefer the upper layers of water and are surface feeders.

2)     They are extremely nomadic animals and constantly travel from South Africa to Australia to the coasts of California and Mexico.

3)     As apex predators, they are at the top of the feeding pyramid and grow up to 21 feet. The great white is the only apex predator that hasn’t been kept successfully in captivity.

4)     They can go weeks without eating, but with one bite can gobble 30 pounds of flesh.

5)     They have a mega sense of smell and amazing ability to sense electrical fields that radiate from living creatures, which is how they hunt down prey.

6)     Nothing is known of how great white sharks mate. A great white has never been seen giving birth, but it is known that they can birth up to 14 pups at a time.

7)     Sadly, the survival of great whites is threatened by humankind who continue to needlessly slaughter them. Our ship’s crew work to protect them from extinction.

Going out into the ocean was exhilarating, yet a little bit scary all the while. Right away, the skipper spotted a shark so we rushed to put on our wet suits. Once suited up for the 50 degree waters, you can slowly step into the cage and look around the ocean with your goggles. Every time a shark was spotted from the top deck, the skipper shouted to go down at which point we held our breath and went underwater for the spectacle.

The crew throws out chum to attract the sharks as well as a buoy with attached tuna fishheads for the sharks to eat. In the same area around the boat, there were thousands of little fish swimming around. Every sighting was unbelievable.

We saw at least 8 different great whites today, getting extremely lucky. At one point, a crewman was reeling in the tuna bait and it happened to be 1 foot away from my face when the shark passed right by it. Thank god for the steel barrier in the way. Later, one shark actually grabbed on to the bait and didn’t want to let go for a good minute. I was so lucky to have been in the cage when this happened because the shark started thrashing and knocked right into the cage below my feet. I wouldbe remiss to say I wasn't a little frightened, but will never forget that powerful moment. The cage was rocking and the shark's fin was just inches away. 

Enjoy the video. I apologize for the music, but the video is from the ecotourism company and I did not create it (except for the introduction). The video shows us getting into the cage, views of the sharks from below water just as we saw them, sharks breaching the surface, and near the end shows the Geyser Rock with thousands of seals visible.

The World Cup may have ended, but I'm still blogging and will soon post the best video yet. Check back in an hour for my post covering one of the best days of my life: we went out to sea for an epic experience of cage diving to view great white sharks off the coast of South Africa.

The final game was played Sunday, but I am still in South Africa with more posts on the way. After leaving Johannesburg, I'll head to New York City for a few days before coming home to the great state of Texas. 

The last four weeks have been full of action, drama, and letdowns. It had to come to an end, though, and Spain capped off a great month-long fest of soccer with a 1-0 victory over the Netherlands. During the course of the World Cup, superstars came out to play, vuvuzelas bellowed endlessly, outrageous coaches ruled the pitches, refs blew astronomical calls, and fans lived and died with their teams.

With 64 games on tap for the tournament, you can’t expect every single one of them to be full of action. It is soccer, after all, and scoring can be infrequent. That was the case on Sunday as we waited and waited and then waited some more for a goal to be scored. The constant upheaval of yellow (and red) cards marked scoreless play. Finally, Andres Iniesta laced home the winner in extra time just as we inched toward penalty kicks.

Either way going into the game, a new victor would emerge. Spain walks away with its first golden trophy and the $30 million prize to be split among players and coaches.

If you weren’t able to hang on for the entire game, you missed the record number of penalties and several missed chances by both teams. Arjen Robben of the Netherlands had two clear shots alone at goal, but was stopped short. Though the game was easily upstaged by the 3rd place game (a 3-2 German win over Uruguay) the night before, it at least had the drama of a final.

We watched the final from Cape Town and despite rooting for the Netherlands, had a great time concluding a month of soccer infatuation. Here’s my video of downtown Cape Town after the final.  

Don't worry, we're still tuned into the soccer whole-heartedly and loved the 3rd/4th place game, packed full of action between Germany and Uruguay. Germany managed to squeak by the Uruguayans to take home the bronze medals.

In the meantime, we have been doing some exploring of the country. The south-western most point in Africa is located at the Cape of Good Hope. The cape lives up to its' name with the beautiful views of the Atlantic Ocean that it purveys. This is the point where ancient navigators made the turn north up the African coast toward Europe. Although not quite where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet, it is still home to crashing waves and huge cliffs that dip into the icy waters below.

The area is full of Chacma Baboons (and impalas). The baboons haved lived here for an apparent 1 million years. These baboons will stop at nothing to get some food and one even stole my friend’s chips from his hand while we were walking up the cliff. Providing for its’ baby, at least the baboon could probably use the chips more than my friend.

You know the drill by now: peruse the pics and watch the vid…

The World Cup Final is tomorrow and can only equate to Super Bowl Sunday. Let the festivities begin.

We couldn't come all the way to South Africa without visiting Cape Town, which sits on the southern tip of the Atlantic side of the country. Today, we hiked an arduous path up Table Mountain. All of the cable cars were closed and hiking wasn't recommended because the strong winds could knock you off the mountain, but we managed just fine.

Table Mountain is Cape Town's most famous landmark. It is a flat plateau about 3,500 feet high and overlooks the entire city and bay of Cape Town. You can even see Robben Island, where prisoners such as Nelson Mandela were held. It took about an hour and a half to hike up because it was so steep. 

Once we got to the top of the mountain, we could see the entire city below and several other sites, including Rhodes Memorial. The cloudy and windy day disabled some views, but it was cool to be above the clouds, a feeling usually only reserved for plane flights. Enjoy the pictures and video. 

Ever look up into the sky and think about how small our world is in comparison to the universe? Or maybe you gaze at the stars and wonder if someone on the other side of the world is looking out there too. Well, they might not be able to see the same stars as you, depending on the hemisphere.

I’ve always liked star-watching, but being a city-slicker has had its restraints. The night sky in South Africa displays loads more stars than the same sky over Dallas’ neon lights. It is also quite a bit different, being in the southern hemisphere and near the tip of the world.

The moon orbits near the equator of the Earth and so the northern/southern hemispheres have a different view of our satellite planet. In the southern hemisphere, the moon is seen as upside down and opposite that of the north. Either way, everyone still sees full moons and new moons as one and the same. In South Africa, it is really easy to spot the moon at all times of the day and night. It is just a little freaky seeing it upside down.

For African astronomy, the Southern Cross is king. This constellation is found in the southern part of the sky; the four bright stars constitute the standard cross. You can’t see the Big or Little Dippers here.

Maybe I’m just not used to being able to see so many of its’ stars, but the Milky Way is extremely evident here. It appears as a large cluster of stars, like a light streak across an otherwise dark sky.

Checking out the night sky may seem frivolous, but small details like such make traveling all the more interesting. 

Random Observations

There are some normal police in South Africa, but there also seems to be a prevalent force of undercover agents. You will be driving along the highway and all of the sudden a suped-up black, tinted Mercedes E63 AMG turns on its sirens and kicks into a high gear chase. If only the Rainbow Nation spent that kind of money on AIDs prevention education.

South Africa has three different capitals. We only have Washington D.C., but this country felt that one wasn’t enough. They’ve split up the duties: Cape Town is the legislative capital, Bloemfontein is judicial, and Pretoria is executive or administrative.

In the middle-class (and up) neighborhoods, most of the houses are made with a thatched roof. The straw linings create an intricate layer atop some cylindrical wooden posts. Our house’s thatched roof is pretty cool to look at, but does a terrible job of keeping in heat. The house is usually colder inside than out. These houses are definitely more suited for hot summers to keep in the cool when the sun is out. There are plenty of ‘Informal Settlements’, though, with houses made of any material available. It is very very sad to think that people survive in these living conditions.

Can you translate the phrase “jump the robot” for me? Took me a second to figure this one out. It means to go straight through a traffic light (robot = traffic light).

Zimbabwe (just north of S Africa) is a personal favorite since it used to be called Rhodesia. But the country has its fair share of problems. Zimbabwe had immense difficulties handling its currency. Inflation skyrocketed and the Zimbabwe notes became useless. The country had to start issuing billion Zimbabwe dollar notes. The financial dilemma got so bad that the government even started placing expiration dates on their money. It isn’t too unusual to see an expired 100 billion dollar note from Zimbabwe (“good until date”). In the last year, Zimbabwe had to resort to pinning itself to the US dollar and now primarily uses American money, although that has brought up even funnier problems.