The Road to the World Cup

Qualification for the World Cup is rarely straightforward and carries its fair share of defeats, but fortunately a greater number of victories. And so it was for us on our road from Delhi in India to Johannesburg, and World Cup 2010 in South Africa. Our flight with Ethiopian Airlines was scheduled to leave Delhi at 2am in the morning with 2 hours in Addis Ababa to connect to Johannesburg. The last kilometre in the taxi to Delhi airport took around 30 minutes but we arrived at the airport around 11:30pm. Security only let you into the airport 3 hours before your flight, so we were surprised when we were refused entry. The soldier told us our flight was delayed until 6am. Not only did this mean an uncomfortable night in the airport, but missing our connection (the one daily flight to South Africa from Ethiopia) and possibly Honduras’ first game against Chile. Having booked with Ethiopian, we knew there was an element of risk, so we had researched alternatives before we left our hotel earlier that day. So we went to the Ethiopian Airlines office and asked them if they would rebook us. They were very helpful to us, as they had received an instruction from their HQ to take the unusual step of rerouting World Cup travellers on other airlines. It took a few hours to organise as all other airlines were overbooked due to World Cup demand, but in the end we got booked on an Emirates flight through Dubai leaving at 4:15am and arriving only a few hours later than originally planned in Johannesburg.

First step: getting out of India!

Step 2: Boarding our Dubai flight

We were delighted with our new itinerary, as Emirates are renowned for comfort in all classes. Before I board a long-haul flight crossing several time-zones, I always plan to sleep, but these days the in-flight entertainment is too good to waste the journey sleeping. On our second flight to Johannesburg, we were seated beside a gentleman wearing a South Africa football shirt. We soon struck up a conversation with Francois and he proceeded to fill us in on everything to see and do in South Africa, as well as insisting that we call him anytime during our stay for advice. We took note to accept his offer as it seemed genuine.

Tony and Ninfa arrive in SA!

Coincidentally, Honduran friends in our same flight

So finally we arrived in Johannesburg, where we had arranged an airport pick-up with the same company who were renting us the campervan which we had booked for the duration of our 4 weeks in South Africa. 90 minutes later, our pick-up still hadn’t arrived. Finally, I got in touch with the company, Wicked Campers, who told us that due to a lorry-drivers strike, our campervan wasn’t ready and that the van was currently somewhere in Botswana. As we had planned to sleep in the van that night, this was obviously a slight problem. The company was so stretched for vans, that they had had to rent the airport pick-up van. After a long evening at the rental office in freezing cold temperatures (remember, we had left a 45 degree plus Delhi), we were placed in alternative accommodation and told to come back the next morning for the van. When I got back the next morning, there was still no van, so I asked for a full refund (and got it) and went to the airport to rent a new car.

Ivory Coast? NO! Ireland!!

Honduran flags everywhere in SA! Love it!

All the car rental offices at the airport are in a line one after the other, and it was in this order that I learned from each of the crowded offices, that there were no more cars for rent. Honduras were kicking off their World Cup 2010 in 28 hours time, in a city 350km away, so the tension was mounting. Finally, in the second last office, there was a car, one car left, the last in Johannesburg airport. I took it, and at a price less than 50% of what our camper van was originally going to cost. After a little phone work, we also had accommodation in Nelspruit, our first World Cup game city. In total, the car rental and self-catering accommodation were going to cost less than the daily rate of our campervan. We quickly came to realise that our van being in Botswana was a blessing in disguise, especially as camping in freezing conditions is something the most die-hard camper is bound to frown upon.

Welcome activities at airport

Vuvuzuela fever!

And so we set off eating a KFC takeaway in our stereoless VW TenaCiti (like a 1980′s VW Golf) on the road to Nelspruit trying to get there before dark in case we’d be carjacked (we had been listening to too much negative press).

The road to qualification takes many unexpected twists, and what seems like an omen of misfortune, can soon turn out to be exactly what you wished for. The important thing is getting there, and get there we did.

Thulazuelas - ear plugs!

PS We didn’t have any blog posts from our two weeks in India, a result both of the tiring heat and the amount of time needed to organise our trip around Rajasthan. We have written some posts but will publish them after the World Cup.

PPS In our World Cup posts, we will share a little bit of South African slang and World Cup lingo to help you feel a part of the events at home. So here’s lesson 1!

World Cup Lingo – Lesson 1

Makarapa – a construction-workers hat, cut up into crazy shapes and painted with your teams colours. Huge lens-less spectacles are often taped to them – essential South African football fan headgear.

Vuvuzela – if you haven’t goa a makaraka, you have to have a vuvuzela. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, it’s part of South African football, and therefore part of World Cup 2010.

Jozi – Johannesburg

Jo’burg – Johannesburg