Much Addo about nothing?
... er, actually not at all. Addo Elephant Park, a huge national park in which we stayed last night, and where you can do your own safaris or guided tours with a chance of seeing all sorts of big game, was really good. I just wanted to do that pun. (Sorry.)
The so-called Big Five animals all live there, although of the five we only saw elephants and buffalo, missing out on rhino, lions and leopards. I didn't have massively high expectations going into the safaris, having never done anything like this "in the wild" before, and therefore I really enjoyed seeing a plethora of pachyderms as well as warthogs, meerkats, zebras, a tortoise and a whole host of deer/antelope-y creatures - an Eland, some Hartebeest and loads of beautiful Kudu, which were by far the most numerous. The guide on the guided trip we did said there used to be even more Kudu in the park, which was the main reason for introducing the lions into the fray. Having stopped off at a market at lunchtime, I can confirm that Kudu taste just as good as they look. Those lions know their stuff.
We were a bit disappointed not to see any big cats, especially as we'd met people who had seen lions that day. But the temptation with places like this would be to spend all day waiting at a particular watering hole just on the off-chance that a lion or two might come strolling by, and if they don't then that's a whole day wasted. I really can't complain - Addo wasn't as good as Bewdley's own West Midlands Safari and Leisure Park, of course, but then what is?
Now we look forward to England vs Germany. One thing we're missing out here is all the acres of media coverage surrounding the tournament and England in particular, so we are somewhat out of the loop. On the other hand, we're missing out on all the acres of media hype surrounding the tournament and England in particular. I'm sure the Achtung Fritz! Let's Give the Krauts a Good Kicking! headlines will be rearing their ugly heads soon, if not already.
I have had to listen to an exhaustive analysis from Dave involving the calculation of odds to prove that we now have a much tougher route through the tournament after failing to win the group, which could all just be boiled down to one sentence - Germany and (probably) Argentina: hard; Ghana and Uruguay/S Korea: not so hard. I personally don't believe we have anything to fear from the Germans, especially having watched the Ghana game, and my hope is that the players will relish the big occasion and will be far more likely to perform to something approaching the best of their abilities. Certainly the Slovenia game was a big improvement, and one which we should have won by more goals.
Of course, the Germans will be equally up for the game too, and history suggests that everything is set up for extra time, penalties and another "blaze of glory"-type exit for the brave (but ultimately stupid-for-timewasting-at-the-end-against-Slovenia-rather-than-trying-to-score-another) Three Lions. Defensively we have looked somewhat shambolic, and realistically we stand little to no chance of winning the world cup. But still, I'm here in South Africa having a lovely time and I'm going into the match with confidence at a high. Us football fans are hardly known for our cold-eyed realism.
We're staying in another backpacker place tonight, specifically in a tent right on the Wild Coast, which is nice. Although I'm not a natural backpacker type these places provide such good value and generally good company too, so I can't really complain. Off to have a braai now - that's South African for barbecue, you know. See ya.
The so-called Big Five animals all live there, although of the five we only saw elephants and buffalo, missing out on rhino, lions and leopards. I didn't have massively high expectations going into the safaris, having never done anything like this "in the wild" before, and therefore I really enjoyed seeing a plethora of pachyderms as well as warthogs, meerkats, zebras, a tortoise and a whole host of deer/antelope-y creatures - an Eland, some Hartebeest and loads of beautiful Kudu, which were by far the most numerous. The guide on the guided trip we did said there used to be even more Kudu in the park, which was the main reason for introducing the lions into the fray. Having stopped off at a market at lunchtime, I can confirm that Kudu taste just as good as they look. Those lions know their stuff.
We were a bit disappointed not to see any big cats, especially as we'd met people who had seen lions that day. But the temptation with places like this would be to spend all day waiting at a particular watering hole just on the off-chance that a lion or two might come strolling by, and if they don't then that's a whole day wasted. I really can't complain - Addo wasn't as good as Bewdley's own West Midlands Safari and Leisure Park, of course, but then what is?
Now we look forward to England vs Germany. One thing we're missing out here is all the acres of media coverage surrounding the tournament and England in particular, so we are somewhat out of the loop. On the other hand, we're missing out on all the acres of media hype surrounding the tournament and England in particular. I'm sure the Achtung Fritz! Let's Give the Krauts a Good Kicking! headlines will be rearing their ugly heads soon, if not already.
I have had to listen to an exhaustive analysis from Dave involving the calculation of odds to prove that we now have a much tougher route through the tournament after failing to win the group, which could all just be boiled down to one sentence - Germany and (probably) Argentina: hard; Ghana and Uruguay/S Korea: not so hard. I personally don't believe we have anything to fear from the Germans, especially having watched the Ghana game, and my hope is that the players will relish the big occasion and will be far more likely to perform to something approaching the best of their abilities. Certainly the Slovenia game was a big improvement, and one which we should have won by more goals.
Of course, the Germans will be equally up for the game too, and history suggests that everything is set up for extra time, penalties and another "blaze of glory"-type exit for the brave (but ultimately stupid-for-timewasting-at-the-end-against-Slovenia-rather-than-trying-to-score-another) Three Lions. Defensively we have looked somewhat shambolic, and realistically we stand little to no chance of winning the world cup. But still, I'm here in South Africa having a lovely time and I'm going into the match with confidence at a high. Us football fans are hardly known for our cold-eyed realism.
We're staying in another backpacker place tonight, specifically in a tent right on the Wild Coast, which is nice. Although I'm not a natural backpacker type these places provide such good value and generally good company too, so I can't really complain. Off to have a braai now - that's South African for barbecue, you know. See ya.
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