SCUBA Diving in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia is on My Adventure List. With only 192 Days until I leave for Australia and to Cairns to tick this item off my list, I need to start preparing now.
All this week I’ve been taking online PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) Courses in preparation for this weekend. Today officially starts my practical training in the water. I found a Dive Shop in the Orlando area to help me train. While I haven’t been in the water yet, I thought I would share with you some of the lessons and observations I’ve discovered while taking these SCUBA Courses.
Over the weekend I finally had the chance to participate in The City Scramble. In exchange for promotion on this site, The City Scramble granted me one free entry to any of their races. So Brian and I made a trip up to St. Augustine this past weekend and participated in the race. Here’s some hints and tips to help you win The City Scramble when it comes to your town.
All this week we’ve been talking about the 2010 FIFA World Cup and also the City of Durban, South Africa. So let’s finish off with a combination of both.
Early on in my adventures in South Africa, I had a chance to visit the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban. It was built especially for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. With all the investment South Africa has made in building stadiums, I had to wonder, “what will happen to the stadiums after the World Cup is over?” Fortunately Durban asked that question before they started building the stadium.
The 2010 FIFA World Cup is in full swing. There’s still plenty of time to celebrate both abroad and at home. Here’s your guide to having the most lekker World Cup Celebration.
First, read about The Importance of the 2010 FIFA World Cup to South Africa. For the country of South Africa, the World Cup is more than just a bunch of soccer matches, but holds the potential to skyrocket South Africa’s reputation throughout the world and provide prosperity for the developing nation. This is the reason why the whole world needs to rally behind this wonderful country.
That’s the question I ask the locals every time I enter a new city, wherever I am in the world. On many of my trips, I’m only in a city long enough to see one thing. If I leave without checking out the “it” place to go, I’m always regretting it.
So if you happen to be making your way to South Africa over the next few weeks to see the 2010 FIFA World Cup, don’t leave your host city until visiting the one thing you should see…
The 2010 FIFA World Cup Starts today. After six years of preparation, South Africa is finally realizing a dream come true. In honor of the start of the month-long competition, adventureswithben.com is dancing – The Diski!
So what is it?
The Diski Dance is a specially-crafted choreographed dance about soccer that is spreading across the country of South Africa. It’s intended to get everyone excited about the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The world “Diski” itself, refers to the soccer ball. The dance moves are inspired by soccer kicks and chest bumps with some South African flair. Classes have been conducted in schools across the nation and of course, while I was there I had the opportunity to learn.
One week today the 2010 FIFA World Cup will commence in South Africa. It’s the most watched sporting event on the planet after the Olympics.
It was a bit of shame that I couldn’t stay in South Africa for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. I wanted to, I really did. Working on this project for 2 years really made me a fan of the event (having never been much of a soccer fan before). But it just wasn’t possible to extend my trip. The airfare was too expensive and the logistics and costs of getting to the matches was too costly. But as luck would have it, I had the chance to do the next best thing – see the 2010 FIFA World Cup Trophy on tour.
I’ve been talking a lot about the 2010 World Cup in South Africa throughout this blog and on twitter. It’s the largest sporting event in the world, second only to the Olympics. But there are more important reasons why this event is even more significant to the Country of South Africa.
Past
Many of you are familiar with South Africa’s Apartheid history – a time when Black and Colored South Africans were forced to live segregated lives. It was a horrible time for the country and I’ll leave it at that. In 1994 with the release of Nelson Mandela from prison and his election to President the country was on a path of reform, hope, change, possibility, prosperity and better lives for everyone.
It’s a horn that’s played at Football (Soccer) matches in South Africa. I bought one today and have been puckering up all day long. Take a look in this YouTube video.
Bringing Controversy to the 2010 World Cup
As I was researching more about the Vuvuzela I discovered it’s divided some soccer fans. Those pro-Vuvuzela credit it’s African roots and widespread acceptance at football games. Those on the other team contest that they are distracting, loud, annoying and do nothing to add to the game. Representatives from FIFA wanted to ban them from the World Cup Competition, but ultimately gave in to the growing public pressure to add African character to the 2010 games. As of this writing, the Vuvuzela will be allowed in the stadiums.
In October of 2009 I spent 4 weeks in South Africa, traveling from province to province. While I was in Limpopo, Province, I had the opportunity to spend a few nights at the Hans Merensky Hotel & Spa. It’s probably best known for it’s golf course – which rests alongside Kruger National Park.
While you are teeing off, giraffes, hippo, crocodile, zebra and other animals can be caught wandering onto the course. This sign warns you of Zebra crossing!
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