Durban

The end is only 5 days away now, with the final on Sunday. Adam and I
have invested in Dutch shirts and a beanie and scarf to show our
support for Holland.

Durban has been lovely - warm and sunny and festive. Adam and I walked
the four kms along the beach to the stadium before the match, which
was bustling with people in party mood, markets, performers, and
teenagers/children handing out religious leaflets with football themed
covers (their parents are there, but I guess they know no-one will
take them from them). The game was beautiful football from Spain that
left the Germans looking a bit average, except in defence where they
did well to keep the score to 1-0. Watching a game like that is very
different from the other ones as the Spanish don't all run around all
the time to make room, the ball just comes to them in exactly the
right place and they get it past anyone marking them so easily.

Adam and I also ventured into the city and to victoria St markets
(tourist tat mostly but some locals shops), and up to Florida Rd (cafe/
bar strip in upmarket area, with beautiful old colonial buildings with
wrought iron balconies) for lunch. And we did a safari, seeing lots of
baby and juvenile animals - baby giraffes, baby rhino, and baby
elephants. Two highlights were four rhinos wallowing in mud and a herd
of ~50 elephants with some tiny babies crossing the road in front of
us. One of the elephants didn't like us very much and suggested we
move on - we could roll forward 20 m which was enough luckily, because
we were a bit trapped if one of them decided to charge - but it gave
me some great close up photos! And after the safari we went to a cat
rehab centre where we could pat the cheetahs and servals!! Guess what
our chistmas card picture is going to be!

And now we are off to joburg for the final leg.