Hey guys this is gonna be the last post of the blog, hope you have enjoyed it.

Day 8 was spent traveling to and being on a safari to see the big five - Elephant, Rhino's, Lions, Wildebeest, and Hippo's. We managed to see all five of them and actually were able to get pretty close. I liked the Rhino's the best if I had to choose, they were actually pretty nimble for such large creatures. Our tour guide almost lost a a finger to a warthog that managed to bite him when he did not expect it, they are really aggressive. I learned a lot about the African wildlife and it was definitely one of the major highlights of my trip. After the safari we went back to Cape Town and spent some time at local pubs watching soccer. The last day was spent in the Harbor watching soccer and rugby and purchasing souvenirs for family and friends. Our flight was at 11:55 pm out of Cape Town to Amsterdam, 8 hour flight. After landing in Amsterdam we had an 2 hours to get through customs and over to our next flight to Detroit. After getting on the plane, we realized that our engine had been damaged while another plane had been taking off, we were delayed 3 hours. Due to the delay, when we finally landed in Detroit we had missed our flight and there were no flights open. Of course after a full 24 hours of no sleep and being in airports and on airplanes it is the last thing you would want to hear. As a last ditch effort we decided to put our names down for standby and see how many people we could get home, lucky for us 5 of the 6 got tickets and my older brother got a free room and food for the night in Detroit and was booked for a 10:00 o'clock flight the next morning. I finally got back to my house a little after midnight. It was weird being home, South Africa is a totally different world that I am not sure I can explain. The people and lifestyle they live is so different then ours. They are happy people and enjoy the things that they have, and many of them have next to nothing, while here many people who have million dollar cars and houses still find reason to complain. It was a really great experience for me and opened my eyes to not just how lucky I am, but how lucky we are to be in this country. The rights and freedoms we have are truly unique to America and no were else, and it took going to another country experiencing hard times to realize it. Hope you guys all enjoyed the blog, feel free to contact me at cmm003@lvc.edu or txt me at 301-395-5603 if you wanna know more about anything or have any questions, I will be glad to help if I can. See you all in a few weeks.

-Conner

Sorry I missed the post yesterday guys, after the US loss I just went to bed because I was so mad, so I did not post anything.

Skipping to day 7 because day 6 was just a spent on the harbor. Friday's main event was the England vs Algeria game, however we did enjoy watching the US game earlier that day against Slovenia. Most countries and people that I met were happy with the US success in soccer and thought we had a really strong team, the English were not so nice. Throughout the game our table of USA fans was heckled, luckily for us we made a comeback and tied 2-2 even though we should have won, those of you who watched the game know that Edu was not offsides when he scored that third goal. Following the rather enlightening experience as to how British people feel towards us, we went to the game cheering for Algeria in Green Point Stadium - it was the loudest stadium and event I have ever attended in my life, you could not hear the person speaking right next to you. We all had a great time and lucky for us we were met with a 0-0 draw which would eventually helped the USA win the group and move to the round of 16. We met a bunch of Americans from all over the states that were at the game that night and went out with them afterwards, it was really fun. Tomorrow I will post my last entry that will sum up the safari, last day in Cape Town, and the trip home. Hope you have enjoyed it so far!

-Conner

Day 5,

Today was spent touring the entire Western Cape of South Africa. It was remarkable and I wish I could tell you all the names of every mountain and harbor I saw but I would butcher the names so I won't. We saw warm water penguins, countless breathtaking scenery, and went to the southern most point of Africa all in just a few hours it was great. Here are some photos of the trip. These pics are of the warm water penguins, indian ocean, Cape point, and the 12 Apostle Mountains.

Day 4,

Like the other days we woke up early to get down to the harbor to enjoy the festivities of the World Cup - we enjoyed a light breakfast and mingled with the crowds before the games began at 1:30. Once the games began we moved from bar to bar meeting new people and watching the games before heading over to Green Point Stadium for the 8:30 game Italy vs Paraguay. It was a really cold day around 42 F and rainy. By the time 6:00 rolled around we decided to head over to the stadium so we could get in early and get some souvenirs. Heading over there we realized that everyone was thinking the same thing as we were. Their were thousands of people bustling into the stadium for the game, mostly Italy fans, it was hectic. Just to give you an idea of how cold it was in South Africa as we passed through the security the rain changed to hail. It was 0 C or 32 F it was cold but to be honest it did nothing more than get the crowd more riled up and excited for the game. The atmosphere outside and inside the stadium is nothing that I could ever put into words and unfortunately is something that one can only experience at a World Cup match. When you enter the stadium, you feel like you have come across a whole new world were anything is possible. The stats of the teams do not matter, the countries you are watching do not matter, it is anyone's game and anyone can win; it was absolutely magical. The game progressed and we proudly wore our American colors and were routing for Paraguay because no loyal American soccer fan could ever root for Italy. Luckily for us, Paraguay took the lead capitalizing off of an amazing free kick, regardless of the poor weather the stadium went wild. I have never been more excited for a team to score other than the US ever, I got totally caught up in the battle between the two other countries on the field. At the start of the second half Italy came out strong and ended up putting one in the back of the net evening out the score 1-1, that is how the game would finish out, although Paraguay looked the stronger of the two. It was an extremely exciting match and the final stadium count was 62,567 people at the match. After the game we all returned to the flat in downtown Cape Town and enjoyed a good nights rest for the next days activities. The following photos are of entering Green Point Stadium and being inside it. It is a remarkable stadium. Check back in tomorrow for the Peninsula Tour. I am going to try and add some audio from the stadium tomorrow I have not quite figured it out yet, but it is amazing how loud it is there especially with the Vuvuzelas.

-Conner

Hey guys this is day 3,

We awoke early in the morning again and decided to go and explore the harbor of Cape Town for the first time. It was about a mile walk from our flat in downtown Cape Town. When we arrived one could barely walk along the sidewalk due to the large amount of people that were already down at the harbor and it was only ten o'clock! By 1:30 when the first game started the entire city was down in the harbor. We had a early lunch at a restaurant right on the water and I had the chance to eat ostrich. It was a dark poultry more like a steak than chicken or any other type of bird meat and it was really sweet and tender. After our meal we decided to watch the first game, (Slovenia vs Algeria) on the mini stadium they had set up on the harbor. After watching the game we hung out around the mall in the harbor and continued to watch the next two games and enjoying the people supporting their teams to victory in their respective openers. As the day came to a close we returned to the flat and went out again going to the French section because we enjoyed the atmosphere so much the night before. The following pictures are the Lions Head Peak, Bridge crossing into the Harbor, and the mini stadium on the Harbor. Thats all for today, check back in tomorrow for more pictures and my first game Italy vs Paraguay!

-Conner 

Hey guys, first full day in Cape Town-

We woke up early after sleeping for a few hours and at around 8 o'clock, which is 2 am here on the east coast, we went to the Golf Club were Dr. Roy's practice is located. We had a really nice breakfast that had all the regular trimmings. After breakfast we headed to the Rugby Club which is the most prestigious club in the country because of how important rugby is too it's people. We hung out in the plaza eating food and enjoying the people for a few hours before the game and than entered the stadium. It was packed to the brim with loyal Springbok fans ready for the test against France who is the best Northern Rugby team in the world. It wasn't even a real contest, the South African team walked all over them and the fans loved it. It was one of the loudest stadiums I have ever been in, second only too the games I attended in the following days for the World Cup. After the game we went into the Villagers box for an after party which is owned by all the old Rugby players like Roy Mcculum and his team mates. All of the old players are nice and had tons of old stories of locker room fun and traveling with the team which I can appreciate as a fellow athlete. The were extremely intrigued with our American presence, they know very little about our country and culture and were surprised that we even had people that knew anything about Rugby or soccer, it was exciting to be kind of an anomaly. After the box party we went to dinner at the club dinning hall which was holding a party for all the people who have a say and fund the team, old rugby players, cricket players, boxers, etc. every big name in SA was there. They introduced us as the Americans to the whole crowed and we had a standing ovation, it was really awkward being the center of attention to these people all day, almost like being in a zoo. After dinner we went and watched the USA game vs England which was a real nail bitter but we got lucky and pulled off a draw and could let out a sigh of relief that the first game was over. We returned to the flat to drop the two younger siblings off and than the other five, my two brothers, dad, and Dr. Fred, went out to enjoy Cape Town and all the excitement that the World Cup had brought to the city, their were thousands of people just eating, drinking, and talking about the games results and the games to come, a very exciting atmosphere. The city and restaurants were split up into sections for each country, that first night we were in the French section to see how peole were reacting to their teams tie the day before. After some time of mingling, we returned to the flat for sleep and preparation for our first day down to Cape Towns Harbour, which was sure to be bustling with activity for the days World Cup events.

-Conner

Hey guys this is gonna be the first post of the blog and I am going to be taking it one day at a time as I if I was gonna be there for the following ten days now that I have a computer. We arrived at BWI for a 2:00 o'clock flight to Atlanta which would connect us to Johannesburg South Africa. However, we ran into our first problem of many with the Delta airlines. They cancelled our flight at one O'clock and had only one alternative option that would allow us to reach our flight in atlanta and that was to drive to Washington D.C. Reagan international airport for a flight at 3:30. BWI is about an hour away on a good day of traffic so before I had even made it out of Maryland I thought my dreams of attending the World Cup were over. Luckily for us we made it to the airport in an hour and they held the plane for us as we made it through customs and security. We travelled for the next 20 hours from Reagan to Atlanta, to Jburg and finally to Cape Town were I would be staying for the ten day trip. Upon our arrival in the airport the city was going insane. We landed right after the South Africa v Mexico game and the country was ecstatic with a 1-1 tie in their opening match. If you have been watching the games you may have been hearing the constant blowing of the horns during the games, these are called Vuvuzelas and it was the first sound I heard when I got off the plane. They have been banned in every World Cup till this one. These horns however have a stong cultural tie with South Africa as it is the equivalent sound to them as the ice cream songs are to us. The fruit and treat carts of villages would blow these horns to let everyone know they were coming. After getting off the plane my family and I  met up with a family friend Dr. Fred Schofield and Dr. Roy Mccullum who are both Chiropractors. I did not know when I first met him but Roy Mcculum is a hero in South Africa. He played on the South African rugby team in 1974 as the scrum half and was extremely talented, it would have been the equivalent of meeting and hanging out with Cal Ripken for ten days here in the states. Rugby is the sport of the gods in South Africa and they are the best team in the world right now. After being picked up in our rental car by Dr. Fred and Dr. Roy, we went to the flat we were staying in downtown Cape Town. The city of Cape Town was great - the hills and wealthy parts that we drove through are a lot like San Francisco, while the harbor is a lot like Baltimore. However, a lot of the city is not that well off. Unfortunately 60% of the populace is unemployed and their are a lot of poor shanty towns throughout the area that crime is running riot in and we tended to avoid these areas as much as possible except when we had to walk through them to get some where. Upon arriving at the flat we got settled in, had a meal, and went straight to bed because we had not slept in over 24 hours and had a huge day of Rugby and Soccer planed for the following day. Thats it for my day of traveling and my first night in Cape Town, the real excitement starts tomorrow so check back in please, it will be worth it.

-Conner

Hey guys,

I know I was supposed to update this everyday but my computer was smashed on the way over here in the switch from Atlanta to Johhanesburg. So I will not be able to update this blog until around Sunday. However, I am having a great time over here and you would not believe how crazy it gets in the streets and stadiums. Take the biggest sporting event in the U.S., and than times that by 3 and that is happening all day, everyday for a whole month. It is incredible. So starting Sunday I will update the blog everyday for a whole week with stories, videos, and photos of the scenes of Cape Town and South Africa, hope you all check back in in a few days it will be worth it.

-Conner

Alright, so it is the night before my departure and I can't sleep because I am too excited, so I decided to put up a test post just to get my thoughts on the page and kind of mess around with it. I will not be making this formal, and I am not checking for grammar so bear with me. With that being said, I hope those of you who do read this enjoy whatever it is I decide to write about.

I will be experiencing 20 total hours of flying tomorrow due to two different layovers, one in Atlanta and another in Johannesburg, South Africa. The goal is to reach Cape Town by Friday afternoon. I will probably go to sleep right when I arrive there. I am planing to attend 2 games England vs Algeria, and Italy vs Paraguay, and possibly going to see Ivory Coast vs Portugal. I will also be attending two Rugby games as the South African National teams special guest with my family and will be hanging out with them at their night club on some of the nights while I am there for the ten days. I will also be doing a safari while I am there which should be pretty cool. I will be posting something everyday discussing what I did and posting pictures and video's of the events. If there is anything that any of you would like to see me do, take pictures of, or try and experience, regardless of what it is, I will try and get pictures of it or of me doing it so feel free to shout out anything you wanna see. This is for fun and I plan on doing anything and everything while I am over there. For those of you who do not traditionally get involved in the World Cup, I suggest you do. This is going to be the biggest World Cup ever and it is a global event, probably the most viewed event in the world, so do not miss out. Take the chance to learn a thing or two about something that myseld and my fellow soccer athletes love at LVC. Alright I am done writing...hope you guys enjoy this stuff.