Here is a quick World Cup Soccer update just in case you are World Cup 2010 inertia. Things are taking shape on the organising side of things. Host cities and stadiums are looking good. My local city Cape Town is showing great signs of being ready. Various road upgrades are on track and nearly finished, the stadium is done and has already hosted a soccer match. Transport to the stadium is being tested currently.

If you have not:
A. bought tickets for the world cup
B. booked any accommodation
C. rented your house out to soccer fans
then there is still time. Follow our 3 step guide to World Cup positive World Cup Soccer experience.

If you are a visitor
1. Tickets: are still available. Buy them here: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/organisation/ticketing/index.html
2. Accommodation: MATCH has just recently released a huge amount of bed nights back onto the market, so there will be more accommodation available again. For accommodation contact us and we will find the right place for you.
3. Tours and Safaris: we can organise your day tours and safaris around your soccer watching, so let us know where you would like to go on an African Safari.

If you are a local
1. Tickets: are still available. Don’t miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime chance. Link above.
2. House letting: if you are considering renting out your house and going to live in a caravan in the Karoo, then contact us. We will organise the letting for you. We are putting together a list of serviced houses for rent during the World Cup period. We will vet the potential renters to make sure that your house is looked after.
Here is our world cup page where we are going to put the house listings:
http://www.africabespoke.com/soccer-world-cup-2010/

Press release: (FIFA.com) Wednesday 27 January 2010
After three of five ticketing sales phases for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ in South Africa, two-thirds of the available tickets have been sold.

The third ticketing sales phase, which will conclude with a random draw for oversubscribed matches on 1 February, saw a total of 1,206,865 applications received from 192 countries. Six matches are currently oversubscribed (in all categories), among them the semi-finals and the final. In total, 55 matches are oversubscribed in at least one category.

There was huge interest from South African residents, who accounted for 79 per cent of the total applications received (958,381) in this phase. This represents an increase of 24.9 per cent in applications from South African residents in the third sales phase when compared to the earlier ticketing stages.

Apart from the host country, the USA led the ticketing standings for the third phase with 50,217 applications, followed by the UK (41,529), Australia (15,523), Mexico (14,804), Germany (14,647) and Brazil (10,767). Increased interest was also noted in the neighbouring countries of South Africa – Botswana leading with 2,519 ticket applications, followed by Mozambique (1,795) and Namibia (1,191).

The next ticketing sales phase will start on 9 February 2010 and end on 7 April 2010. During these 58 days, more than 400,000 tickets will be made available on a first-come, first-served basis via www.fifa.com/2010 or in FNB branches (in South Africa only).
From 15 April 2010 onwards, ticketing centres will be open in each host city (with two in Johannesburg) where fans will be able to buy tickets over the counter and also collect their confirmed tickets.

To further enhance the service, ticketing call centres will be open during the fourth sales phase – both internationally and in the host country. The call centres will assist fans with enquiries and applications. The hotline number for international customers is 0041445832010, and for domestic customers 0831232010.

For residents of the host country, the allocation of category 4 tickets (the most affordable, for South African residents only – starting from USD 20/ZAR 140) will, as planned, increase significantly.

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Battle at Kruger
Site: www.battleatkruger.com
The epic “Battle at Kruger”, an epic struggle for survival between a pride of lions, a herd of buffalo and a crocodile. The video was shot between Pretoriuskop and Skukuza camps by US tourist David Budzinski.

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Hippos attack Crocodile
Report from: www.stuff.co.nz
Date: 18/11/2009

A photographer in the Serengeti has captured spectacular footage of a group of hippos attacking a crocodile. These explosive pictures show the moment a hasty crocodile was killed after getting trapped in a maze of angry hippos.

The spectacularly rare battle of the beasts was caught on camera by stunned wildlife photographer Vaclav Silha. The 45-year-old Czech got the shock of his life after setting up his camera on the banks of a river in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, to take snaps of a huge group of 50 hippos bathing in the river. A colossal fight broke out between the group and a sneaky crocodile that strayed too close to a mother with calves. The unlucky crocodile’s armoured body was no match for the raging hippos - one of the most aggressive creatures in the animal kingdom that can apply several tons of pressure in a single bite. One of these pictures was originally published in the November issue of BBC Wildlife Magazine.

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