The South African Sojourn - Day 6: Off to the Mother City!

We took a long time to wake up the next morning. The South African cold had penetrated the fragile Bengali constitution and had invaded even our dreams. I have never felt so cold or marvelled at the difference in the temperature being reflected in the air conditioning system relative to what I was feeling in my bones! Not surprisingly we decided to have a relatively light day wiling away time at Sandton City. We had a evening coach to catch to Cape Town and spent the day trying to catch as much sun as we possibly could in and around Nelson Mandela square.

The South African constitution seemed to be dealing with cold pretty well, though judging from the tribal dance routine happening right in the middle of the square. War chants and rhythmic twisting of the bodies clearly the name of the game as vigorous body movements seemed to make up for the heat lost due to absence of clothing.

We proceeded to have lunch at Nando's which seemed to be an institution in South African cuisine, Nando's specialises in Chicken served from spicy to very very very spicy and is pretty much the kind of meat that the local South African freaks out on. The uniqueness is in the flavours of the marinade and the sauces which are heavy in flavour content of heat and lemon. A few Mumbaikars might be lucky enough to taste the same at a branch that used to operate at Inorbit mall, Malad.

Our meal was followed by another uniquely world cup experience when we noticed a group of foreigners in white red and blue walk past us. It was only when they had walked right by us when we realised that the group contained Dirk Kuyt, Mark Van Bommel and other members of the Dutch national team. They soon took a right into a secured area leaving us wishing that we could have identified them slightly sooner.

The only thing left for us to do was to get ready for our journey so we checked out of our hotel and stacked up on some South African Biltong. Biltong is cured South African meat sold in packets. Varieties include beef and game meats and we stacked up on some beef and chicken varieties. Biltong is one of the more popular South African snacks and no wonder as it is heavily flavoured with spice and tastes fantastic. It is a meat eaters delight as it is difficult to get threw requiring a substantial amount of chew which prolongs the gastronomic experience. We bought the Biltong as provisions for the ride from Jo'Burg to Cape Town. We were travelling via Greyhound but being South Africa, were a wee bit concerned about quality. In the event we need not have worried.

It started off seeming like quite an adventure, as the coach station is common for all passengers and we saw that some passengers had brought along quilts and blankets. Our fears of having another really cold night were eased however as soon as we saw our coach and realised that the coach was of Greyhound quality - comfortable seating, centrally heated and with a coach hostess to boot. As an added benefit we found that the coach had a sprinkling of fellow World Cup tourists - some Nigerians who were on their way to Bloemfontein to catch the Nigeria - Greece game and a few English who were travelling to Cape Town along with us to catch England play Algeria. The rest of the evening passed quite enjoyably speaking to the English fans about Fabio Capello and listening to typically upbeat English expectations about their chances in the World Cup campaign. We also noticed that Steers burgers had pretty much captured the South African highway gas station network as we saw the brand in 100 % of all the gas stations along the route. Road travellers in South Africa, I suppose can be rest assured about food during their travels. The only negative as we drifted off to sleep would have to be news that Uruguay had effectively driven a dagger through South African hearts by beating them 3-0. The news came to us through radio and the nation that had welcomed the world with open hearts, the nation that had reached fever pitch in football hysteria when Tshabalala had driven in that rasping scorcher to take the lead against the Mexicans in the first game, was brought down to footballing reality with a thud. South Africa would continue to host a fantastic world cup but the hysteria among the local people was slightly diminished.

We dropped off the Nigerians at Bloemfontein at around 12:00 and went off to sleep dreaming about Cape Town and the famed table mountain!