Are there any foreigners in South Africa yet?

a huge number of visiting soccer fans should be arriving in your country next week.

 

yea.. good question..dont think I'll get the time to post during my 3 weeks stint over there. I think we should have a picture forum/thread in the near future so that all the regular folks who post here can post their pics from the trip if they wish to. I know I'll be doing that in the South Africa SSC thread.

 

It's going to be difficult to post during WC

 

I will be there June 8th, will update on how things go.

 

I arrive in Cape Town on the 7th.

 

Yup my mate has arrived and already made the news.


http://www.timeslive.co.za/entertainment/article484421.ece/Cold-shower-for-Cups-very-first-casualty

eralding the start of a wild World Cup party, a drunk Australian tourist "washed up" on Kate Lorimer's doorstep after a night spent celebrating Australia's 1-0 win against Denmark.
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Lorimer is the Gauteng DA spokesman on safety and security. Local domestic workers knocked at her door at 7am yesterday to alert her to the man "with bare white legs" in the driveway of her Randburg home.

"I could smell the booze on him. He had goosebumps all over, and he must have been lying there all night," Lorimer said.

Jerry Goding, wearing only an Australian soccer jersey, green shorts and a pair of slip-slops, could only tell her he was staying "somewhere in Cape Town".

After Lorimer had "shoved him into the shower", Goding managed to tell her he was staying at a backpackers' lodge in Dunkeld, about 15km away.

Lorimer's husband dropped him off after a thorough scolding.

When The Times visited him yesterday afternoon, Goding, still in the same clothes, said: "I honestly can't tell you how I got there." He said he had lost his wallet and cellphone.

Asked for his views on crime, he replied: "It happens everywhere. If you pass out in the middle of nowhere, someone is going to rob you. That's that."

Later, someone called to say they had found his cellphone.

 

Arrive on the 10th morning. Not sure if i'll be going to the concert that evening though i got an invite to attend a BBC fans show that same evening

 

Good idea.

 

I am here...got here on the 2nd. If you want to ask specific questions, shoot 'em and I will try to get to them. I am basically just killing time til the 11th and these are the longest days ever!

Some notes:

If you are renting a manual transmission car, the pedals are in the same place and the shifting is the same as in the US; only the seat is opposite. Having said that, it takes a day or two to adjust. You'll really get it down after your first near head-on collision, haha.

Arrival at the airport is smooth. The Organizing committee and Coca Cola have done a good job dressing up the walls and floors at the airport and it gets you really excited about the whole thing. There are dedicated lines at customs for ticket holders, so keep your certificate handy to show to the officers. They also take your picture upon arrival. The terminal is modern and there are plenty of places to eat there if you have to.

I haven't picked up my tickets yet because I am afraid of losing them or having someone steal them at my hostel. However, I did swing by the ticketing centre in Pretoria and it was fairly well organized and not too busy. I imagine the latter will certainly change as the cup approaches.

Albeit for one hothead plainclothes officer, all the other police I have encountered have been nice. A couple escorted me through an intersection with lights and sirens when they saw me looking at my map and I realized I had gotten in the wrong lane. Awful nice of them. Rest assured, the US team is being looked after here by the cops.

If you forgot a winter hat, you can get some of those Peruvian-style hats with the ear flaps for 20 ZAR on the street. I brought mine and it's been HUGE in helping me stay warm. The temperature drops like crazy once the sun goes down, so if you are attending a 4 pm game, make sure to pack cold-weather gear or you'll freeze your ass off in the 2nd half.

I am off to Zimbabwe for a few days, but if I can help by answering anything, lemme know...

 

Thanks for that. Sounds like I need some gloves then?
Have you done anything wabout a SIM card yet?

 

Cool Arrow, thanks for the report buddy. Ok, here are my questions -

1. Which places have you been so far and what do you think of them?
2. What do you think of SA and it's people, in general what is your impression of South Africa?

 

A little confused by this - are you talking about the official ticket confirmation? do we have to show this when going through customs? i know i'm not the only one that hasn't received one yet!

 

ohh..thats not good. do you live in the states ? I received mine months ago here in Texas

 

@dukedevil0

If you are from a country exempt from South African visa requirements (or already have a visa for another reason) this doesn't apply to you.

http://www.home-affairs.gov.za/visa_schedule.asp

It's only for people who need one of the special event visas.

(Judging by your screen name, I am guessing that you might be American. If so, you are exempt from visa requirements.)

 

by ticket confirmation, do you mean the e-mail Fifa sent after a ticket purchase?

 

its the official ticket confirmation paper we received from FIFA in the mail. these were mailed out in march/april

 

yes i'm from the USA so visa-wise it shouldn't be a problem. i've been told that picking up tickets shouldn't be an issue without the official ticket confirmation as well as long as you can show your passport and credit card used to purchase the tickets.

 

@dukedevil0
If you have your credit card, all you need to do is put it in the ticketing kiosk and the tickets will print out for you. No ID or ticket confirmation required (so a friend could pick up for you too ... provided you trust her with your credit card!). If you go up to the counter, they will ask for ticket confirmation and ID, but at least for me, they still in the end used my credit card to retrieve the tickets (fyi my ticket confirmation was a photocopy, and I showed an expired ID, as I ordered tickets under more than one account).

 

Thanks! That is what I had been hearing was the case and I'm glad that it seems to be true.

Anyone that has arrived in SA, have you rented a car yet? Where at? What company? and were you required to present an international driver's license? what country is your driver's license from?

(i know that law states you don't need one if it has a photo and is in an official language of SA, but i've heard some companies are asking for them anyways)

 

I'm arriving at OR Tambo on Thursday from Toronto thru Amsterdam.. I get in at 9:30pm.. I was wondering If I'd be able to print out my tickets at the kiosks at that time or if they are closed at certain hours.

 

They are open from 7am to 9pm according to FIFA

 

Posting from the Mug & Bean in Sandton City at the moment

Will be at the Brazen Head tonight around 9pm