It began and ended in Rustenburg

June 24

After a great night out in Pretoria we headed up to Rustenburg to see what awaited the great Yankyland team. Got back to the town with nothing in it. Pretty must just hung out at the hostel and watched the soccer games for the day. However, that evening there were some guys in the bar who were up in Rustenburg for business. Got to talking to them and they invited us to come stay with them in Welkom in the Free State along with buying us many drinks. They kept insisting everything would be free and they would plan all sorts of stuff for us to do there. Got there numbers and planned to call them once we left Rustenburg. Got a good night's rest that night on the solid ground in our tent, partly to do with the free Jager.

June 25

Next day we had nothing to do, but Jeffrey as always was keen to get up. Slowly got moving and had the English breakfast that was such a great deal when we were at the Traveller's Inn before. However, this time it was no longer a deal. Price had gone up by 50%. Greatly bummed. Went for a nice little run after that. Bubbleboy as hurtin. He looked like death at the end of the run. Went back and got showered in the cool outdoor showers there again. They are pretty neat. Walked around town even though there was nothing new to see. Ate at Nando's which is a chian pretty popular outside of the States. The food was alright, but we had no clue what we were ordering when we went to the counter. Do to Jeffrey not feeling well and me not feeling the best and nothing to do but drink. We went to bed for an early night.

June 26 - Round of sixteen game day

Went for a run the next morning. The air up there is terrible because there are a lot of mines around and at night they just pump the air from the mines out into the atmosphere. Certainly was taking a toll on bubbleboy with no inhaler. Have to turn around and make sure he is still there every now and then. Got back and took possibly the coldest shower of my life. We must have just gone in after the rush or something because it was a first for the place we were staying. It was quite nippy though. Went back to Nando's to try something that we knew what it was. A half a chicken. Quite tasty. Got back to hostel and watched the Uraguay vs. S. Korea game. Made friends with a few people who were headed to the game as well. Quite a few cocky Brits who had bought tickets for that game assuming that England was going to win the group. Pretty funny. Anyway the ones that were there were pretty cool. Pooled together with three Brits and one other American. Walked to park and ride to get to the game that Jeffrey and I had ran by earlier that day. They had shut it down. We ran by at twelve and it was still open. Had to come up with a way to get to the game. Jeffrey and other American hopped in car to go somewhere. Can't remember where. The others and myself began to walk to see what we could find. Ran into where Jeffrey and the other guy had been taken. They had arranged a ride. We were waiting for a ride from someone then another guy showed up. We asked him to take us. The one lady was only going to take us to another park and ride. This guy ended up taking us to the closest bar just outside of the stadium which is actually something like 13km, 8 miles, outside of town. The whole way he kept talking about how we were going to have to find another way home, but we got his number anyway. Once he dropped us off, we gave him a tip and as he was turning around he shouted call me after the game and I will come pick you up. The tavern was pretty neat. Beer was cheap and we certainly stood out. They loved us though. One guy had us sign his jersey. There were some people there doing traditional dancing in some get ups. They were charging people if they saw them taking pictures. I snagged a couple when they weren't looking. Walked into the game for the disappointment I hope you all witnessed live since it was a Saturday. It was a pretty cool atmosphere to be in, but there where a lot of Ghana supporters who I am sure were not from Ghana. I guess life goes on, but now we have tickets to the Ghana vs. Uraguay game. At least it is in Soccer City. Looks like a pretty sweet stadium. Went back to the tavern after the game. Got a couple brews to console the loss. Called Ellis I think his name was and he said he was on his way. Picked us up right where he had dropped us off. Got transport to and from the stadium for R60. The hostel was charging R250. It worked out in our favor.

June 27 - Reality of the loss sets in

Woke up and due to the drinks the night before and the reality of the loss. We weren't feeling the best. Decided we should get on the road even though we had no clue where we were going as our planned trip had expired. Decided we would go to Jo'Burg to try and get tickets to the Mexico vs. Argentina game. Two of the British guys we were with the night before had two tickets they were trying to sell. Only wanted face value. Then told us to make them an offer. We hesitated because they were Cat 2 tickets and didn't want to pay that much. They sold the tickets shortly after. We regretted the decision. Didn't find any tickets although we didn't look all that hard, but we couldn't find a place to stay either so we had to reroute. Decided to call Chris who we had met in the bar at Rustenburg. Surprised he remembered us. He said sure no problem. Arrived at his house less then three hours later in Welkom southwest of Jo'Burg. They have a pretty nice house. Jeffrey and I had our own room with our own beds. First time in South Africa. Hung out and just talked to them while we watched that night's match. They ordered pizza and we devoured it. They didn't want but a couple pieces. They told us to set out our dirty laundry and the maid would have it cleaned by tomorrow afternoon. We hadn't done laundry in a couple weeks. They weren't lying.

June 28

They allowed us to sleep in our first day there because they knew we had been sleeping in a tent for the last three nights. All three of them work full time but Chris is a Director at Galison Manufacturing so he can pretty much come and go. He came and picked us up about eleven or so after a great night's rest. Best since we have been down here. He took us to where he works along with the other two guys we met up in Rustenburg, Gary and Johan. We went into Gary's office and talked to him for a bit. He is Managing Director for one side of the company and Chris is for the other. We got a full tour of Galison Manufacturing. They make mining equipment for people pretty much world wide. It was pretty cool for the tour. I actually got some practicle application of all the mumble jumble I had been learning about at Loras. I am sure that I found the tour much for interesting that Jeffrey. Got a full tour of all four of the factories and showed us what each one of them did. They treated us to some pretty good currie and then we headed out to go to a game reserve where Chris knows the owner. Neat tour. Got some up close shots of some of the animals. Went back to the house and met some more of Chris' family and then headed out to go to a local Rotary meeting which Chris is a member. They put us on the spot, but Jeffrey did most of the talking. The power went out of the place as the meeting was ending. The real South Africa. Then met up with the rest of the fam at Mojos for what I was told would be the best steak I've ever eaten. It was pretty good and certainly the largest steak I have ever been served. Watched the Brazil vs. Chile game there and tried some of the local drinks. Pretty tasty but I am sure not that strong. The dessert was great as well.

June 29

Had to get up early this morning so we could get in a round of 18. They had arranged us clubs and complimentary round of golf since Gary is the President at the local club. Great deal! Played with Chris' brother/son-in-law and Louie who was the chef/bartender at Mojos. A fun round of golf but not well played. Almost lost Gary's four iron. Left it up against a fence. Went back after about nine holes and it as still there. Thank goodness. He wouldn't have cared anyway. Spent the afternoon just hanging out. Chris and Madaline? had invited some people over for ox-tail and drinks. It was a good time. They ox-tail was great. Very tender. Felll right off the bone. Tired now and going to go pass out in my wonderful bed all to myself!