We are going to the round of sixteen!

Well we have done a fair amount since the last blog post. We left our comfortable home in Hartbeespoort and headed back to the hostel life. The hostel we headed to wasn't exactly in Jo'Burg, but we didn't have a problem getting to the game from there. The Slovenia game was a bit of a disappointment with the disallowed goal. We didn't see a replay or anything, but have come to find out it was bogus. We are continuing on anyway after finishing top of our group so all is well. We had a good time at that hostel. Hung out with some English guys for the France vs. Mexico game. Had a wager on first goal scorer to it made the game more interesting and good times followed. Needless to say a rough morning. The hostel was quite cold. It was warmer outside than it was where we were sleeping. Along with it being cold there was yet another bird to wake us up in the morning at this place. This time it was a rooster that sounded near death.

From there we headed up to Sabie. We didn't have a place to stay or anything, but were looking forward to doing some hiking and getting out of the city. Found a cheap little backpacker place. We went to our room and were the only ones in the building. We were looking forward to the good night's rest we were about to get. We went to bed early with the plan to wake up early, go for a run and get out and do some hiking. That was the plan. About 23:30 a rather large and loud group made its appearance. A bunch of Afrikaaners celebrating someones birthday. The good night's rest went out the window. We probably would have joined them had we not been recovering from a couple rough nights previously. We were mad all through the night, but in the morning when we talked to them they were pretty cool. A couple of them gave us their numbers and said to call if we were in their respective cities. We did our run and showered before we headed on a hike. We opted for the one that you didn't have to get a permit to do. We had no map and no real clue where we were supposed to be going. The lady said the trail was marked, ha. There were some markings but it was not clear where we were supposed to go. Had trouble figuring out which way to go, but eventually found the two waterfalls that we wanted to see. They were disappointing. After the run and a good hike we had worn ourselves down and thought that we might get a good night's rest tonight. No such luck. We pitched the tent in a campground and got a fire going. It was a little chilly but warm next to the fire that I was able to start with the strike of one match. I was impressed with myself because I was not expecting it to be that easy without Grandpa's special potion. The teepee method works. Well we climbed in our tent, got down to our skivvies and listened to the calmness around. Fell asleep, but not for long. It had to have been the coldest night since we have been here. Woke up freezing! Put on the jacket but that didn't help with my feet that I couldn't feel. Hardly got any sleep at all. It didn't help that we were sleeping on the ground with no pad because we opted to save space. It was terrible. The next day we had planned to do a hike that we read about that said it was for fit hikers only. Not the best idea after a night of basically no sleep. We had to pay to park the car, pay per person in the car and then pay for a permit to hike. An ordeal just to get some exercise. It was a great hike though. Some amazing views and finally an awesome waterfall. It was better labelled than the hike the day before. It was a pretty strenuous hike that drained the energy. We went and saw the Three Rondavels. They are pretty cool to see. Optimistic that tonight we were finally going to get a good night's rest. We slept in an old train car. It was pretty cool. Just the little sleeper bed with plenty of blankets. It was a great deal. R100 for the bed and breakfast. It was a pretty good night's sleep especially compared to the last two. Those beds just aren't that comfortable, but more comfortable than the ground and freezing cold.

The next day we headed up to check out God's Window. Understand why it was his window. A pretty cool view. Stopped at a few waterfalls that we could basically drive to. One of them was pretty cool. Still optimistic that we will find better because I like looking at waterfalls. Headed back to the city. A bummer after being out in the open in the mountains. The ride back saw more of the same view. They just have fires to burn the grass. Just wherever. No control. Just let it burn. Quite bizarre. Took picture of hijacking hot-spot sign. They have them all over. Made it to Pretoria no problems. Anticipating game verse Algeria. Apart of a cool pregame that turned into an American march to the game stopping traffic without a care. The game was quite intense if you didn't watch it. However, YOU SHOULD HAVE and YOU SHOULD WATCH THIS NEXT ONE! I was getting tired of putting my head down after what should have been a goal. Finally in extra time they did it. Thank goodness. We finished top of the group and then headed to Hatfield which is the party/bar area in Pretoria. Ran into one of the guys that we met up in Sabie that lived in Pretoria. The night turned out to be a good time. He was sure to show us a good time. Knew the owner of the bar where we were drinking. His brother was a bartender there. Ended up in VIP. Did hand grenades. Got a great night's sleep! Heading back up to Rustenburg. That is unfortunate because there isn't much there, but we will be watching the US so that is a great plus. Hopefully we can beat Ghana. Greatly looking forward to the game!