The day the journey begins. The crew heads to Chicago in a packed van ready to board our 7:15 p.m. flight to Zurich, Switzerland. Ahead he have 8 airborne hours of anticipation before dropping our weary toes into foreign Swiss soil.

Bags do NOT Fly Free!


Arrive in Zurich around 11:00 a.m. with a plan to get settled before catching a train into Zurich city center. Do a bit of sight-seeing and perhaps have a beer while taste the some legendary cheese. (as cliche as it sounds, I can asure you we will sample the plenty of cheese)

Passport stamp: ONE!


Arrive in Jo'burg around 9:10 a.m. after a 10 hour second leg, which I am sure seemed long, but the majority of us counting our blessings we only had two legs to the flight! A few late bookers spent some extra hours and touched a few extra countries to make the journey (Ethiopia, really?).
Head to the Newman's and settle in...Braai


The day most of us have been waiting for nearly our whole lives! USA v England in the World Cup, AND WE ARE GOING! Head to Rustenburg's Royal Bafokeng Stadium about an 1.5 hour away from our homebase in Pretoria.

The night game so will certainly be a late night and one we all will surely not forget!


After a late night, wake up as early as to be expected and head to our first Lion Park experience in Africa. Spend the day singing Lion King songs before heading back to the Hatfield bars & pubs for some pre-game festivities. Get a good meal in us and head to Serbia v Ghanna at Loftus Versfeld Stadium for the night game.


Leave house at 9:00am for Johannesburg (either drive or take train) for the 1:30 p.m. Netherlands v Denmark game at Soccer City Stadium; the site of the World Cup final match! Should be just a marvel to just see this stadium! Head back home for to hangout & a braai.

Perhaps do a bit of shopping in Menlyn...


Wake up hopefully somewhat refreshed after an early World Cup game the day before. Leave the house around 10:30ish for some sightseeing around Pretoria (Union Buildings, Voortrekker monument, etc).

Head out to Jo'burg around 5:30 p.m. (either drive or take train) to catch the Brazil v N.Korea in the night match at 8:30 p.m.


After a sure late night prior, we'll plan to leave home base around 10:00 a.m. for the Cheetah farm. Yeah, we are going to a Cheetah farm. This one NONE of us can out-run! Spend the day in the reserve, marvel the wildlife and bake in the sun!

Head back to Loftus Versfeld Stadium for the Home nation game v Uraguay!


Once we get Paul up from his moment of bliss from the previous night of seeing his host nation in a World Cup match at home, we plan to head out to Pilansberg Game Reserve. A driving park, so hopefully no elephants camp-out on our hood!

Shack up and spend the night in the Manyane Resort of the game reserve.


After our first night in the wildernes, wake to the winter sun and head off to an early morning Guided safari (They say a.m. is best time for animal viewing, guess the early bird really does catch the worm.)

Continue driving through park, snapping pics & loving life in Africa.
Shack up and spend another night in the Manyane Resort of the game reserve.


After a relaxing and scenic few days in the Manyane Reserve, we begin our journey back towards Pretoria. En route we swing through a place called Sun City. Spend the day there, hang by the pools, perhaps gamble a bit, part-take in a few adult beverages.

Pack up and make our way back home to Pretoria.


Get up early and head to another unchartered city for the crew. On the way to Nelspruit, make a noted stop to see God's Widow. Snap some surely breath-taking images as we make our way to our destination. Spend the day there, shop, lunch, sight-see and check-in to our hotel.

Fuel up, head back to Mbombela Stadium for the 4:00 p.m. match!


Leave Nelspruit in the a.m. (have a feeling by this point the early departures may be dragging a bit) and start our journey back home to Pretoria. Good drive with lots of scenery for photo-ops including Bourke's Luck Potholes...(your guess is as good as ours?!)

Lay our head on our familiar pillow back in Pretoria.



FIRST DAY OF OPENNESS. Reflect on our journey, go through all the pics/videos we've gathered and take a breath of fresh South African air!

Hang at the house, famous Braai, good beer, good friends.


The last morning of our journey. Start the packing process, start to get creative on how we are going to get all we just bought into the same bags we brought over.

Enjoy the day & hang out before heading to the airport for our flight back to Zurich at 7:15 p.m.



Nice long flight from South Africa to Zurich arriving at 6:10 a.m. (was that flight that long coming?) Spend the day in Zurich, Switzerland again before departing at 12:55 p.m.

Back on US soil at 3:35 p.m. in Chicago after a second leg of 8 hours!
Home Sweet America.