South Africa has enticed me

Have you been watching the World Cup? I have never watched so much soccer (futbol) in my life. I love the game. I started my kids playing when they were 3 years old. That's 7 years as a soccer Mom (recently we have played Fall and Spring Soccer).

Sunday, we watched the Germany vs. Australia game. I gotta admit, I was rooting for Australia. Especially after the terrible calls and finally the red card. I wanted them to come back and win. In the end, Germany blew them out of the water, but it has been the game I've enjoyed the most.

So, the games are being held in South Africa. There are a few shots of the local area, but mostly it's just the stadiums. The host country is looking very enticing to me though. I have fantasies of buying an around the world ticket and doing some traveling with the kids in a few years. I've been doing my research and reading blogs about families that are currently traveling or planning to travel around the world. I have never considered Africa to be a place I wanted to stop. It's mostly fear of the unknown, the unfamiliar. I don't want to do the typical tourist stop of Africa and take a safari. I'm terrified of the snakes and they climb the trees. I am interested in the villages and the local life. I am educated enough that there are differences with each country and they are all changing constantly. I know that there is more to the continent and the people than the bad things to media portrays.

That being said, the World Cup and this blog post by Life is what you make it has enticed me to consider adding Africa to my list of must sees. I want to see Victoria Falls, I want to see South Africa, I want to visit Egypt (I often forget it's part of Africa) and I really want to spend a weekend here in the Castle in Clarens. I'll have to wait 7 more years to take the kids, but maybe it will just be the husband and I and our own little adventure out in the world.