South Africa Gears Up For Football Fete

02 Jan 2013

South Africa is gearing up to hold AFCON 2013 football extravaganza much like Copa America and Euro Football. The continental-level football tournaments are accompanied by song, dance and tourism. The cities that are being spruced up for the Africa season include Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth, Rustenburg, Durban and Mbombela.

Johannesburg literally sits on gold, as the city grew up around the mineral rich Witwatersrand hills. The city will host the opening and final matches starting from January 18. The city offers an awesome variety for the visitors be it restaurants or cuisine, African delicacies in the famous Vilakazi street, cigar or cocktail bars. Local people fondly call their city Jozi, eGoli and Joburg for short.

Port Elizabeth is located on the South-east coast and is the main port of South Africa,. The city is known for sunshine, temperate climate and exhilarating sea breeze. Located in the city is a massive stadium with a capacity of 100,000 named after Nelson Mandela. Most of the matches will be played in the stadium.

Rustenburg is for platinum what Joburg is for gold. Seventy per cent of world's platinum is processed in the city. The city lies at the foothills of Magalies mountain range where South Africa's platinum mines are located. Well connected to all urban centres, the city's Bafokeng stadium has a capacity of 42,000 seats.

Third largest city of South Africa, Durban touches the warm waters of the Indian Ocean. The leisure options there include swimming, surfing, tanning, kite surfing, abseiling, hiking, diving, snorkelling, bodyboarding, walking, cycling, quad biking, skateboarding, climbing, rambling, birdwatching, tennis, and bowling. Moses Mabhida Stadium, with a capacity of 70,000 seats, is located there.

Mbombela is capital of the Mpumalanga province, where the Crocodile river flows about 60 km west of Mozambique. The place of the rising Sun (Mpumalanga) is the gateway to the Greater Limpopo Trans-frontier Park, which cuts across three countries and encompasses global wilderness icons such as Kruger National Park, Panorama Route, the Blyde (Motlatse) River Canyon and God’s Window. Mbombela, where the stadium has 46,000 capacity, offers much more in the form of streams, waterfalls, freshwater lakes and forests. The elephant sanctuary, the oldest caves on earth and a remarkable botanical garden add to the pristine glory of Mbombela.

Visit South Africa with a Tourist Visa. Call 1800 103 1555 or mail to [email protected]