Construction workers blow vuvuzelas, a trumpet-like instrument favored by local soccer fans, during the hand-over of the first World Cup 2010 soccer tournament tickets at Soccer City stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa. (AP photo by Themba Hadebe / May 3, 2010)
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JOHANNESBURG — World Cup soccer matches will be held for a month beginning June 11 in South Africa. Foreign ticket sales, particularly in Europe, have been disappointing, but organizers still expect up to 350,000 people to travel here for the continent's first World Cup.
Nine South African cities will host matches starting June 11, and many visitors will want to see local attractions in addition to the games. Here is a glimpse of the cities and some local highlights.
BLOEMFONTEIN
Both the now defunct National Party — the party of apartheid — and the African National Congress were founded in this university town in South Africa's agricultural heartland.
The nearby Soetdoring Nature Reserve is a birders' mecca, military buffs will be drawn to Bloemfontein's Anglo-Boer War cemetery, and sports fans can take time out from football to visit this rugby-loving city's Choet Visser Rugby Museum.
Bloemfontein is about an hour's drive from Maseru, capital of the landlocked kingdom of Lesotho, with its spectacular, high-altitude vistas and pony treks.
A curious footnote: "Lord of the Rings" author JRR Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein in 1892, moving to England when he was 3.
CAPE TOWN
Known as the Mother City, this cosmopolitan port city grew from a settlement founded by the Dutch East India Company in 1652. Cape Town is famous around the world for its dramatically beautiful setting, beneath Table Mountain and at the confluence of the Atlantic and Indian oceans. It's also near South Africa's winelands.
Nelson Mandela spent most of his 27 years in prison off Cape Town on Robben Island, now a museum accessible by ferry.
Cape Town winters can be wet and blustery — the ferry to Robben Island doesn't run when seas are too choppy. When fans aren't at Cape Town's new World Cup stadium, they might want to consider some indoor tourism.
If you can't get out on the water, substitute the Two Oceans Aquarium at the V&A Waterfront shopping center. The aquarium offers puppet shows and other activities for children, and is home to some 3,000 animals in exhibits focusing on everything from frogs to sharks.
Nearby Pollsmoor Prison, where Mandela was held from 1982-88, welcomes visitors for meals at the Pollsmoor Mess, a full-service restaurant run by prisoners being prepared for jobs upon their release.
A museum within Groote Schuur Hospital includes a visit to the operating rooms where the world's first heart transplant was performed in 1967.
Several galleries have set up in an old textile factory, Fairweather House, in Cape Town's Woodstock neighborhood. In one stop, contemporary art lovers can get an overview of South Africans with international reputations.
DURBAN
The main city in KwaZulu-Natal is Africa's busiest port. The area gave South Africa King Shaka, considered the 19th century founder of the Zulu nation, as well as its current president, Jacob Zuma. World Cup visitors will find some of South Africa's best winter weather here, with water temperatures warm enough for swimming in the Indian Ocean.
History buffs should visit nearby battlefields where British, Zulu and Afrikaner soldiers clashed in the 19th century. Foodies can taste local Indian cuisine, developed by South Africans descended from indentured workers brought from India in the 19th century to work on KwaZulu-Natal's sugar plantations. Durbanites claim to have invented bunny chow (curry served in a hollowed-out loaf of bread) and argue endlessly about which fast food joint serves the best version of this dish, now found all over South Africa.
JOHANNESBURG
Nine South African cities will host matches starting June 11, and many visitors will want to see local attractions in addition to the games. Here is a glimpse of the cities and some local highlights.
BLOEMFONTEIN
Both the now defunct National Party — the party of apartheid — and the African National Congress were founded in this university town in South Africa's agricultural heartland.
The nearby Soetdoring Nature Reserve is a birders' mecca, military buffs will be drawn to Bloemfontein's Anglo-Boer War cemetery, and sports fans can take time out from football to visit this rugby-loving city's Choet Visser Rugby Museum.
Bloemfontein is about an hour's drive from Maseru, capital of the landlocked kingdom of Lesotho, with its spectacular, high-altitude vistas and pony treks.
A curious footnote: "Lord of the Rings" author JRR Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein in 1892, moving to England when he was 3.
CAPE TOWN
Known as the Mother City, this cosmopolitan port city grew from a settlement founded by the Dutch East India Company in 1652. Cape Town is famous around the world for its dramatically beautiful setting, beneath Table Mountain and at the confluence of the Atlantic and Indian oceans. It's also near South Africa's winelands.
Nelson Mandela spent most of his 27 years in prison off Cape Town on Robben Island, now a museum accessible by ferry.
Cape Town winters can be wet and blustery — the ferry to Robben Island doesn't run when seas are too choppy. When fans aren't at Cape Town's new World Cup stadium, they might want to consider some indoor tourism.
If you can't get out on the water, substitute the Two Oceans Aquarium at the V&A Waterfront shopping center. The aquarium offers puppet shows and other activities for children, and is home to some 3,000 animals in exhibits focusing on everything from frogs to sharks.
Nearby Pollsmoor Prison, where Mandela was held from 1982-88, welcomes visitors for meals at the Pollsmoor Mess, a full-service restaurant run by prisoners being prepared for jobs upon their release.
A museum within Groote Schuur Hospital includes a visit to the operating rooms where the world's first heart transplant was performed in 1967.
Several galleries have set up in an old textile factory, Fairweather House, in Cape Town's Woodstock neighborhood. In one stop, contemporary art lovers can get an overview of South Africans with international reputations.
DURBAN
The main city in KwaZulu-Natal is Africa's busiest port. The area gave South Africa King Shaka, considered the 19th century founder of the Zulu nation, as well as its current president, Jacob Zuma. World Cup visitors will find some of South Africa's best winter weather here, with water temperatures warm enough for swimming in the Indian Ocean.
History buffs should visit nearby battlefields where British, Zulu and Afrikaner soldiers clashed in the 19th century. Foodies can taste local Indian cuisine, developed by South Africans descended from indentured workers brought from India in the 19th century to work on KwaZulu-Natal's sugar plantations. Durbanites claim to have invented bunny chow (curry served in a hollowed-out loaf of bread) and argue endlessly about which fast food joint serves the best version of this dish, now found all over South Africa.
JOHANNESBURG
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