You may have noticed this saying “Ke nako” seems to be everywhere during the World Cup -- in commercials, painted on people’s faces -- but what does this mean?
The official slogan of the 2010 World Cup, “Ke nako” means “It’s time.” And what is it time for? Shakira suggests it’s time for Africa to shine, in the official World Cup song “Waka Waka.”
This year, one of the biggest sporting events in the world is African soil for the first time, and it has attracted more 300,000 fans to South Africa for the games -- an estimated 132,000 of them from the United States.
Of these hundreds of thousands of fans, many have flocked to the city of Cape Town, where three games have already been held and five more remain, including quarterfinal and semifinal matches.
While Cape Town residents have welcomed these soccer fans with open arms, what they really hope for is that those soccer fans have just as much interest in the tourism opportunities of their town as they do in what magic may happen in the magnificent 68,000-seat Green Point Stadium.
Within the past two weeks, the streets of Cape Town have not only been soundtracked by a more diverse cacophony of languages mingling with constant vuvuzela undertones, it’s also become rapidly more populated with new bars, hotels and restaurants springing up on the ever so popular Long Street and Cape Quarter areas.
Finger Sports Bar in Cape Quarter, conveniently located on the walk to the stadium, opened just in time for the kickoff of the games. Boasting two floors of a snazzy nightclub scene with hip, up-to-date American music (rare for most bars in Cape Town, which all seem to be a few months behind), it is arguably the No. 1 hot spot for post-game partying and game viewing for those without tickets or wishing to watch games taking place in other cities while skipping the whole standing in the cold in the Fan Park scenario.
Sports
Other places have opened up merely for the World Cup and will be closing after the games. Blonde Restaurant, named after the restaurateur’s weakness -- blondes -- opened in the Company Garden’s area of Cape Town, but only as a test run to see how it fares. This trend poses as a potential point of worry for those hoping tourism will bring significant revenue to Cape Town.
The town has not only seen transformation in the form of new places opening up, but also change in how the well established places operate. Restaurants like Clay Oven, a pizzeria, on Long Street that used to close around 10 p.m., are now open well past midnight. Even fast food places, like the popular KFC, which would usually close around 8 p.m., have altered their hours to accommodate the masses.
Annie Horn, a 23-year-old American volunteer who has been living in Cape Town for a little less than a year, is pleased with the changes she has seen.
“It’s way more convenient,” she said.
Before the transformations the town implemented to prepare for the games, it would be very hard to find late night dining. She has also taken note of how much cleaner the town is and the new water fountains that have been put into place all over the city for pedestrians.
However, these restaurants and bars and hotels hopefully will not be the point of attraction, but the final destination after a day of taking in what the beautiful city of Cape Town has to offer. Tourists can spend the day hiking or taking a cable car up to the beautiful and world famous Table Mountain. Or they can take a drive out to Cape of Good Hope, where the Atlantic and Indian oceans, meet and wonder how in the world Magellan sailed around the southern most tip of Africa in what we today would view as a rickety ship, hundreds of years ago.
While out on the nature trail, baboons will more than likely be spotted strutting their red bottoms (if they’re in heat) across the road and halt your procession. However, regardless of their cute and seemingly harmless demeanor, they are extremely dangerous and drivers are advised to keep their windows rolled up until they pass. Other animals to see while in South Africa are the adorable but rather smelly penguins at Boulder’s Beach in Simon Town and the gigantic whales in Hermanus.
For those adventure tourists that might find whales too docile for their liking, the winter, which Cape Town is in the midst of right now, is prime great white shark feeding season. Although I unfortunately was not able to participate in the cage diving with sharks extravaganza due to cancellation from the company fearing that the bad weather and high waves would unhinge the cage from the boat, shark diving is a popular tourist attraction for those daring to dive into the unknown.
On a sunny day, the world-class vineyards of Stellenbosch are a must see by anyone visiting Cape Town. For those with a few rands to spend, the mouth watering steaks and stunning scenery of Rust en Verde Restaurant are to die for. For yet another South African thrill, Spier Winery in Stellenbosch offers the opportunity to pet live cheetahs. Now that’s something to brag about.
Although the city of Cape Town, populated by nearly 3 million people, has seen a great deal of change over the past decade, the transformation over the past two weeks seems just as great to those native to the town.
“Cape Town has been revolutionized from a sleepy, chilled beach city into a first world, tourist filled, buzz town,” said Brennan Wright, 23, of the Newlands area. “It’s been a once-in-a-lifetime experience for which I’m privileged to have been a part of.”
For more tourism information on Cape Town, visit www.tourismcapetown.co.za.
Suzanne Kianpour is a soccer fan and desk assistant at NBC News in Washington, D.C. She'll be filing reports from South Africa throughout the tournament.
