Intrepid Travel sympathizes with World Cup Widows

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Every soccer football soccer fan in the world knows what’s going to happen in June. The World Cup is coming to South Africa. The die-hards will find their way to the festivities, with many leaving the ladies behind. If you’re among the world’s World Cup Widows, should you be stuck at home? Hell no! Get your own trip off the ground, and put yourself as far away from anything World Cup-related as possible!

For travel in June and early July to certain destinations in Asia, Australia, the Americas, Europe and the Middle East, Intrepid Travel is offering discounts of up to 15 percent for those “left behind” by World Cup fever, as long as you book by the end of April.

“At Intrepid Travel we understand that for some people there is more to life than sports. So, while your partner sits glued to the television, living every high and low of the World Cup, get your friends together and head off on an Intrepid Travel small group adventure,” said Intrepid Travel U.S. President, Tiffany Richards.

The discounts start at 5 percent and increase with the number of fellow widows you recruit. Two traveling together can save at this level, with three securing 10 percent and four or more cutting 15 percent off the price. And, the prices are definitely accessible, starting at $720 a person for a nine-day excursion in Bali … before the World Cup Widows discount is factored in.

Guys, don’t worry: there’s a World Cup Widowers variation on the deal, too.

South African sex workers call for decriminalization during World Cup

by Sean McLachlan on

As South Africa gears up for the 2010 World Cup, the country’s sex workers are starting a campaign to have prostitution decriminalized.

The drive is being spearheaded by the Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT), an organization that strives to protect the health and human rights of sex workers. SWEAT’s website documents numerous cases of harassment by police and the public. SWEAT fears that this harassment will only increase during the World Cup. The organization wants to have sex work permanently decriminalized, or at the very least for the duration of the World Cup.

The globe’s biggest football (soccer) event is expected to draw 450,000 visitors, some of whom will want to pay for sex. This has raised the concern not only of sex workers, but health workers as well. With South Africa being the source of an estimated 17 percent of global HIV infections, the potential for a major spread of HIV is very real. The South Africa National AIDS Council has stated that if prostitution were legal then it would be easier for the sex worker to demand safe sex. It would also make it easier for sex workers to get abusive clients arrested.

At the moment the government is not considering a change of policy. South Africa, despite its large sex trade, is socially conservative and there is resistance to even talking about these issues. And if even free-loving Amsterdam is clamping down on its red light district, sex workers in South Africa have a long fight ahead of them.

Coconuts banned on Rio de Janeiro beaches

by Alison Brick on

If it’s your dream to go to Rio de Janeiro, and walk Copacabana Beach while drinking from a coconut, here’s a reality check for you: you have to nix the coconut.

Starting December 1st, coconuts will be banned from being sold by beach vendors in an effort to clean up Rio’s beaches in time for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games.

Officials make a good argument. Who knew that 30 tons of husks have to be picked up daily? And if they’re not collected, they attract rats.

But critics point out that husks are natural and biodegradable. And coconut water will still be available for sale, but only in bottles and cans — personally, I’d rather get it from the source and not have the man-made waste. Maybe there’s a way to step-up the beach cleaning, while still making the coconuts available?

Let’s see if Rio de Janeiro mayor Eduardo Paes changes his mind. He’s offered to rethink the ban if beach-goers do a better job at picking up after themselves (although obviously it won’t be coconuts that they’re picking up, because they’ll have already been banned.)

World Cup snowboarding comes to Telluride

by Tom Johansmeyer on

World Cup snowboarding is coming to Telluride! Check out the Visa U.S. Snowboardcross Cup from December 17 to 20, 2009 at the Telluride Ski Resort: this is the only stop in the United States fro the International Ski Federation’s (FIS’s) Snowboard World Cup. Both snowboard cross (SBX) and parallel giant slalom (PGS) competitions will be held in what is the second in a series of five Olympic qualification events for the two disciplines.

Ryan Mackey, snowmaking and grooming manager at Telluride, says, “Snowmaking is off to one of our best starts in years with the cold weather, and the new snow we have received in the last couple of weeks is a great bonus.” He continues, “Currently we are making snow on Upper Village Bypass, Lower Boomerang into the Mountain Village, Meadows and Lower Misty Maiden (especially for the World Cup).”

U.S. Snowboarding Head Coach Peter Foley calls Telluride the perfect western home for an World Cup stop early in the season. “With the early start on snow happening at Telluride we are getting really excited to get there,” he says. “We can’t wait to show the athletes from around the world how great Telluride is and let them experience a real world class course,” Foley adds.

John Jett, the Competition and Event Services Manger, has been working through the course procedures and qualifications with the USSA and FIS. “The last of our summer projects for the event, including laying the timing wire for the PGS, has been completed,” he explains. “Both FIS and USSA course inspections have been approved for the World Cup Competition.”

This is the Telluride area’s first World Cup competition and will give a taste of what’s to come in February’s Vancouver Olympics. Frank Bell, Co-Chair of the Organizing Committee, hopes that “the world will join us either in person or through the media coverage in introducing the best snowboarders in the world to the great terrain, spectacular mountain setting, and two great ski towns that embrace the 2009 Snowboard World Cup.”

A Self Indulgent Interview with Helen Zille, Mayor of Cape Town, South Africa

by Mike Barish on

I won’t interview just anyone. I’m Mike Barish, after all. I like to speak with dynamic, interesting, foward-thinking people who fascinate me. In the past, I interviewed Mike Lee, head of one of the country’s most exciting and up-and-coming underground eating clubs.

This time around, I scored a major coup. Well, maybe coup isn’t the right word given the position of my subject. I had the great honor of interviewing Helen Zille, the mayor of Cape Town, South Africa. Ms. Zille was named 2008 World Mayor, which is essentially the International Mayor of the Year award. And GOOD magazine ranked her number one on their list of the most innovative and effective civic leaders in the world.

South Africa stands out as an example of positive development on the African continent. And in 2010, South Africa will become the first African nation to host the World Cup.

Mayor Zille was kind enough to indulge me and I found her to be honest, frank and quite humorous.


You have been the mayor of Cape Town for over two years. In that time, what changes are you most proud of?

In such a short time it is not possible to complete any major projects, but I am very happy with the progress we have made in our preparations for 2010 [for the World Cup]. Some people never believed we could get our new 68,000 seat stadium ready on time [photo at right], especially given all the legal, geological and financial complications around the site. But we are on schedule now, and that is something to celebrate. I am also happy that we have been able to clean up the City’s supply chain management department and other key areas of financial management. There were a lot of problems with corruption that we have now addressed. Then there is the increase in delivery capacity that we have achieved by introducing a new organisational structure for the City’s 22,000 staff, which was a major achievement. We filled 2,800 vacancies and introduced a whole new set of reporting lines and management structures to ensure greater efficiency. And we have accelerated the rate at which we have been able to deliver services, having tripled our investments in capital projects from R1 billion [approximately $107.2 million] per year on average between 2002 and 2006 to R3.2 billion [approximately $343 million] in the past year. This means more public projects and infrastructure to help Cape Town grow as a world city. It also means improved services to the poor, like an increase in subsidised housing opportunities for the poor from an average of 3,000 per year between 2002 and 2006 to 7,000 in the past year. All of these things indicate greatly improved efficiency and productivity in the City.

The 2010 World Cup is rapidly approaching and South Africa will be the first African nation to host the event. How are the preparations coming along?

As I have mentioned above, we are on schedule. But it remains a very challenging project.

Any advice for travelers making their way to Cape Town specifically for the World Cup?

Make sure you leave lots of spare time to explore Cape Town. There is a lot to see and do here and you don’t want to miss out. And invest in a Vuvuzela if you want a uniquely South African soccer souvenir.

Cape Town came in third place when it bid on hosting the 2004 Summer Olympics. Does Cape Town still have Olympic aspirations and will you make a bid for the 2020 Games?

With a new stadium and improved public transport we would certainly be better placed to do it than we were in the 2004 bid. But let’s first see how the World Cup goes!

Earlier this year you received the 2008 World Mayor Award. Why do you think you won?

I was very surprised to win the award, and naturally I was thrilled. I believe that I won because of the great team I have working with me in my office, in the City of Cape Town administration, at home, and in parliament. These kinds of awards are never solo achievements.

Did you get a trophy or plaque that you make everyone look at when they visit you? Maybe a medal that you always wear around your neck?

I received a very uniquely designed metal trophy, which we have on display in the mayor’s office. But I definitely don’t make anyone look at it.

If you were giving a tour of Cape Town to your new best friend (let’s call him Mike Barish), what are the top five places that you would show him?

It really depends what my new best friend finds interesting. We haven’t known each other long so I can’t really say! But if you forced me to choose for you, I would have to say Cape Point, Table Mountain [photo at right], Table Bay (including the V&A Waterfront and Robben Island), and some local performances. This time of year I would take you to watch the Minstrels perform on the Grand Parade – about 20,000 take to the street in parades that include incredible costumes and a whole range of musical instruments. I would show you the different sides of Cape Town so that you could come to understand some of the history, culture and economics of Cape Town, so I would include a visit to the Muslim area of Bo Kaap, the cosmopolitan and highly developed Atlantic seaboard, and the communities of Khayelitsha and the Cape Flats.

I love street food and I hear that the Gatsby is the best street dish in Cape Town. What do you like on your Gatsby?

I actually prefer salomies – and I like a good lamb or chicken curry on mine. A Gatsby is a huge roll with chips and other things on it like pieces of chicken or steak. A salomi is a Cape Malay flat bread rolled around a curry filling.

People often have concerns about crime in Cape Town. What have you done to ensure the safety of both residents and travelers in your city?

We have built partnerships with businesses and the police in most of the major commercial and tourist areas in Cape Town to boost street patrols and keep these areas safer. We are now building similar partnerships with neighbourhood watches to curb crime in residential areas. The City has a very small police force. The main policing function, as well as the criminal justice system, falls under the national government. That system needs a serious overhaul in South Africa.

Many airlines charge passengers to check luggage, so it’s cheaper to just bring one carry-on bag. That means you have to pack lightly. What would you recommend travelers pack in just one bag to help them enjoy a visit to South Africa?

My recommendation is don’t bring anything, just money. Then you can buy some proudly South African clothes when you get here! But seriously, it is not as bad as that! In my experience most airlines allow you a certain weight before they start charging. It is usually about 20kg per person, and then an extra 5kg carry-on luggage. If you are limited, I would say that in summer make sure you bring some swimwear, shorts and t-shirts, and a hat, because it gets pretty hot in Cape Town between December and May. But always bring an umbrella and some warm clothes, because once in a while we get hit by cold wet days, even in mid-summer. Cape Town’s weather is very changeable, and we can also get wonderful hot days in winter too, so bear that in mind if you are coming to the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

Do you get to take much time off? Where did you go on your last vacation?

Normally no, but I am happy to say I just had a two week break in the Eastern Cape with my family, which has been my first real holiday since becoming mayor nearly 3 years ago. We went to Keurbooms River, which is a forested coastal area near Plettenberg Bay on the Garden Route. It is a great place to relax and enjoy some peace and scenery.

What place in the world that you have yet to visit would you most like go to?

There are so many I can’t limit it to one. I would like to visit South America, and see cities like Bogotá in Columbia. Bogotá was able to overcome many of the similar developmental challenges to those which we currently face in Cape Town, especially around crime and urban decay. I would really enjoy learning more about how they did it.

Back in April of 2008, you were in New York to address the United Nations. Did you have a chance to do any sightseeing while you were here? What were your favorite places?

I didn’t have much time to do sightseeing, but I was very happy to see the UN headquarters, which is definitely one of the sights I would have wanted to see anyway.

As I am sure you know, America’s economy is not doing so well, so I have had to start traveling on a much tighter budget. When I come to visit Cape Town, do you think I could sleep on your couch?

You would have to fight with my sons’ friends for the space.

Many thanks to Mayor Zille for her time and graciousness. Special thanks, as well, to Robert Macdonald, Spokesperson for the Mayor of Cape Town, for his efforts in coordinating this interview.