3 Days To Go

By: Clayton Truscott
Published: 08 June 2010
Tags: sport, bizarre

You can't get away from World Cup fever in this city. If you don't hear reminders on t.v. or the radio, you'll see it on billboards and in the pages of every newspaper. It's written on the faces of people wearing team clobber and in the window of every restaurant offering World Cup Specials.

But, in case the world's most unobservant man or woman happens to work in Cape Town, there is one final reminder: the giant Vuvuzela hanging off an unfinished freeway in town. Motor car manufacturers Hyundai have constructed the world's largest vuvu zela as part of their 'Bring The Gees (spirit)' campaign. This 35 by 5,5 meter beast is fitted with a digital clock, which has been counting the days down for us. From Friday, it will be blown at the start of every match.

Today I looked up and noticed that it was ... that's crazy. What's even more outrageous though, will be hearing it go off every day for a month. When blown properly, your average vuvu zela is loud enough to wake the dead and shatter slabs of concrete. Here's hoping the one above the city doesn't level Table Mountain.

Clayton Truscott

Clayton is a comfortable traveller, having grown up in a small city that was far away from everything. He spent lots of time in the car as a child, driving up and down the coast of South Africa on surfing trips with his family. After studying abroad in the United States and spending a year working in London, he moved to Cape Town, where he completed a Master's Degree in Creative Writing. He now works as a freelance writer for various travel, surfing and action sports publications.