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football: 2010 FIFA World Cup |
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Football World CupNelspruitOverview:
Trivia: Nelspruit was founded in 1905 by three brothers of the Nel family who grazed their cattle around the site of Nelspruit during the winter months. It is a key manufacturing and agricultural hub for northeastern South Africa. Major industries include the canning of citrus fruit, paper production, furniture manufacture and timbermills. Fertile soils and subtropical climate provide perfect conditions for the growing of citrus and tropical fruits, mainly mango, banana, avocado and Macadamia nuts. There are many orange farms in the area around Nelspruit.
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Transport:Getting There:The city has two airports, Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport (MQP) to the north east, and the general aviation Nelspruit Airport to the south west (NLP). Kruger Mpumalanga is used for scheduled flights to Johannesburg and, less frequently, to Cape Town and other cities. Getting Around:Nelspruit forms a rail and road link between Pretoria and Johannesburg to Maputo and to the Panorama Route and Kruger National Park.
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Entertainment & Nightlife:Nelspruit is home to Emnotweni casino situated on the way to Whiteriver.
Tourist Tips:
To the west and south of the Kruger National Park are the two South African provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga. In the north is Zimbabwe, and to the east is Mozambique. It is now part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, a peace park that links Kruger National Park with the Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe, and with the Limpopo National Park in Mozambique.
The park has 8 main gates that allow entrance to the different camps. The names of these gates are Paul Kruger, Numbi, Malelane, Crocodile Bridge, Punda Maria, Orpen, Phabeni, Phalaborwa and Pafuri. By Car:From Nelspruit you will have to choose to which park gate you want to go. Nearest gates are: Malelane (south east), Numbi (south west) and Kruger Gate (south west, slightly north of the Numbi gate). The N4 is a toll road and you have to pay for its use. Depending on which gate you want to reach, add one or two hours from Nelspruit to find out how long your journey will be. Please be aware that the KNP gates are closed after darkness and it is not permitted to drive at night inside the park.
At its widest point, the park is 90 km wide from east to west. Several rivers run through the park from west to east, including the Sabie River.
The various towns in the region have much to offer, like the African Silk farm near Graskop, The coffee farm nearby. Many activities including The big jump, mountain and quad biking, horse trails, river rafting and big game viewing are endemic to the region. This is Big 5 territory. The towns in the Lowveld, comprise of Barberton, Nelspruit, White River, Sabie, Graskop. Hazyview, Malelane, Pilgrim's Rest, Lydenburg and Nkomazi. Luxury Lodges:
Blyde River Canyon Reserve:
If you come from Johannesburg, treat yourself with a drive through Belfast, Dullstroom, Lydenburg and Pilgrim's Rest en route to Graskop. If possible, spend the night in one of the hotels/lodges/camp sites on the escarpment and devote a day to exploring the whole Panorama Route. The Blyde River Canyon is a significant natural feature of South Africa, located in Mpumalanga, and forming the northern part of the Drakensberg escarpment. It is 16 miles in length and is, on average, around 2500 feet deep. The Dam itself, when full, is at an altitude of 2182 feet. The Canyon consists mostly of red sandstone. The highest point of the canyon, Mariepskop, is 6378 feet above sea level, whilst its lowest point where the river leaves the canyon is slightly less than 1840 feet above sea level. This means that by some measure the Canyon is over 4500 feet deep.
History:During the Boer War, Nelspruit served briefly as the seat of government for the South African Republic (not to be confused with the Republic of South Africa), an independent Boer republic.
Stadium:Mbombela Stadium:Overview:
2010:Construction commenced in February 2007 with a completion date of mid-2009. The Construction contract has been awarded to a South African-French consortium. It is proposed that most of the seats will be covered by a cantilever roof. The signature feature of the stadium are the 18 roof supports that resemble giraffes. The stadium is close to the Kruger National Park so it is apt that the stadium reflect this inter-relation. Visitors to this World Cup venue will be able to couple this with a visit to the game reserve. The Mbombela Local Municipality and the Mpumalanga Province has led the way for the Beautiful Game in SA making the world class Mbombela Stadium the envy of SA's sports-mad nation.
The Mpumalanga Premier, Thabang Makwetla, said that the Mbombela Stadium will become one of the finest sports and entertainment assets in the Mpumalanga Province.
Please call Dave Freeman on 01903 832888, or you can email your request to us.
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Nelspruit is a city situated in northeastern South Africa. It is the capital of the Mpumalanga province (formerly Eastern Transvaal). Located on the Crocodile River (known as the Krokodil in Afrikaans), Nelspruit lies about 100 kilometres west of the Mozambique border and 330 kilometres east of Johannesburg. The nearest township is KaNyamazane, a few kilometres east of Nelspruit.
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Protea Hotel Nelspruit
Nelspruit is a major stopover point for tourists travelling to the Kruger National Park and to Mozambique. Tourists from Mozambique also stimulate the economy of the city significantly.
The park is part of the Kruger to Canyons Biosphere, an area designated by the United Nations Education and Scientific Organisation (UNESCO) as an International Man and Biosphere Reserve (the "Biosphere").
The park lies in the east of South Africa, in the eastern parts of Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces. It is one of the largest national parks in the world, with an area of almost 20,000 km2. The park is approximately 360 km long, and has an average width of 65 km.
The Kruger National Park has 21 rest camps, as well as 7 private lodge concessions, and 11 designated private safari lodges. The concessions are parcels of land operated by private companies in partnership with communities, who outsource the operation of private lodges.
It is situated along the Panorama Route and easily accessible from the west of the Kruger National Park and the towns of Sabie and Nelspruit.
By some measures it is the third largest canyon in the world, after the Grand Canyon in the United States and the Fish River Canyon in Namibia but this depends heavily on one's definition of a canyon. By any definition it is one of the largest canyons on earth, unquestionably being the largest 'green canyon' due to its lush subtropical foliage, and it has some of the deepest precipitious cliffs of any canyon on the planet. It is the second largest canyon in Africa, after the Fish River Canyon, and is known as one of the great wonders of nature on the continent.
Mbombela Stadium is a new 44,000 seat stadium currently under onstruction as one of the ten venues for the FIFA World Cup 2010. It will be located on open land six kilometres west of Nelspruit with the stadium as the centrepiece of a proposed sports precinct with athletics and cricket as well as other sporting codes.
The R920 million sports facility set to be ready for use by mid-July 2009 a full year ahead of the June 2010 World Cup kickoff and has been made possible through national government funding. The multi-purpose stadium, which is expected to host key soccer and rugby matches, will also be equipped with conference facilities. |