“When we travel we mean business,” said Charlotte Cerne, laughing.

She was discussing her family’s recent trip to South Africa.

Cerne and her husband Adeeb Hamzey recently returned from the two-week excursion, where, with their four children and two friends, they squeezed in three soccer games along with a whirlwind tour of some of the most famous sites in the country.

They visited, for example, the house in Soweto where anti-apartheid activist and former South African president Nelson Mandela once lived.

Although they didn’t get to see the game between World Cup winner Spain and the Netherlands, they did see games between Ghana and Germany, and Mexico and Argentina.

Adeeb, Charlotte, their sons Rami, Nidal, Tariq and their daughter Rena were accompanied by Rami’s girlfriend Allison Sih, and her sister Tiffany.

Tariq, 15, and Rena, 18, still live at home. Rena just graduated from Maggie Walker Governor’s School, where Tariq is a student.

Rami, 22, just graduated from the University of Southern California and Nidal will graduate in December from Virginia Polytechnic Institute, said Adeeb.

They left June 20 and returned July 3. Cerne is still excited - and it shows.

“It’s a wonderful country with wonderful people who were so kind,” she said.

It’s the second time the family has gone overseas to see World Cup soccer. Four years ago they went to see the games in Germany.

Adeeb, a native of Lebanon, described the appeal of soccer, or football as it’s known everywhere in the world other than the United States.

Growing up in Lebanon, where he attended the American University in Beirut, Adeeb said, “Football was the game.”

He praised the growth in popularity of soccer in America.

“It’s a good game – it demands a lot. It teaches you how to work as a team,” said Adeeb.

Adeeb said the U.S. players were good but have a ways to go.

“They didn’t have the consistency,” he said.

Soccer was the main attraction, but when they weren’t at the stadium in Soccer City, or watching games for free in the Fan Zone, they took side trips.

Some of the high points were a visit to the Apartheid Museum; a visit to Table Mountain, a flat-topped mountain and famous landmark near Cape Town; and a shark cage diving expedition.

Just driving the highways one saw interesting sights, said Cerne, like signs marking “high-jacking hot spots,” and widespread brush fires, some very near the highways.

“It totally changed my perception of South Africa,” said Adeeb. “You can see the strength of the economy, the commercial and the industry.”

The family also discovered the diversity of the population there.

Beside English, Afrikaners and African people, there are many Indians, French, Lebanese and Turkish people in South Africa, said Adeeb.

To keep friends up-to-date, the family kept an extensive blog, with an account of their experiences and many photos.

You can see the blog at
http://hamzeytravels.blogspot.com/2010/06/day-6-argentina-vs-mexico.html