Destination: South Africa

NAIROBI, KENYA - This summer's World Cup in South Africa is going to be more about Africa than about football. It 's going to be about the fans, the music, the dancing, the food and the fervour. It's going to be a celebration like no other. 

I've been based in Nairobi, Kenya for the last four years and travelled the continent extensively as a journalist. 

I've celebrated with warm beer and local delicacies as various African teams qualified for the World Cup. I've also been caught in the moment celebration changes to chaos, when a team gets scored against in their home stadium at twice its capacity. I remember the surge of adrenaline I felt when I got stuck in my first stampede. The mass of people knock the air out of you like a rogue wave and your feet don't touch the ground for minutes at a time.

Soccer moves people on the continent in ways you would never imagine - ways I hope to illustrate. 

Over the next couple months leading up to the games, I'll be checking out what's going on across Africa as it prepares for the historic event. With me, I'll take nothing but a soccer ball and a mosquito net. 

Anjali's trip across Africa

Every day I'll play soccer - whether it is in the sprawling slums of Johannesburg, South Africa or in the middle of Lagos, Nigeria's impenetrable traffic - to tell the continent's stories through its favourite sport.

I'll meet fashion gurus in Ghana designing special World Cup couture, Ivory Coast's biggest fan group, the Elephant Mummies, who are hoping their maternal love (and tight clothing) will bring their team a win, and Nigerian musicians rapping about the sport.

This Saturday I'll start my journey in Abidjan, Ivory Coast and travel by bus, car, bike, foot and plane (when necessary) to Johannesburg, South Africa. Along the way, I'll pass through Africa's soccer powerhouses- Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon.

I'll be blogging and twittering throughout my journey, so I hope you'll come along for the ride. Get ready for slum dogs, sunburns and adventures galore....

Watch this space, and follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/anjalinayar and check out my photo gallery from Kenya.

Canadian journalist Anjali Nayar will travel across Africa by train, bus and foot (and when necessary by plane), and will arrive in South Africa just before the World Cup. Along the way, Anjali will tell the continent's stories through its favourite sport: soccer.