Black market tickets are changing hands for upwards of 600 dollars for Tuesday evening's semi-final showdown between the Dutch and Uruguayan teams.  But not even sky-high prices can dampen the mood as the supporters get ready for the Cape Town clash and with South Africans also supporting the Dutch en masse the city is rapidly turning orange.
 
RNW's Eric Beauchemin is in Cape Town and has been sampling the mood.
 
A group of African musicians entertains tourists and football fans as they arrive at Cape Town International airport. The airport is operating 24 hours a day to handle the huge numbers of foreign and domestic football supporters who are coming for Tuesday’s semi-final game. Most of the Dutch fans arrived shortly after Holland defeated Brazil in Port Elizabeth on Friday. One of the last Dutch fans to make his way to Cape Town was Dirk Jan Aarts who decided on an impulse to fly from Nigeria:

"When I watched the victory over Brazil in the clubhouse in Nigeria, my emotions took over. So I phoned some friends to find out who wanted to go. I was able to book tickets on the Internet. In the event, I’m here by myself as the other people haven’t come. But there are so many Dutch people here, I won’t feel lonely. So I’m very happy."

South African support
At the Waterfront, the heart of Cape Town's commercial district, there are numerous bands entertaining the fans and other visitors. Dutch football fan Michel Vekemans has been in South Africa since the start of the World Cup:

"It’s good for us that Ghana has gone out. The South Africans have chosen to support the Netherlands, partly because they like the colour orange, we think. I expect that there will be another big party in the city on Tuesday."
 
Dutch supporters today are playing their their part by organizing a six-hour long party with Dutch and African bands and a Miss Orange beauty contest. The mayor of Cape Town is even going to make an appearance at the event.
 
Black market
Getting tickets for tonight's semi-finals is a problem for many of the last-minute arrivals, but since so many teams have been eliminated, a lively black market has sprung up, as three Dutch fans discovered when they arrived early on Monday in Cape Town. One of them explains:
 
”We arrived at the apartment and were offered tickets for about $600. We had to check whether we could afford it or not, but I don’t think that was a difficult choice. After all, we came specially for this match…”

Dutch-Canadian supporter Henry Dielemans was lucky enough to have got his tickets through official channels. For tickets from the start to the end of the tournament he paid 2,000 US dollars.
 
"From Canada I applied through FIFA in order to get the tickets and was successful this time around. I wasn't successful in the two or three previous World Cups. It was right from square one right up until the final, so if Holland doesn't get eliminated, and hopefully we won't, we keep going on right through to the final.'