Swiss travellers arrive in Durban

Welcome to Aranka and Thomas who arrived this afternoon at our guesthouse in Durban. Unfortunately the weather in South Africa is looking bad for the next week, but we hope that the friendly people you come across on your travels will make up for the gloomy weather.

Good luck for the rest of your adventure over the next number of months.

Dinner by guests

Thanks Fede and Josh who cooked up a storm for us last night, having stayed with us for 7 weeks over the International Film Festival, then setting off for Cape Town and back home to Boston.

Josh getting ready to tuck in

Fede shows Kate-Lynn how to make risotto

 

Dinner with guests

Our guests who are staying at the guesthouse for 7 weeks.. Josh from Boston and Fede from Spain came over for a braai last night and we were joined by Kate and James. I had the chance to perfect my chocolate fondant for dessert.. got it just right with the liquid choc oozing out, so yummy! Kate cut the strawberries into perfect heart shapes, so sweet.

Baking for the Guesthouse

Hey we've been trying some baking for the guesthouse. Here Llewellyn turns out some pineapple bran muffins and I baked an egg soufle' for breakfast. The guesthouse was full over the Indaba Tourism Show these past few days.

Rooftop party

Dave sets up the rooftop bar for the Sundowners Party

It was rooftop Sundowners at the Guesthouse. I was up on the roof getting it ready for the party at the Guesthouse on Saturday and we watched the sun go down with twinkling party lights glowing in the gathering darkness. Awesome stuff.

Russian in the house

It is not too often we have Russians in the guesthouse, but (middle) Lee's parents are from Latvia, a little country which used to form part of the USSR and is now independent.

Co-incidentally my daughter flew into Riga, the capital of Latvia last week en-route from Oslo to Rome. Lee, an industrial psychologist, now works in Johannesburg and is fluent in Russian.

Making Guesthouse improvements

The Guesthouse Lounge

Taking the plunge to change all room TVs to new flatscreens, Dave and Llewellyn have been making some improvements to the Guesthouse putting Top TV and individual TV decoders in some rooms and DSTV with hotel suite in others, DVD players and new shelving and tables.

New baking skills

Trying my hand at an egg and cheese souffle' for the first time for guesthouse breakfast - impressive if I say so myself.

Welcoming in the New Year

Proposing a toast to the New Year are guesthouse visitors Andrew, Mias, Louis, Charl and Michael with myself (left) and Llewellyn (right).

Dr Marc to the rescue

My dentist died on the morning of my appointment, but paramedic and guest Marc came to the rescue with a temporary filling. Working on a ship as the doctor on board in the Gulf of Mexico, Marc is used to stop-gap measures to tend to the sailors far from shore.

Engaged

Steve and Andy pose after the announcement

The engagement ring

Steve was on his cellphone broadcasting the news

It is great to see the guesthouse being used for special occassions and Kate-Lynn's friends Steve and Andy became engaged here last night. A nervous Steve brought Andy to the guesthouse on some pretext and then on the rooftop popped the question and handed over first a fake ring as a joke and then the beautiful ring pictured above. The happy couple then joined friends who were waiting for them for dinner and festivities.

Cocktails at the Guesthouse

Charl van den Berg (left) and myself

Guests Jaco from Namibia, Elad from Israel, Juanne from Jhb, Llewellyn and Joe from Namibia

Dustin and Ernest (left and right) with cruise organiser Leon (middle)

Juanne and Prince with zany hairstyle

It's always great to have a house-load of guests from all over the world. This weekend we had guests off on a cruise to Mocambique filling the house and including the Mr Gay South Africa 2010 finalists with Charl van den Berg, Mr Gay World. What a nice guy to meet.. down to earth and personable.

Fun at the Guesthouse

Llewellyn and I congratulate Jared (centre top) winner of the KZN finals of the Mr Gay South Africa 2010 held at the Guesthouse last night, and also say goodbye to our friends Nelson (left) and Les (second from left) who leave shortly to live in Singapore.

Durban Orange again

Durban is awash with colour again today as the OranjeFans return to give Netherlands their support in the round 16 clash with Slovakia. It also looks like Durban locals are supporting Netherlands and orange is the popular colour of the day. In the photos are (3rd from top) our Guests Darren, Janelle, Gareth, and Jenny, and Ishmar, whilst in the other photos I managed to catch some of the fans on their way to the Stadium. You can spot me in the top and 2nd photo with the Netherlands flag I painted on my cheek.

Guests gear up for the Brasil vs Portugal clash

The guesthouse was awash this weekend with Red and Yellow, the principal colours of Portugal and Brasil and the Stadium was incredible with the vibrant colours, buzz of the vuvuzelas and outrageous outfits. Guests Eddie (Notingham), Gabriel (Toronto) show their support for Brasil with Dave (also in yellow), Shibu and his son Shane presented Dave with a gift from India, and at the Stadium Nelson (Perth) with Llewellyn (guesthouse co-owner) show the colours of Portugal. This was the first time I had been inside the Stadium since it's opening recently.

Getting ready for the Brasil vs Portugal game

In the photos are Dave and Llewellyn in front of the Stadium, Dave giving the vuvuzela a blast and fans at the beachfront in the glorious warm winter's day with Llewellyn before the game. 

A little bit of America and Ireland in Durban

Sally and Norman are our guests, originally from Minneapolis, but who have moved to New Orleans recently. Norman is the big football fan and has seen some of the World Cup action here in Durban. Norman has Irish origins so was pleased to recognise the Durban City Hall, modelled on the Belfast City Hall. I served as Deputy Mayor of Durban 1994/95 so my office in the rooftops of the City Hall and interest in the architecture took me also to Belfast to see the other Durban structure. The couple is also seen from our Guesthouse rooftop with the Stadium in the background.

Durban is Orange

Durban turned orange today with the Netherlands vs Japan game which kicked off in glorious sunny weather at 23c (mid-winter in Durban).

In the photos are our guests having breakfast and then leaving for the beachfront (Jenny, Arnaud, Lara and Edwin) where the OranjeFans were gathering. The outfits were awesome and the folk were signing and dancing "Durban is vir ons 'Ole'!" The score is Netherlands (1) Japan (0) as I write and the Netherlands are looking good to win the game.

Firetruck down Africa

Ronnie and Manu (left and right in the photos) are the 2nd of three groups of travellers we have met at the Guesthouse who travelled from Germany and Switzerland through Africa to Durban in time for the World Cup. Ronnie and Manu bought a genuine Fire Truck and this was their home for the incredible journey. The result 4-0 for Germany and 1-0 Swiss victory against Spain for Marco and Tamara, who also made the journey in a landrover, was sweet.