Switzerland (1) Spain (0)

What a surprise win for the Switzerland team and great excitement for the Swiss guys from Berne, Patrick, Thomas, Boris and Roman - and disappointment for their Spain supporting Swiss friend Chris. In the photos the friends show their support in the bar at the Guesthouse before the game, and here is Chris who found  Manolo just down the road from the Guesthouse on the way to the Stadium. Chris also took some stunning photos of the Durban Stadium and the supporters from Switzerland.

In between games

Each day we have a few guests leaving, some victorious and some sad at their team's loss. After the Ozzie supporters left, Peter and Tony in the yellow and gold of the Socceroos in the photos, we went down to the beach ahead of the Switzerland vs Spain game on Wednesday.

In the next photo Brad and Dave's daughter Kate-Lynn soak up the sun at the Moyo Restaurant on the pier out to sea at uShaka Beach whilst we looked at some of the amazing sandcastles built by the local black residents for the tourists.

In the following photos, Dave shows his Bafana Bafana shirt with a Spain logo on his cheek and Llewellyn's son Calvin enjoys the day out with his dad, whilst Strawberry Daiquiries were the order of the day.

More Africa explorers

Wow, we are having such fun at the Guesthouse. Today Armin brought back some more adverturers who came by vehicle from Bielefeld, Germany, to Durban by road across Europe and Africa.... in a red fire truck.

Meet Manu (top right) with Ronnie (second left) whose blog is also linked here. Marcus (top left) and Armin (top right) were also joined today by Armin's wife Uta who flew in from Germany to visit her husband in Durban after a 2-month absence.

In the middle picture Llewellyn and I (Dave) join the African adventurers for a photo in the Guesthouse bar.

In the bottom picture the vehicles meet up at Mahalapye-Mokolo Dam - the red fire truck, the "Buffalo" Jeep and a fellow traveller, Nachos from Spain, on a Vespa scooter.

Spain vs Switzerland Wed 16 June

Supporters from Spain and Switzerland will be in Durban for our second FIFA World Cup Match on the 16th June... so listen for shouts of Ole' Ole' in the streets, especially if Spain pulls off a win against Switzerland.

Our guesthouse already has some Swiss supporters booked in so it will be an interesting few days in the build-up to the game. In the photo below is Swiss goalkeeper Diego Benaglio and you can read more about the Swiss line-up for the World Cup on their blog here and about the Spanish football team on their blog here.

Germany beats Australia 4-0

The Germany vs Australia game was awesome and we ended up with 7 Germans and 7 Ozzie supporters in the house. The result of Germany (4) and Australia (0) made for much rivalry and drinking afterwards and the Ozzies insisted the Germans had to do the paying. In the 1st photo above guests Nelson (Perth), Tino (Germany), Les (Perth) and Michael (Sydney) enjoy a drink after the game and a night on the town.

In the next photos Germany supporters gather for some TV news after the game, a rasta man celebrates in the street, a Germany supporter gives and interview and in the last photo above Durban Stadium View Guesthouse guest Tino joins a group of Germany supporters for hischance to be seen on TV aroundthe world as Germany celebrated their win over Australia.

Durban abuzz for the Germany vs Australia game tonight

The Durban beachfront outside the World Cup Stadium is alive with Ozzie Socceroos and Germans eager to watch their team beat the other tonight. It was a glorious sunny day and the surfers were out as well as the fans.

In the photos guest Rudi shows which team he is supporting whilst my family and friends also took a stroll down the beach promenade to get a feel of the action.

Bielefeld to Durban 13 Mar - 13 June

We are privileged to meet at the Guesthouse trans-Africa traveller Armin Hollensteiner who made the journey from his hometown, Bielefeld in Germany, by jeep to Durban for the World Cup opening game Germany vs Australia today.

Travelling 21 000 kms through Europe, the middle east and Africa, Armin was joined in Dar-es-Salaam by Marcus and the travellers arrived in Durban yesterday making it a 3-month 13th Mar - 13th June journey. Armin has created a blog to document the journey and you can view it here.

In the top photo are Armin and myself (Dave) outside the Guesthouse with the reliable jeep that averaged 11 ls per 100kms. In the 2nd photo Marcus and Armin pose with their mascot Lohmann, the 3rd photo shows Armin's personalised numberplate with BI for his home town Bielefeld, ZA for South Africa (Zuid Afrika) and 2010 for the FIFA 2010 World Cup Football event. The 4th photo shows the route Armin travelled across Africa to get to Durban.

You can also watch Armin's YouTube Video Clip.

Wow, congratulations guys, what a journey and accomplishment!

Ozzies in Durban

In Durban for the Australia vs Germany opening game at our new Moses Mabhida Stadium are Sydneysiders Kieran, cousin Michael and brother Danny.

They were met at the new King Shaka International Airport in Durban by Kate-Lynn, daughter of Durban Stadium View Guesthouse owner Dave and given a traditional South African welcome.

Welcome to Durban

Welcome to our part of Durban, this sunny east coast of South Africa port city, where to the sun and the fun never sets.

Durban Stadium View Guesthouse is situated in the trendy restaurant area of Durban with sweeping city and Stadium views from our roof sundeck and jacuzzi.

Bafana Bafana take on Mexico

One would be mistaken in thinking our SA National Football team, Bafana Bafana, were not the world favourites to win today as they take on Mexico in the opening game of the World Cup.

I have never seen so many yellow shirts in South Africa on one day... everyone - uniting the nation - are showing their colours for Bafana Bafana and South African flags are everywhere.

Fridays have been the days South Africans and schoolchildren have been allowed to show their support by wearing a Bafana shirt to school or work. In the photos from top to bottom are images painted on a garden wall just up the road from the Guesthouse showing Bafana Bafana in action, a handwritten message  in wet concrete, my office staff gearing up for the opening game today, and a self-pic of myself in my car on the way to work - full time lawyer, inbetween running the Guesthouse with my partner Llewellyn, who also has his own SpecSavers Optometry practices by day.

Will the Germans tear up the Socceroos?

Ahead of the first World Cup game in Durban on Sunday, the German team are quiety confident they will "tear apart" the Australian defences. The Socceroos and the Germans, who are favourites to win Group D, kick off for Durban's much awaited first game here at the Moses Mabhida World Cup Stadium. Already a 1000 Ozzie fans have arrived in Durban to fill a tent-town that has been erected at the cricket stadium. Meanwhile at their first practice in South Africa, the German team came out with shirts with the word "Yebo" on them. This means "Yes" in Zulu, the native language of the black locals in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal where Durban is situated. At the Guesthouse we have both Australian and German fans staying, so we should have an exciting build-up to the Game.

World Cup Welcome

Welcoming the world to Durban are Guesthouse co-owners Dave and Llewellyn on the rooftop of the house with views of the new FIFA World Cup Football Stadium in the background.

The past few weeks have been busy ones at the Guesthouse recovering furniture, painting, choosing new furniture and curtains for some of the rooms, putting desks and safes in every room and pimping up the Pub for the visitors from around the world due for the World Cup Football event.

We will be welcoming guests from Australia, Germany, Portugal, Brazil, Japan, New Zealand, United States, England, Netherlands, South Africa, and Switzerland.  

We hope you have a really awesome time in Durban guys and may the best team win.

It's happening in Durban

The fans and teams are arriving and it's happening in Durban.

The excitement is building and everyone has flags of the nations on their cars, houses and shop-windows.

In the photo above is a Makarapa (left and right) - it's a plastic constuction hat that has been turned into a football fan hat by cutting out figures and picture-shapes from the hat and hand-painting them so that they stand out in relief from the hat.

The Makarapa was invented by a cleaner Alfred Baloyi and they are being made at a workshop in Johannesburg especially for the World Cup. A real hand-made Makarapa would make a good souvrenir from South Africa and the World Cup. And have you got a Vuvuzela....?

Welcome to the Greek team

Welcome to the Greek national football team who have arrived in Durban for their World Cup training.

They are based in Umhlanga, a suburb of Durban where we have a large greek community. They will not however be playing in Durban - unless of course the team qualifies for one of the semi-finals. Good luck guys!