World Aids Day

1 December is World Aids Day

We can truly say that our country has seen the effects of HIV/AIDS, since we have one of the worst infection rates in the world.
Dealing with HIV/AIDS is all about the mindset of individuals and this is evident since the stigma of having and living with AIDS is one of the biggest threats to actually conquering it. It is easy for us to be apathetic towards the epidemic and it’s easy to say that it will never affect us. But our support for those living with AIDS is desperately needed..Red Ribbon Initiative.

New Bent upstairs Party

Hey there.. the girls are moving upstairs from the guys - look out for the next Bent Party and new venue opening upstairs of our gay Pub and Club The Lounge, at 226 Stamford Hill Rd, Durban.

Melanie Lowe meets the guys

We were delighted to meet Pop Idols singer and finalist Melanie Lowe who is family from Durban at the Nottingham Road Pink Festival this weekend. Melanie was wowing the girls and guys at the Festival an hour or so's drive from Durban, and will be appearing again in her home town Durban this Saturday 9 December. The dorky looking guy on the right is Shaun :-) who was nattering when the photo was taken and he will be one of the barmen at our guesthouse New Year's Eve party - see story above http://www.durbanview.co.za

Taking place at the George Campbell High School grounds just down the road from our guesthouse http://www.durbanview.co.za, the one-off concert "Durban Rock Music Spectacular" has an incredible line-up featuring some of South Africa's top artists.

The star billing includes rock acts Prime Circle, The Parlotones, Wonderboom, Anarchy and Fokoffpolisiekar. There will be a bit of pop as well with Mean Mr Mustard, Melanie Lowe http://www.melanielowe.co.za and Jae. It's an all-afternoon concert starting at 13.00 and food and drink stalls will be avialable during the day - bring your blanket and book your spot. Tickets are from Computicket http://www.computicket.co.za at R120 or R150 if you buy them at the gate.

Pretty in Pink

When I saw the fields of pink outside the Nottingham Road tourist office I couldn't resist taking this photo. Llewellyn of course refused to jump in, take all of his clothes off and lie naked in the flowers, so this is the best shot I got. :-)

If the organisers of the midlands Pink Festival at Nottingham Road wish to make this an annual event, it will need a lot of promotion outside of the small farming midlands community to bring the people here next year. We nevertheless had a lot of fun and think the venue and idea was great. We went up on Saturday and stayed over with a friend that night, doing a pub crawl and drinking the specially prepared "Pink Beer" made by the famous Nottingham Road Brewery. The brew really was very good and is capable of being sold in gay venues elsewhere - we will have to upload a pic of us drinking some so you can see it really does have a clear stawberry colour.

Pink Festival Fun

Yes, it's us (Llewellyn left, Dave right) having fun at the Nottingham Road Pink Festival this weekend.

Laugh Out Loud

New Rules for GAY Marriage .....

Now that South African Gay Marriages have been legalized, here are the new rules:
1) On the day of a gay wedding, it's bad luck for the two grooms to see each other at the gym.
2) Superstition suggests that, for good luck, the couple should have:- Something bold, Something flirty, something trashy, something dirty.
3) It's customary, at Gay and lesbian nuptials, for the parents to have an open bar during the entire ceremony.
4) Gay wedding tradition dictates that both grooms refrain from eating any of the wedding cake because it's all carbs and sugar.
5) It's considered bad luck for either of the grooms to have dated the priest.
6) During the first dance, it's considered unlucky to use glow sticks, flags, whistles or hand held lasers.
7) For good luck at the union of a drag queen, the bouquet is always thrown in the face of a hated rival.
8) The reception hall must have a disco ball and at least one go-go dancer.
9) The wedding Singer is not allowed to play/sing Let's Hear It For theBoy, It's Raining Men, or I Will Survive.
10) The father of the Bottom has to pay for Everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:-) :-) :-)

Divas Drag Caberet and forthcoming Events

Forthcoming Gay Events...........

The Lounge Sat 2 December

The Lounge is stepping up it's entertainment schedule for the festive season and Sat 2 December sees them stage a Drag Divas caberet. The Lounge is Durban's only gay pub and club and should see the 'girls' strutting their stuff to a packed audience. For more info call owner Andre on 0725 3333 41.

Midlands Pink Festival Fri 24 - Sun 26 November

The Midlands Pink Festival is this weekend at Nottingham Road, KZN Midlands area with a number of participating pubs, theatre venues and hotels. Visit their website at http://www.pinkfestival.co.za for all the info.

330 Point Road Clubbing Sat 25 November http://www.330.co.za

Yes, Durban's famous 330 Club will re-open for a one-night thrash this Saturday. Of interest to gay folk is the traditional gay-friendly pub and dance-floor which created a dent in our social offerings when the Club closed it's doors earlier this year. Welcome back 30's!!!!

Rub-a-dub-dub

Rub-a-dub-dub, there were 3 men, no 4, in the tub last night as our guests from Frankfurt Klaus and Uwe tried out our new roof-top Spa with us at the Guesthouse. http://www.durbanview.co.za.

Guesthouse painting

This was the week they installed our roof-top Spa bath at the guesthouse http://www.durbanview.co.za - look for the hot naked pics shortly :-) and the painters moved in to give our house a new lick of paint and waterproofing in time for the festive season. The Durban View Gay Guesthouse co-owner Dave is seen pictured on the scaffolding as the painters get set to tackle the city view circular guest room.

Friends join us in the Pub

Joining us in the pub at the guesthouse http://www.durbanview.co.za before going as a group to see the adult drag panto "Snow White" last night were friends of the Chocolate Castle - our own name for the guesthouse - triple story chocolate coloured building with sweeping views over the city of Durban.

London visitors

London visitors Tim (left) and Andew (right) join us for a short 2-day stay as they wing and drive their way around South Africa. Both are widely travelled and have been enjoying the mountains, fresh air and attractions of South Africa - an increasingly popular destination for travellers who appreciate good value for money - due to the exchange rate - in this country. An ale for a pound!!

One way the way to come..

Durban is increasingly becoming a popular gay destination since the changes to the return-ticket airways policy. Previously one could only fly in to and depart from Johannesburg (and Cape Town on selected routes) on a return ticket basis. The additional costs of a return ticket to Durban from Johannesburg put us effectively out of reach of the 5-7 day tourist.

The best way to see South Africa now is as per our recommended itinerary as follows..

1. A one way ticket to Johannesburg from your country. Stay 2 nights.

2. Hire a car and drive to Durban via the Drakensburg Mountains (6 hour journey with one-night Berg stop-over inbetween

3. Stay in Durban 2/3 nights

4. Fly one-way to Port Elizabeth, hire a car there and drive to Cape Town with one night stop-over in Hermanus (whale coast) http://www.bucacosud.co.za

5. Stay in Cape Town for 5 nights - see our Stay Gay links on this page.

6. Fly home one-way from Cape Town

Uncharacteristic rain for Durban

I know it is summer and rainy season for Durban, but is is nevertheless uncharacteristic to have more than a quick shower of rain here and then for the glorius sunshine to re-appear. http://www.weathersa.co.za But it is pouring with rain today. I am sitting here at my desk at the office watching the rain lash down outside. I get really mad when it rains over the weekend and then is a beautiful sunny day in Durban, but today the rain from last night has continued the whole day unabated. This morning I really wanted just to stay home and snuggle with my dearly beloved.

Our local Swimming Star

Meet Ryk Neethling, our hunky local hero and South Africa's national swimming star. Ryk Neethling is one of the most successful swimmers in history to compete for our country. Ryk has participated in the last three Olympic Games for South Africa, culminating with a Gold Medal and World Record performance in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. Currently, Neethling holds the South African record in five different events and ranks in the top ten in the world in both the 50, 100, 200 Freestyle and Individual Medleys.

Hello Sailor

We have found a great historical site that looks at life on board passenger and merchant ships from the 1950s to 1980s, a time when homosexuality was illegal and for gay men there were few places to be safe. Hope you enjoy it too.

Hoteliers visit Durban

It is always great to receive other guests from the hospitality industry. This week we welcomed Stephen (aka Twinkle Greenway) from the St Giles Hotel in London (right in photo)http://www.stgiles.com and Rave (aka Mitsy Bouginvillea) from the Fordoun boutique Hotel in Nottingham Road in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands http://www.fordoun.com (left in photo) pictured with Dave, co-owner of Durban View Gay Guesthouse http://www.durbanview.co.za. Nottingham Rd of course is the place to be for the Pink Festival coming up there the weekend of the 24th - 26th November and we will be going up on the Saturday and staying over with Rave for the night, enjoying the "Pink" festivities. Great to have you with us guys and Stephen hope you have a safe flight home to London today ... back to the cold and the pressures of the 500-bed Soho Hotel where he works with his father.

Out in Africa Film Festival

Starting this evening and until Sunday 12th November the "Out in Africa" - South African Gay and Lesbian Film Festival - shows at the Berea Cine Centre in Durban. The following movies will be exhibited during the Festival according to the offical programme:

Thurs 9 November

6pm - Aggressives.. about unapologetic butch womens' love and life in New York City;

and Ndim Ndim.. A story about a black lesbian living in a homophobic Xhosa community educating the people around her.

8pm - TransAmerica... a woman undergoes gender re-assignment surgery and then finds out he/she has a son.

10pm - Breakfast on Pluto.. the story follows the expoits of an endearing, witty, deceptively clever and tough young transvestite, Patrick Braden.

Fri 10 November

6.30pm - Mom.. a fun and sexy lesbian movie with a twist about the lives of a pair of market researchers.

8.15pm - BrokeBack Mountain.. heartrending epic romance between two cowboys destined never to be together.

10.30pm - Exposed: The making of a Legend.. a roudy movie about 39 buffed and fluffed men and one woman: a porno-mentary.

Sat 11 November

2pm - 5.30pm - Noah's Ark.. the first 9 episodes of the first ever-sizzling black gay series.

6pm - TransAmerica

8pm - Girl Play.. this movie questions the commitment of the committed - as the fine line between real life and character development becomes blurred.

and - Tai Chi for Tipplers.. a timeous hilarious self-help using secret ancient teachings to assist lesbians.

and - Wanted.. a single gay man's struggle to adopt.

10pm - Beyond Vanilla.. a graphic movie about the practices of the people who constantly seek the intensity and adrenalin rush of extreme sex.

Sun 12 November

2pm - 5.30pm - FingerSmith.. a film of betrayal and intrigue set in 1862 involving Susan and Maud.

6pm - Breakfast on Pluto

8.30pm - BrokeBack Mountain.. see storyline above and earlier review on this page.

Tickets are R15 per movie and bookings may be made at the cinema at upper level Berea Centre, 247 Berea Road, Durban. Enquiries 021-461-4027.

Blog review

Hey our Blog has been reviewed by BestGayBlogs and should come up in their reviews shortly - pretty exciting stuff ... being noticed! Llewellyn's secretary did a google search the other day for East Coast Radio and we popped up 5th under that google search after our story on their 10th Birthday Bash was posted. This is great stuff. We really hope that Gay Durban will become a popular blog and a reference point for guys travelling to our fair city.

The full review can now be seen here - click on the link.

Let's go to the Panto together

We are organising a group to go together to the Snow White drag Panto on Thurs 16 November.. a few drinks at our guesthouse http://www.durbanview.co.za before we go.. each bring a small plate of snacks and then on to the show.. should be great fun as a group.

If you are interested in joining us, please let Llewellyn know urgently and he will make a block booking. Just sms or phone him on 082 377 2322.

Happily Ever After

We decided to snuggle on the couch yesterday afternoon and hired BrokeBack Mountain on dvd to watch. It is not a movie we had seen on the big screen and after a few people had given us their reviews decided it was not a priority movie to go out of our way to see. I like happy endings and there is so much unhappiness and heartbreak in the gay world, I did not think it would be a movie we would enjoy watching. (post a comment if you have a happy story to share).

To our surprise however, we thoroughly enjoyed it and thought the guys were quite cute and the story quite moving. It was particularly exciting when they initially discovered each other and brought back memories of my days as a straight married guy finding a man for the first time. That was when I really knew what I was missing in life… more about this in future days of this blog.

So if you haven’t seen BrokeBack Mountain, I would recommend it.. particularly if you have not yet taken the plunge to move in with the guy you love.. it really is worth every bit of agony the decision may take.

Snow White - the adult panto

Until Dec 31, Snow White - the adult panto - will be wowing Durban audiences at the Catalina Theatre. Starring Anthony Stonier, Peter Court (as "Fairy Nuff"), Karen Campbell-Gillies, Damon Thomas and Rowan Bartlett, the panto is a giggle-a-minute with racey dialogue most of which can be taken either way - if you know what I mean, writes Durban Theatre critic Tommy Ballantyne of the Sunday Tribune. It’s another ribald, rambunctious excuse for Peter Court to wedge himself into a frock and unleash what is laughingly referred to as his singing voice on a quivering public.

Tickets for the theatre at the waterfront Wilson's Wharf are obtainable on 021-3056889 or 082 553 5903 at R80pp.

Midlands Pink Festival 24 - 26 Nov

The time is fast approaching for the Nottingham Road (midlands of KwaZulu-Natal) Pink Festival which is hoping to attract pink rands and gay folk from the Durban, Pietermaritzburg and Johannesburg regions. A full programme of events has been published including a drag competition on Sun 26th November. The organisers (notts@bundunet.com - 033-2666308) are offering a prize of a weekend away for two in the "Pinkest Hills of Natal" if you are willing to have "suitable attire" - "heels, lipstick, a wig, frok and jewels".

You will also be able to buy a special edition Pink Beer from the Nottinghamd Road Brewery, available at Rawdons, Bierfassl and the Brewery only during the Festival period 24 - 26 November 2006. Hot Air Ballon rides will also be taking off from Rawdens with a Festival special - buy one get one extra ride FREE.

There are a number of theatre performances and music shows planned including "RocTails", "Chasing Rainbows", "Red, Hot and Blue", "Think Pink" and a "Hoe Down Barn Dance". Personalies include Melanie Lowe, Lance James and Rocco de Villiers.

And of course come stay with us for the weekend and take a trip up to the Pink Festival from http://www.durbanview.co.za - Durban's exclusively gay guesthouse.

Our Anniversary

Yesterday was our 23 month anniversary. Wow, it is hard to believe that we met 23 months ago - seems like yesterday that fate brought us together, well actually it was Gaydar. I have met my soul mate, the most wonderful man my heart could wish for. Thanks Dave for 23 months of romance. I love you madly forever Llewellyn

Gay Will Young and Ronan Keating for Durban

Pop Idols UK winner, gay Will Young and heart-throb Ronan Keating will wow fans in Durban at the http://www.ecr.co.za East Coast Radio's 10th Birthday Bash "Night of the Stars" at the Suncoast Casino http://www.suncoastcasino.co.za Complex, just down the road from our guesthouse. http://www.durbanview.co.za It's happening on the 11th November 2006.

East Coast Radio is Durban and our Province KwaZulu-Natal's own radio station and is celebrating it's 10th birthday after changing name from Radio Port Natal - then and still now the premier radio station here.

Bookings for the concert may be made through the link to the ECR site and it will be rare chance to see the all star performers lined up for the evening. They include Will Young, Ronan Keating, Shayne Ward, Marcos Hernandes, Bananarama and Renee Olstead.

There is still time to make your booking for both the concert and your accommodation with us - you can see the casino complex from our roof-top.

Bent Party Sat 4 Nov

The next gay party in Durban is at The Lounge this Sat 4 November 2006 when the Bent monthly party takes place at our gay Club.

Bent often roves from venue to venue turning an otherwise "str8" venue into a gay one for the night. This time it's all happening in one spot where the gay guys and girls can really let their hair down. Happy Hour is from 8-9pm and should draw a good crowd. See you there!!

Visitors from the Cape

Hey it's great when we get visitors from other guesthouses from around our country. This week Dean and Jean from Betty's Bay, near Hermanus on the whale coast, paid us a visit. See the link to their guesthouse on this site. http://www.bucacosud.co.za

In the photo is Dean (left), my partner Llewellyn (centre) who operates Durban View Gay Guesthouse with me, and Jean (right). Guys, enjoy your visit to Durban and we have promised to see you in your home town somewhere in the not too distant future.. where the pace is much more slower and relaxed.