Durban July Winners

We had an awesome few hours at the Durban July races yesterday.. waited especially for the 13th race.. after the horses have run, about 50-100 guys climb over the rails and line up for a 100m naked race to the finish. Pretty hot! I took a video clip again but with my iphone this year was not able to zoom, so it was not the best video I have made. Here's the link to the 2013 video clip.

 

Fede and Josh excell

Josh from the States and Federico from Spain have decided they can get married at last after a USA Court decision that now recognises state laws for immigration purposes. Thus if a non-citizen marries a citizen in a state where marriage is legal (eg Massachusetts where Josh comes from), then Fede will be able to get his green card, whereas before the federal immigration laws did not recognise the gay marriage at federal level.

 

Here they show us their Italian cooking skills with a spread of roquefort gnocci for mains and parma ham starters as we party it up with guests ahead of the July Handicap races which take place today.

 

Josh and Fede are staying with us at the guesthouse for a few weeks

Festive Durban July

South Africa's premier horseracing and fashion event takes place this Saturday, a few steps down the road from the guesthouse.

The fashion theme for the event is POSH! Oh my GOSH! - so it's a chance to dress up (and dress down..see below) and have a ball (or 2).

Not to be missed is the annual 13th race, which takes place after the last of the 12 horse races. This is probably the most watched event as up to 200 hunky guys take off their clothes at the 100m mark and do a starkers dash to the finish line... some even run back again whilst others put their jocks back on and return for their clothes. Check out the YouTube video clip of last years race here.



Pic from the video taken at the finishline last year

Durban Pride

Our guests Genevieve in drag at the Babylon and Bent Pride After-Party, seen here with guesthouse owners Llewellyn (left) and Dave (right), and in the following pics, Gareth Dallas from Manhunt and DJ Chris who all stayed with us for the few days of Pride ending last night with the after-Party at Boulevard in Florida Road.

Last few days of Durban Pride

It's the last few days of the Durban Gay and Lesbian Film Festival forming part of Pride this year and culminating in the Street Parade this Saturday. Here's the link to the Film Fest website and screening schedule, so there's still time to grab a ticket!

Our guesthouse welcomes Gareth from Manhunt who are sponsoring some of the Pride events and Godfrey from G's Men's Wear in Cape Town.. suppliers of South Africa's favourite men's underwear and garments.

Enjoy the spirit of Pride in Durban guys!

 

Durban Gay and Lesbian Film Festival

From the 11th to the 30 June it's time to Movie Gay in Durban with the annual Gay and Lesbian Film Fest.


Here's the link to the movie schedule:

Gay Movies
 

Pride After-parties

There's going to be more than one Pride after-party at the end of the month.. just make sure you're gonna be there.

 

Durban Pride

It's Durban Pride coming up end of the month. Not sure at this stage what's happening, but check out the link here and more info on the parade and festival here. Sure to be great though is the Babylon Party this time at Boulevard on Florida Road.

 

Gay Wedding at the guesthouse

Congratulations to Paul and Neil who got married at the Guesthouse yesterday. What a beautiful ceremony on the rooftop at the sun was setting over the city as they said their commitments to each other. Arriving in Durban from Newcastle in the UK on Wednesday it was a whirlwind few days and we were delighted to be part of the service. Paul and Neil have already been together for 14 years and felt that it was time to get married and come somewhere exciting for the ceremony and honeymoon.

 

 

Breakfast at the house

Breakfast anyone... Dave gets the breakfast spread out for our guests...

 

Comrades today

 

Good luck to cousins Gary and Matt (below) seen here in a pic at the Comrades Wall with their plaques halfway along the 87km route of the Comrades Marathon before the big day. The race started this morning at 5.30am and Llewellyn drove them down to the start. It's become a tradition for the two to come stay over at the guesthouse the night before the uprun, as we are just a few kilometres away from the start and unwind, enjoy a few beers and get their heads in order for the race. Both runners are going for a silver medal today which would be an incredible achievement only obtained by the top 450 or so runners out of a field of 17 000 - coming in in less than 7 1/2 hours to qualify.

 

Sundowners

Always good to catch the sundown from the guesthouse roortop. Another great day in Africa. And welcome Robbie. Hope your move to Ireland goes well. I love that part of the world and have some awesome friends in Dublin.

Brisbane it is

Llewellyn and I enjoyed dinner out with our guests Josef (left) as well as the couple celebrating their 5th anniversary, Ben and Jack (right) from Brisbane at Billy's, famous for their Monday "beer and burger" special.

Hope you guys had an awesome time - stunning winter weather on Sunday and Monday in Durban!! - and enjoy the rest of your visit to South Africa.
 

Welcome Indaba Delegates

http://www.indaba-southafrica.co.za/Indaba is Africa's top travel show and allows tour operators and tourism delegates from around the world to visit South Africa and Africa's showcase of hotels, Safari and game parks and lodges, and tour attractions. Almost 14 000 delegates converge on Durban for this annual show which is now   Africa's largest such showcase of our finest resorts and attractions.

Welcome to exhibit and stand designer Nicolas, as well as Eddie and Dawid seen here with Guesthouse owners Dave (left) and Llewellyn (right) as we welcome arriving Indaba guests to the guesthouse for a drink in the pub.

Restaurants within 150m

The interesection of Cowey and Gladys Mazibuko Roads, 150m from the Guesthouse with 10 restaurants, take-out, coffee shops and food outlets

The location of the Guesthouse is perfect with top restaurants in Durban within a kilometre of the Guesthouse and some even within 150m - to walk to eat.

Chateau Gateaux for the best coffees and pastries

Restaurants, food outlets, Coffee shops and Take-out nearest to us include Market (one of Durban's best dining places), Tong Lok Chinese restaurant and take-out, Food Lovers' Market, Woolworths, Nino's Coffee Shop, Chateau Gateaux, Aroma, EatWise Health foods and smoothies, and Hubcaps Pizza.





Market Restaurant for excellent evening meals, now with a covered outside area for eating out in the cooler winter weather, or dine inside.
 

Yummy take-out pizza at Hubcaps

 

Redecorating

The Pool Room at the Guesthouse gets an upgrade this week ahead of Durban's Tourism Indaba which kicks off on Friday. Dave and Llewellyn, guesthouse owners pitch in with the repainting and new decor.

Catching our Rainbow flight

Lee took this great action shot of Llewellyn and I in our rainbow coloured plane ZDL on our flights to Mozambique last week.

We are back and looking forward to hosting the tourism Indaba guests at the guesthouse this week. More about Indaba in a post shortly.