World Cup Update From South African Based City Fan

Must admit but i'm rather pleased to have Mariner back onboard as well TBF. Another quality WC update as usual.

great rarticle mariner, do you think that the security forces are taking the threats seriously?

Hi guys, I was reading today, a report from Mariner about the Durban venue and I offer a slightly different perspective. Firstly, I am from Manchester, where I left when I was in my late twenties (now 63) to live in Durban. do the sums ! I am from that magic Bell, Summerbee, Lee (pen) era Yes, I remember sticking up the Newcastle newspaper headline on the back window of our coach as we left as Div 1 winners, it read -- ' United beaten by champions ' (Newcastle United of course !) Yes I went to every home and away game that season. Yes, I was there that superb night in Vienna when we won the Cup Winners Cup (and delayed our wedding by about a year cos I spent too much) Yes I was at the FA cup final and the League Cup final. Lucky me, but we will soon see better. Back to the Durban scene. Mariner is a little pessimistic. The strike has ended and things will soon return to normality. At weekend we hosted the finish of one of the worlds biggest, if not the biggest ultra marathon,and they left behind paper and runner's litter for Africa. And now ? cleaned up already. Durban's beachfront is ready for the World cup. They have already had trial runs closing down streets for a day to see the effect of the WC programme. The rail and bus runs are in place, the fan zones are waiting for those without tickets, or far away games. True, FIFA have taken control over certain areas, but that was in the contract, and the same as all other world cups. We all know that Bafana Bafana are not going to win, but the support is there, the people are behind them and the flags, and wing mirror covers, in the form of the national flag are everywhere. Sure, we all know that people will talk of Al Quaeda threats and,God forbid, these will never happen.But remember, South Africa is a Moslem friendly country with many close allies from those countries. There are not the issues between them, like those that the USA and UK have. Visitors to Durban will soon see the more positive side, let me list a few of the more important points :- 1/ Daytime temperatures are currently averaging 23/25 deg c with not much less than 15 at night and usually higher.(it's winter remember) 2/ surf temperature is 24 deg today 3/ more importantly, 1/2 litre draught beer is about 150p. 4/ spirits less than 100p 5/ steak egg & chips bar lunch about 400p 6/ b&b accommodation (there is plenty left) about 40 UK pounds pp 7/ average price for supper for a couple, with lets say, 1 bottle of wine and 3 drinks each --- in the order of 40 uk pounds (remember, we have prawns, not the shrimps they call prawns in the UK) Compare to Cape Town rain rain rain, rip off prices Jo' burg crisp days can be 0 deg at night-- expensive So all in all, I don't think our visitors will be disappointed, they will be in for a very pleasant surprise. Geoff Nuttall