Saturday started out like any other day with one exception, we planned to watch Bafana Bafana play Gambia at Moses Mabhida Stadium at 3pm, and if the state of what’s left of my ticket is anything to go by, you can see it was a good day.
My wife went to do the ParkRun on the beachfront promenade in the morning, while I took our Labrador, Remy for a walk. Our dog has hip dysplasia, so he can’t run for too long. After smelling the promenade and investigating everything he could, Remy’s eyes lit up when he met his mom at the finish and ran with her for a bit to Suncoast.
We then took him to the beach at Durban underwater club (DUC) and let him run on the sand.
From there we went to Moyo on the pier which is just next door. I had a coffee while my wife had a cocktail, and Remy had some much needed water. The service at Moyo’s is never great but the location is stunning so it’s an easy trade off.
We headed home had some breakfast and started getting ready for our afternoon out. My father fetched us at about 11:45 we picked up another friend, and we made our way to Billy the Bums for some pre-soccer drinks. Everyone else arrived around 12:30. The gates to the stadium were supposed to open at 12pm. So the plan was to have a few drinks then Uber down to the stadium around 13:30. That was the plan anyway.
The announcement then came over the SuperSport channel, which was on at Billy’s, the game was postponed until 19:00, with the gates now opening at 16:00. We all sat and debated what to do while drinking another beer. A braai was suggested, or another restaurant for lunch, until eventually someone suggested we catch a bus to Afro’s chicken on the beach. Just like that, we all agreed.
We caught an Uber cab for R20 down to Kings Park swimming pool which is where the PeopleMover bus leaves from. Hopped of the bus and made our way. Not knowing what stop would be closest to get off I asked our crew if anyone knew. This was my first time on our city’s people movers, but as it turns out, one of our friend’s son likes to ride the bus, so they do it often. He was leading the way. We jumped off the bus and took a cool 2 min walk to Afros where we had some awesome chicken burgers.
A little further down, we walked to Surf Riders and proceeded to order some beers and cocktails. We had a lot of entertainment, with a drunk couple getting it on just outside the restaurant, but that just makes for an entertaining day. We took another walk down to the bus stop, taking in the local art and waited 20 min for our bus back to the stadium. For R5-50 a bus ticket, it’s a steal!
The only problem with the match being postponed was that now the rugby and soccer were on at the same time, and the fact that the rugby and soccer stadiums are across the road from each other. There was also a concert going on in the People’s Park with multiple bands and DJ’s, called The Enchanted Playground, which is next to Moses Mabhida. It was going to be a busy night. Half our crew had tickets to rugby and the soccer, and had now chosen to go to the rugby instead. We sadly said our goodbyes and headed in opposite directions. I got myself a Bafana Bafana hat, for a mere 20 bucks and now I was ready for the game.
We headed into the stadium got some beer and headed to our seats. The atmosphere at Moses Mabhida Stadium is unmatched. The vibe was awesome with all sorts of characters popping up, from Kaizer Chiefs biggest supporter to a man dressed in drag and loving it.
We had a Mexican wave come around the stadium at least four times, until the crowd had to start singing just to stop it. The game was a draw in the end, but that didn’t really matter. The stadium was on fire, the crowd was singing, screaming, and blowing vuvuzelas like mad men.
It was truly an epic game and an amazing day. I’m not a soccer fan, hell I’m not even that much of a rugby fan, and I’ve definitely been to more rugby games than I’ve been to soccer matches. But with an atmosphere like we had last night, I will definitely be going back for more.