Islanders Robbie Merriman and Andy Hutchinson are continuing their tour of South Africa following the England team. This week, Robbie writes about his experience in Rustenburg and the USA game, while Andy made it to Cape Town for the dire performance against Algeria

After a journey of 1,550km, we arrived in Cape Town where England were due to play Algeria at Green Point Stadium, writes Andy Hutchinson.

Our hotel was in Long Street, which is centrally located and is full of bars, cafes and restaurants, and was lively and noisy.

The next day, we boarded a double-decker bus for a tour of Cape Town – first stop, Table Mountain. It was a beautifully sunny day and the views over the city and surrounding bays were spectacular.

The bays around Cape Town are beautiful with white sandy beaches and rolling breakers.

They were mostly deserted at this time of year and we had to remind ourselves this was their winter season.

Because of our Rustenburg experience when the evening temperature dropped dramatically, we were careful to wear extra layers of clothing.

This was a decision we were to regret as the evening was balmy for the most part and the walk to the stadium was 1.8km using the “fans’ walk”.

The walk was a brilliant idea. In order to enable as many fans as possible to walk to the stadium safely, the authorities closed sections of major roads and built temporary footbridges over roundabouts or major junctions, all politely stewarded by helpful, smiling personnel.

Along the route, there was music, stilt walkers, fire jugglers, the bars were all open and a variety of interesting food was available from brightly-coloured stalls.

All of which gave the whole thing a carnival atmosphere enjoyed by both sets of supporters as the mingled, meandering towards the stadium.

As in Rustenburg, the validation and ticket gates worked well and our entry was efficient and quick. Whereas the stadium in Rustenburg was a half-decent provincial stadium, Green Point is the business and would grace any Premiership club.

Luckily, our seats were in the same section as the Barmy Army Band, so at least we had the pleasure of indulging in some traditional vocal support.

In the event, no level of noise could rouse the England team from their slumber as they staggered like zombies through a comatose performance. I am struggling to remember a notable moment in the whole game.

Handily for Cappello, the other results in our group mean that we still have a chance of qualifying for the last 16 rather than the elimination that we probably deserve.

The USA, for all its size and wealth, is still a football minnow, as is Algeria, and the fact our players failed in both games to dominate these minor nations makes our expectations of English success at this tournament a source of great amusement among the truly powerful football nations – we are close to becoming a laughing stock.

Our next stop is Knysna en route to Port Elizabeth. Our mission to cram in as much of South Africa as possible has taken on a more frantic pace as we may well be on our way home when I pen the next piece.

On arrival in Rustenberg, we were met by a such a swarm of England flags and people, I thought I was in central London, writes Robbie Merriman.

The region’s tribal chief, King Bafokeng, had a tavern built just for the England fans.

You could eat, drink and watch the games while he was in the tavern, but you were not allowed to have photos with him.

The atmosphere was electric as some USA fans managed to get in there as well.

Also present was Sky News, and I was interviewed by its reporter Emma Hurd.

On the way to the stadium for the match, children were sitting outside their homes cheering as England fans passed.

There was no trouble but police from England were present inside the stadium.

It was like an England home game – shame it didn’t live up to the hype.

We sang and drank throughout the game.

See next week's Times Guardian to catch up on Andy and Robbie's latest World Cup exploits.