London has Soho, New York has Greenwich
Village, Rio has Ipanema, San Francisco
has, well , San Francisco and Cape Town
has De Waterkant. Recently voted as one
of the top five gay travel destinations
in the world, Cape Town unfurls her rainbow
flag with as much pride and dignity that
South Africa's fabulous new constitution
allows, stopping just short of inviting
Barbra Streisand or Gloria Gaynor to throw
an elegant soiree at the Mount Nelson Hotel.
De Waterkant rolls out the red carpet and
welcomes all lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender visitors and invites them to
celebrate in South Africa's fabulous freedom
and equally fabulous gay night life. It's
in De Waterkant Village that the elusive
Afro-hunk / babe is known to prowl the streets
and dance floors, often lurking behind a
bar counter or grooving under a mirror ball,
so if Africa's Big Five have been spotted
and it's the Big Six you're after then this
is the place to be trophy hunting!
Bars, restaurants, cafes, lounges and clubs
are plentiful - there's Bronx, Cafe Manhattan's,
The Village Cafe, Bar Code, Pigalle, Andiamo,
Tank and The Hot House for some steamy lolly-licking
bath house pleasures.
Cape Town also hosts an annual Pride Parade
(end Feb / early March) through the streets
of central Cape Town and ends in De Waterkant
with a wild and wicked celebration that
includes all the bars and clubs and gay
businesses in the area.
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Then
there's the annual Mother City Queer
Project (MCQP) themed party (early
Dec) that celebrates queer culture.
MCQP, in all its queer fabulousness,
has made it onto the international
party circuit list and sees international
guests planning their summer holidays
around MCQP.
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For a slightly more
cultural tinge of pink there's the annual
Out in Africa Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
(end Feb early March) where cinemas in Cape
Town, Johannesburg and Durban screen the
controversial, the arty, the docu-drama
and the hilariously camp movies from the
international circuit.
Fun in the sun?
Of course, and for that its Clifton 3 where
beefy bronzed bodies smothered in tropical
tanning oils line the beach in a colourful
array of swimmers, bathers and skimpy trunks.
And for more fun in more sun there's Sandy
Bay nudist beach where the skimpy trunks
and inhibitions are left in the locker!
But be warned - the average temperature
of the icy Atlantic waters is around 14
degrees.
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