Cape Town is South Africa's - and indeed, the African continent's - gay capital. Cape Town Tourism's visitor centre in downtown Cape Town has good information on gay-friendly establishments in the city with a view to turning the mother city into an African Sydney. Their website has a substantial gay section. For information on what's on check out the gay section of the Western Cape listings magazine Cape Review or the gay supplement published on the last Thursday of the month in The Cape Argus, Cape Town's daily afternoon newspaper, both widely available at newsagents - or look at the websites listed under "Gay South Africa Online".

The city has a growing number of gay-friendly businesses: B&Bs, guesthouses, pubs, clubs, doctors, dentists and other professionals as well as cruise bars, video shows, restaurants with cabaret, strip shows and steam baths. Cape Town's gay quarter is concentrated along the entertainment strips of Somerset Road and Main Road in the adjoining inner-city suburbs of Green Point and Sea Point adjacent to the centre, where a number of establishments flaunt their pink credentials by flying a distinctive multi-colored gay flag. The Pink Map, published by A&C Maps (phone 021 685 4260, ) lists gay-friendly and gay-owned places in Cape Town and is distributed at the visitor centre in town, the one in the Clock Tower at the V&AWaterfront, as well as the airport and hotels; they'll also send a copy free anywhere in the world on request.

Cape Town also hosts an annual gay party, organized by Mother City Queer Projects ( ), a hugely popular event usually held in mid-December at the River Club (phone 021 448 6117) in Observatory. People dress as outrageously as possible according to a theme (past ones have included "on safari", "underwater" and "farm fresh") and the event seeks to rival Sydney's Mardi Gras.

While in town, be sure to tune into Bush Radio's (89.5FM) gay programme, called In the Pink, every Thursday 8-10pm. Like many things in the city, Cape Town's gay scene is white-dominated, though there are a few gay-friendly clubs starting to emerge in the surrounding townships.

The rest of the country

The gay scene is a lot more multiracial in Johannesburg, especially in the clubs. If you're near Johannesburg in September, make sure you check out the Pride Parade through the streets of the city. The Pretoria gay and lesbian scene has grown enormously over the past few years and now outdoes Johannesburg. There are also gay scenes in Port Elizabeth and Durban and you'll find a growing number of gay-run or gay-friendly establishments in small towns all over the country.