There is a decent variety of gay bars and clubs, which, like most cities, are particularly busy on weekends and during the peak season, when many "upcountry" citizens come down to Cape Town for their vacation. You'll find most of the gay bars clustered around a short strip of Somerset Road between downtown and the Waterfront.

Nightlife is a microcosm unto itself.Café Manhattan (Corner of Dixon & Waterkant Street; +27-21/421-6666) is a great place to start. For an evening's entertainment On Broadway is a cabaret restaurant with a stage that presents everything from drag to local modern drama and serves after hours drinks. Café Manhattan (two locations. http://www.manhattan.co.za) is where locals and tourists come together. Half restaurant, half bar, they also offer live performers twice weekly, regular art exhibitions, and parties.

The majority of partying gay locals, however, head to The Bronx Action Bar, Cape Town's "action and dance" bar where DJs spin 6 nights a week and leave it to karaoke on Monday. Weekends throb with ripped bartenders and thumping house at this smallish gritty anchor to the Pink Block, where shirts are shucked with an easy-cheesy familiarity.

Bronx has recently added a second floor club called Naviagation and a rooftop expected to be ready for use this year.

The Loft Lounge, is a hip spot for hobnobbing and cocktails. A sophisticated crowd sips martinis in a retro-modern, positively soaring space. Settle in to the second-floor couches for gorgeous Table Mountain views. The venue is chic, elegant, and metropolitan, offering a unique meeting place with stunning views of Table Mountain. With two levels and two bars, the downstairs has a funkier, retro café mood with predominantly black, white, and red décor. The second level is more luxurious, with couches to sink into. Rhythmic lounge beats set the tone, with volumes set at conversational levels to encourage social interaction.

For lesbians, there's Lush, a roving Saturday night party that was, as of this writing, taking place at the Junction Cafe - the Lush website has details.

Just up from Bronxx is Beulah Bar...It may be lesbian-owned, but you wouldn’t guess that by the heady mix of hipster guys and gals of all shades swaying to killer electro in the smoky boudoir-like space.

M Bar 38 Long St.; +27-21-424-7247 is on the second floor of the gay-owned Metropole Hotel and epitomizes modern African chic -- red ostrich skin, deep chocolaty wood, and ice cubes in the aquarium-walled urinal.And don't forget The Friendly Society (125A Waterkant St.) where Slide shows of chilled-out regulars smile down on an early evening scene true to its name, especially on Saturdays, when 'fro-hawked drag maniac Odidiva takes the stage.

Nearby at The Friendly Society, videos of patrons scroll on video screens as “no lip synching” black drag queen Odidiva belts Macy Gray. The gay owners of the Metropole Hotel have classed up cocktail hour with M Bar & Lounge’s mixed crowd, red ostrich skin settes, dark wood walls and urinals that have you peeing on ice while looking through an aquarium.

If you prefer a leather and cruise scene, head for Bar Code (18 Cobern Street, Green Point; +27-21/421-5305).

Farther afield, where few of the Cape Towners I met admit they tread, Star Gayzer in Parow suburb is a heart-warming eye opener. Located in a mostly middle class Cape Coloured
community (mixed descendents of the original Malay slaves), drinks are cheap, there’s a grill out back and everybody seems to bump on the smokey dance floor. Admittedly a bit
cheesy, anybody who grew up with a small town gay bar will immediately recognize the inclusive, low-key vibe.

And anybody who went to that bar in rural yee-haw country has to check out the monthly Gat Party (pronounced like “hot” while hoching loogie). Afrikaaner for butt (literally “hole”), it’s a kind of hoedown for descendents of Dutch farmers, the “rednecks” of South Africa. Expect BYOB sauciness in a gymnasium while old-timers long-arm line dance and twentysomething twinks pop and lock to more mainstream tracks. There might be 11 official languages in South Africa, but whatever the social situation, when it comes to partying everybody moves to Madonna.

Considering there’s about 5 million white South Africans (shorthand for moneyed) to 45 million black/mixed (who bear the brunt of the country’s almost 35% unemployment rate), you can estimate only about 500,000 of Cape Town’s 5.2 million residents are able to afford the city’s bars and higher-end restaurants on a regular basis. Which is to say, it’s a small, easily navigable scene (give it a week and you’ll know “everyone”) so the burgeoning diversity amidst the homogeneity and hedonism is all the more impressive.

Roosevelt Juice (160 Bree Street. Tel: (27) 21-426-0738. http://www.theroosevelt.co.za/roosevelt.html) is Cape Town’s newest, premium gay party, taking place monthly at The Roosevelt Club. Here you’ll find cutting edge music played by DJs who know how to please the boys, and a masculine environment with a high level of sophistication that’s not pretentious. Meanwhile, Hemisphere (31st Floor, ABSA Centre, Riebeeck Street. Tel: (27) 21-421-0581. http://www.hemisphere.org.za) is a mixed (gay/straight) club offering 180º views of Table Mountain, the city, and the ocean. Dancing high above the city with the lights of Cape Town spread out below you is an awesome experience. We like to say this club is 31 floors closer to heaven.