A nightlife guide for cape town

Posted: 02/09/2007--25/11/2008 || Rate this Article: 3 || Views|| Sign In || Register ||Hello Guest

If at any time in your life youre able to travel to the continent of Africa, be sure to make your way down to South Africa. This country is filled with amazing experiences behind every door, under every canopy and through every beaded curtain. Cape Town, located in the very South West of the country could easy be compared with San Francisco in its possibilities for exciting live music, clubs, dancing and mix of people.

If youre looking for live music, the fusion of African, jazz, folk, rock and hip hop converges on the Cape Town scene providing an eclectic array of opportunities for the music lover. Many of the wineries feature live national acts with complimentary wine tasting provided with the concert ticket price. Keep your eye on Spiere and Sumaridge Wineries during the Summer months of December C February.

Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens features a Summer Concert Series pulling in some of the best local, national and international musicians to play within the confines of their lush and well-tended garden. Nestled next to Table Mountain, as the evening descends and the music picks up you can settle comfortably on the grass and absorb the sights and sounds of one of South Africas national treasures, spectacular flora and soul-quenching rhythmic beats.

If youre looking for music you can move to, Cape Town has an extensive array of clubs and bars catering to the dancing-folk in all of us. All you have to do is finding a parking spot off of Long St. in the heart of Cape Town and trek along the hopping citylife atmosphere. Distinctly for the hip, 20/30 somethings, along Long youll find the Purple Turtle, a notorious club feature live music, a good array of cocktails and open windows looking onto the crowd going by. When theres no band playing you can hear a DJ spinning 80s and 90s hits, and if youre up for it, theres a tattoo/piercing shop upstairs and an internet caf so you can post to your blog how much fun youre having.

Further down Long St is 169 On Long, a hip jazz club on Fridays and a pumping R&B dance club every other night. Hit up Marvel, Placebo and Jo'burg offering large expanses of dance floors pumping dance beats of all types and very well-stocked bars (try an Appletiser and vodka sometime!)

If you want dinner and entertainment under the same roof, and are up for some authentic African tastes, find Mama Africa on Long St. Its a large building on one of the corners on Long St and the interior dcor is very African, but not overdone. Its admittedly a tourist spot, but the food is well-priced and the waitstaff are extremely knowledgeable about all things South Africa. There are ample vegetarian options, as well as hearty meat dishes and for a cover of R10 a person, youre privy to the authentic sounds of the monthly house band, usually made up of African instruments blended with the sounds of abroad.

Cape Town is known as the gay-capital of Africa and does its best to live up to its renowned name. Green Point, and its adjacent Sea Point areas are the gay hot spots. Situated right outside the main Cape Town area, the Points run along the Atlantic coast and many of the bars and clubs offer a beautiful view of the ocean at night. The fresh smell of seawater mixing with the sweat of moving bodies is what the Points are notorious for. Hit up the Bronx Bar C a hot spot open nightly until 4 am and known to play the most hip, pumping beats in the area.

If youre looking to avoid the bar/club scene completely, swing by the Magnet at 101 Bree St. Its a hipsters paradise complete with drinks of all kinds, and feeds on the retro-American-movie vibe. If youre looking for the pseudo-intellectual crowd, the Magnet is it. Because the club Funktion is right around the corner, the weekends are packed with after-club people chilling out.