South Africa?

[BgMstr4u]

A quick tour around the site has left me wondering whether and where information about South Africa might be found.

 

The usual questions, of course:

What are the legal and actual realities of escorting and being escorted in SA?

Where are the best places to go for the same?

Hotel and resort advice?

Tips to make a visit there enjoyable and memorable?

[Guest icon513]

Things look to be pretty open there, especially Cape Town. There are even several gay massage houses. Check out the following:

 

http://www.barracks.co.za/

 

http://www.execpartners.co.za/index.html

 

http://www.ctknights.co.za/

 

http://www.maleexplicit.co.za/

[chrismac]

Just be careful. AIDS/HIV is absolutely rampant there. South Africa has one of the highest per capita occurences of the virus.

 

Don't just go for sex, though. Make sure you get out to the Cape Province, taste wine near Stellenbosch, enjoy Table Mountain. Take a drive down the Garden Highway toward Durban (but not necessarily all the way). It's one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

[+ Axiom2001]

...was there last summer. ...went to Cape Town (a very gorgeous city to which I MUST return), Jo'Burg, and unfortunately Sun City which is similar to Las Vegas but minus the size and extreme glitz. I didn't do the so-called "gay" thing, let alone see escorts or other men for pay, but when I venture to this country again, I plan to DO IT and ONLY VERY SAFELY in my knowing that this country has one of the higher incidences of HIV/AIDS cases in the world!

[trilingual]

As a regular spot for discussions of South Africa, perhaps the Australia/Asian Escort board could be expanded to include Africa? SA is becoming an increasingly attractive gay travel destination, so there should a place on the site where searchers can easily find info.

[Guest icon513]

I think the AIDS stats on S. Africa are probably a bit misleading, from our collective point of view. Don't forget that the vast portions of the population are relatively uneducated, tribal people living in traditional, rural communities and urban shanty towns.

 

As in other places in sub-Saharan Africa, rates of HIV infection among these people are staggering due to lack of education, lack of hygiene, and lack of money (even to buy condoms). There are also many cultural factors at work, not least of which is the widespread use of heterosexual anal sex as a method of birth control.

 

Then you have the far better-educated, far better off middle and upper classes (both black and white) in cities such as Durban, Cape Town, and Johannesburg -- from which the gay community you are likely to encounter will come. Although I'm just hypothesizing, I'd bet that the rate of HIV-infection among this urban gay community are no worse than any other in the world.

[ad rian]

>I think the AIDS stats on S. Africa are probably a bit

>misleading, from our collective point of view. Don't forget

>that the vast portions of the population are relatively

>uneducated, tribal people living in traditional, rural

>communities and urban shanty towns.

 

I too think the stats for South Africa and the rest of Africa are seriously over-rated. The predominant test used in Africa tends to give false positives for people who have had tropical diseases like malaria. The morbidity rate simply does not match projections or rates with the other strands of Aids found in Europe or North America. I have always thought that there is a lot of medical-scientific racism in the discussion of Aids in Africa. It is funny how that community is trying to be much more responsible now as they detect higher rates in India, China and Malaysis. The bottom line is that if the projected rates of infection were real, there would be nobody left over there by now, but instead populations are increasing.

 

As for the original question itself, I was in Cape Town in February and did a simple search on the internet and came up with a number of agencies. Several points to note, most of the boys were tops not bottoms particularly the white, college kid athletic ones. In the end, I did not bother. Also, in Joburg, check out the clasifieds, there are extensive listings, and you are sure to find something appealing. I did that some years ago, and had an ok time, but again be clear on what you want. In South Africa, they use the phrase "full house", and talk about active and passive. You need to be very specific to avoid confusion and disapointment.

[trilingual]

So what do South Africans mean by "full house?" And do "active" and "passive" means something different in South Africa than they do elsewhere? :-)

[ad rian]

>So what do South Africans mean by "full house?" And do

>"active" and "passive" means something different in South

>Africa than they do elsewhere? :-)

 

In my experience, "full house" means oral and anal. I thought it was akin to "versatile" but it is not. That is why you need to make sure whether they mean active or passive full house. They don't use "top" and "bottom". In that sense it is more like Europe, but the real confusion comes from this "full house" stuff. In my experience the young white boys do not like to bottom, so if that's what you want in Cape Town you will be more likely to get a "colored" or mixed race guy. In Joburg, I thought I was clear about "full house" but when the guy arrived at my hotel he refused to bottom until I threatened to send him on his way. Then, he did an ok but not stellar job, but seemed genuinely pleased with himself nonetheless.

[BgMstr4u]

Thanks, guys, for all this helpful information!

 

A question: Apart from generally avoiding Johannesburg and enjoying the Western Cape and Capetown, are there other areas I should include? A friend tells me that he has heard that Durban is interesting. The Eastern Cape? Grahamstown? Port Elizabeth?

[+ glutes]

The sights and boys will keep you quite busy in CapeTown for at least 10 days! There is also the Pink Route which brings you into the Karoo, and mimics their 'Route 61' which they're touting as the "Route 66 of South AFrica".

There is a great game reserve outside of Port ELizabeth called Shamwari. If you take the Garden ROute out there you must visit Jeffreys Bay and St. Francis Bay. Absolutely stunning.

Have not been to Durban, but I hear it has a gay beach, and two massage studios. This city has a heavy Indian presense I'm told, and sometimes the mixture / malotto(sp) boys are outrageously handsome!!

There is plenty to do. GO!!!!

[topcat]

You might also check out the north of Cape Province - very beautiful desert country with wild flowers in September/October.

There are gay tour firms: I used Africa Outing, run well by 2 early-retired teachers.

Also, 2 gay saunas in Cape Town are Steamers and the Hot House; both have websites. There's a gym: the Health & Raquet Club in GreenPoint, close to the central business district, which is mixed but can be very cruisy. I picked up guys at both places, as well as using escorts.

The gay brothels are not actually legal but they are well-tolerated and safe (ie have good security for car parking etc) and clean. Escorts are cheap by US standards: in the brothels, a handjob costs Rand 100 while oral sex costs about Rand150 and anal about Rand200; the escort keeps 40%. If I had a great time, I gave R240 but note locals do NOT tip. (At present it's about $1=Rand10). Some guys advertise in the Cape Argus newspaper; check http://www.iol.co.za and search the classifieds for "M2M" or "M4M".

For more general info on gay life check http://www.q.co.za

 

Two words of caution:

1.I think the rate of HIV infection is as high as they say - it is stigmatised in the black communities so high rate of early mortality is ascribed to other illness - so always play safe.

2.Violence & street-crime is of concern so be careful. Locals follow these rules: park near where you're visiting; if on your own, buy a good map & drive with the doors shut; do not stop on the motorways near the townships. Street-kids may be aged 7-12 but they often have knives. Remember this is a country with 40% unemployment. That said, I've visited Cape Town often and never had a problem. ENJOY!

[+ glutes]

Another reason to visit RSA

 

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/media/ALeqM5ilakjLN8c0VhtDjZ04khFto1kzHQ?size=s2

 

South African wins Mr Gay World pageant

 

(AFP) – 6 hours ago

 

OSLO — A South African man has won the 2010 Mr Gay World pageant, beating rivals from Australia, Hong Kong, China and Spain, the organisers said on Sunday.

 

Charl Van den Berg, 28, who runs a restaurant in Cape Town, won after four days of competition finished with a walk down a fashion runaway in an Oslo nightclub dressed in skimpy swimwear and various costumes.

 

The competition is aimed at "finding a leader who can take on the responsibility of being a spokesman for the community and who can also speak out on equality and human rights on the world stage," a statement said.

 

Xiaodai Muyi, 26, from China and who took fourth place, competed despite Beijing's attempts to prevent him doing so.

 

The Chinese authorities blocked China's own first gay pageant, in which contestants were vying for the right to represent China at Mr Gay World, last month.

 

Xiaodai's identity had been kept secret in the run-up to the competition in which some 20 men from around the world vied for the Mr Gay World title.

 

Homosexuality was a crime in China until 1997 and it was officially considered a mental illness until 2001. Since then, however, an increasing number of visible gay and lesbian events has taken place.

 

Australia's Byron Adu, 25, who works for the Australian government, was in second place followed by Rick Dean Twombley, 33, a dancer from Hong Kong while Spanish entrant Sergio Lara, a 26-year-old psychologist, came fifth.

 

The first Mr Gay World competition, held last year in Whistler, Canada, was won by an Irish man.

 

Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved.

[+ glutes]

And another RSA winner, same day!

 

(02-13) 21:12 PST -- The sport of surfing reached new heights at Mavericks on Saturday. In the end, it wasn't so much a contest as an elevated state of mind, a heady swirl of fear, respect and bravado among some of the best big-wave riders in the world. In the end, most everyone agreed, some history was made.

 

From the locals to the Hawaiians to seasoned men on the judges' stand, the talk of the after-party centered around a powerful statement: These were the biggest waves ever for a paddle-surfing contest. South Africa's Chris Bertish took home the $50,000 first-prize check, but as he said, "It took all of us to make this happen. I cannot believe what we saw out there today, and how well it was surfed by everybody."

 

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/14/SPBQ1C1FN9.DTL#ixzz0fXHN4kFf

 

 

http://imgs.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2010/02/13/ba-MAVERICKS_109_0501190176.jpg

[+ Axiom2001]

If I were you, I WOULD NOT avoid J'Burg; it's a big city that has a lot of culture esp. in the area of pre and post apartheid. Who stated that you should avoid going there? I know nothing about the escort scene, but do think that you would get a different and another view of South Africa.

 

I preferred Cape Town to the previously mentioned city based on its beauty, but I am also glad that I went to J'Burg to see another slice of SA culture and city life in general.

[MsGuy]

>07-09-2002

 

Mark, Lucky isn't the only one into reviving antique threads.

 

Gotta watch those start dates.