Ah, but some South Africans would beg to differ. Late last year a gentlemen’s club in Cape Town, Mavericks Revue Bar started a unique line of fragrances for men. Titled “Alibis” these colognes were designed to give men, just that, after visiting this establishment.
Cape Town is a gorgeous city with a lot to offer tourists and residents alike.
A friend of mine lives there and the stories she has shared about her adopted city that are an amazing combination of colorful, vivid and strange. She warned me even the most exotic Americans would find some of the lifestyles and people in the city by the sea unique.
When I told her about Mavericks making news on the other side of the Atlantic, she responded with an email recalling an even zanier about her city. She surmised "so yes darling, we are a hell of a lot more sexually liberated then Americas Especially Cape Townians."
As for the fragrances, which are being sold for $40 to $50 depending on the exchange rate, well they are creative to say the least.
My Car Broke Down: with the scent of fuel, burnt rubber, grease and steel.
We Were Out Sailing: with the scent of fresh ocean spray, sea salt, aqua and cotton rope.
I Was Working Late: with the scent of coffee, wool suits, cigarettes and ink.
We Were Out Sailing: with the scent of fresh ocean spray, sea salt, aqua and cotton rope.
I Was Working Late: with the scent of coffee, wool suits, cigarettes and ink.
As a journalist that routinely works until midnight, the latter selection would be the most appealing to me. Of course I don't wear cologne, or drink coffee and abhor cigarettes, so obviously this is not a product for me.
(Just imagine how much someone would make if they created a cologne that masked the sky high HIV/AIDS rate down there. But, I digress.)
The most humorous part of the entire tale for me, however, was the location of this “gentlemen’s club.” It’s on Barrack Street, which is less than three blocks from the museum I tried to visit two years ago when I was in Cape Town.
No, the museum I wanted to visit did not feature naked women. It was collection of artifacts and memorabilia from District 6, a neighborhood inhabited by black and colored people in the 60s that was demolished because the government wanted to redevelop the land for whites.
From all I heard the District 6 museum is a treasure trove of local history. At least that is what the tour bus told me. What the tour operators did not mention was the museum was within walking distance a still-standing structure that is yet another excuse for South Africa to make the news.
Laughs and liveliness,
-Wb
