I live in the most southernly province of South Africa known as the Western Cape. The Western Cape, approximately the size of Ireland, borders on the Atlantic Ocean on the west and on the Indian Ocean in the east. My home town, Durbanville, is roughly situated in the middle between the west and the east. This rural town is named after one of the previous British governors, Sir Benjamin D' Urban.

Although rural in character, the town of Durbanville is as busy as a modern city during the day. What I like about living here is the quiet and calm farming atmosphere during the evenings. This is extremely necessary after a hard days work. Our town has all the facilities and amenities of a first world city. It is situated 30 minutes away from the international airport - we have quick connections to the world wide web and live television coverage of all the up to date political and sport events of the world. These features of everyday life is very important and readily available when one needs it, yet even more important is the fact the our town regains its rural character on weekends and after hours.

I also like this part of Africa where I currently live because of the moderate mediterranean climate with its warm, lazy and laid back summers and cool, rainy winters. We very rarely experience extreme climatic conditions. The lowest temperatures in the winter is about 10 C while the highest summer temperatures touches on 35 C. Compare to many cities and habitable regions of the world, this area is totally free of tornados, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and heavy snow falls.

The people in our town are very friendly and supportive and friends and family are never far away to enjoy a sporting event on the weekend together or having a barbeque until late in the night. On Saturdays we visit the local market or spend time at some of the shopping malls or a movie theatre.

When city life gets too overwhelming, we usually drive out to any of the neighboring rural towns to enjoy a relaxing time. Driving through the vineyards of Stellenbosch and Franschhoek or the wheat fields of Malmesbury is a relaxing moment in itself. The panoramic views and natural scenery always have a calming effect on a stressed out city dweller.There are many activities to satisfy the needs of any age group. Action junkies spend weekends mountaineering, hiking, wind surfing, mountain biking or scuba diving. Living in Durbanville provides many options to balance a busy lifestyle.

Learn more about this author, Jo Laco.
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