We were lucky to get to Robben Island - the trips are booked weeks in advance during the holiday period & quite a few of the ferries have been taken out of service due to mechanical & safety concerns. 4 boats were cancelled on the day that we went.
We got wonderful views of the city & the mountains on the boat trip out!
The tour of the island was very interesting if a little rushed. It has not got the happiest of histories! Before it gained notoriety worldwide, it served as a place to dump lepers & lunatics.
All the guides are ex-political prisoners who share both their stories & that of Nelson Mandela. Much emphasis is placed by the guides on the process of reconciliation since apartheid & their gratitude to peoples of other nations who supported them in their struggle to establish democracy.
Mandela spent 18 years here & must have been a tough cookie to have survived such harsh conditions - little clothing, no heating in winter, no air conditioning in summer, no glass in the windows to keep out the rain or the wind, no toilets, concrete floor to sleep on, poor diet, hard labour. Even the prisons were operated along segregated lines during apartheid. Only black & coloured prisoners were held on Robben Island & there were differences in the clothing & diet allocated to these 2 categories. For example, blacks had only shorts & short-sleeved shirts to wear while coloureds were given shoes, socks, jackets, long trousers & long-sleeved shirts.
The focus of the tour was obviously on the prison, but there was also wildlife to be seen. Eland, Springbok & Bontebok live there & there's also a variety of birdlife - African Oyster Catchers, Egyptian Sacred Ibis & African Penguins.
We got wonderful views of the city & the mountains on the boat trip out!
The tour of the island was very interesting if a little rushed. It has not got the happiest of histories! Before it gained notoriety worldwide, it served as a place to dump lepers & lunatics.
All the guides are ex-political prisoners who share both their stories & that of Nelson Mandela. Much emphasis is placed by the guides on the process of reconciliation since apartheid & their gratitude to peoples of other nations who supported them in their struggle to establish democracy.
Mandela spent 18 years here & must have been a tough cookie to have survived such harsh conditions - little clothing, no heating in winter, no air conditioning in summer, no glass in the windows to keep out the rain or the wind, no toilets, concrete floor to sleep on, poor diet, hard labour. Even the prisons were operated along segregated lines during apartheid. Only black & coloured prisoners were held on Robben Island & there were differences in the clothing & diet allocated to these 2 categories. For example, blacks had only shorts & short-sleeved shirts to wear while coloureds were given shoes, socks, jackets, long trousers & long-sleeved shirts.
The focus of the tour was obviously on the prison, but there was also wildlife to be seen. Eland, Springbok & Bontebok live there & there's also a variety of birdlife - African Oyster Catchers, Egyptian Sacred Ibis & African Penguins.
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