Around Cape Town – Part 3
Robben Island is where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for 18 years of his life, along with so many other important figures in South Africa’s recent history.
Now a World Heritage Site, the name “Robben” comes from the Dutch word for seal, after the large seal population on the Island when the first settlers arrived. Over the centuries it has served as a prison, hospital, mental institution, leper colony and a military base, now it is just a tourist site.
It is just a 9 km ferry ride across the often choppy waters of the Bay, leaving from the Nelson Mandela Gateway at the V & A Waterfront, where there is a multimedia exhibition, a museum shop and restaurant to entertain you whilst you wait. There are only about 6 ferries per day, with each tour lasting 3.5 hours, so you need to book well ahead to be sure of a place. Get there 30 minutes prior to the departure time because the gates close 10 minutes beforehand.
Your guide once on the Island will be a former prisoner, who will talk about the island’s history and give you his own unique personal insight into prison life. You will be taken to the maximum security section, where you can peer inside Nelson Mandela’s tiny cell, left exactly as it was when he was a prisoner here.
Later you will take a bus tour around the Island, which includes a visit to the lime quarry where you can picture Nelson Mandela and his fellow prisoners labouring on the burning rocks, beneath the fierce sun, whilst at the same time plotting the future of their Beloved Country.
It is an experience you will never forget.