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Published: March 24th 2014
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Capetown, South Africa--Wednesday, February 26th. Morning tour of Robben Island
Had a good buffet breakfast and then took the hotel shuttle to the ferry for Robben Island that you catch from the Victoria and Alfred waterfront. We got there early and had to stand around waiting for the 9:00 ferry, so, of course, Valerie kept busy taking pictures of the plaza’s Clock Tower and Tidal Gauge, a statue of a Mother and her children looking out to sea in front of, we believe, an insurance office, and other things that caught her eye, like a baby seagull tumbling down the steps of the Mandela Museum. We took about 45 minutes to get to the island on an old tug/fishing like boat.
Robben Island has been used by Europeans for many different things starting with the early explorers who left live animals on the island so they could have provisions when they next sailed that way. Early on, there was a huge penguin colony there, but they were decimated by hungry people. At different times, it was used as a leper colony, a prison for criminals, a WWII military installation, and then in the 1960’s, a new prison was built
here to house political prisoners.
We boarded a bus for a short drive around the island passing the Administration Buildings, the Leper Cemetery, the Anglican Church, the old criminal prison, WWII canon and buildings, then the separate prison holding Robert Sobukwe in solitary confinement. We drove by the Lime Quarry where the political prisoners worked 12-hour days; we were told that a cave in the side of the quarry was used for the prisoners to take their breaks in. It was there that the men were able to pass messages to each other and talk as the smell was so bad in the cave that the guards never entered it. A stack of rocks in the quarry commemorates the independence of the men who worked here when they came back after their freedom; each stacked a rock on that pile.
The bus stopped for a refreshment/potty break and we all got off to stretch our legs. Cape Town and Table Mountain could be clearly seen across the water. Back on the bus, the guide pointed out African Oyster catchers and the Sacred African Ibis at the water’s edge.
The bus dropped us off to tour the political
prison where Nelson Mandela spent 18 years of his life along with many others working for social justice. Our tour guide was a former prisoner himself and he showed us through the various rooms, halls, yards, etc. Mandela’s cell is set up as it would have been when he was here.
Hot, tired, reflective, and sad at man’s inhumanity to man, based here on the color of one’s skin, we caught a catamaran ferry (this time) back to the wharf. We walked over to the Quay 4 for lunch and there we met Ann, our friend from our tour of Turkey last year. Since one of our group was not with us as he was not feeling well, Ann’s lunch was paid for instead of us paying for her meal as we had arranged. We had a nice lunch and then we left with Ann to tour the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens for the rest of the afternoon.
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