Robben Island and Bike Racing.

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Good Morning!
Last week was a very busy week for me. It was however a lot of fun.
The weekend was filled with a tour to Robben Island, which is where Nelson Mandela Was Imprisoned. It was very interesting but sad at the same time. It is about a 1/2 hour boat ride to the island and there is essentially nothing on the island- it was not very pleasant even if there wasn’t a prison. We went on a bus tour around the island and saw the lime quarry, where they dug by hand. IN addition to a cemetery as well as some key political prisoners cells. The island has been used as a prison and a place to keep people long before the physical prison existed. After the bus tour we were dropped off at the actual prison and were met by a former political prisoner. We were brought to where he was kept which is essentially a very uncomfortable concrete dorm. HE talked A LOT. It was interesting and he did a good job explaining apartheid. He also talked about his experience there. He was only 16 when he was brought there. The people in here were not harden criminals, they were people essentially fighting for their freedom. Although I’m sure some of the prisoners had committed violent crimes and though I would never condone violence I think they were desperate for change and saw no other way. He told us the story of the torture he went through and it was very grotesque from his wrists getting scarred because they were cut so bad from handcuffs, to having needles pushed underneath his fingernails, to even more horrible things involving his genitalia. He talked about how he wanted so badly to commit suicide and I have to admit if it had been me if I would have survived. The island still has a community on it where people live, including ex prison guards, ex prisoners, tourist guides, etc. Our guide lives there currently as well as 4 of his guards and I wish I had had the chance to ask how that works. The Guide was not bitter though, he just wanted to educate, and promote the well being of his country. I can not even imagine the anger he felt when he was released and he has done something so constructive with it. He is now currently trying to get his masters. After our lecture we went on a very brief tour of part of the prison. I would have loved more time to look at things and read things but because he talked so long we didn’t get that- which is ok it wasn’t a bad trade off. There were people stories on the walls of their cells telling how they got there, what life was like, etc. We also got to see Nelson Mandela’s cell and his exercise yard.
After that we took the boat back and departed from the group to spend the evening in Cape Town. We stayed in backpackers that had 2 big dogs and I loved it. I wish they would have slept with me but I get the feeling they’ve been trained to stay out of the bedrooms. I miss having a dog ?. We got up early the next morning to watch the Cape Argus Bike Race, which is the largest timed bike race in the world with over 38,000 participants. I would love to do it someday. Jan Urllrich and Greg Lemond both were in it but as they are both retired they didn’t race it. It made me want to take up bike racing however! They go so fast and very few women racing. Maybe it’ll something I’ll give a shot this summer. After that we went to lunch and did a little shopping, and took the train home.

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Photos

How cute is that!
There are seals all over the harbor in this area- I love watching them. Oh also we saw dolphins on our boat but they were too far away to get a picture.

Lime Quarry
The cave is where the prisoners used the bathroom, ate lunch, as well as could talk about politics and freedom.

Mat
The matt that prisoners slept on winter or summer. Only much later did some of the more dormitory style cells get beds.

Jan Urllrich
He is the one on the left in the back in then black outfit