Robben Island: A Journey Through South Africa's Past
We had to set an alarm today… 6.30am! We had originally booked our tour to Robben Island for Friday, but it was cancelled because of the weather and the big sea swell. You could certainly understand why this morning. Even though Friday and Saturday had been calm and sunny, the sea was still running high. Good job neither of us suffers from seasickness.
Today was bright and sunny, and by the afternoon it was definitely T-shirt weather until about 6pm.
Robben Island is a small island off the coast of Cape Town. For years it has served as a banishment and detention centre, a military base, a leper colony and, most famously, a maximum security prison. Now it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and museum, best known for the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela.
Once we landed, we had a coach tour of the major buildings on the island. Although museum staff still stay on the island, there is no longer a residential community all year round, and the school closed in 2011. Weddings were once held in the pretty church, but not since Covid.
After the coach tour, we visited one of the prison cells where we met Joseph, who was imprisoned on Robben Island for five years between 1980 and 1985. Now 73, he told us the fascinating story of his time in prison. He slept on the floor of the very cell we visited with 58 other prisoners.
He explained what a typical day was like, beginning with dogs being brought into the cell to check there was nothing untoward. Everyone had to lie in a certain position and, if anyone moved, the dogs would attack. It was difficult to imagine.
We then went to see the cell where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated. Joseph spoke about hope and forgiveness, saying he had long since let go of the past so that he could live in the present. He was fascinating to listen to and it was a very humbling experience. The story he told was incredibly moving.
After a 45-minute boat crossing back to the mainland, we noticed the seals were out in abundance playing around the harbour, although there were nowhere near as many people enjoying the paddle sports as there had been yesterday.
Back on dry land, we stopped for a beer while listening to the different live music performances around the waterfront before heading to the start of our historical walking tour. That was another fascinating two hours, giving us yet another perspective on Cape Town's rich history.
Afterwards, we wandered back to the V&A Waterfront for another beer before heading for Greek food and some excellent local red wine. Tonight's live band were playing country music and they were great.
I forgot to tell you a funny story from last night. At our accommodation they take a picture of your eyes so you can use the lift, and fingerprints are used to access the garage (which we don't need as we haven't got a car). Last night we got into the lift with some other people, who pressed the button for the sixth floor. We're staying on the first floor, but Mark confidently tried pressing our floor without first doing the eye recognition. Of course, nothing happened! So off we went to the sixth floor. More people got in, then we ended up going down to the basement, then up to the fourth floor, all while I was trying to explain to Mark why the buttons weren't working. Eventually he understood the process and we finally made it back to the first floor. It would honestly have been much quicker to walk the one flight of stairs!
The other technological amusement is the Uber app. Mark somehow seems to have signed up for a senior easy-access version. Heaven knows where he'd end up if he tried to book one himself! I decided to do the booking again tomorrow as we're heading to the Naval Museum in Simon's Town.
Another brilliant day in Cape Town.