March 26, 2025
Our second day in Capetown. For today we planned a small tour to visit Robben Island. This is the Island which occupies the prison, which was in use from the mid 17th century till 1996. This is also the prison where former South African President Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years.
We had a group of 15 people which had signed up for the 5hr tour. We made our way on foot from our ship to the Ferry Boat, a 15 minute walk. After we got all on board the Catamaran ferry boat we left the harbour for our 25min trip to the island. After arrival we were loaded onto what looked like white prison busses for a short drive to the Prison, passing by the lime stone quarry where prisoners worked during the day exposed to the hot sun. After exiding the bus, we were greeted by our guide who had been imprisoned on the island for 13 years. For nearly 50 years the prison was used to house political prisoners who opposed the apartheid regime in South Africa. Life in the prison was very harsh, only 2 visits a year were allowed. The visits were 1 hour each and the language used could be only Afrikaans or English. If that language was not spoken the prisoner and visitor were just staring at each other for the whole hour. If they attempted to speak in their native language, the visits were reduced to 1/2 hour visits. We toured through the prison and saw Nelson Mandela’s cell. The prison and grounds are well maintained and form part of the museum. The Island is also named a Unesco World Heritage Site. The Island also houses a small colony of African penguins. Besides the prison, there is also a collection of houses on the island. The houses were previously used by the prison wardens, and are now used by maintenance workers of the museum. After our prison tour we walked back down the hill towards the harbour for our ferry ride back to Capetown.
It is hard to imagine what prisoners had to endure while imprisoned here. In most cases you were imprisoned for speaking out against the apartheid regime.
After getting back to shore in Capetown, we decided to explore the waterfront instead of going back to the ship. First of all we went for a late lunch at a waterfront restaurant named Den Anker. Here we consumed fish and chips, bitterballen and a few beers. Carol went for the prawns and chips. Excellent food for a very reasonable price. That’s the thing here in South Africa, everything is a lot cheaper than we are used to. After lunch we explored the waterfront some more window shopping and listened to some street music. By 5:30 we walked back to the ship and did our mandatory passport checks.
Overall a couple of very good days in Capetown. Even though it was our second visit here, there are still many more sites left to explore.
Cheers
Cor and Carol
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