Robben Island

A trainer from Seattle who is in town this week told me that she was going to Robben Island on Saturday by herself and I told her that I would join her. I have been wanting to go, but wanted to go with someone. I haven’t done a lot of tourist things partly because I rather share the memories with someone and partly because I know that people will be visiting me in the next two years and I don’t want to see all the tourist sites as then it would be repetitive. Maybe that is a lame excuse, but it is what it is. So this morning I got up and headed to the waterfront. I got off the bus further than I thought and a nice gentleman from one of the helicopter booths offered to give me a ride on his go cart which was wonderful. I got there and met up with Claudia and off we went. The boat ride was about 30 minutes as it was an overcast day so the waves were choppier and felt like an amusement ride…which I didn’t mind, makes the adventure more fun! The scenery all around was absolutely beautiful in getting to see the whole cape coast and then driving into Robben Island. We even saw a sea lion claiming a spot between all the seagulls. Claudia was saying that she thought it looked very nice and could live there.


Once we got off the boat, there was an awful stench! We concluded it was all the bird crap on the ramp that was causing it…it was bad! I asked her…if she still wanted to live there, and we laughed. From the boat, we got onto a tour bus and they drove around the island giving the history behind the buildings and areas. One thing that we didn’t realize was that we came on the island today, which is February 11th, and Nelson Mandela was released from prison on February 11, 1990…how CRAZY IS THAT!!! Very interesting is all I can say. Another thing is that this island was used in WW II as a training and defense station and there are many artifacts, cannons, and buildings reflecting this. So our tour guides were Tabo and Surge who were from Khayelitsha and Guguletu townships. Tabo was incredible in describing everything and also making random funny remarks. For example, we passed a church which they have now opened up for people to have their weddings at on Valentine’s Day. He says, “Here on this island, we take weddings seriously and they are a life sentence..As you can look around you and understand why.” Hahahaha. We drove past an area where they housed all the German shepherds who the prisoners believed were trained to be racist as they knew who to attack and who not to. We drove past a cemetery which buried all the lepers who were sent to the island to die. We got to see the limestone quarry where hard labor was given but also the base of where all political discussions occurred. They would hide notes and letters under rocks and every chance they got would stop and talk about politics. In 1995, a year after all the prisoners were released and apartheid ended, all the ex-prisoners were invited back to the island and they laid a mountain of rocks at this place which is a powerful representation of their suffering, that they won’t be forgotten, and a monument for their children, grandchildren, and many more down the line. We got to stop at a beautiful spot on the edge and take pics…Table Mt. was covered in clouds, but still spectacular view. The tour also included many different animals from penguins crossing the road, turtles crossing the road, and a springbok in the field (which apparently is rare.)


The last stop was at the maximum prison where all the prisoners were held including Mandela. It was interesting to see the cells with stories of different prisoners, the different building that they split people in, how they were given 4 thin blankets and a rug basically to sleep on, and so much more. We walked past the kitchen in which as the tour guide said was where all the action happened. Since he worked in the kitchen he was able to give us rare information about how they put notes, newspapers, and anything else they could in the sandwiches and food to the prisoners to try to keep them informed and continuing talks on freedom. How nuts is that! He also talked about food portions and how 1 ounce was given to the Indians and colored, and ½ ounce to the blacks. Something that was such an honor is that our tour guide was an ex-prisoner. All tour guides in the cells are ex-prisoners, but there will be a day where that part of the tour won’t happen anymore…thought it is so cool that I get to experience this now. The tour guide showed us where Mandela hid his first set of transcripts for his book Road to Freedom which the guards found and took away…and no one has seen it since. How they would play soccer and purposely kick the ball over the wall to another building which wasn’t guarded as heavily and the balls contained notes inside them from the prisoners. The last place we saw on our tour was the cell of Mandela of course. The whole experience was amazing and at the same time so sad. How people could be treated that way, how people think they are superior to another, and also just how this history spot is also such a tourist spot where they are trying to make money off of. The guide told us about all these different areas that are being renovated for use. How someone’s pain and suffering is the gain of the country who threw them in that in the first place. Such a mix of emotions and things to process. Claudia and I ended with lunch and ice cream at the waterfront before she had to catch her flight back. I joined Emily later in the afternoon to go to the District Six Museum which is the history about the part of Cape Town that was claimed as “white only” and kicked 60,000+ poor people into other areas which are now the townships you see all around the outsides of the tourist spots. I think the trip to Robben gave me a lot to process and so this was an overload and I couldn’t soak up this museum, will go back again at a later time!