Day 3 - Cape Town & Robben Island

When I arrived yesterday I learned that tix to Robben Island were all sold out thru Friday afternoon. I was really bummed because i had really wanted to go. However, the concierge at my hotel suggested I go first thing in the morning and see if there were any cancellations. I got there at 8:30 for the 9am tour and there were already a group of folks waiting for cancellations.  Within a minute a woman came up to us asking if we needed a ticket. She only had one and I was the only one there who was a single. Perfect!  She had something else she needed to do that day so her guide sold me her ticket. What luck!  I was going to be very bummed if I was here and didn't get to go. I read Mandela's book Long Walk To Freedom and was very moved by his struggles and the organizing of the apartheid movement. 

The ferry ride out was rough, and freezing because I sat up to of course. After a 25 min ferry ride we arrived on Robben Island and took a 45 min bus tour around the village and nature reserve. There are about 200-250 people who currently live on the island. Most of them work there or keep up the grounds. The buildings they live in were once the guards quarters.  

We learned that depending on what block you were in determined your privileges, including the number if times a year you could have visitors. To demoralize prisoners and their families, who sometimes travelled days to see them, visitors were often told that the prisoner was sick and couldn't be seen or the prisoner was told the family missed the boat. All the while they were both on the island. Terrible!

Once the bus tour was over we proceeded with a tour of the prison which was led by a former prisoner. I didn't catch his name, but he was imprisoned in 1981 at age 25. He operated underground for the African National Congress.  Inside we learned a out how prisoners were classified based upon their behavior or politics. There was a study room, where prisoners taught others and when they left many now had 1 or 2 university degrees!  At the height of the apartheid movement many letters were written from family members in code. The government would wait until something was revealed and then arrest family members or others based upon those letters. Also, prisoners in different blocks didn't intermingle but they were allowed to play tennis. They would stuff messages into the tennis balls and hit them over the wall to communicate with each other. 

Day 3 - Cape Town & Robben Island

When I arrived yesterday I learned that tix to Robben Island were all sold out thru Friday afternoon. I was really bummed because i had really wanted to go. However, the concierge at my hotel suggested I go first thing in the morning and see if there were any cancellations. I got there at 8:30 for the 9am tour and there were already a group of folks waiting for cancellations.  Within a minute a woman came up to us asking if we needed a ticket. She only had one and I was the only one there who was a single. Perfect!  She had something else she needed to do that day so her guide sold me her ticket. What luck!  I was going to be very bummed if I was here and didn't get to go. I read Mandela's book Long Walk To Freedom and was very moved by his struggles and the organizing of the apartheid movement. 

The ferry ride out was rough, and freezing because I sat up to of course. After a 25 min ferry ride we arrived on Robben Island and took a 45 min bus tour around the village and nature reserve. There are about 200-250 people who currently live on the island. Most of them work there or keep up the grounds. The buildings they live in were once the guards quarters.  

We learned that depending on what block you were in determined your privileges, including the number if times a year you could have visitors. To demoralize prisoners and their families, who sometimes travelled days to see them, visitors were often told that the prisoner was sick and couldn't be seen or the prisoner was told the family missed the boat. All the while they were both on the island. Terrible!

Once the bus tour was over we proceeded with a tour of the prison which was led by a former prisoner. I didn't catch his name, but he was imprisoned in 1981 at age 25. He operated underground for the African National Congress.  Inside we learned a out how prisoners were classified based upon their behavior or politics. There was a study room, where prisoners taught others and when they left many now had 1 or 2 university degrees!  At the height of the apartheid movement many letters were written from family members in code. The government would wait until something was revealed and then arrest family members or others based upon those letters. Also, prisoners in different blocks didn't intermingle but they were allowed to play tennis. They would stuff messages into the tennis balls and hit them over the wall to communicate with each other. 

We saw where Nelson Mandela lived for 18 years in the B block. Mandela wrote his book Long Walk to Freedom while in prison. Everyone knew he wrote it and the big challenge was how to smuggle it out of the prison without it being confiscated by the guards. Mac Majaraj smuggled the pages out by bringing in photo albums, and putting each page behind a picture. That way, when the guards flipped they the book, all they saw were pictures! What's hysterical (and ironic) is Majaraj became Mandela's first minister if transportation!  

After the tour and I was back on the mainland, I had  lunch outside on the water.  The seagulls are ballsy. Swooped in when I finished and started grabbing fries. At least they were kind enough for me to finish eating first! 

It was cold and overcast in the morning but then it turned into a beautiful afternoon. After lunch I hopped on the hop-on hop-off bus to get the lay of the land. My plan was to ride it first and then decide where I wanted to go from there. By the time I got to stop 14, which was Camps Bay, I was itching to get off and walk around. Camps Bay is a beautiful seaside community with an active beach and lots of restaurants. I had already eaten lunch so I just got out and started walking. There were huge boulders in the water which made for some fun photography options.  I then stopped for some gelato and then hopped back on the bus, winding our way along the cliff's edge and some of Cape Town's most expensive neighborhoods. 

Starting in Sea Point there's a promenade that hugs the coast all the way to Green Point and really, back to the waterfront where I'm staying. I'm hoping I will get a chance to walk it one of the days I'm here. 

I returned to my hotel for some quick warmth and charge of my iPhone battery and then was off for a night tour. The tour took me back thru the seaside communities I had just passed, but then up to the top of Signal Hill to catch the sunset. Because the route hugged the coast, I was able to get some great sunset shots; however, by the time we got to Signal Hill the sun was behind the clouds and no more sunset. At least I got the pics from earlier. 

Oh, and one interesting thing I learned tonight. While in Table Mountain yesterday we saw this cute furry creature that was a mix between a rabbit, squirrel and groundhog. It called a dassie and is native to South Africa. Turns out the dassie is the closest living animal to the elephant! Totally don't look alike and are on opposite ends if the spectrum for size, but they both have 4 toes on the front 2 feet and 3 toes on the back 2 feet. Crazy!

I'm back at the room again and ready to crash. As much as I'd like to go grab dinner somewhere, I think I'm just gonna mix a protein shake and crash. I have another long day ahead of me tomorrow, including the arrival of the rest of my group in the afternoon!