Robben Island

Yesterday I went to Robben Island with ISOS. I've been dreading this trip for weeks for one reason: the ferry ride to the island. Anyone who knows me personally knows how irrationally-terrified I am of getting sick, so knowing that there was a possibility of getting seasick was horrifying! By the time we boarded the bus yesterday morning, I had read every possible article on how to avoid getting seasick. Unfortunately, I had also asked everyone who had already been to Robben Island about the ferry ride and every single one of them said it was really bad. No one said they actually got sick enough to throw up; most of them said they don't normally get seasick but the ride made them queasy. And then there were the few who made it sound like the worst thing they've ever done. Needless to say, I was terrified.

We boarded the bus at 10am and got to Cape Town in a little under an hour. We spent an hour and a half at the waterfront before meeting at the Nelson Mandela Gateway. We were pretty close to the front of  the line so we got to sit on top. I was so nervous when we pulled out of the dock. I've always been told to watch the horizon ahead of me, but since we were all sitting down all I could see was the boat bobbing. I knew that would make me sick so I had to watch the horizon to the left. Turns out that was the exact direction the wind was coming from. I'd like to think I was strong enough to keep myself from getting sick the whole ride, but I think it probably actually has something to do with how distracted I was at getting smacked over and over with the wind. The ride only took about 20-30 minutes and we coasted into the dock. The island is beautiful!! The water is really blue and there are palm trees everywhere.

Nelson Mandela Gateway on the left and the clocktower on the right.

I have a ton of pictures of this elephant, but what's one more, right? :)

Nelson Mandela Gateway 

Damon and I on the boat. All smiles from me because we were on top! 

View of the harbour from the boat before leaving

View of Robben Island from the ferry 

Seals and birds at the island 

Entrance to the island 

The beautiful view of Table mountain from the island 

Once we got off the boat, there were two tours: walking and bus. We started with the walking tour. All the tour guides are ex-prisoners from the island. Our tour guide was imprisoned in 1981. He took us into the prison and first showed us the offices. The wall of the reception area was covered in a small pebble mosaic that was really cool and interesting to look at. Inside, the walls were cold and bare and painted white and blue. He took us to the steps leading to the censors' office. This is where they would censor mail to and from the prisoners' family and friends. Our guide told us the censors were the most hated people at the prison and that were also really spiteful. One time a prisoner was writing to both his wife and girlfriend on the outside, and the censors knew this. They held onto the letter to the girlfriend until the prisoner wrote to his wife and then mixed up the two letters.

Next we went to the courtyard where the prisoners would play tennis and volleyball. They weren't allowed to communicate with other blocks so they would put messages in tennis balls and bounce them over the middle wall. The courtyard is where Nelson Mandela started writing Long Walk to Freedom, so it was really cool to be able to see the place where a book I've read started. Next he took us to Mandela's cell. This, of course, is the most anticipated part of the tour, but it was a little anit-climatic. We had to make a u-turn after seeing it in order to get back to the courtyard, so we had to make a line on the right side of the hallway. I only had about 10 seconds to look so I got two pictures before people behind me rushed in front of it. It would've been nice to be able to look more since it's the main reason people visit Robben Island.

Next we went outside to see the main kitchen and yard. We also saw the mosque outside the prison.

Wall in the reception area

Our tour guide

The courtyard where Mandela started A Long Walk to Freedom

Wall in the courtyard

Mandela's cell

The awesome candid shot I got of my friend Casey at Mandela's cell.
She just so happens to be a political science student! :)

The main kitchen

Prison yard

Mosque

Bathrooms in the main hall

An example of a censored letter 

After our walking tour we got on our tour bus. Our guide told us about how Robben Island got its name: the word "robben" means seals in Dutch. He told us about how the island use to be occupied by lepers. Then he showed us two churches, the prettier of which belonged to the lepers ironically. We rode around the island and saw where the prison workers used to live. He showed us one place where Robert Sobukwe was detained-- not imprisoned, he had more rights than prisoners. He wasn't allowed to speak so when prisoners walked by and waved he would kneal and lift a hand of sand that would run through his fingers. This symbolized that they are all born of the land of Africa and are equal. We then saw the limestone quarry where prisoners worked. There was a pile of rocks that showed where the political prisoners would reunite. Nelson Mandela stopped work one day to lay one rock in a different place, and the prisoners followed.

Another view of Cape Town 

The area where Sobukwe was held

Pile at the Limestone quarry

Lepers' church

Another church on the island

Our guide told us that the island today is occupied mostly by museum workers and sometimes students. He showed us the school on the island, which looks a lot like a house you could find in the states. Then he told us about how he met Obama in 2006, when he was still a senator. He said he came to work one day and was told he would be giving a U.S. senator a tour, which was normal, but there were tons of media, which wasn't normal. He took Obama around the island and then Obama thanked him and shook his hand. It wasn't until after he left that the guide asked why he was so important and realized it was because he could become our president.

School

We stopped for a few minutes at a spot to take pictures of Cape Town and the mountains. That had to be the most beautiful view from the island! You could see all of Cape Town, Table Mountain, Devil's Peak, the buildings, an the stadium.

A piece of a boat from one of the many shipwrecks

Abalone shells!

Next we went to see one of the three war guns still on the island from World War II. The one we saw was a mach-7, one of only 25 in the world (South Africa owns 12 I think he said?). Next we saw the lighthouse (and a few peacocks!) before returning to the entrance.

The ride home wasn't as rough but the wind was definitely harsher! The views of Cape Town were so beautiful though. Unfortunately my camera didn't capture it as well as we could see. I didn't get sick on the ride home either. I never felt sick the entire time so I definitely feel blessed! It was a beautiful day and the ocean was mostly calm.

Our ferry 

The island is beyond beautiful, as are the views from it. I'd say there are far worse places in the world to be imprisoned, but all jokes aside, the rich history of this country is one of the main things that attracted me to it. The tour was a little boring but it was amazing to be able to stand in places where some of the bravest most inspiring men in the world have stood. The Robben Island tour is definitely something  you have to do in South Africa so I'm glad I went!