This morning we headed back to The Waterfront for the trip to Robben Island. Robben Island was a prison during the apartheid era for political prisoners. Its most famous inmate was Nelson Mandela who was imprisoned there for 18 of his 27-year imprisonment.
The island also has some interesting natural areas. There is a colony of penguins. There are wonderful views of Cape Town and Table Mountain. But it's mostly fairly barren land. The bus tour takes you around part of the island including a church and a lighthouse among other buildings. You are then dropped off near the cell block prison buildings.
The guide of the prison buildings was a former political prisoner, giving the information an authentic ring. (I don't recall that he told us what his "crime" was.) Some of the guides are former guards.
The guide told us a bit about life in the prison. Everyone had to work, and he had worked in the kitchen and dining hall. At some point on the tour, we stopped at the lime quarry, where everyone did hard labor. The prisoners also used it as a secret meeting place and "school" where they discussed forbidden topics unbeknownst to the guards.
We were shown a typical blockhouse where each prisoner had a grass mat and three blankets, which were his bed. They later added bunk beds in some areas. When we got to Section B, we were shown Mandela's cell, about 3 feet wide and 8 feet long. In it were the "bed" materials, a chamber pot, and, I believe, a chair and small table. It's really hard to imagine anyone living in there for 18 years!
After the boat ride back to The Waterfront, we headed out past the townships toward the Wine Region one more time. Our goal was two highly recommended wineries we didn't have time to visit two days ago. We stopped first at Meerlust, another of the older wineries, and one highly recommended by Glenn and Seamus. Once again we found very good wines at reasonable prices. We also stopped at Vergenoegd. It had interesting old buildings from the Dutch colonial period, but we didn't buy any wine (for a change).
On the way "home" to Kalk Bay we made one more winery stop, at Kroot Constantia, another of the oldest wineries, founded in 1685. This is a large operation, and one of the more prominent wineries in the area. Surprise! More good wine. But we were too late to get to Klein Constantia, nearby, and one of Tim & Venessa's favorites. Next time!
For our last night's dinner in Africa, Seamus & Carol had invited us to their house. We met their housekeeper, who comes in from Khayelitsha to work for them. We had barbecued chicken, more good South African wine, and finished with Koeksisters, a wonderful South African dessert from the Malay. A wonderful final evening in Cape Town!
Hi Richard and Karen,
ReplyDeleteI thought you might be interested in The Robben Island Singers, a group of former political prisoners who were once imprisoned with Nelson Mandela in South Africa. Now they're in American high schools teaching the lessons from their struggle to students.