We arrived early surprisingly and boarded the ferry to Robben Island. This is the place off the coast of South Africa where political prisoners (and convicts), including Nelson Mandela, were held during apartheid (similar to segregation in the United States). After the quite bumpy ferry ride we arrived and got on a bus with a tour guide who drove us around the quite large island and told us about various sites.
There were a few parts that stood out to me, first of all, ex-convicts are employed by the Robben Island now museum and especially help give tours of the prison (which we did later). The workers and their families are allowed to reside on the island. There was even a school there up until 2011. Basically, the conditions of the prison were horrible and it was known as the "hell hole of South Africa". Most of the prisoners didn't even know what the island had because they were very restricted in which areas they were allowed to go, mostly just from their cell, to do hard labor, and back. I was interested to hear that there were plans of escape but no one actually attempted it, due to the distance to the mainland, the extremely high security, freezing cold waters, and of course, the great white sharks.
The island is home to a lot of wildlife including tons of seagulls and many springbok (like an antelope, which I actually at the other day). We saw a few while driving around. There are also a lot of ruins from the Second World War which were cool to see as well.
We got off the bus and entered the prison to be greeted by an ex-prisoner. He took us around the prison and showed us the different areas, explained to us what occurred there, and even showed us the individual cell in which Nelson Mandela last stayed in! It's so cool that they have people that have actually experienced the terrors that occurred to tell them to the public. Oh, also something else interesting: the prison didn't actually close until 1996, and became a museum open to the public in 1997. Kind of recent if you ask me. I also still can't believe that apartheid didn't end until 1994 officially (i believe). I was alive then!
The experience was wonderful and after 3 hours of this, we headed back to the mainland for lunch. We ate at this "authentic African restaurant" which in my opinion was very catered to tourists but it was good nonetheless. They even painted my face with "authentic African face paintings". If there's anything I can't stand, it's being treated like a tourist!
We walked around the waterfront for a bit on the harbor which basically just has shopping and stuff, and then headed back to the hotel for a nap. A much needed one at that!
After that we woke up and drove to dinner at the Harbour House, which has fish caught the same day! I had some that was amazing. It was a very fancy place and probably would have costed way more in the states.
I am very ready for bed but luckily we get to sleep in tomorrow per the dads' requests. I mean, it is Father's Day tomorrow! We're going to Table Mtn and then to afternoon tea at some famous place called Mt. Nelson to celebrate.
-Anna
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