Robben Island

Another early departure saw the group board the Ferry for the 45 minute transfer to Robben Island. Unfortunately the predicted storm front had arrived, we did not however appreciate until the bow of the small ferry breached the breakwater just how fierce it was and just how rough the sea was.

Initially the spray from the crashing waves was considered a giggle, this joviality soon disappeared when it was accompanied by the violent pitching and rolling of the ferry. Most took to the seats below deck, some huddled in the passageways while others decided up top was best as they worried about their ability to hold on to their breakfasts (unfortunately many did not). Eventually we entered calmer waters and awaited instructions to disembark before joining the fleet of busses for our tour.

The island tour had two parts, the first being a guided tour of the prison. On entering the prison we were greeted by a former inmate who, speaking passionately about his treatment gave a moving and frank account of the realities of life as a prisoner. He began by explaining about the demeaning clothing the prisoners had to wear, the strict visiting rules and the censorship applied to the various ethnic groups and the differing prisoner categories The tour continued with a visit to Mandela’s cell block and the gardens where he secretly stored his memoirs prior to them being discovered, when work began on a new wall that was built to increase the security for the political prisoners. Here we we all took the opportunity to pause and look into the cell occupied by Nelson Mandela for the majority of the 18 years he spent on the island.

We then gathered in a communal cell, the centre piece being a thin mattress and a blanket placed on the floor, which for many years’ inmates slept on. Gathered around our guide, imprisoned for “crimes” of sabotage, we listened intently as he spoke about the diet the differing ethnic groups endured and how despite all of the brutality and difficulties the inmates, initially hostile to each other, turned this establishment into “our own University” An education process, headed by the likes of Mandela that turned many previously illiterate men into graduates. At the conclusion of this tour we began a bus tour of parts of the island. Our new guide spoke eloquently about the history of the buildings and churches and the Limestone quarry where the former inmate Nelson Mandela and many of his co-prisoners worked daily for many years.

Unfortunately it was becoming increasingly difficult, due to the weather, to appreciate the island, its isolation and importantly its significance.

The tour concluded we re-joined the ferry, more in trepidation than anticipation for the journey back to Cape Town. The weather was better, the sea calmer and those who braved the decks had their perseverance rewarded with sightings of dolphin just off the side of the boat.

A somewhat bedraggled group then enjoyed the comfort of the Waterfront Mall for lunch and some retail therapy.

The impact of the visit to this poignant island was somewhat diminished by the weather but its significance will remain and be perhaps enjoyed fully if any revisit the fascinating isolated place