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It really takes you back in time when you go on a historic visit of any type. When the history is on your doorstep, you are amazed that you haven’t done it before. Apartheid lost its life nearly a quarter of a century ago. 20 years ago, democracy came to South Africa and it shows. It was an amazing few hours getting lost in a time past, from 100s of years ago when the first settlers tried to do something with Robben Island to the modern age where a few hundred people live on the island, including Nelson Mandela’s island & later Pollsmoor Prison warden Chriso Brand.
Let me begin at the beginning. About a week before, check the wind and the weather and book your R250 ticket on line. Just google Robben Island tours and you’ll find the website. Print your ticket and take it with you. Departure is from the Nelson Mandela Gateway – this is next to the Clock Tower & the V & A Waterfront. After entering the main entrance to the Waterfront (City Lodge side), you get to a circle. Take the third exit and then turn first left. A short distance ahead on the right is P2 underground parking garage. Drive right through it towards the Nedbank lifts and behind those you’ll find reserved parking for the Nelson Mandela Gateway/ Robben Island visitors. Parking is relatively expensive – R40 for the time we were there. Take the Nedbank lift up to the ground floor. When you exit the lift, turn left, pass the statue and down to the clocktower which you can see in front of you. The Nelson Mandela Gateway is on the right of the clocktower. Once in the entrance you go right and downstairs. You have your ticket scanned and go through security out onto the departure quay…this was the view from the ferry about to leave…
We were soon on our way…
And Table Mountain got further and further away…
Here is Lynette enjoying the ride…
The island was just a blip on the horizon…
But after about 30 minutes arrived at the harbour entrance…
We were welcomed to the island and asked to proceed to off the quay to the busses which were parked a short walk away. Once on the bus, our entertaining, amusing and very knowledgeable tour guide welcomed us…
The bus tour round island is about 45 minutes. Tsheko gave us a good idea of the history of the island, including the background to the leper graveyard…
With limited water, the island is very dry and barren. We were shown two churches. This one, the Anglican, is the only privately owned land on Robben Island. The church has not been used for years…
This church is the one couples visit on Valentine’s Day each year. It costs only about R600 to get married. Fourteen couples married there this last Valentine’s Day.
This is the original schoolhouse. It is no longer used as a school. The children who live on the island go to school on the mainland, which means a ferry crossing in the morning and another to come back again. The school building is beautiful…
We drove down the length of the island (the road is 14km long)…
We stopped for a bathroom break and to visit the local refreshment shop…the view is spectacular…Table Mountain….so close and yet so far…
The bus tour also goes past the prison house of Robert Sobukwe who was the leader of the PAC and the instigator of the Sharpeville Protests. After the Sharpeville massacre, he was imprisoned, first on the mainland and then on Robben Island where he was not allowed to speak to anyone. Nelson Mandela would pass him on his way to working at quarry. No words would be exchanged but a hand raised in greeting. The quarry was smaller than I imagined…
The hole in the middle was used by the prisoners as a rest place and ablution facility. It’s 7m long and it was in this cave that the prisoners would strategise about how they would run the country. The guards would never go in there. Their lookout is just above the cave on the left.
What we saw of the coastline was rocky and unspoilt…
This is the Robben Island Lighthouse at the island’s highest point which is 33m.
In the bushveld, we spotted a few deer and springbok which was quite fun.
At the end of the bus tour, we were dropped outside the maximum security prison….
From there, an ex political prisoner showed us round the prison… giving us some idea as to life in prison…the prisoners hated this office…
We were taken through one of the courtyards….
The windows on the left are those of the prison cells. One of them was the cell of Nelson Mandela. Prisoners slept on the floor and had a toilet can, small table and bowl for brushing their teeth. Nelson Mandela was the 466th prisoner to be taken to Robben Island in 1964, hence the cell number 466/64, which, by the way, is not printed on his cell door! This is Cell 466/64
Lynette looking inside…
Nelson Mandela spent 18 years here. From there we were shown to other parts of the prison and told a bit about the life of the prisoners and the discrimination between them…
And so the tour came to an end. We made what they described as the ‘short walk to freedom’… the route the prisoners took from the prison, back to the quay…which is a short distance away…
We boarded a different ferry to take us back. It was older and slower than the one we arrived in, but it got us home safely…
It was a great visit. Worth the time and money. Highly recommended!
Galatians 5:1
So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.
God bless you today!
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂
Gratitude/Happiness…just spending time out of doors and on the water was fantastic…