This past Tuesday, four friends and myself headed to Cape Town! On Wednesday morning we began the day touring Robben Island, the island off the coast of Cape Town, where political prisoners such as Nelson Mandela and Govern Mbeki were held during the Apartheid. The ferry ride across the bay from Cape Town to the island was quite long and wavy, but very beautiful! While on the island, we learned a lot of interesting things, such as the island was also used to house South African soldiers during WWII and that what you were fed while you were a prisoner, was based on what race you were. Most of the tour was given by an ex-prisoner that was held on Robben Island for seven years. Some, like Nelson Mandela were held for 27 years however, and forced to work in lime mines in 45 degree (Celsius) heat for 13 years! Many prisoners became blind and very ill from this labour. Also, one of the prisoners, Robert Sobukwe was held in complete isolation. He wasnt allowed to talk to ANY other person and was the only person held in one specific part of the prison, all by himself. The tour of Robben Island was very interesting, but also very heartbreaking, to hear the horrible things that happened, just because of race.
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| Robert Sobukwe house |
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| View from across the bay at Cape Town and Table Mtn |
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| What prisoners were fed, based on their RACE. |
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| Our tour guide, who was a prisoner for seven years on Robben Island |
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| Nelson Mandela's Prison cell. He spent 27 years here! |
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| On the way back to Cape Town! |
After Robben Island, we headed to Lion's Head, next to Table Mountain, to climb and watch the sunset! It was a TOUGH climb, but totally worth it. The scenery was stunning!
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| The climb got a BIT steep! |
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| View of Table Mtn from Lion's Head |
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| Sunset atop Lion's Head! |
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| Sunset |
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