McMillin's South African Safari: Robben Island & Hout Bay

Robben Island blew me away. For a start, it's by ferry to the island & takes @20-30mins each way.

Robben Island needs no introduction with regards to the significance of its place in South Africa’s and indeed the world’s history. As “home” to one of the world’s most famous prisoners, statesmen and leader’s in Nelson Mandela, Robben Island is quite possibly most well known island-prison on the planet.
Not just a prison-island. The island, a World Heritage Site some 9km (5.5mi) offshore from Cape Town, was dubbed “Robben” (the Dutch word for seal) Island by early settlers in reference to the seal population at the time. Over the centuries, the island has housed a prison, hospital, mental institution, leper colony and a military base. The afore mentioned Nelson Mandela spent 18 years of the 27 years of his incarceration imprisoned on the island.

Our tour guide was an ex prisoner and told us some pretty horrible stories - and in speaking to our friend Carin - they do exaggerate and tell lies (who knows why). But one story that I know is true - he told us of an incident our in the stone quarries. A prioner needed to go to the toilet, the guards didn't let him, so they asked him to dig a hole straight down in the ground. The guards told him to get in it, so he did - and all the guards around asked him to open his mouth and they urinated over him and in his mouth. Apparently this was common.

Robben Island was used as a place of banishment as early as the 1600s and over the years has contained those mentally insane or deemed unfit for society, people suffering from leprosy, and prisoners. During the Apartheid government’s rule, the island became a prison for South African political activists. In 1962, the first prisoners arrived, and the maximum-security prison on the island became the most feared prison in South Africa.

Hardships of being a prisoner including grueling working conditions, sleeping on mats on the ground, and separation from loved ones. The segregation of humans based on the color of their skin applied to prison life as well. Lionel was classified as “coloured” while Mandela was considered “black”. The prisoners were segregated by designations including coloured, black, Asiatic and white and were given various privileges based on these labels. Those deemed “coloured” were given shoes, socks, long pants, jackets and larger portions of foods while “blacks” were given sandals, shorts, and smaller amounts of food.

What I didn't know is that Nelson Mandela was a bad man - I thought he was put in prison for speaking out etc, but after talking to Carin, she tells me that he was quite a bad man. But he only became a 'great' man because he fought for his release and forgave those who had wronged him.

Talk about powerful!

Our tour guide, ex-prisoner Tom

Entrance to the prison

One of the yards that Nelson would work & exercise in

Nelson Mandela's actual cell. They were only give what's in here. The red bin was used as a toilet & was only allowed to be dumped once a day - usually the next morning - imagine having to put up with the smell of pee & poo all through the day & night

Bathroom of the 'blacks' area

The political prioners where treated more hashly than a normal criminal/or being white- their living conditions were worse than those of the whites and they were also punished with food rations, no footwear etc than other prisoners. Families were only allowed to see them on certain days or not at all. Families would make the trek out to the island only to find out that they weren't allowed to see their partner. Letters were opened, read and if the guards thought they didn't need to read about things on the outside, they would blank it out.

The next 2 photo's are of the whites/normal criminals bathroom - much better conditions than the blacks area. Although it still looks horrible, the whites were treated better anyway.

This small room was housed by the whites - usually @60-80 men sleeping anywhere they could.

Lime Quarry - the little 'building' at the top is the guards house - a 'shoot to kill' scenario?

Inside the Lime Quarry

The pile of rocks (1200 in total) were placed there by ex-political prisoners to represent the release of Nelson Mandela.

This used to be a functional school for the children that lived on the island. Unfortunately, it closed due to the low numbers of enrolled children.

A few random pictures from the past that have been put up - it certainly made me aware of the island's past & brutality to the freedom of those imprisioned.

Penguin colony on the island:

Sights of CT from the Island - Table Mountain is covered with cloud and looked spec!

I could go on and on about Robben Island - Nelson Mandela was put on the island for plotting to overthrow South Africa's racist apartheid system. He thought violence was the answer. He was an angry man. But his bitterness subsided and he turned his life around - that is well known.

HOUT BAY

Our good friends told us to take a drive out to Hout Bay to have fish 'n' chips at Fish On The Rocks - oh my! Talk about delish! It makes the Aus flake taste horrible. This fish just melts in your mouth. It's freshly caught & cooked on the day and it was SENSATIONAL!

We didn't really do much here as it was getting late, windy & cold - but we did something really cool - Jeff & I fed a seal which was really cool. We were cruising down the pier & there was a guy on a boat feeding a seal that had been hanging around. I reckon he does this alot, cause then we saw the baby seal which was so cute.

He was asking people if you wanted to feed it - so we said Yep. We held the raw fish in our teeth, and the seal jumped (do seals jump?) up out of the water and took us - like it was going to give us a kiss.