While walking in the Waterfront in Cape Town I came across the Robben Island prison tour sign. This island, an unesco world heritage, was used for the isolation of mainly political prisoners since the end of the 17th century. Nelson Mandela former president of South Africa was imprisoned there for 18 of the 27 years he served behind bars before the fall of apartheid. Tours depart three times a day and take about 3 and a half hours, consiststing of a ferry trip to and from the island and a tour of the various historical sites on the island that form part of the Robben Island Museum.
At 11:30AM in the office he sold me the last available ticket for the day, a boat leaving 1PM for the island. I went to lunch and returned half an hour before boarding, as recommended. Only the 11 kilometers ride to Table Bay where the island is located, worth the 280 Rand (about 20 USD), as it has a spectacular view of the city. On arrival, half of the group went on a walking visit in jail and the other half, including me, boarded the bus for a 40-minute tour in order to get to know the island’s history.
The island was used by Portuguese, English and Dutch navigators as a resupply station between 1500 and 1800 and after that became a prison for mental patients, lepers, “without shelters”, among others. In 1930 the island became a military base and most of the buildings were burned and lepers sent to hospitals in Cape Town. It is possible to see during the way a large cemetery. In 1961, when the National Party implemented the apartheid laws, the island was once again used for political prisoners. It was a maximum security prison until the release of Nelson Mandela in 1990. In 1996 the prison was closed, in 97, declared national monument and created the museum and finally in 1999, became part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. After the bus tour, we disembarked and went to know the dependencies of the prison with a guide who was once a prisoner there.
Ele contou um pouco sobre a estrutura e visitamos o local onde os presos tomavam o banho de sol. Após isso fomos ver a tão esperada cela onde Nelson Mandela ficou preso por 18 anos. A cela fica trancada, mas a porta é aberta quando o museu possui visitantes ilustres como Barack Obama e pessoas com deficiências visuais. He told us a bit about the structure and we visited the place where the prisoners sunbathed. After this we went to see the awaited prison cell where Nelson Mandela lived for 18 years. The cell is locked, but the door is opened when the museum has illustrious visitors such as Barack Obama.
After two hours on the island we boarded and returned to Cape Town.
