10 weeks in paradise: Off to Cape Town!!!!! DAY 1

After the shortest week at work (Tuesday & Wednesday) the exciting trip to Cape Town arrives!!!! Early Thursday morning we departed from Durban with the best group of people you could ever imagine. It was 6am and we were already laughing till it hurt. I'm sure we woke up everyone on the flight to C-town...

After getting our rental car at the airport we headed to the pier to board a ferry that would take us to Robben Island, the maximum security prison where Nelson Mandela was kept for 18 years.

A place with so much history in it I wouldn't know where to begin. But here is a small summary of the story behind the island.

"Since the Dutch settled at the Cape in the mid-1600s, Robben Islandhas been used primarily as a prison.

Indigenous African leaders, Muslim leaders from the East Indies, Dutch and British soldiers and civilians, women, and anti-apartheid activists, including South Africa's first democratic President, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela and the founding leader of the Pan Africanist Congress, Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, were all imprisoned on the Island.

Robben Island has not only been used as a prison. It was a training and defence station in World War II (1939-1945) and a hospital for people with leprosy, and the mentally and chronically ill (1846-1931). In the 1840s, Robben Island was chosen for a hospital because it was regarded as both secure (isolating dangerous cases) and healthy (providing a good environment for cure). During this time, political and common-law prisoners were still kept on the Island. As there was no cure and little effective treatment available for leprosy, mental illness and other chronic illnesses in the 1800s, Robben Island was a kind of prison for the hospital patients too."

Source: http://robben-island.org.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9&Itemid=46

But before we boarded the ferry... a couple of pictures:

The clock tower at the pier.

David, Leanne, Tingting and I with the ferry on the background.

A very Dutch looking pier... and the elephant giving it the African touch.

This is the first look of the maximum security prison in Robben Island. Although it doesn't actually look like maximum security, the walls surrounding the actual buildings are thick stone and rise high. (like you would need them being in an island surrounded by freezing waters infested by great white sharks).

I wouldn't go for a swim if you know what I mean.

Some of the things that went on the island, such as forced labor mining limestone, which permanently damaged the eyes of everyone who worked there, are shocking and unforgivable.

A look inside of a hallway of one of the many blocks in the maximum security prison.

This was Nelson Mandela's actuall cell for 18 years. (block B) A room smaller than the dog kennels they installed to increase security. The conditions these prisoners were kept in were inhumane to say the least.

This is an example of the Identification cards prisoners carried.

This is Tingting with our tour guide who is an ex-prisoner. He shared one year of his term with Nelson Mandela and got to actually talk to him. He is a joy to talk to. One would never imagine all the amazing stories he has to share (and how his friendly spirit was untouched even after going through such hard times).

Here is a picture of the conditions that were actually the "improved" ones. Before these beds, prisoners slept on the floor over a mat.

The visit to the island definitely gives you a different perspective of life. I was particularly impressed with how people came together to bring apartheid down and how ever since South Africa became proud of its diversity, which in turn created unity. Definitely a lesson to be learned all over the world.

On a different note...

Later that day we went up to the top of Table Mountain (named that way for its completely flat survace at the top). HOW LUCKY!!! The view from the Cape was absolutely stunning. I can't put it in words, so let me show you instead.