We went through an on-campus organized tour. The people who were running it seemed to not be very organized, as the bus that was to take us to Cape Town was almost an hour late in picking us up. Once we got to the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town we were rushed onto a ferry that took us to Robben Island. Once on the island we took a short bus tour around the island and then toured the prison with a tour guide who actually experienced Robben Island first hand.
The island is home to old prisoners and guards in a small community that boast its on shopping market and school. I found it interesting that ex-prisoners could live so close to former guards who were responsible for much of their misery they endured at Robben Island prison. We stopped at the southern tip of the island where we got some pretty great views of Cape Town. It was stunning to see the gleaming city literally rising out of the ocean with the gorgeous back drop of the Table Mountain. We also visited the stone quarry where many of the prisoners worked during their time in prison. The limestone they were mining was a very bright white color and was kind of hard to look at directly. Many of the prisoners were not given proper eye protection and as a result many suffer from eye sight problems from working long hours in the quarry.
The tour of the prison was equally interesting. Our tour guide spent only four years at Robben Island before the prison was shut down. He was considered a political prisoner and was serving a 25 year sentence on the island. He wouldn't say what he was specifically imprisoned for or how many accomplices he had with him when he was arrested. The prison is divided into block sections separating prisoners from each other. Depending on your prisoner classification granted you specific amenities in the prison. The lowest class, reserved solely for political prisoners of South African origin, which included Neslon Mandela and our tour guide, received the poorest treatment. The lowest class could have very few visitors and were not allowed to read or write in the prison. This was an attempt to demoralize the political prisoners, however this back fired as an underground school formed among prisoners and the struggle for equality in South Africa continued even in prison.
Robben Island was a truly unique place where you get the sense of what hatred and racism can do to individuals in society. It was both moving and emotional to see where Nelson Mandela was held captive before the world new him as a progressive, Nobel Peace Prize winning leader.
