It's early in the morning that we have been on the famous "Island Seal”, almost 7km from the nearest coast for a visit of more than 3 hours including the boat ride and tour of the island.
The History
Robben Island was included on the World Heritage List of UNESCO in 1999 and was used as a prison, leprosy, mental hospital and military post of defense.
The island was first listed by Europeans in 1498, when the fleet of Vasco da Gama reached the Cape of Good Hope.
From 1658, Robben Island was used as a prison by the first Dutch settlers landed in Cape Town six years ago.
From 1961, Robben Island became a maximum security prison for prisoners serving long sentences (of ten year imprisonment), including members of the ANC and the movement of struggle against apartheid. Nelson Mandela was detained for nearly 18 years, from 1964, before being transferred to Victor Verster Prison near Paarl. President Jacob Zuma was imprisoned for ten years.
In 1996, Robben Island service terminates center prison the following year to become a national museum.
Our History
Our History
We took the boat to 9 o’clock for an appointment with history. The boat trip took 30 minutes and we could see seals and many birds along the route, watching for the slightest sign of a whale with attention, but without success!
When we arrived on the island, we were divided into different buses where guides were waiting for us: the tour began. Our excellent guide explained the history of Robben Island while telling us funny stories about foreign tourists, he was even the guide of Barack Obama during his visit in 2006, when he was still Senator of Illinois.
Then we could admire the beautiful view of Table Mountain from Robben Island beach, visit the prison, and visit the tiny cell where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for a long part of his life. We followed the entire tour with a lot of emotion and we will long remember this island, key part of the rich history of South Africa.
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