Cape Town Pt. 2

This morning I woke up early enough to have a proper English breakfast at the restaurant inside the Tulip Hotel. From there, I high-tailed it toward the Victoria & Albert Waterfront for my 9am ferry to Robben Island. The island tours operate exclusively through the Robben Island Museum so, unfortunately, I was stuck in a rather large tourist group as opposed to being left to explore things on my own, which I typically prefer.




The ferry to Robben Island was about 30 minutes and provided for some spectacular views of Table Mountain and Cape Town from the sea. Right before we got to Robben Island, we could see almost the entire Cape Peninsula extending down to the right-hand side, with all the various suburbs and environs of Cape Town merging together under the various crags making up Table Mountain National Park. The island itself was very desolate, with a lot of scrubby bushes making up all the indigenous vegation. There are now a variety of imported trees growing there from when the island was used by various nations as a way-station for trade with India (the Australian eucalyptus tree, especially). The tour groups were all led by former political prisoners, partly because South Africa's employment is so high that they are happy to have a job earmarked for them for as long as they're alive and willing. Our guide took us around the exterior of the island, showing us the various perimeter defenses, old governor's mansion, and old WW2 guns (not completed until 1946, ironically) before making our way to the prison. Unlike some of the Nazi prison camps I'd visited in Europe, the Robben Island prison was surprisingly small. There were only a cluster of buildings making up the complex, including the D Block where Nelson Mandela was held for 18 years. We went through that building last, with the long line of tourists taking photos of Mandela's Cell #7 as we shuffled past. From there, I walked around near the harbor to see some Cape penguins and then went back to the ferry.



Robben Island took the entire morning, so upon getting back to the V&A Waterfront I just got some fish and chips before going back to check out of my hotel. I got a cab to take me to Fish Hoek, a village 40 minutes south on the Cape Peninsula, where I was to begin the next stint of my trip.