WHS Quest: Robben Island

The quest continues to see all of the World Heritage Sites in South Africa. Most recently I was able to see the two sites closest to Cape Town during my sister's visit. The first up was Robben Island.

This post does not come close to giving a full history of the island and all that it means to this country, nor is that my goal. I merely aim to give some of the larger points and relate my impression of the place. If you are interested in knowing more there are of course many resources to do this that will be more thorough.

Briefly, the island has been in use ever since the European explorers started to arrive. At first it was simple a waystation and supply depot but it didn't take long for it to become a prison. Flash forward several hundred years and it becomes notorious for holding many of the leading figures in the fight against apartheid. Among the many political prisoners who were held there was Nelson Mandela who went on to become the first truly democratically elected president of South Africa. The island has also been used at times as a leper colony and as a defensive position during WWII (in typical "African time" style, the larger guns were not completed until 2 years after the war ended). Now, it is used mainly as a memorial and a museum to educate people about South Africa's past.

The best sign I could find was not a sign at all but some decals on a bus. I didn't realize it until I looked at it just now but the symbol for the Robben Island museum is a transformation of prison bars into a freed person.

By complete luck, my sister and I were lucky enough to get this man as our tour guide for the ride to the prison. His name is Mohammad Yasen and he is perhaps the best tour guide I have ever experienced. Maybe not the finest achievement in the world but I was extremely impressed with his breadth of knowledge. His trick was to involve all of the nationalities of the visitors on the bus in the storytelling for all of the stops we made along the way which included Dutch, American, British, Irish, Scottish, Australian, New Zealandese(?), and most impressively Brazilian. If you ever get the opportunity to go, try and seek this man out for the tour.

I don't want to rip off his tour because it is his but one of the jokes he told that I don't mind repeating was during one of the stops at a church along the way: "If you set South Africans in a new area, quickly you'll have 10 different churches, 20 different political parties, and 30 different liquor stores." This man knows South Africa.

This is the limestone quarry where many of the prisoners spent their days mining and breaking apart rocks. The prolonged exposure to the dust from the limestone permanently damaged many of the prisoners' eyes. Even today, flash photography is prohibited around Nelson Mandela.

This was our tour guide through the actual prison. His name is Sepo Nkosi and he was a former prisoner. It is remarkable that he is able to revisit such a place again and again. I have nothing but respect for him being able to lead clueless people around such a painful experience.

This is the prison yard for the political prisoners. The tree in the far corner is where A Long Walk to Freedom was hidden and smuggled out of the jail.

This is the cell where Nelson Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years imprisoned. As you can see, it is extremely small and the items inside are about all that was all permitted. Instead of a bed and a toilet the prisoners were given blankets and a bucket.

The feeding schemes for prisoners based on the Apartheid laws. The scheme demands different foods and portion sizes for the racial classifications. There isn't a column for "A- Whites" because white people were not imprisoned on Robben Island. The least amount of food was given to "Class C - Bundus" which were the black prisoners.

This is a view from the island to the mainland. You can faintly see the outline of Table Mountain in the distance. I was told that this sight provided hope to prisoners but it probably wasn't as simple as all of that. Perhaps it did to some people some of the time. I can see it being just as torturous. Fortunately, no one has to find out for themselves now.