Beth in Cape Town: Robben Island

On Wednesday, I went out to Robben Island. Robben Island was a maximum security prison (kind of like Alcatraz) for political prisoners during the apartheid. Before that, it also served as a leper colony (people who had leprosy were sent to live the rest of their lives here), and there is a huge cemetery full of graves. During WWII, Robben Island was a military base.

We left the mainland on a big ferry. The view of the cape and its mountains as we moved away from shore was absolutely awesome. When we got to the island, we boarded buses, and a tour guide explained the various buildings on the island. After we had driven around past the various administrative buildings, we were taken to the prison itself where a guide (who was stayed on the island 8 years for political reasons) showed us around a few of the cell units.

Some interesting things I learned: There is no longer any open fresh water anywhere on the island. All fresh water for drinking/food purposes must be brought from the mainland. There used to be fresh water on the island, but in 1890 the Brits introduced eucalyptus trees to the island, and each tree consumes a huge amount of water. They are also very prolific as their seeds spread easily and grow where they land. Some might ask why not cut down all the eucalyptus trees, but with the trees came the birds. Now over 120 different species of birds call this small island home. FYI Robben Island has the world's third largest penguin colony.

Also, when the guards who were living on Robben Island with their families left the island, many of them left their cats behind. Now there are over 100 feral cats around the island.

Some people still live on the island. Both the guide on the bus and the ex-prisoner guide live there. There is a post office and a functioning school, and you can rent out the various houses/buildings for conventions or for an overnight stay. The ex-prisoner guide told us it's not always easy to stay and work where he was once held in prison for so long, but that he needs a job. There is someone employed for every 6 visitors the islands gets. And there are 4 tours a day, each with at least 100 people.

Because the people imprisoned on Robben Island were mostly there for political reasons, their contact was very limited. The prison didn't want the prisoners getting news regarding what was going on in the outside world because they feared they would stage an uprise, make plans for what their people on the outside should do, etc. They were allowed to receive newspapers, but only of a very censored edition. Some guards would smuggle in newspapers and other news from the outside world to the prisoners.

Interestingly (to me anyway), no guard ever killed a prisoner, no prisoner ever killed another prisoner, no prisoner ever killed a guard, and no one committed suicide on Robben Island during the apartheid. That counteracts my stereotype of prisons seeing a high rate of murder... Also, no prisoner ever escaped the island during the apartheid, either.

Also interesting: the majority of the prisoners were Bantu (black), and about 2 percent were not. The prisoners were fed different diets based on what race they were. The blacks received less (and worse) food than the other 2 percent. This was with intent to create animosity between the two groups (inspire jealousy in the blacks) so that there would be a strict divide. Instead, the prisoners banded together and ended up sharing most of their food anyway, creating more of a sense of unity than division.

I just can't get enough of these boats! haha

Getting off shore on our way to the island. Starting to see more and more of Cape Town's majestic landscape.

I think I have about 25 versions of this same shot. It was hard to hold the camera steady on the boat because the waves were kinda strong. :) Plus, the view was just so amazing that I had to capture as much of it as I could.

After he was released from prison on Robben Island, Nelson Mandela came back to the island for various reasons 14 times, and this is where he stayed during his island visits. Hillary Clinton also stayed in this house with him while she was visiting Robben Island when Bill was in office in the US. Four years ago in 2004, Mandela said he would not return to the island again.

Looking back to the cape from the island. :) This is a decent photo, I think, but it can't compare to how it really looked to me in person.

Shortly after we got to the island and boarded the buses that would take us on a tour of the island, the tour guide asked us where we were all from. Apparently I was the only one onboard (or at least the only one who would speak up) from the U.S.
Since I've been here in Cape Town, I've realized there's a joke here among residents and tourists that time is not an issue in Africa. Deadlines are meaningless. If it doesn't get done now, maybe tomorrow. If not tomorrow, then next week. If not then, then maybe next year sometime. It's just a joke really, but people joke that if they're 2 hours late for an appointment, they just say "It's Africa!"
Anyway, I write about this joke because I realized how true it can be when the tour guide explained to us what this structure is. During WWII, Robben Island served as a military base. This structure, a cannon of some sort, was to be built for protection needs during the war. Well, the war ended in 1945, and these cannons were finally completed two years after the war ended, in 1947. They never fired a single shot!

As we were pulling away, the guide said jokingly to me in front of everyone "To our friend from the US, when you get back home to the States, please do not tell Bush we have weapons of mass destruction."

One of the cell buildings. Prisoners were split up depending on where they were from, what crime they committed, and hierarchy of their leadership. (Nelson Mandela was in a cell section specifically meant for leaders of the various political movements, and their section was most closely guarded so that they could not direct the others.

View out the cell window.

I forgot how many prisoners this cell held, but it was a large number given the size of the room. The bunks are a relatively recent addition in the prison's history; formerly, prisoners slept on mats on the floor. Most of the prisoners were kept in communal cells like this one, but not Mandela (see below).

Nelson Mandela's cell where he was held for 18 years, size 2 meters by 3 meters. Not a good photo, but best I could get as our large group was shuffled through the narrow prison corridor.