Today was another beautiful day in Cape Town. Six volunteers in my house got on an early train to Cape Town because we had tickets to go to Robben Island. Robben Island is an island off the coast of South Africa that is a prison that used to imprison many political activists including Nelson Mandela. Mandela spent 27 years in prison in total and 18 of these years were spent at Robben Island. The later years he went back to the main land because he had tuberculosis and lung infections that needed more medical attention.
The tour consisted of about an hour boat ride to the island followed by a 45 minute bus ride around the island. There was a nice tour guide that explained the various buildings, village, and wildlife. After the bus tour we went into the actual prison. This was my favorite part of the tour because our tour guide for this portion was an ex-prisioner. He was roughly 60 years, named Kgotso, and told his stories about being in the prison. He shared fantastic stories that gave me the goose bumps about the hardships that these prisoners went through. He shared personal stories about other inmates and things they did to pass the time. It was inspiring to see and has made me want to learn more about South African history and Nelson Mandala's role in everything.
Following the tour and a wavey boat ride back to the mainland we wandered the water front and went to another beautiful market! Beautiful weather today! Can't believe I only have a little over a week left!
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