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For nearly 400 years, Robben Island, 12 kilometres from Cape Town, was a place of banishment, exile, isolation and imprisonment. It was here that rulers sent those they regarded as political troublemakers, social outcasts and the unwanted of society.
During the apartheid years Robben Island became internationally known for its institutional brutality. The duty of those who ran the Island and its prison was to isolate opponents of apartheid and to crush their morale. Some freedom fighters spent more than a quarter of a century in prison for their beliefs.
Those imprisoned on the Island succeeded on a psychological and political level in turning a prison 'hell-hole' into a symbol of freedom and personal liberation. Robben Island came to symbolise, not only for South Africa and the African continent, but also for the entire world, the triumph of the human spirit over enormous hardship and adversity.
Prices for tour available at Cape Tourism Board. Leave a Comment Address: Boat Ride to Robben Island.Phone: +27 21 555 3100/3600Directions: Boats are available at the Cape Town Tourism Offices at the Clock Tower, V&A Waterfront.Website: www.robben-island.org.za Other Contact: info@tourcapetown.com
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| | | | Robben Island / Museums: ROBBEN ISLAND | Tip Rating:  | | | | |
10 kilometres out in Table Bay Robben Island was a prison for over 300 years, right from the earliest settler days. It has been notorious for its inhumanity and brutality not only for political and criminal prisoners but for those suffering from leprosy, the chronically sick and people with serious mental health problems too
Now even though a visit can be disturbing and shocking it is a symbol of the great change in South Africas thinking and a constant reminder of the unified way forward
A trip to Robben Island starts at the Gateway on the V&A Waterfront, it is usually necessary to book tours in advance, you must go through the Gateway building to board the ferry and you will have to pass through security screening. There is wheelchair access, if you use a wheelchair do advise them at the time of booking. While you wait for the ferry there are several interesting displays in the waiting room
The whole tour including boat trip takes about 3 1/2 hours, when you arrive at the island you board busses for an interesting 45 minute guided tour of the island, our guide gave us lots of good information on the history, flora and fauna of the island, then we entered the the maximum security prison where we were guided by an ex-political prisoner who gave us real insight into the life here. It could [and perhaps should] have been a very depressing tour but it wasnt, rather we emerged after it with more understanding and empathy with the struggles of the people here, and gratitude that the dark days are gone
wheelchair access in the prision is possible but difficult
Robben Island is now a National Monument and a World Heritage site, tours cost R150 for adults, and R75 children over 4 to 17, under 4 years old are free Leave a Comment Address: Table Bay, Cape TownPhone: 021 413 4220Website: www.robben-island.org.za
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| | | | Robben Island / Museums: Nelson Mandela's cell | Tip Rating: | | | | |
"The tragedy of Africa, in racial and political terms [has been] concentrated in the southern tip of the continent - in South Africa, Namibia, and, in a special sense, Robben Island."
- Oliver Tambo
Robben Island tells us a story: about victory over Apartheid and other human rights abuses. Many future South African leaders were prisoners at some point on the island. So it has an image today of past oppression which became triumph.
Robben Island has had other uses besides that of a prison.
It was a training & defence station in World War II (1939-1945) and a hospital for leprosy patients, and the mentally and chronically ill (1846-1931). In the 1840s, Robben Island was chosen for a hospital because it was secure (isolating dangerous cases) and healthy (providing a good environment for cure).
Since 1997 it has been a museum, which acts as a focal point of South African heritage. It runs educational programmes for schools, youths and adults and has a large tourism-focused agenda now.
Some ex-political prisoners act as tour guides on the island, one of Cape Town's World Heritage Sites.
This cell was the cell of renowned and much-loved freedom icon, Nelson Mandela. He was imprisoned here for 17 of the 27 years he was imprisoned in South Africa during the apartheid era. Leave a Comment Address: Robben Island - off Cape Town PeninsulaDirections: Go to Cape Town harbour and take a ship out to the islandWebsite: www.robben-island.org.za
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