Robben Island

One of the first places we visited was Robben Island, a small island about 19 miles off the coast of Cape Town. This was where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for decades and many other political activists during apartheid were imprisoned as well. Robben Island has a long history as a place of imprisonment and exile. The Dutch East India Company originally used Robben Island as a trading post during the 1600 and 1700s. Later on, the Dutch and the British exiled convicts and native leaders who opposed them to the island. In the mid-1800s, Robben Island fell out of use as a prison and instead became a place where people in the western cape region suffering from leprosy were sent. This leper colony, as it was called, eventually closed in 1891. Finally during apartheid, convicts and political prisoners were sent there again, including Nelson Mandela. The last prisoners were sent in the 1980s and all political prisoners were finally released in 1990 and 1991. Ever since the late 1990s, Robben Island has been entirely converted to a museum celebrating the peaceful triumph over oppression.

Main prison building

The Robben Island tour includes a ferry ride from the mainland, a walking tour of the prison, and a bus tour around other parts of the island. The prison tours are given by former Robben Island political prisoners. Ours was a man who was sent there in 1983 at the age of 17 for helping to recruit young people to the apartheid resistance movements at the time. He was released with all other political prisoners in 1990. He showed us the courtyards where prisoners were forced to endure hard manual labor and the cells they lived in, including Nelson Mandela’s. He also showed us the communal cell where he lived for seven years with 60 other men. I was so amazed that this man was able to give these tours and talk about the past with such frankness and honesty. One girl from our group asked him how he did this and the man replied that it was hard at first for him to return to Robben Island and see the prison where he once lived, but after enough years had passed he didn’t mind it as much and actually found peace and healing through sharing his story and experiences with others in this way. He spoke of how he and the other ex-prisoners have moved on, forgiven their oppressors, and reconciled themselves with the past. Many of the ex-prisoners and former wardens are even friends now. Hearing these stories was incredibly inspiring. If these people are able to forgive something so huge, then shouldn’t I be able to always forgive those who wrong me as well. Definitely something to take to heart.

Nelson Mandela's cell

On the bus tour they showed us the limestone quarry where Nelson Mandela and other prisoners were forced to dig rocks in the hot sun for hours on end. In the side of the rock face is a cave where the prisoners would go to get some shade and eat their lunch on these long days. Apparently, Mandela and the other leaders imprisoned there would secretly discuss their beliefs and ideas for South Africa and share them with the younger political prisoners. According to the tour guide, it’s believed that some of the foundations of the new South African constitution were discussed in that cave. It’s mind boggling to think about how these political leaders went from discussing their ideas in a limestone cave to eventually running the country and guiding it toward peace. Robben Island itself is such a beautiful place that unfortunately played host to many awful things, but it’s nice to think that the triumphs that occurred there are able to be celebrated.

Limestone quarry