Robben Island
Trip Start
Jul 12, 2008
1
6
25
Trip End
Aug 04, 2008
Cape Town,
South Africa
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Walked along the waterfront, then through the downtown area, to Long Street, the Loop, some pedestrian streets, and the Company Gardens. Did a lot of walking, looking at the architecture, which is quite Dutch-colonial, browsing shop windows. The gardens were lovely in a winter-y sort of way - we wondered, though, at the quote on the statue of Cecil Rhodes: "Your hinterland is there." Very odd. Did he mean the whole continent? Or just Rhodesia? Had lunch, then walked back along more inland boulevard to the hotel, grabbed our coats, then headed for the Robben Island ferry.
The ferry was packed by the time we boarded, so we just grabbed four seats on the lower level
Central tourist market, Cape Town
. The crossing was relatively easy - given how conditions appeared two days ago. We were among the first off the ferry and followed the suggestion of the voice on the loudspeaker: we proceeded immediately to the busses, with the idea that we could visit the gift shop on our way back out.The tour is conducted in two halves: the first half is entirely on the bus, with an ex-prisoner giving the history of the island and the struggle for democracy. The second half takes place in the prison itself - where, again, an ex-prisoner describes life inside the cells. It appears that the original design was to have a shuttle that took tourists to various stops, where they could wander at their leisure - the stops are labeled, and there are signs to explain the different buildings or sights. Maybe they do this in summer, when it gets light later ... but we were just bussed around for our three-hour tour.
We were on the first bus which filled, then drove to park across from the maximum security prison. Our guide, Yusef, said he would wait for the other busses to pass. In the meantime, if we told him what country we were from, he would tell us how our country had an impact on Robben Island. We had people on board our bus from South Africa, the UK, Germany, Holland, France, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mauritius, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Australia, Canada, and the US, so it took quite a while to get through how each impacted Robben Island or the struggle for freedom. He was nice to every country except the Australians - does not like the eucalyptus trees or rabbits that have overpopulated the island.
Once all other busses had passed us, we moved on
Architecture, downtown Cape Town
. We first saw the leper colony graveyard. We next saw the small house where Sobukwe had been kept in solitary confinement for years, losing his ability to speak. We saw the village for the guards and workers and learned how guards were rotated through regularly, so that they would not get to know and become sympathetic with prisoners. We saw an old church, a great view of Table Mountain, a shipwreck and learned about how the island had been used as a place of exile from the times of the first Dutch settlers - how they brought members of resistance forces from places like Batavia here, to keep them from interfering with colonial rule elsewhere. We heard about how the eucalyptus trees are consuming all the water in the aquifers ... but how they can't be cut down because they are now home to 170 species of birds. We saw penguins and hundreds upon hundreds of bunnies.Our last stop on the bus tour was the limestone quarry where the prisoners grew blind, working the while rock in blistering, forced to undertake tasks of Sisyphusian stupidity ... but how they took advantage of this opportunity to share their knowledge with each other, and thus the prison became known as the University. The young gurads, too, would leave their posts to come learn from the prisoners - something Mandela always encouraged, seeking engagement with the enemy, seeing them as equally victimized by a vicious society. It was very moving to see the quarry - though hard to imagine its role in oppression, what with all the bunnies hopping about.
Yusef, our guide, was informative and entertaining, if long-winded. He told us stories and joke, like, If you have 10 South Africans and put them on an island, within one week, you will have 20 churches and 50 political parties
Company Gardens, Cape Town
. Or about how there's an ambulance on the island but no medical facilities ... they just put you in the ambulance and drive around in circles until you either get better or die: "Africa at its finest!" he declared. He also asked everyone to look at the WWII guns (never fired, as they were only completed in 1947): "Now," he said, "I beg my American friends not to go back and tell Bush that we have weapons of mass destruction!" There were many quips and jokes - he was, as I say, entertaining. Never got around to talking about his own time on the island, though, as he promised he would do. Maybe he doesn't have any good jokes about it. But when we reached the prison, we were handed off to a new guide, whose name I never caught (I presumed he dropped it). This guide was very irritated with Yusef that we arrived so late ... cutting into his time.The second half was certainly the more moving of the two parts. Our guide told us about his arrest and being held in detention without trial for months; about the torture he suffered; about the terrible conditions in the prison; about how black prisoners received half the food allotment of Asian prisoners. More interesting, to me, however, was his descriptions of how he hated his guards and regarded Mandela as a traitor because Mandela wanted to engage them, whereas our guide wanted to fight. Yet now, he told us, he believed in Truth and Reconciliation - not forgiveness - but he recognized that the greater victory is won through diplomacy, by gaining much while sacrificing little in return
Thorn bush
. Would it be better, he asked, rhetorically, to exact revenge, even thought it would almost certainly lead to bloodshed and more unnecessary torture and death - or, through engagement, bring about a better world for all? He said that his moment of reconciliation came when he realized he wanted democracy for all South Africans, not just blacks. I found his talk fascinating.We then left the group cell to go visit Mandela's cell, then had to high-tail it to the ferry, arriving at 18.02h for our 18.00h departure. First off, last on. That's us.
Had dinner at a Portuguese restaurant on the V&A waterfront, sitting outside under the heat lamps, wrapped in blankets. Very pleasant.
