Thu Aug 13 2026
Robben Island
An historical visit to the island when Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for the majority of his time in captivity
Another lovely looking morning as we opened the curtains, and this time even the breeze felt quite warm.
Our plan was to get the boat from V&A Waterfront to Robben Island to see where Nelson Mandela had spent 18 of his 27 years in prison, and to learn more about apartheid.
We were running out of food, and even though the girls had had a McDonalds Uber Eats yesterday, we decided on a McDonalds breakfast rather than buying in lots more food. It turns out the breakfast menu is quite different in South Africa - chicken instead of bacon, boerwors patty instead of the normal pork sausage patty, and no pancakes, so it wasn’t 100% as expected, but the kitkat doughnuts and hot chocolates still went down pretty well!
Then we made our way to the boat. It was extremely busy, but luckily we read the instructions to get there 45 minutes before departure (and also, luckily, Louise had our passports, as they were checking everyone’s ID before boarding the boat).
The boat ride was about 45 minutes, and when we arrived we got ushered on to buses for the first part of the tour. We got driven around the island, shown parts that were used as barracks, hospitals, churches and the lime quarry that was used to keep the political prisoners busy for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.
After the bus, we got off and we were shown around the prison itself by a guide. He was extremely passionate (and fairly long winded) in explaining the hardships the prisoners went through - the punishment routines, the isolation, the dehumanisation. Making very direct comparisons to the concentration camps of Nazi Germany. It was eye opening to hear what the political prisoners went through just because they spoke out, and the colour of their skin.
After a couple of very long monologues, the guide introduced himself. It turns out he had, himself, been imprisoned as a 15 year old boy and spent 8 years on Robben Island. That really brought the history home.
We were then taken to the courtyard of B Section, where the ‘most dangerous’ prisoners (the ones that would try and influence others further) were held. They were made to crush rocks and glass here, and the crushed material was essentially just discarded across the pathways of the island. We saw the vine that Mandela used to hide his manuscript to “Long Walk To Freedom” under.
The last thing we did was shuffle past the actual cell Nelson Mandela had been kept in. It was minuscule, and to think someone had to endure that for such a long time was inconceivable to us.
Overall, an eye opening and moving experience.
We headed back to the pool for a dip, then out to a restaurant. Tigers Milk in Camps Bay (I think it is a mini chain) where we had various burgers, wings and tacos before walking home on very full stomachs!