Robben Island / More Sundowners

The next stop on our journey was Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was held for a majority of his 27 years spent in prison.
TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS. That is almost my entire life.

It is insane to think how relatively recent it all was. Mandela was released in 1990. And apartheid didn't end until 1994. And the fact that he was able to leave prison, rise above everything, and lead the country forward without insane hostility toward all those who had wronged him is astonishing.

To get to Robben Island...we had to take a nausea-inducing boatride far far off the mainland.

We arrived to a fleet of waiting tour buses that would drive us around the island.

We passed a graveyard of the former lepers who used to inhabit the island when it was a leper colony...

We passed a limestone quarry where Mandela and his fellow prisoners were made to perform in hard daily labor...

We passed by little houses and a tiny village that had housed inhabitants of the island, mostly prison guards and stuff I think.

We passed by the fancier house that was used to house VIPs like Hilary Clinton etc. whenever they visited...

The view of CapeTown with Table Mountain towering above it is AMAZING from Robben Island.

Prisoners used to look upon it and it would give them hope...

After driving around the Island...we were taken into the prison itself.

And given walking tours by actual former inmates...

(The inmates were all mostly political prisoners and not violent criminals like rapists and murderers. That would probably be a scarier tour...)

And then we visited Mandela's cell.

I doubt I could have laid down without my head and feet touching both walls...

And he spent almost 20 years here...

Leaving the island, we got to experience what the prisoners experienced. The long walk from the gates of the prison down to the docks...their long walk to freedom.

Robben Island is a definite must-do if ever you go to Cape Town.

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After a little afternoon nappy, we headed over to sundowners at Caroline's friend Becky's place.

Most of the homes and apartments in Cape Town are built onto a slope...so pretty much everyone gets an incredible view of the Atlantic Ocean...

Becky's was no different.

The sunsets here are so jaw-droppingly incredible.

Again we gathered to watch for the "green flash". But alas...we did not see it.

Afterwards, most of the crew went to a Rodriguez (of "Searching for Sugar Man" fame) concert that Caro had scored tickets to.

Becky took me and Matt to Beefcakes, an amazing joint where the burgers (beefcakes) are all served by shirtless hunks (beefcakes).

LOOOOOOOVES South Africa!!!!