Robben Island Tour - Cape Town, South Africa
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denben
S 33° 47.945 E 018° 22.488
34H E 256966 N 6257022
Robben Island is an small island in Table Bay at 12 km north of Cape Town. Robben Island ferry trip and guided tour is a popular tourist attraction in South Africa.
Waymark Code: WMJMA0
Location: Western Cape, South Africa
Date Posted: 12/03/2013
Views: 2
Robben Island was declared a World Heritage Site in 1999, and over the centuries has been used as a prison, a hospital, a mental institution, and a military base. It is most famous for being a political prison during apartheid, an era of racial segregation in South Africa, when many of South Africa’s most prominent freedom fighters spent time here. Nelson Mandela spent 18 years of the 27 years he was imprisoned, on Robben island.
Ferries depart regularly from the gateway, and each tour takes approximately 3.5 hours. You will be guided around the island by a former political prisoner who will relay the history of the island, together with firsthand accounts of prison life, ensuring a personal and poignant tour. The tour takes you to the maximum security prison, and to Mandela’s cell in particular, which has been left in its original state.
A bus takes you to the lime quarry where Mandela and his fellow prisoners did hard labour. Additional stopovers include the Kramat (shrine) of Tuan Guru (a Muslim leader), the Lepers’ Graveyard and the house where Robert Sobukwe, a South African political dissident, lived in solitary confinement for nine years.
Robben Island also has an interesting mix of flora and fauna and Murray Bay, the island’s small harbour, is home to 140 000 African penguins.
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