Pins in the Map: Day 02 Spring Break

“I’m on a BOAT!” – Lonely Island
Sunday September 1^st 2013

Happy First of September! And Happy First Full Day in Cape Town!

We all awoke, slightly surprised to find ourselves in our hostel. It had been a really cold night and our muscles ached from contracting all night to keep warm. Each of us got dressed at our own pace and before long we were all ready to head out for the day.

Agenda: Robben Island and the Waterfront Priority: BREAKFAST

We drove along the streets of Cape Town, in the daylight this time, my car once again in the lead. Our directions historically always start us out fine. It’s the ending part that always trips us up. We fumbled our way around some roundabouts, back tracked, found the general Waterfront area and parked in a garage.

Our brief glimpse of the Cape Town Waterfront reminded me of the beach town I’ve visited each year of my life in Cape May, New Jersey, particularly the outdoor shopping mall we frequent. What is that special quality that every maritime town has? A simple proximity to bodies of water makes everything so damn charming!

Mercifully, we stumbled upon a food market on our way to finding the Nelson Mandela Gateway, where we would catch the ferry later. This place was awesome! It was like a groovy hipster food court plus an Amish market that only featured good food. There was something there for everyone: bubble tea, coffee, ice cream, dessert waffles, Indian cuisine, biltong, ostrich burgers, any kind of pastry and so on. I got a coffee, a muffin (divine!), and a sandwich for later.

Each having found something satisfactory, we gathered our spoils and headed on our way over to the ferry. We arrived at a bright yellow clock tower, but the swing bridge connecting us to it was allowing a boat to go through. Happy to wait, we sat on some concrete stairs and ate our breakfasts. On our side of the bridge was a pole that showed how many kilometers we were from the rest of the world. My favorite prong of the pole was the one that read “SOUTH POLE”

Soon the bridge returned to a useful pedestrian friendly position and we crossed over to the Robben Island ferry center.

Travel tip: purchase tickets for the Robben Island ferry online www.robben-island.org.za Tickets are cheaper online. You can save the tickets to your computer as a pdf file and print them out. The ferry leaves at 9 AM, 11AM, and 1PM. Ticket prices include round trip ferry ride, bus tour of the island, and walking guided tour of the prison. The ferry ride takes about a half hour and the combined tours can take about 3.5 hours. Plan accordingly. Well worth it!

After queuing and going through some cursory security, we boarded the ferry. We had a beautiful view of the Waterfront! Is that a ferris wheel? Yes. Why Yes it it. Like true young American women we talked about America’s Next Top Model while waiting for the ferry to take off. When it did, it took OFF! For such a large vessel, we booked it across the water. It was freezing and really really windy but we loved it! Caitie and Mary started to feel ill and went to sit down inside. The rest of us stayed out on the deck until our wind whipped faces and hair couldn’t take it anymore.

South Africa's Next Top Models...obv

Before too long, we docked at Robben Island. I saw a seal just chillin’ on some rocks and freaked out <3

Do you see him?!!

Immediately after disembarking from the ferry we boarded one of about 4 tour buses. The seats went 3 across and I was in an aisle seat. Hence my lack of pictures of the bus tour…

le entrance

lighthouse on the island (one of the few pics I got)

Lime quarry

Robben Island has been used for many things throughout the years. It was once used to isolate a leper colony. There are still grave sites for those who died during that part of the island’s history. Though never used strategically in WWII, there are still remnants of heavy artillery on the island that were used for testing and training. In most recent years, it served as a political prison for people like Nelson Mandela and his supporters. We drove past the living quarters for the guards and wardens of the prison. They had some pretty nice digs. Our guide provided a jarring juxtaposition of guard vs. prisoner living conditions. Today, the island and its facilities are preserved as historical sights. Some people still live on the island.

Fun fact: Many ships have been wrecked on the shores of Robben Island. We drove past one wreck that was barely a month old. Our guide also nonchalantly mentioned a bus wreck somewhere in the water. Apparently, Bill Cosby, Hilary Clinton, and Nelson Mandela organized a gala of sorts to take place on the island. Upon Hilary’s request a brand new bus (the shabby prison buses just wouldn’t do) was flown in to the island by helicopters. The cord snapped just before reaching the island and the brand new bus was consumed by the ocean among the other various shipwrecks resting below. Who knew, right?

After the bus tour we were handed over to a walking tour of the actual prison. Our guide was a former political prisoner. I wanted to ask him lots of question, but that somehow seemed insensitive. I believe he said he had been imprisoned on the island for about 5 years. Sometime after his release, he was contacted by people on the island asking whether he’d like to return to the island to give tours. He was apparently very enthusiastic. It is very remarkable to me how many freed prisoners have returned to relive their experience for the visitors.

our guide

We went through 3 cell blocks of varying qualities. Each cell block catered to different classes of prisoners.

The rooms in all of them were very small and mostly empty except for pictures, testimonies, and keepsakes of the prisoners that had once inhabited them. It was a very eerie deferential experience. At the same time I had a sneaking suspicion that a lot of the more gruesome details were being left out. There was a sense of cover-up-edness to the whole experience. A lot of the renovations that were done in order to make the site tourist-ready altered the authenticity and history of the facilities. The fresh coats of paint and fluorescent lighting made cell block B feel like a dorm room or residence hall. I knew it would be touristy, but the tourist attraction quality of the actual prison was a bit unsettling. Again I was curious, but didn’t want to be…idk…rude?

I saw Nelson Mandela’s former cell. To have spent so much of his life in this place and still be such a remarkable man is a truly humbling thought.

hallway of cell block A

Mandela's cell was the 3rd window from the left

Mandela's cell

courtyard

heavily censored letter to a prisoner

The tour of course ended with the gift shop, and soon the ferry returned for us. To give you an idea of timing: We booked the 11 AM ferry. The ferry home left at 2 PM. I was glad for my packed sandwich <3

Back on land we went back to the food market and rested our feet for a bit before shopping. The nearby mall was enormous and had a lot of American brands. There was more than plenty to look at and spend. Gillian, Nora, Caitie and I grew weary of all the walking and shopping rather quickly and decided too head back in one of the cars.

On our way out of the mall we saw some street acrobats dressed in leopard print coveralls. They were pretty entertaining to watch for a bit. But as with any street performer, the money hat comes out, and the crowd disperses. Across from the parking garage was an indoor market full of craft work and other good souvenirs, so despite our shopping exhaustion we, of course, shopped.

Back at the hostel we moved into our new room downstairs.To my dismay, some unknown persons had used my coffee mug and my towel was missing (so was Caitie’s). #hostelliving. I thoroughly washed my mug and made some tea while Caitie asked Party about our towels. He provided us with a temporary replacement…a bright yellow and orange beach towel. One. For both of us. Weeee.

Becca and Mary came back a bit later and we all enjoyed some quality WiFi time. The new WiFi password was: clenchyobutcheecks. I kid you not. I spent some more time in the kitchen again making tea and looking for Happy Cat.

For dinner we went to the Indian restaurant conveniently located next door to our hostel, highly recommended by some of our fellow hostel stayers. It was kind of set up like a buffet or a cafeteria line, but you still ordered at the register. I got some divine chicken tikka masala.

Moving our way down the street we went to the Beer House. As it was a Sunday night, the crazy nightlife we experienced the night before was pretty much nonexistent. We spent a quiet night trying different South African ales, lagers, and fruity lady drinks. Playing cards. Telling stories. It was a great girl's night.