Once in South Africa...

Friday:
It took forever for the ship to get clearance. There was a line starting from the library up into the faculty and staff's Glazer lounge. As they mentioned, we had to walk grab it from our LLC, walk to an Immigrations officer who would ask us a question or so, stamp it, we smile, and keep it moving. When I got done with that I was anxious to find out what to do. Unfortunately, the Robben Island overnight Thurs-friday morning trip was canceled (obviously). We weren't clear as to whether we would get a refund and that was frustrating, but at the same time we understood it wasn't anyone's fault. The weather just didn't cooperate. Instead, there was a Robben Island tour thing that we got to do which would be separate of the original itinerary and perhaps deducted in the end... Some of the other folks with Safari trips with flights had it worse since SAS were unable to get several rescheduled.

The ferry to Robben Island was great. It was sunny and the water was bright blue. There were so many sea lions and they were just playing in the waters. Looked like the ultimate lifestyle. Fast forward, we started on the tour and it was blazing hot. I couldn't imagine being there on a regular basis. Our tour guide was a previous prisoner around the time of Nelson Mandela so it was humbling to be in his presence. His stories painted vivid pictures. We walked into the first cell where there was two bunk beds remaining and a mat on the floor. To our surprise the mat was actually a blanket and it was used by inmates. The tour guide told us that Mandela was given a bunkbed at some point because of doctor's orders (he had back problems) but he refused saying he wouldn't accept unless everyone got the same treatment. Naturally, no one else did so he resumed his post on the floor. They slept in rows on the floor with their mats, they faced the same direction. At around 4 am, the warden woke them up over the intercom. They promptly got up, folded their mats and blankets and had to wait until they got inspected. We saw a sample identification card. If a prisoner was found on any of the premises without it, he would face severe consequences. We also saw a poster indicating rations for breakfast, lunch and dinner. There was direct instructions as to what Coloreds and Asians would eat which was a lot different than what Blacks were issued. Very disturbing.

Within the long room was several barred windows. One overlooked the hallway next to the door. The tour guide said that on Fridays, the guards left the window open, so whenever they wanted to study or hold meetings someone would stand by the window and keep watch. Another interesting fact was that anything could be heard from the intercom. Prisoners weren't allowed to talk about politics. However that was the basis of their imprisonment and what they cared the most about, that they created boxes to place over the intercoms. Once the guards figured out that they couldn't hear anything from that particular room, they would send someone to investigate. But with look out spies, the prisoners would quickly dismantle their box and return to senseless chit chattering in the presence of the guards. The moment the guards were out of sight, the box was placed back. I thought that was extremely clever. The other cool point was hearing how the bathroom although it was freezing cold, served as the classroom for teaching and learning. It was amazing to hear how they had an educational system of rotation. I could picture all of these guys with their blankets wrapped around them, hunched over books. The tour guide mentioned a number of prisoners along with himself who were educated in the bathroom and now hold esteemed positions in South Africa including Mandela.

The interesting tidbit he disclosed was about the soap. The water from their showers were very salty so the original bar of soap they were given didn't cooperate properly. As in, there was no foam. Haha. They had to purchase some shampoo which the tour guide said he still uses the same kind to this day. A sad moment was when he talked about his father being killed by the wardens—their justification was that he was involved in a “terrorist” plot to overturn Robben Island. He hadn't known his father was coming to visit him, but visitors had to go through an ordeal just to see people on Robben Island. It was a place where those exiled essentially were sent. As he explained to us, mail wasn't even welcomed. They had what he called “Window Letters.” Where they received letters from friends and family and all they got were the salutations and the endings. The entire middle was cut out. In some cases, they got some pieces of the letters but entire or “radical” sentences were cut out. There was little that was allowed to be discussed. As you can imagine, when they wrote back, letters delivered were those that said little negative about the treatment of Robben Island.

We got to see the remaining quarters of the prison. I wasn't all too convinced that the cell he said was Mandela's was it...I mean, what we would know as tourists. They coulda plopped the mat and blanket and the few other items there just because.  There were no actual numbers on the cells. Plus it it's been what? Almost 20 years or so. Just saying.  But we got to pose with the master key to open the cell and take pictures while in it. I didn't have any spectacular moment of revelation though. I feel like I took more from the tour guides stories of what happened versus the physical aspect.

Then we got back on the bus for a tour around the island. It was huge and we didn't get to see all of it. It was interesting to see what was left or how it was being used. Most intriguing was finding out that over 160 families lived on the island. Employees had that option. They function using the post office, super market and other historic sites. Pretty wild. What was even more staggering was learning that former wardens, guards and prisoners coexisted together. Tells you something! Lastly, we got to get out for a bit and soak up the sun with the view of Table Mountain. My words would not give it justice. It was a sight to see and totally worth going back to South Africa to conquer. I unfortunately, was unable to hike it this time around.

Later that night:
Went out with a ton of SAS folks. We ended up in Marvels because it had the best music. Their drinks were definitely overpriced. Ian then found a place where there were multiple dancing floors and it was very fancy..but the locals were kinda standing around and we were the main attraction. Not very cool... so after getting shots for 5 rand...less than a dollar, we returned to Marvel's. We saw the stewards from the piano and pool bar. They were getting it in haha...Anyhow, great night!