Cape Town - Day 4 - V&A Waterfront and Robben Island

We were pretty lucky to be heading to Robben Island today... our original plan would have been to turn up at the V&A waterfront, buy a ticket etc etc... luckily whilst we were in Plett we got chatting to a couple who said they did exactly that and didnt have much luck apparently you're supposed to book weeks in advance.. aaaaah sh*t!!! well long story short, we got tickets by calling up the ticket place.. the only available date was today, our last day so definitely lucky for us!

we had to be at the V&A waterfront clocktower at 10.30am and as we had no idea where this was.. we got a taxi! we were pretty early so we collected the tickets, got a cuppa tea and sat watching the boats coming in and out of the harbour. before getting onto the ferry we had to go through security checks and scanners, once through we got our picture taken infront of the ferry and soon after we were away.. you could make out robben island in the distance, and there were some awesome views looking back at cape town with table mountain, devils peak and lions head!

the ferry ride took between 45mins and 1 hour! when we got off the otherside we had to get onto buses which would give us a tour of the island. once the bus was moving it was clear we'd got on the wrong one. other than us and a few other people the rest of the bus was full of boys on a school rugby tour! they were pretty well behaved and were asking some quite interesting questions to the tour guide but it felt like we'd gone back a few years and were on a school trip. whilst on the tour around the island we saw churches, the local school etc.. we were also shown a small isolated house which was where a man was banished to and not allowed to talk to anyone for 6years! he could do whatever he wanted in the house and garden but was forbidden to talk to anyone! apparently he later died with mental health issues which is not surprising! we were also shown the limestone quarry at which the prisoners had to work each day, within the quarry there was a cave which is where the prisoners used to shelter and also teach each other, some prisoners were put into prison being unable to read and write, when they left they went on to university.. crazy!!

we then stopped for a break at a little shop so we decided to get on another bus and leave the school kids to their trip. before the bus left an ex-prison guard, Chris du Brandt, got on board and told us a a story on how he helped Nelson Mandela see his grandchild when Winnie bought them over on a visit. According to him, after this event him and Mandela got on really well, both having a more in depth understanding of the actions and personality of the other. He said that in Mandela's stories he is referred to as 'the man behind the uniform'.

Next stop: the prison. we were ushered through one of the prison gates by the bus tour guide and then greeted by an ex-prisoner. He took us into his old cell which held 40+ other people! he told us what it was like etc & answered all the qs people had. we tried to escape and move on as we were worried about the time and missing the ferry back. we didnt get very far before the rest of the group caught up.. was slightly embarassing but oh well... we then got to see Mandela's cell, it was so small and had nothing but a bucket, table and sleeping mat in it! it was insane to think he'd spent so long in such a small space.

Mandela's Cell

after the whistlestop tour of the prison we headed back to the waterfront on the ferry. It was a good trip out to the island and to see something that holds so much history, but it was definitely rushed! when we got back the photographers had printed out the photos they had taken earlier on this morning we both got one as they were pretty decent quality and worked out to about £2.50.

LUNCHTIME!! most important part of the day! we walked round the whole waterfront trying to decide what we wanted to have, eventually ending up in a place called Mitchells which was apparently a scottish brewery. pretty good food and nice to chill out :) after lunch we wandered around watching a few of the acts that were performing and buying stuff in the gift shops! we then got a taxi back to the hostel and sat outside watching the sunset over table mountain chatting away to Daniel. we then did most of the packing so we could stay in bed a little longer in the morning. cheese toasties for dinner & a night out on Long Street ahead of us...

We first went to Abantu Bar which was empty so we finished our drink pretty quick before heading to stones. where we could drink and also choose from 1 of many pool tables for a few games. between 10 & 11pm drinks were buy one get one free so we were loving life especially when drinks were so cheap already!! we tried the Springbok shot for the first time which was so good! made of a mixture of peppermint liquor and Amarula, both to try and represent the national colours of green and gold. was a really good night, eventually we headed home and conked straight out in bed...