Robbin island and it's good to hang with the locals...

Apologies, I was unable to convince anyone else to blog...I will keep trying. This morning was another beautiful day in Cape Town, 22 and sunny for our trip to Robbin Island. This is an island 11 km off of CT that was a penal colony for hundreds of years. It is best known for housing Nelson Mandela for 18 years along with many other political prisoners. We took a catamaran ferry across which was quite windy. We arrived shrouded in fog which only added to the Erie feeling of it all. Before I get into the specifics can I just say Germans have no concept of the queue. This is a strange occurrence I have observed for many years traveling but it was once again reinforced again today. How they fought for both world wars without being able to form a simple line is beyond me! Anyway, onto the tour. We hoped on buses that took us for a drive around the island including a stop at the quarry where the prisioners worked at hard labour. On the bus doing the speaking was one of the former prisioners that was jailed here. He was interesting but more interesting was when we stopped at the actual prison block. We were guided here through the cells by another former prisoner that was very soft spoken but very moving. Here we saw the cell that Mandela lived in for most of his time in Robbin. He spoke of the educational system that they developed "each one, teach one". There were prisoners that came to the island illiterate and left with degrees, it was very moving.

One thing I forgot to mention, when we were at the ferry dock to go to the island there was a union protest going on in front. They spent the whole time singing their demands (I thin). It was lovely and very civilized.

After the trip we were met at the docks by Moira's English friend Lisa. She was so very lovel and welcoming. She took us to a hotel in the sea for lunch where we cranks mojitos and watched cheeky dolphins jumping out of the water. It was amazing! From there she took us for a drive sound upper downtown including a walk around the city. We stopped at St Georges chuerch where Rev Desmond Tutu was the archbishop and then onto a monument to the struggle for equality. We then walked through the gardens surrounding the parliament buildings. It was more of an amble than a walk. Ambling was not Cynthia's thing. She likes to walk fast with a purpose. It was kinda funny! From there she took us to Camp Bay which is a suburb just north of CT ( I think) to this super Fu ky restaurant on the beach to have a light super and watch the sun go down. We never would have found it on our own. It was awesome. Lisa, if you are reading this thanks again and hopefully we can meet again! Lisa then drove us back to the hotel along the coast which was breathtaking. The other girls are out shopping at the mall next door. I was all mallee out so came back here to chill out. Tomorrow we start up the coast leaving beautiful Cape Town...but I will be back. No idea when but I will!