Grand Africa Cruise Trip Day 32/96 - Cape Town South Africa, Robben Island, and the 33% mark
Today marks the 33% point, the ⅓ point, one-third of the way through this three-month journey. It also marks the 65th anniversary of my appearance on this planet. So with all that said, let's get on with today's activities.
This morning, we docked in Cape Town, South Africa, our 93rd country.
South Africa required a face-to-face immigration process, so that was our first order of business. We headed off the ship, retrieved our passports from the ship's crew, went through immigration - stamp/stamp, and then returned to the ship. We stowed our passports in the room as we'll have to do this again in Durban in a few days. Then, we went and grabbed a quick breakfast. They knew it was my birthday and made me feel special.
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| Special heart-shaped pancakes |
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| They even treated us to a special elixir - a 2024 vintage that was lovely (it was Coke Zero - our preferred morning go-juice) |
Afterward, we got our stuff in order and headed to the Grand Salon for our 9:45 gathering time. In short order, our group #2 was called and we headed off the ship for the ten-minute walk to the waterfront.
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| Sailing out of Cape Town |
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| Table Mountain on the left - when it is covered with clouds, it is said to have a tablecloth |
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| The soccer stadium used for the 2010 World Cup |
About 45 minutes later, we arrived at Robben Island. Robben Island was a former leper colony and it later was converted to a jail for violent criminals. It is best known, as the place where South African Apartheid leaders imprisoned political dissidents who opposed Apartheid. The most famous of those imprisoned here was Nelson Mandela. When Apartheid fell in the early 1990s and the prisoners were freed, they chose rather than demolish it, to turn it into a national landmark and museum. It has since been named a UNESCO World Heritage site. They use it as a vehicle to educate new generations so the decades of ignorance that created it will never happen again.
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| Graves from the leper colony |
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| A cave at a stone quarry where prisoners were forced to do hard labor |
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| A pile of stones referred to as a remembrance monument - Mandela placed a stone here and started it when he was freed |
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| A church used by workers |
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| Another church |
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| A school that was used for workers' children |
We made a brief stop at the south end of the island, looking back toward Cape Town and Table Mountain.
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| They have a colony of African penguins that call the island home |
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| One of these things is not like the other...it is an African Oystercatcher |
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| Robben Island Lighthouse |
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| Table Mountain shed the tablecloth and made an appearance |
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| West African crested tern |
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| Cormorants |
We continued the tour, finally arriving at the prison itself.
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| The Moturu Kramat is a sacred site for Muslims on Robben Island, built in 1969 to commemorate Sayed Adurohman Moturu, the Prince of Madura who was banished to Robben Island and died on the island in 1754 - it is a place of pilgrimage for Muslims |
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| Our guide, Derick Basson, was a political prisoner here on Robben Island - he delivered a very personal talk, not just about what happened here but what happened personally to him |
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| The stones used to build the structure were hand-mined and cut by prisoners as a form of hard labor |
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| A group cell housed about 30 prisoners |
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| For years, there were no cots - prisoners slept on these thin mats on concrete floors |
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| After repeated protests by the Red Cross, more humane cots were installed |
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| Bare sustenance meals varied based on your nationality |
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| This was in a yard between buildings |
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| This is B-Section, where Nelson Mandela was held |
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| Mandela's window is to the left of the rain gutter - Derick said the windows were welded shut and painted black |
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| Approaching Mandela's cell on the right |
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| The sleeping mats were removed during the day so there was nothing comfortable to sit on - prisoners were held in cells 23 hours a day and then they spent one hour on hard labor - these single cells were not desirable as you had no interaction with others at all |
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| The island was fortified during WWII but never had to use its guns |
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This was known as the Long Walk to Freedom
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We boarded a smaller and much faster ship and made the 30-minute trip back to Cape Town. We walked around the vibrant waterfront and looked around.
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| There is a retail area called The Silos - the buildings were built to resemble grain silos that used to stand in the port |
We returned to the room and found that our stewards had been busy.
We were supposed to join some Aussie friends for dinner at Solis as he and I share a birthday. After the reservation was made, they discovered that their tour today wouldn't get back until late. We moved our joint birthday dinner at Solis to tomorrow and Arlona and I kept the reservation at Solis tonight.
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| Once again, Arlona had a stunning dessert that was too pretty not to capture |
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| Clouds rolling in again |
We watched the crew disconnect, raise, and stow the gangway around 10:00 as we prepared to sail. Around midnight or perhaps a little later, we will round the Cape of Good Hope at the south end of the Cape peninsula. That means we will have sailed around both the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn, something sailors held in high regard.
It's been a wonderful birthday but it is now coming to a close. We will be at sea for the next two days until we reach our next port, Durban, South Africa on December 30.
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