I awoke a bit before the sun this morning at about 7:15 am. Updated my blog and had breakfast at the hotel - Peter made "deluxe french toast" for me with brown sugar and real Canadian maple syrup - it was yummy - along with fried ham. Then I got a taxi and went to the Clock Tower at the Waterfront to catch the ferry to Robben Island. Seems that the winds have calmed down and the ferry is finally running. I didn't have any trouble getting on the 10 am ferry even though the ferry hadn't been running for several days - it is the off season.
I learned that Robben is a Dutch word meaning penquin - and there are penguins and lots of other wild life on Robben Island so hence the name. Robben Island has been used for "outcasts" for 600 years. Originally as an island for lepers, it later became a penal colony for those convicted of crimes and then for political prisoners during aparteid. I had never heard of Robert Sobukue but I learned a lot about him. He was held here after he led a nation wide protest against what they called the "Stupid Laws" because they were totally discriminatory and stupid. The Parliament met in special session to pass laws just for him and they banished him to Robben Island to a small house and he was not allowed to speak to anyone for 7 years. Once he contracted lung cancer they let him go home but then passed a law prohibiting him from speaking to more than 3 people at a time - yet he had a wife and 3 children. Again, a Stupid Law!
We took a bus tour of the island and given a very informative narrative by a black man (sorry, they prefer to be called colored) who was so knowledgeable of the history. He spoke with a beautiful British accent - although I'm sure this must be a South African dialect of some sort.
Then the HIGHLIGHT of the day for me - and the highlight of my trip to South Africa - we got to meet with a former political prisoner who was held on Robben Island for 7 years during the time that Nelson Mandela was imprisoned there. He described life as a political prisoner and took us to a community prison. He then took us to Nelson Mandela's small cell (#5) where he spent 18 of his 27 years in prison. So very small - a mat to sleep on, a pail to use for the toilet, and hard labor in the limestone quarry every day. This was a very emotional and moving experience for me. It is hard for me to describe the emotions that I was feeling.
The prison was set up hierarchically. The most important (higher profile) prisoners like Mandela were kept in these private cells in B Section while others were kept in communal rooms that housed as many as 40 prisoners in a space designed for no more than 20 human beings. This is such a human tragedy and yet it continues today (Dafur is the current topic of conversation in Africa and in other parts of the world). We saw the quarry where Mandela mined rock for years and years - and this affected his eyesight. (I understand that Mandela is in failing health and can hardly walk these days - but all of the people of South Africa love him for what he accomplished).
I got to see lots of wildlife roaming around the island including very small penguins - they were so cute. This was such an informative and educational day for me on Robben Island - a lot for me to think about and absorb as I was totally oblivious about what had happened here. The ferry left late to go back to the Cape Town Waterfront. I stopped by the ATM to get taxi money and then went back to the hotel to freshen up before leaving for the hotel.
Peter at The Amsterdam has been so hospitable and friendly. He has made me feel welcome and has made things so easy for me to arrange. He is a great ambassador for South Africa and taught me a lot. He gave me a going away present - a great bottle of wine for Tim and I to enjoy - so thoughtful. Thanks Peter.
One of the small pleasures in visiting South Africa is the ability to drink and use the tap water. Cape Town was originally founded by the traders who were taking spices from India and Indonesia back to Britain and other countries. Cape Town developed as a supplies port since it was about half of the way and it had plentiful and a clean water supply. Cape Town got its start in the 1600's (long before the Suez Canal made the journey much shorter).
So my travels ends with another crazy taxi ride from town to the airport. I was getting all packed up and Peter came to me and told me that I needed to leave immediately as there was a massive traffic jam on the way to the airport. Massive is an understatement. My trip took 2 hours and should have been about 35-40 minutes. The city was in gridlock - totally and completely. The drivers were blocking the intersections and everyone was frustrated and it was getting close to rush hour when the workers head home so I needed to get out of the city fast. My taxi driver was a real trooper - he was fuming behind the wheel as we sat still for so long. He finally took off to places that I can only imagine where we were. He explained to me that the roads are not designed or built right (where I have heard and seen this about South Africa before). At the major intersection of the 2 major highways, a tractor trailer with 25 tons of fish overturned and snarled traffic all day - this one accident spilled over into the entire city. This accident happened this morning and they are just now dealing with it. Organization and planning are an obvious issue in South Africa.
So my taxi driver finally got me through the city and onto the highway but it was snarled. So after a while he headed onto the back roads. He later told me that he was bypassing the major intersection where the accident happened. That actually was a good strategy and we got to the highway past the accident site and things took off. But I got to see some things along the way. They have these vans that carry workers from home to work and back. They are designed for about 12-14 people. We saw several of them where the axles had broken - the taxi driver explained to me that they overload them with 18-20 people and it is too much weight so the entire axle cracks and the van falls on the ground - apparently happens all of the time! Then we passed a huge shanty town out near the airport - shantys as far as I could see. I wondered if these were descendants from District Six? They were built one after the other out of anything that the people can get. This was also an eye-opening experience for me. How fortunate we have it. Everything is truly relative. When I get down the next time, I may just think of this Cape Town Shanty Town and think about the plight of the people who live there. Amazing. Such an eye-opening experience for me. I'm glad I came here.
My taxi driver got me to the airport in just over 2 hours - and I tipped him VERY well. They hate Americans for doing that but he truly went above and beyond and I would still be sitting in traffic had he not been resourceful. He got a porter with a cart for me and off I went to check in, security, customs and even had time to go to the First Class lounge for a "winding down drink of Scotch" (actually 2!) before my departure to London. This will be an long overnight flight to London so I'm planning to have a couple of drinks, enjoy a movie, eat a nice dinner, and then sleep for about 7 hours - we arrive in London at 6:30 am tomorrow.
So, so long, for now, to South Africa. Tim wants to come here so I'm sure we'll find our way back here at some point in the future as I continue to explore our world.
Larry
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