From the 17th to the 20 centuries, Robben island served as a place of banishment, isolation and imprisonment. Not a very desirable idea for a tourist attraction then, and the bumpy boat ride itself proved to be something of an ordeal. But Robben island was an experience I will never forget, and is one of the top tourist attractions the world has to offer.
The island is in Table Bay, just off he coast of Cape town, South Africa. The name is dutch for Seal Island- explaining the enormous numbers of seals that inhabit the various rock peaks surrounding the island. In 1997 the island and the former prison were converted into a museum the entire six square kilometre Island is now a UN world Heritage Site.But more importantly, perhaps, it is also a symbol of freedom to the African people. Robben Island is where Nelson Mandela and many other political prisoners spent decades incacerated during the apartheid era in Africa. When I visited the Island I was unaware of the history of apartheid. Boarding the ferry I was excited to be going on a day trip away from my teaching job in South Africa. However this excitement was replaced with a feeling of awkwardness once I reached the Island. When we arrived we were met by ‘Jimmy’. He gave us a brief introduction to the Island but I was shocked when he told us that he himself soeant nearly ten years imprisoned on Robben Island with Nelson Mandela. All the tour guides on the Island are former prisoners, which has the effect of amplifying the tension and struggle you feel walking around the site. Arriving on the island we were shown various places of historical importance, including the lime quarry where many prisoners endured long hours of tough physical labour. To the right of the quarry remains a small pile of rocks and this is where we were first told of Nelson Mandela. In 1995 over one thousand ex political prisoners attended a reunion on Robben island. As they left the prisoners added a rock to a reunion cairn, which had been started by Nelson Mandela. Something so basic that carries such significance is part of the spiritual experience of the island. 
Walking through the prison gates a folorn yet tranquil atmosphere hits you and the island, once a haven for seals and ocean birds, feels strangely haunting. The prison was originally a dumping ground for exiles and criminals after the Dutch seized south Africa in the 17th century. Criminals, prostitutes outcasts lepers and the mentally ill were all sent here and subjected t much cruelty and abuse. The high stone walls, sand yards and long corridors are reaking with stories of pain and suffering and that’s even before we reach the main body of the former prison. The island was turned into a maximum-security prison in 1961 and jimmy tells us we will begin the footsteps of Mandela tour in the notorious B section of the prison. Mandela’s cell is open, sparse and empty. We are directed to the carving of his name on right hand wall. The celebrated freedom fighter spent the majority of his 18 year sentence in these four walls between 1964 to 1982 and the spooky atmosphere brings the whole crowd of on lookers to silence. The meagreness of prison life is communicated through jimmy’s stories of his life on the island. Although outside the air is very dry and crisps inside the prison I feel a cold tingle at the thought of spending 28 years of my life here. 
In the A section is the cell stories exhibition, which describes the very basic life of the prisoners. Former prisoners have lent items and jimmy points us to a working saxophone crafted by an inmate during his time in confinement. In the late 1980’s inmates managed to smuggle cameras onto the island. The photos displayed around the exhibition depict the true solidarity of the prisoners and the hope they gave each other that it would soon be over. Jimmy is completely unfased by the fact by the fact he is walking around somewhere that used to be his “home” for one of the worst part of his life. However he describes the site as an example of “the triumph of the human spirit, of freedom and of democracy over oppression”. But the experience for me has been overwhelming and enlightening. Jimmy, and the other guides provides a reality which would be unachievable had they not been ex-prisoners. The prisoners succeeded on a psychological and political level in turning a hellhole into a symbol of freedom and freedom and personal liberation and this is really brought to life through the various stops around the tour. The prison and the island is now very barren and lifeless, however the images, testimonies and stories illustrated around the museum are what makes the island an unmissable experience. View Larger Map
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