Robbens Island - An amazing and moving experience....

Getting on the boat to head to Robben Island finally. This is one of the places we have been wanting to see. Below is some history of the island I found:

Its name is the Dutch word for “seals,” once plentiful in the surrounding waters. The island was a common stopping point for passing ships in the 16th and early 17th centuries. After early efforts at settlement, it was made a Dutch and then a British penal colony. The island housed a leper colony from 1846 to 1931, and those judged insane were also sent there. A lighthouse was installed in 1864. Fortifications were erected during World War II, and from the mid-1960s to 1991 Robben Island served as South Africa’s maximum-security prison. Most inmates, including Nelson Mandela, were black men incarcerated for political offenses. The last of these prisoners were released in 1991. The island continued to serve as a medium-security prison for criminal offenders until 1996. In 1997 it was turned into a museum and declared a national monument, and in 1999 it received designation as a World Heritage site.

All the tour guides on the island are former political prisoners. It made it very personal and added a depth to the day.

The prisoners8 had to have their card on them at all times.

This is how letters from the outside would look like after the prison had cut out parts they deemed not acceptable

Our guide who served 7 years as a political prisoner ////////////////////////////////////

Cell

Yard for prisoners were allowed to have time outside

Nelson Mandela's cell

Mandela's cell

Laundry clothes line96