Day 10

We were happy to find out that the Robben Island Ferry was up and running today!  We had a quick breakfast at the hotel and went straight to the tour centre.  The tour began at 9am and we were surprised to see a lot of people already lining up for the ferry at 8:30am.  We managed to make it on to the middle deck for the 30 min. ferry ride.  On board, they played a short video on the history of the island.

The island tour began with a bus ride around the island to see different buildings and key land marks.  Robben island was not always a prison. From the mid 1800's through to the mid 1930's is was used as a leper colony.  In a way though, the island was sort of a prison for the people with leprosy as they were not allowed to leave.  This is a picture of the Leper Cemetery.

We stopped at the limestone quarry which was used as hard labour of maximum security prisoners.  The rock was broken from the quarry manually, and then broken down into smaller pieces to be used as road gravel.  The conditions were harsh.  Limestone dust caused lung damage and the rock was blindingly bright in sunlight.  The only shelter they had was a small cave.

At the entrance to the Quarry, there was a large pile of rocks.  In 1995, ex-political prisoners attended a reunion on Robben Island.  After delivering a speech, Nelson Mandela picked up a rock and placed it on the ground.  All other former political prisoners followed suit.

We stopped for photos and got this shot of Table Mountain from Robben Island.

Our next stop was the actual prison.  The tours of the prison are lead by ex-political prisoners.  We walked through each section of the prison while listening to stories told by our tour leader.

Unfortunately our camera battery ran out when we finally got to Nelson Mandela's prison cell :(

After the ferry ride back, we went straight to a camera shop and bought a second battery :)  Then we had lunch at The Fish Market and cabbed it to Table Mountain.

The cable ride up Table Mountain was kinda freaky!  Super steep up the mountain and the floor of the cable car rotated so that everyone could have a 360 view going up.

The view from the top was breathtaking.

There was a table cloth cloud starting to roll in from one side so we headed straight for it.  There were times when we were totally surrounded by clouds!  Pretty crazy!

We then walked to the other side where the cloud hadn't reached yet.  This side of the mountain had a great view of the city and waterfront.

Here's a pic of Robben Island from Table Mountain:

The table cloth began to roll over so we decided to head on down in case the wind picks up and there's a mad dash for the cable car ride down.

Table Mountain from Yvonne Chan on Vimeo.

For dinner, we went to Africa Cafe.  The food was so good!  The menu is a little different.  It's a set menu and they bring out a little it of each dish.  Once you're done the round of dishes, you can order more of any dish - if you still have room!  We were stuffed after the first round.

The nice thing about this place is if you stay a little later, the staff go around performing african songs and dances in each room.  It was so amazing!  Oh and they walked around and did face painting!

Africa Cafe from Yvonne Chan on Vimeo.

Tomorrow is our last day in Cape Town.  We're going to jump on a tour bus and tour the city and then enjoy a dinner by the water and watch the sunset :)