Day 25

Day twenty five
Monday 10th February 2020
Current position
Holiday Inn Express
101 St Georges Mall
Cape Town City Centre
Cape Town
8000
South Africa
S 33°55.43046'
E 18°25.21572'

Ros is slowly recovering but the tablets are still making her feel sick. This morning we moved from the hostel to the Holiday Inn Express. We have chosen to move as time booked at the hostel was up and with no proper ensuite it was not the best. On checking out I told the lady owner that were not impressed and that my review would deal with it accordingly.
Of course we arrived early at the Holiday Inn so we checked in and  left our bags. We collected our thoughts and caught the bus to the Waterfront to book the ferry for a tour of Robben Island where Robert Sobukwe and Nelson Mandela were kept prisoner. Unfortunately the one o'clock tour was full so we booked for the three o'clock. After a quick coffee we hot footed it to the open top bus tour office and booked tomorrow's tour to Cape Point and the Cape of good hope. We then had just half an hour to down a doughnut for lunch before heading to the ferry for half two. After all the palava of scanning proof of identity checking tickets etc. we finally boarded just before three.
Robben Island is only seven kilometres across the bay from the Waterfront and took just half an hour in the large catamaran. On arrival we were bundled into coaches like prisoners for our tour of the Island. Our guide was a very serious man but had a glint in his eye. He told us that we were not there for a fun time as we'd come to learn that the fight for freedom is a very serious matter and should be treated with respect. The bus toured the small island where we saw the prison buildings as our guard explained the cramped conditions in which the prisoners were kept and where Nelson Mandela spent his last thirteen years. Our guide pointed to the little white Chapel where he wryly said this is where life sentences are still given to this day as people choose to get married here. The next wedding is in four days time on Valentines Day. We carried on to the furthest point where we left the coach to take photographs of Table Mountain with Cape Town stretching beneath it. We also caught a glimpse of a handful of penguins waddling on the beach.
Back on the coach we continued our tour to the lime quarry. One of the tourists made a flippant remark about the quarry and the guide sparked back that the prisoners were shackled in twos and worked from eight to three in the burning sun and returned to their cells with blisters and bloody hands you think that's funny do you? I told you this is a serious business. The following questions and remarks were of a much more sombre nature.
The guide also pointed out the cave at the quarry where the prisoners kept their hand tools and  the pile of stones and rocks which were started during a commemoration when Nelson Mandela bowed his head picked up a rock and placed it on the ground and the other dignatories followed his lead and the pile of stones has been there ever since.
The last part of the tour was on foot inside the prison cells lead by a man who was a prisoner during the nineteen eighties. He gave us a good insight into life as a prisoner including details of their meagre rations. The last visit of the tour was to the cell where Nelson Mandela spent his time in incarceration. It was interesting to know that once freedom was gained many of the prisoners  became leaders or officials in the South African Government. The final trek in the late but still hot afternoon sun was along the quayside back to the ferry which was fired up ready to take us back to the Waterfront.
On arrival it was a short walk to the clock tower bus stop but the next bus was half an hour away so we caught an Uber to the Holiday Inn where our room was waiting with a porter to carry our bags. We then had a quick turn round and were soon sitting out at the corner restaurant with a glass of wine in hand.