Thursday May 9, 2013
Today we take a 45 minute ferry ride to Robben Island where Mandela spent 17 years with Christian guarding him. At one point Winny Mandela smuggled in their infant granddaughter for Nelson to see. This prison held a lot of the political prisoners. It also was the home of a Leper colony. The males and females were kept separate for fear they would have offspring with Leprosy. There is a cemetery where a lot of them are buried. The prison was closed in 1995. In 1991 Parliament and the prisoners negotiated for freedom. This went on for three years and in 1994 SA went from Apartheid to Democracy. During WWII, Robben Island was a military base because of its ability to protect Allied troops. We take the ferry back to Cape Town for another tour of a diamond factory. This tour had a lot of interesting information about how the most famous diamonds were found and mined. We have the rest of the day to rest and shop. Dinner in our room, grilled cheese and salad. Yum.
Today we take a 45 minute ferry ride to Robben Island where Mandela spent 17 years with Christian guarding him. At one point Winny Mandela smuggled in their infant granddaughter for Nelson to see. This prison held a lot of the political prisoners. It also was the home of a Leper colony. The males and females were kept separate for fear they would have offspring with Leprosy. There is a cemetery where a lot of them are buried. The prison was closed in 1995. In 1991 Parliament and the prisoners negotiated for freedom. This went on for three years and in 1994 SA went from Apartheid to Democracy. During WWII, Robben Island was a military base because of its ability to protect Allied troops. We take the ferry back to Cape Town for another tour of a diamond factory. This tour had a lot of interesting information about how the most famous diamonds were found and mined. We have the rest of the day to rest and shop. Dinner in our room, grilled cheese and salad. Yum.
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