CliveDay 3: Cape Town-Table Mountain and Robbens Island

Day 4: Capetown- Table Mountain and Robben Island

We woke this morning to yet another outstanding day, bright blue skies, temps in the 60's and no wind.  Today, our challenge was to climb Table Mountain, the 3080 ft flat topped iconic mountain that dominates the city. There are several trails to the top as well as a gondola, which allows anyone with enough cash to get to the top for the spectacular views. The trail head that we took was only 15 min from the hotel.  Rick and Harriet took the hard way up when they arrived a day before us, a trek that took about 5 hours. I'm glad we did the wimpy trail today.   It was, without exaggeration straight up from the get go. It was 3  hours of hell.  But as usual with hard hikes, the views were well worth it.  (Marty, almost as hard as Nevis Peak!!).  

Clive waiting for us as usual- Legs like Brendan!

On the way up, we spotted  several wild flowers including Protea and Erica, as well as a sunbird.  I schlepped my long lens just to get a photo of a sunbird, so I was thrilled to not have schlepped in vain.

 The last small pitch to the top required the use of permanent chains to pull ourselves up.  I was happy to use my arms, 'cause the legs were spent. 

  After several victory pictures and photos of the Peninsula,  we rode the gondola down. 

The gondola was interesting in that it had a central platform that was stationary (which Suzanne appreciated) and an outer ring that rotated as we descended.. It allowed for everyone in the car to get an equally bad view.  But it was quick and allowed us to get back to the hotel in time for a quick change of clothes, apples, and a quick walk to the Robben Island Ferry, only 3 min walk from the Victoria and Albert Hotel.

Robben Island is an island in Table Bay, 7 km west of the coast of Cape Town. The name is Dutch for "seal island". Robben Island is roughly oval in shape, 3.3 km long north-south, and 1.9 km wide. We boarded a small whale watching boat instead of the normal ferry because there were insufficient riders to use the big boat (which looked pretty nice).  I this was meant to give us a taste of what it was like to be a political prisoner on there way to incarceration.  

The ride over was pleasant even though the boat was a bit worn.  On the way, we saw seals and flocks of cormorants.  On landing, we were loaded onto buses for a tour of the island before visiting the prison.  Robben Island had been a detention or isolation center since the the 17th century.  It was initially home to political prisoners, then in 1845 it became a leper colony, then back to a political prison.  During WW II, a gun battery was installed to help protect Cape Town.  

There is also a considerable amount of wildlife including both an African penguin and a tern breeding grounds.  Cormorants and seals are also plentiful.

The main event here, though, was the prison which held many political prisoners that fought against the apartheid regime during the 1950's until 1991, most notably, Nelson Mandela.  We all had the feeling that this was a holy shrine for black people, with guides (who were ex-prisoners on Robben Island) speaking of him with reverence and almost holy qualities.  Mandela served 17 years of his 23 year imprisonment on Robben Island in a 4x6 cell. 

  It was fascinating speaking to the guide who gave a 1st hand account of life as a political prisoner. Sadly, he and many other guides have to live on Robben Island for financial reasons.

The trip back was beautiful with the light becoming soft and warm, lighting table mountain the whole way back.

Tomorrow we are planning to visit Langa township, the South African Jewish Museum, and have atour of the city. Godfried, our driver from the airport, will be our guide.  He was born and still lives in Langa, so this should be very interesting.