Today was a heck of a lot of fun, but my feet are so tired from walking around... Today we went to Cape Town, shopped on the Waterfront and took the ferry to Robben Island. For those of you who do not know, Robben Island is the place where Nelson Mandela, one of the prime leaders in the opposition of apartheid, was imprisoned for 18 years. He was sentenced to life in prison, yet was released in 1990 after 27 years of imprisonment. It was really powerful going into the prison and seeing the place that so many political prisoners were held. The cells were so tiny, the restrooms were cramped and dirty looking, and our tour guide told us stories about what it was like to be a prisoner there, considering he was one himself. We got to the island via ferry, which was really rocky at times, but provided really good views of Cape Town, Robben Island and Table Mountain.On the way back we were sitting out on the back of the ferry, with the ocean water spraying everywhere. So we got pretty wet on the way back.
Coming into Cape Town we saw a lot of townships, which was really hard to see.... It went on for miles alongside the road, all these shacks practically on top of one another, no privacy and no space. It is horrible to think that so many people live that way here...
I had a lot of fun on the Waterfront. We had fish and chips for lunch, which was so delicious, and the view of Table Mountain was incredible. It's like there is a smoke machine sitting on the top of the mountain, because the clouds just hover there right at the top. It is really spectacular to see. I learned today that Table Mountain is now considered to be one of the seven wonders of the world, and it is easy to see why.
Loads of pictures on Facebook for everyone to see, but here are a few :)
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