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The day started with a rush. The ferry to Robben Island waits for nobody and fifty yards from the terminal building our guide got a call to say we had three minutes to board. We sprinted and made it in time for the start of an exceptional experience.The weather was fine with just enough waves to remind you that you are on a ferry on the sea and to listen to the safety instructions, and be thankful that the crew was professional and the trip uneventful.
After disembarkation, the passengers, who came from all over the world, were directed to buses where we met our guide and went for a drive round the island before the prison tour. The first thing we saw was the rabbits and the African penguins, which excited some of our group as much as anything else. There are thousands of rabbits all over the island and as cute as they are, they’re a big problem with no solution in sight yet.
Robben Island is famous for being the island prison where Nelson Mandela spent twelve of his 28 years as a political prisoner, but it has been an integral part of Cape Town life since the arrival of Jan van Riebeeck. According to our guide, the blue stone used to build the Castle, the oldest building still standing in South Africa, was quarried on the island.
In its early years of occupation, the island was also used as a leper colony. At that time the doctors thought leprosy was contagious and that babies may be borne with it. So people were separated according to sex and race. However, this did not stop 41 babies, who al turned out to be healthy, from being borne on the island. They were all adopted and found good homes with families on the main land.
The guides really knew their stuff – all the guides who take tourists through the jail itself, was political prisoners who had spent time there themselves. They included a lot of personal details – e.g. that there was some friction between the younger and older generations of political prisoners and how it was resolved – in the many decades of history which they covered in the three hours we were on the island.
We had to rush back to the ferry again, but we could have stayed much longer. It was a fascinating experience and we were impressed by the friendliness of everybody, which contrasted the obvious bleakness of the Mandela’s and the other cells, and the harsh life the prisoners experienced.
The ferry ride back to the main land was perfect. Most of us went upstairs and stood outside in the warm sun and light breeze and felt at peace and happy to be alive and free as we watched the waves pass and the white clouds in the blue sky.
Our lunch at Primi Piatti in the Waterfront had to be very quick – we had to get to the helicopter ride – but they did an exceptional job to prepare and serve fantastic food in a very short time. It’s a pity that we couldn’t spend more time there.
The guides really knew their stuff – all the guides who take tourists through the jail itself, was political prisoners who had spent time there themselves. They included a lot of personal details – e.g. that there was some friction between the younger and older generations of political prisoners and how it was resolved – in the many decades of history which they covered in the three hours we were on the island.
We had to rush back to the ferry again, but we could have stayed much longer. It was a fascinating experience and we were impressed by the friendliness of everybody, which contrasted the obvious bleakness of the Mandela’s and the other cells, and the harsh life the prisoners experienced.
The ferry ride back to the main land was perfect. Most of us went upstairs and stood outside in the warm sun and light breeze and felt at peace and happy to be alive and free as we watched the waves pass and the white clouds in the blue sky.
Our lunch at Primi Piatti in the Waterfront had to be very quick – we had to get to the helicopter ride – but they did an exceptional job to prepare and serve fantastic food in a very short time. It’s a pity that we couldn’t spend more time there.
For most of us the helicopter ride was a first. The people at Makana Aviation were professional and helpful to make us feel comfortable and safe. From the first piercing whistle and the noise of the engine and rotor, it was exciting and exhilarating. It was not at all what (rough and testing my nerves) I had expected.
The earphones muffled the noise effectively and the communication over the intercom was clear and easy. There was a little vibration, but the lift off was nice and easy like floating in a bubble higher and higher until you can’t make out people on the ground anymore. The view of Cape Town, Table Mountain, Twelve Apostles, sea and beaches, was spectacular and the sensation was like flying in a dream.
It was over too soon and we had to unstrap our shoulder harnesses and say goodbye to our (female!) pilot Kim. In Andrew’s words: “It was wicked!”
The earphones muffled the noise effectively and the communication over the intercom was clear and easy. There was a little vibration, but the lift off was nice and easy like floating in a bubble higher and higher until you can’t make out people on the ground anymore. The view of Cape Town, Table Mountain, Twelve Apostles, sea and beaches, was spectacular and the sensation was like flying in a dream.
It was over too soon and we had to unstrap our shoulder harnesses and say goodbye to our (female!) pilot Kim. In Andrew’s words: “It was wicked!”
For once we could take our time to get to the Two Oceans Aquarium for something completely different. We had been on the sea, flew over it and now we were going to see what goes on inside it.
Yvonne Benwell, Floo Manager, was there to meet us. We were actually earlier than planned and just in time for the weekly feeding of the sharks.
It was surreal to be a couple of meters away from two to three meter long predators –the most efficient in the sea – feasting on headless fish dished out by the divers, Herbie and Pierre, with only 26 centimetres of transparent plexi-something to protect us.
Later, Sophia and Charlie just had to crawl into the bubble in the middle of the tank of the colourful clown fish and become part of the display.
Watching the giant spider crabs, it was easy to imagine encountering one of them which grows up to one meter high with a leg span of four(!) meters and having to flee to avoid becoming its meal.
Near the touch pool where the brave can experience the silky smoothness of various types of anemones, was a microscope connected to television screen and we could see clearly the segments of a tiny worm, each with its own lung: If it breaks into five pieces, each segment stays alive!
We were enthralled past the display of penguins on the beach right up to the end when there was time for a quick coffee before moving onto the final adventure of the day, the sunset cruise.
The Tigresse is a beautiful white catamaran and the captain used the engine to navigate out of the harbour while the crew served champagne and handed out bright red blankets, which were very welcome when we left the harbour behind. A safe distance out, the sails were hoisted and the engine switched of.
Sitting outside in front of the main deck on the body of the boat in the glow of the setting sun, wrapped in the blankets, with just the sound of waves, it was easy to understand the attraction of such a trip. When we turned around, Table Mountain had a dollop of white cloud on it and there was a wall of cloud in amazing shades of white, grey and blue stretching all the way to the Hottentot Hollands Mountains.
We were very happy and relaxed when we returned to the Mandela Rhodes Hotel and very pleasantly surprised by an amazing desert on a feast of a day: An unsurpassable dinner, including for one of us, the best prawn curry ever.
Watching the giant spider crabs, it was easy to imagine encountering one of them which grows up to one meter high with a leg span of four(!) meters and having to flee to avoid becoming its meal.
Near the touch pool where the brave can experience the silky smoothness of various types of anemones, was a microscope connected to television screen and we could see clearly the segments of a tiny worm, each with its own lung: If it breaks into five pieces, each segment stays alive!
We were enthralled past the display of penguins on the beach right up to the end when there was time for a quick coffee before moving onto the final adventure of the day, the sunset cruise.
The Tigresse is a beautiful white catamaran and the captain used the engine to navigate out of the harbour while the crew served champagne and handed out bright red blankets, which were very welcome when we left the harbour behind. A safe distance out, the sails were hoisted and the engine switched of.
Sitting outside in front of the main deck on the body of the boat in the glow of the setting sun, wrapped in the blankets, with just the sound of waves, it was easy to understand the attraction of such a trip. When we turned around, Table Mountain had a dollop of white cloud on it and there was a wall of cloud in amazing shades of white, grey and blue stretching all the way to the Hottentot Hollands Mountains.
We were very happy and relaxed when we returned to the Mandela Rhodes Hotel and very pleasantly surprised by an amazing desert on a feast of a day: An unsurpassable dinner, including for one of us, the best prawn curry ever.
For more information please go to http://www.pandemonium.co.za
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