One of my most memorable times in my life was my amazingly wonderful trip to South Africa. It was my wife and I’s first major trip and we wanted to go somewhere off the beaten track, that is to say we did not want to go to Europe or North America. We did many things in our two weeks in country but my most memorable day was our trip to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was held prisoner for 18 years. South Africa is such a beautiful and diverse country it is hard to imagine that barely 20 years ago it was home to one the most oppressive governments in the world.
We started out our day by catching the first ferry at 9 am to the Robben Island which allowed us to see some spectacular views of the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront as well as Table Mountain and the bay. After are arrival we were separated into groups to tour the Island, I noticed that they had a small colony of penguins which to me for whatever reason seemed ironic due to the history of the island. I later found out that the penguin colony is actually considered one of the attractions of the island. The tour was a long and emotional one lasting nearly 4 hours, which included an hour bus ride around the island as well touring some of the former facilities.
The most amazing thing that brought the whole experience together was the fact our tour guide was a former ‘resident’ of the island, that is to say that he once was imprisoned there. Being able to talk to him and learn about his experiences really brought to reality the brutality of Apartheid, he told us of his 12 hour days breaking rocks and not being able to see his family for months sometimes years on end and how they survived by having faith in their cause as well as god. By the end there was nary a dry eye in the room. Upon our return we decided to find a wine bar and have a nice glass of wine with some olives, bread, and cheese to take time to pause and reflect upon all we had learned and experienced that day. It was a day I would never trade for anything and I hope as many people as possible are able to experience something of the same magnitude.
