We were bussed around the island to see the main sights, like Robert Sobukwe’s little house, the leper colony, and the lime quarry. This is where most of the apartheid prisoners spent their days. Many of them were doctors and lawyers and therefore unused to manual labour. Some of the wardens used to urinate in their mouths if they were found slacking. However, Nelson Mandela encouraged the ANC prisoners to befriend the wardens.

The most moving part of the visit is the tour of the actual prison, which is conducted by a former inmate. After the tour, you are allowed about half an hour to wander around the cells yourself. In some of the cells there are recollections of former prisoners–-one that stuck with me was an inmate who took great pride in making clothing pegs, as they were not allowed them. I would have loved more time to meander around the cells. I also missed the penguin colony. Despite the slightly rushed nature of the tour, it really does ‘bring history to life’. Go--and if you can, read Mandela’s autobiography Long Walk to Freedom before you visit.

This flat, rocky island lays about 11km north of Cape Town in the icy Atlantic Ocean. Composed mainly of blue slate, it is only 30m above sea level at its highest point. None of the trees on the island are indigenous. The endangered migrant bird species Caspian Tern breeds on the northern part of the island.

The Governor’s House is a fine example of Victorian architecture, dating back to 1895, and was originally the home of the Island Commissioner. Today it serves as a conference centre and provides upmarket accommodations for visiting dignitaries and VIPs.

Robben Island served as a place of banishment from 1658, when Jan van Riebeeck sent his interpreter here. The maximum-security prison was completed in 1964. In the 18th century, the Dutch East India Company sent high-ranking princes and sheikhs from India, Malaysia, and Indonesia to Robben Island for inciting resistance against their European overlords. The British banished rebellious Xhosa rulers to the island in the early 1800s. And in 1963, Nelson Mandela and seven other political activists were condemned to life imprisonment here by the South African government. Mandela spent 27 years of his life here in exile, in a cell 5x5 metres square. He was released in 1990.

The Church of the Good Shepherd, designed by Sir Herbert Baker, is a stone church built by lepers in 1895 for use by men only. The worshippers had to stand or lie down because there were no pews.

Political prisoners were required to work in the lime quarry for at least six hours a day and suffered damage to their eyesight, due to constant dust and the glare of sunlight on the stark white lime cliffs.

The lighthouse on the island, built in 1863, replaced the fire beacons in use up until then. It's 18m high, with a beam that can cover a distance of 25km.

Boats/catamarans/ferries to the island depart from Jetty 1 (Nelson Mandela Gateway) from in front of the V&A Waterfront's Clock Tower every hour from 9am to 6pm, except 4pm. You need to join a tour group, and entry is closed on days when the wind is high or the sea is rough. The boat ride takes about 30 minutes and the guided tour about two hours, with a former inmate acting as tour guide.

Costs: about 150 Rand per adult; children at half price.
Tel: (021) 419-1300 or (021) 411-1006
Email: info@robben-island.co.za

Robben Island was originally a prison colony for rebellious slaves before it became he place the white rulers of South Africa sent anti-apartheid political prisoners. Today it is preserved as a museum whose guides are all former inmates. The tour is a must-do activity for any visit to Cape Town because it provides valuable insight into the brutality the apartheid government employed to suppress dissent, and the impressive ways the prisoners found to use the experience for their benefit. It is fascinating to see the political culture that developed from their attitudes toward incarceration. They turned the prison into a university, making sure that each inmate grew in knowledge and understanding. This would later contribute to making the revolution so astonishingly humane and free from reprisal.

Ironically, most black South Africans have not visited this amazing historical site. One obstacle for the blacks and Cape coloreds is the cost: 150 rand for adults and 75 rand for children. This is a very large sum for poor families to pull together. The museum does offer discounts during the winter months, which apply only to the 9 am ferry.

It was proclaimed a UN World Heritage Site in 1999 and the state now runs guided tour trips, starting at the Mandela Gateway embarkation point, every day on the hour between 9am until 3pm. There’s currently an exhibition of Mandela’s Island lithographs in the building named after him. The catamaran to the Island takes about 30 minutes and then you’re split into two groups, one of which takes a bus tour round the Island to visit its oldest sites – the lepers’ colony and graveyard and church, and the lime quarry where political prisoners mined stones (and conducted their private ANC meetings!). Accompanying each group is an ex-prisoner to give a first-hand rundown of what it was like to be incarcerated here. You’ll then swap into the care of another guide to continue on foot around the prison itself, visiting an average "cell" (one of four, each of which held about 320 men, who in the early days slept on thin mats in sardine fashion). The other group takes the Maximum Security prison first and then the bus trip round the Island.

The guides preface their talks by explaining that they are open to questions but that there are some subjects on which they can’t comment and questions they choose not to answer, but these are few and far between and they’re happy to discuss how they came to be incarcerated and their experiences inside -– undeniably, understandably, perhaps inevitably, there’s some lasting bitterness -- when you hear stories about how the authorities manipulated correspondence with the outside world and the forms of physical and psychological punishment which were meted out (now verified by confessions to the Truth and Reconciliation Committee), it’s hardly surprising and you cannot but be disgusted.

Mandela’s cell is the last "highlight," though in fact it’s identical to 100 others. The tour finishes on an upbeat note, explaining that, while Robben Island has a terrible and desperately sad history, prisoners succeeded in their demands for educational correspondence courses (ironically, their prison warders joined them in their learning) and came out knowing better how to manage South Africa’s future, and displaying photos of subsequent reunions of prisoners who are now leaders.

The tour takes about 3.5 hours and costs 150R pp. Book tickets in advance if you desperately want a specific timed tour. Don’t expect to be able to wander on your own – you’re currently kept with your tour group; however, our guide suggested that the Island is shortly going to open a hotel/conferences centre for overnight stays, which might mean some more freedom of movement lies ahead. At the ticket office and on the Island are gift shops with memorabilia.