Two Fortresses in Cape Town

I am in the middle wearing a babushka!

The great thing about having visitors from the US is that you get to see some of the more famous tourist destinations right in your own city. There are New Yorkers who have never been to the Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island except maybe once when they immigrated themselves through it. I think I only visited the Statue of Liberty twice in my life. Once on a school trip and once with visitors to New York.

The same goes in South Africa. Many of the locals have even commented that Vince and I have seen more of South Africa than most South Africans.Typical.

I could visit the Apartheid Museum, Lilieslief and the Cradle of Humankind a million times in Joburg and never be bored. Likewise, I can go up by cable car to the top of Table Mountain or take the drive down to see the penguins and the Cape of Good Hope and back up Chapmans Peak Drive (stopping in of course at the Chapmans Peak Hotel for their delicious calamari) with as many visitors that care to come.

entrance to the castle with the bell tower in the background

But there are some tourist destinations I only want to do once, so I have a number of sights on reserve in Joburg and Cape Town for when visitors come. Such as the Castle of Good Hope and Robben Island in Cape Town.

pretty accurate

Cape Town's Iziko Castle of Good Hope is South Africa's oldest structure. Built between 1666-1679, the pentagon-shaped fortress replaced an earlier clay and timber fort erected by Commander Jan van Riebeeck himself in 1652. The Castle overlooks the Grand Parade and is considered the center of the Cape Town City Bowl.

the castle keep

There's a Military Museum, an exhibit of antique furniture, ceramic, glass and metal ware, and Dutch paintings. Inside the keep there is a working forge and a creepy dungeon.

the moat

The Castle entrance has a belfry which still houses the original bell cast in Amsterdam in 1697. And of course it wouldn't be a real castle without a moat.

Robben Island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site

the Dias transferred prisoners before tourists

Robben Island is a fortress of another kind altogether, meant to keep people in and not out like the Castle of Good Hope. As early as 1636 Robben Island served as a penal settlement. Over time, it has been a leper colony, a military base and in 1960, it was taken over by the South African Prisons Service for use as a prison for some of South Africa's most famous political prisoners such as Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, and Ahmed Kathrada.

Once the ferry from Cape Town lands at the dock on Robben Island, you are escorted to a bus which drives you for a 45 minute tour around the island while a very knowledgeable tour leader gives you the history of the island through all of its iterations. You are then dropped off at the prison itself where you are turned over to a prison tour guide.

the prison courtyard

The actual prison is only one small part of the island. I thought it would be more like Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay which was a prison and only a prison. But interestingly, along with all its other uses, Robben Island was nominated by the South African Natural Heritage Foundation for its significance as a seabird breeding colony as it hosts more than 130 bird species.

Vince does the Soweto handshake with our guide

Our prison tour guide was a former Robben Island political prisoner. He had actually been a student during the Soweto Uprising in 1976. He was subsequently arrested and incarcerated for more than 14 years. His testimony and background offered a unique perspective on life as a prisoner on Robben Island.

Nelson Mandela's cell

the furnishings

many visitors were moved to tears

Mandela's garden

with our guide

Our friend Ric commented that there will be a real loss someday to this tour experience when the last political prisoner has passed and can no longer guide you through the prison. Their exuberant spirit of reconciliation and hope is seriously infectious and is an asset that simply cannot be duplicated by someone who did not experience for themselves the challenge of oppression and incarceration and the opportunity to see the hopes and dreams of their and their country's freedom actualized. They are a national treasure just as surely as are the Castle of Good Hope and Robben Island themselves.