Robben Island Cape Town South Africa
By Gerald Crawford
Visit the island where Nelson Mandela (Madiba) was imprisoned for 11 years for his beliefs.
Robben Island is known the world over as a place of banishment exile, isolation and imprisonment. For nearly 400 years, colonial and apartheid rulers banished those they regarded as political troublemakers, social outcasts and the unwanted of society to this 575-hectare rocky outcrop in Table Bay.
The Island's unwilling inhabitants included; slaves; political and religious leaders who opposed Dutch colonialism in East Asia; troublesome local Khoikhoi and African leaders who resisted British expansion in South Africa; Leprosy sufferers and other sick and the mentally disturbed; French Vichy prisoners of war; and most recently, political opponents of the apartheid regime in South African and Namibia.
Robben Island's Most Famous Prisoner:
During the apartheid years Robben Island became internationally known for its institutional brutality. Some freedom fighters spent more than a quarter of a century in prison for their beliefs. Yet people such as Nelson Mandela emerged to lead South Africa to democracy, with a message of tolerance, reconciliation and hope.
Those imprisoned on the Island succeeded in turning a prison "hell-hole" into a symbol of freedom and personal liberation.
The Nelson Mandela Gateway to Robben Island:
The Robben Island visitor experience begins at the Nelson Mandela Gateway to Robben Island, at the Clock Tower Precinct inside Cape Town's V&A Waterfront.
The Gateway is the "mainland front door" to Robben Island, symbolising the importance of the island in South Africa's young democracy. The Gateway houses a 150-seater auditorium, boardrooms and a Robben Island Museum shop, among other facilities. Digital, interactive exhibition spaces on all three floors of the Gateway building provides the visitor with a historical context of Robben Island's Maximum Security Prison, as well as reflecting the broader span of the island's history.
Robben Island receives upwards of three hundred thousand visitors each year, with the highest percentage being South Africans. More than 95% of the visitors described their visit to Robben Island as a positive uplifting, eye-opening experience.
Gerald
About the Author
Gerald Crawford was born in South Africa, studied electronics, telecommunication, eco-travel and african travel concepts. He taught responsible tourism in South Africa. If you have any questions or comments please e-mail me on. E-mail Address: southafricantravelarticles@12234455.co.za Website Address: http://www.12234455.co.za