Prior to my visit my awareness of Robben Island was as the place of imprisonment of Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners. From my visit there I learnt that it was facility for holding all manner of prisoners over a long period of years and also for isolating other 'undesirables' including leprosy sufferers from the general community. The Island is now a Museum maintaining a memory of its former uses and misuses. A small community of workers and their families still live on the island. They have to travel the 11kms across the water for shopping and educational services.
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| Travel to the Island is via ferry from the Gateway located on the Cape Town waterfront |
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| Arriving on Robben Island |
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| The entry gate |
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| Entering the high security section |
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| Waiting for a presentation by a former high security inmate |
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| Everyone straining to see Mandela's cell |
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| Cape Town (11kms away) viewed from Robben Island |
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| Returning to Cape Town (ironically) on one of the ferries which used to transport prisoners to the Island |
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