Robben Island

It was an early start after the boys first night of billeting and they all arrived at school for 7.30am with stories of the previous evening. We headed into Cape Town to the V&A waterfront where we caught the boat for the 30 minute ride out to Robben Island. The morning was stunning again with clear blue skies and the warmth of the sun beating down on us. On arrival at Robben Island we boarded a bus and met our tour guide for the first part of the excursion. Our guide took us around the island pointing out the various aspects of interest such as the Lepers graveyard explaining that people with leperacy were banished to the island. The tour continued highlighting areas of solitary confinement for the various political prisoners and how the island was used by the military during the Second World War to protect Cape Town. 

The next part of the tour was a tour of the maximum security prison where Nelson Mandela was held as a political prisoner #46664. Our guide was a former prisoner himself for 7 years and he was able to give the group an insight into what life was like during those years. He gave everyone a fantastic description and explanation before opening the floor to questions, some of the students asked excellent questions and all were enthralled by this opportunity. We were then shown around the rest of the prison and Mandela’s prison cell along with the garden he created in the court yard. The group responded superbly to this opportunity to see a major part of the history of South Africa.

Following a short boat trip back to the main land we let the boys loose on the V&A waterfront to get lunch in preparation for the matches versus Wynberg.