Robben Island Prison; Cape Town SA

[jerslice]

We visited the infamous Robben Island prison off the shore of Cape Town. The prison is most well known as the "home" of Nelson Mandela but also happened to house thousands of other political prisoners during Apartheid. The tour of the island lasts about three hours and is split into two parts. The first is a bus tour of the island including the medium security prison (for common criminals), guards town, and a handful of other stops. The second is a walking tour of the maximum security prison with a former political inmate.
Some selections:

Love letters sent home:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y96/jerslice356/RobbenIsland-1.jpg

Outside of one of the maximum security wings:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y96/jerslice356/RobbenIsland-5.jpg

Nelson Mandela's cell:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y96/jerslice356/RobbenIsland-7.jpg

Maximum security solitary confinement wing:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y96/jerslice356/RobbenIsland-1-3.jpg

View through the peephole into a communal wing:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y96/jerslice356/RobbenIsland-3.jpg

Our guide, center, describes life in a communal cell. On average 40 inmates shared this one space. They could expand to up to 60 however if they needed to. I counted the number of folks in our group for the tour: 42. Almost all of them are in the picture, plus a few more.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y96/jerslice356/RobbenIsland-1-2.jpg

[MarkLawrence]

Awesome Jeremy - my wife and I did that trip in 2003 - and - it was an incredible experience!!