Before traveling to South Africa, I read Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom. This was really helpful in getting a better understanding of apartheid in South Africa. Visiting Robben Island is a very emotional experience, especially for black South Africans, many of which have traveled a long way to make this visit to Robben Island. Outside the Robben Island Museum (Veronika Sieben)
You board a ferry that takes you from the water front to the island in about 40 minutes. After arriving, you form two groups to tour the island. One group starts with the prison, and the other begins with the island itself. We began with the prison. All of the tour guides are former prisoners themselves who have returned to the island. The guide explains the ins and outs of day to day life in the prison, including the block system and separation of prisoners. For example, F block housed the criminals, while B block head all the political leaders. Entrance to Robben Island (Veronika Sieben) Our guide, a former prisoner of Robben Island describes the harsh conditions (Veronika Sieben)
You can tell that discussing what happened in the prison is difficult for the guides, however our guide said that it has been the best place way for him to deal with the anger and memories of being imprisoned on Robben Island. Guides live and work on the island. Today, former prisoners are even neighbors with some of their former white guards. The ability for today’s residents of Robben Island to live peacefully among each other is largely a goal for the rest of the country. Cell block at Robben Island (Veronika Sieben)
After viewing some of the larger cell blocks, you move into the single cell confinement where Nelson Mandela was kept. Political leaders were kept completely separate from the rest of the prisoners, even during recreational time. They had their own enclosed garden for reaction so that they couldn’t converse with the other prisoners. This is where Nelson Mandela hid the drafts of his autobiography. Courtyard for political leaders at Robben Island (Veronika Sieben)
Robben in Afrikaans means seals. The island was originally named after the seals that inhabited it and has seen many uses before it became a prison. It was once used as a stopping point for ships passing by and was also home a leper colony. Some of the building from this leper colony are still surviving, however many of them were burned. When touring the island you see the former guards’ homes, the remaining buildings from the leper colony, the church, and the quarry. Even after the quarry was no longer producing stone, the prisoners would have to haul piles of rocks back and forth as a form of humiliation. Despite this, the quarry was also a place of hope. In the cave of the quarry, educated prisoners would hold reading lessons as well as have political discussions away from the ears of the guards. Thus, the cave became named the University of Robben Island.
While the experience is heavy, Robben Island leaves you with strong feelings of hope for the country of South Africa.
The holiday of a lifetime. The company is Alaksa-owned and thhat makes a big difference to the experineces you get i.e. meet genuine First Nations tribes people. The amount of wildlife was beyond my expectation, and seeing everything on sucha small, intimate boat made it even more spoecial and unique.
Liz O
7 hours ago
Adventure Life covered all the details in planning our trip to Ireland. Any questions we had were answered immediately. Any trip glitches, which always happen when traveling, were resolved immediately. There were no worries, just fun!
Kathleen Weller
22 hours ago
It was an outstanding, up-close, educational vacation of nature, culture, history, animals and geology! It was everything they promised! Binoculars were plentiful on the boat, but I'm glad I brought my own. Food was excellent. Rooms had black-out shades. Pack/wear multiple layers of clothing (I carried a small backpack when off the ship). Crew were delightful and very accommodating! Remember to jump FEET FIRST first when taking the optional polar plunge! Spend as much time outdoors as you are able and ENJOY!!!
Janet Dutton
5 days ago
Excellent travel advice and service
This is my second experience working with Adventure Life. I’m sold. Jess Heuermann is an experienced traveler and provides a lot of useful information when planning a trip. These are the questions I like to ask at the outset - What’s it like to go here, there, what would you suggest, what do people report, can we add any additional side trips? Jess took the time to answer my questions and seek additional information to share with me. Petchie Colina is outstanding in helping with travel logistics and final preparations. Adventure Life has excellent guides and offers private guides and small group adventures. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the guides and drivers to learn more about their countries, cultures and histories. A highlight was having the guides pick local restaurants where we could share meals together. Highly recommend.
Claire Cordon
6 days ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.