Friday, August 20, 2010

Robben Island and Simons Town

Cape Town, the jewel of South Africa. We spent several days in the quasi-capital city and wish we had more time. The city is situated on a large peninsula that jets out into the Atlantic ocean with table mountain gracing its background in picture book form. 
We rode the ferry out to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela and many apartheid era activists were held prisoner. The ride was a bit foggy and cold but we enjoyed the views of Cape Town.
Epic view of Cape Town with Table mountain
Entrance to Robben Island. 
This was our guide through the prison. He was held there as a political prisoner for 7 years during the late 80's.
This is the menu the prisoners were held to. The prison was exclusively for black people, coloured people (mixed race), and Indians. The black people were given the poorest treatment of all. 
This is Nelson Mandela's cell that he was held in for 17 years. It was very small.
There was this really weird looking guy walking by and I had to take a picture of him.
Table mountain from the waterfront
The seagulls in Cape Town were quite brave and would eat straight from our hands 
We went to Simon's town, a suburb of Cape Town, where there are penguins. We arrived at sunset, right when they are returning from fishing to feed their families. I huge group arrived right where we were standing and sat near the shore, scouting the area for danger.
We sat and watched the penguins for quite some time and followed them back to their nests where we watched them feed their young. 
I took this picture randomly and it turned out quite interesting.

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