Robben Island & Elephant's Eye

I realize that it’s been about 4 weeks since my last blog post and when I’m only here for about 11 weeks, that’s pretty significant. A lot has happened in that time, some events more noteworthy than others, but it’s kind of hard to relive a moment that happened so long ago. Keeping a blog is so much harder than I thought. Maybe next time I’ll try and keep a journal also. That way I can write down my thoughts as they come to me, just in case I don’t have the time to blog as frequently as I like. But, I will do my best to try and relive two events that were pretty interesting and exciting in very different ways. The first was my visit to Robben Island and the second one is my hike at Silvermine.  

Many people may already be familiar with Robben Island because they know it’s the place where Nelson Mandela spent many years of his life as a political prisoner during the years of apartheid. I don’t know what I was really expecting to feel, but I did think the trip was going to evoke some type of emotion from me. Instead, it felt like just another tourist attraction. Most of our 3.5 hour tour was spent on the ferry ride to the island and the bus ride that went around to the different labor sites and other places surrounding the prison. I honestly fell asleep during part of the 45-minute bus ride.

Eventually, we reached the holding cells for the maximum-security prison and were finally able to get out and walk around. We were introduced to our tour guide who would show us around the cells who turned out to be a former political prisoner. He was an older man that had experienced life on Robben Island firsthand. Hearing about his time there made things a lot more impactful. He showed us the thin, filthy mats the prisoners had to sleep on, the identification cards they had to carry on them at all times that included every infraction they’d ever gotten, and eventually we made our way to the single cell that Nelson Mandela had occupied for about eight years. It looked just like every other prison cell I had ever seen but the sad part is the reason behind why the political prisoners were at Robben Island in the first place. These were not men who had killed people or disobeyed the law in any way; they were simply fighting for equality. They had committed crimes that the apartheid government considered to be threatening to the racial separation they had been enforcing in South Africa. Just hearing from our tour guide how they were not allowed to talk while in the labor fields and how one prisoner was in a secluded home all by himself because of how powerful his words would have been to others was heartbreaking. The white guards at Robben Island were afraid of the prisoners’ voices; scared they would use their words for positive change. They thought keeping the men in silence would prevent them from being able to organize rebellion but little did they know the peace marches happening all over South Africa were slowly but surely working to free those men on Robben Island.

All of the buses at Robben Island have quotes along the side of them. My absolute favorite one read, “The journey’s never long, when freedom’s the destination”. During the Q&A period after the tour, someone asked our guide, the former prisoner, how he managed to return to the island for work after being incarcerated and mistreated on those very grounds for so long. He started to explain to us how working there has been all a part of his healing process. We wondered how he could possibly find forgiveness. He said it was a work in progress and he was still working on that. He explained how he sometimes got tourists and visitors that would come and argue with him about everything from the living conditions to the way he was treated and he recalled literally yelling and screaming to make people realize he had lived that experience, he wasn’t just telling someone else’s or something he had read about in a history book. I can only imagine what it takes for him to walk around that island everyday and even walk past his own cell. The feelings that come along with experiences that are so painful can never be washed away and I respect each and every one of the former prisoners acting as guides today.

Silvermine Hike

That weekend I went on my first hiking excursion in Cape Town and it was at Silvermine Nature Reserve where we went to the peak, which is also called Elephant’s Eye. Our tour guide Colleen organized this lovely trip for us and it included a 3-hour hike and a braai (barbecue) that afternoon. Now we all know I’m a bit girly so hiking isn’t just something I do regularly (not to mention there isn’t really a place to hike in Chicago), but I’d definitely had it on my to do list in South Africa. The hike up was beautiful. A bit difficult at times but Torie and I encouraged each other when we felt like quitting. Going up is always the worst part but reaching the top and hearing absolute silence makes it all worth it. There is nothing quite like the serenity you feel up there. I got up there and sat on a huge rock with my legs folded. Torie asked me what I was doing and I said it just seemed like a place where I should be meditating. She laughed but I was dead serious. :)

So we hiked down about seven different levels and that was a jungle. I kept tripping over rocks and branches, almost spraining my ankle a few times. Trust me, the wilderness is not a place for clumsy people. After we made it down we went to the Tokai Forest where Colleen’s husband Robert & her friend Michael began the braai. We had salad, paninis, fish, chicken, fruit—well, the baboons stole the fruit but we started out with them. Speaking of baboons, those animals are CRAZY! They are just natural thieves. They roamed around the forest freely, hopping into garbage cans, snatching food off of the picnic tables, just too darn sneaky! We got quite a few photos with them since they wanted to get so close to our festivities. At one point I was sitting on a log all by myself looking at the alpha male, while another baboon was sneaking up behind me trying to steal the Panini sitting on the side of me. One of the other students in the group pointed and screamed so loudly that I turned and saw him and almost had a heart attack. Everyone found this hilarious but my heart was beating so fast. I literally could have reached out and touched him. Needless to say, that was quite enough nature and wildlife for me & I was ready to head back home.