South Africa Part 3: Cape Town 1/2

After having visited Johannesburg in Part 1 of this Guide and driving all the way from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town in Part 2, we have finally arrived in one of the most bustling cities of the Southern Hemisphere: Cape Town. Because there is a lot to see in the 'Mother City', there will be two travel stories on my Hero Traveler account. This first story is all about Cape Town's V&A Waterfront area, the colorful Kaapse Klopse Festival and the impressive boat trip to Robben Island, the infamous prison where Nelson Mandela spent so much time as a political prisoner.

Driving into Cape Town

A family poses in their Kaapse Klopse outfit

On our first day in Cape Town, we're lucky to attend one of the most colorful festivals of South Africa: Kaapse Klopse! This annual celebration is held right at the start of the new year, and is thus dubbed 'Tweede Nuwe Jaar' - 'Second New Year'. Al over the city, people dance the streets in large parades, dressed as minstrels. The festival celebrates Creole culture, something that was used to be forbidden during the Apartheid regime.

For tourists, the V&A Waterfront area boasts many interesting sohops, restaurants and cafés. The area, which used to be a port, also holds the gateway to the most infamous island of South Africa: Robben Island. Here, you can get on a boat, and the contrast couldn't be larger: at one moment you're strolling through the entertainment area filled with posh restaurants and boutiques, and just twenty minutes later you are walking on Robbeneiland, the windy island with such a gruesome history.

A boy looks at the harbour while leaving for Robbeneiland by boat.

At first, the group that comes off the boat is divided in two smaller groups. After a guided bus drive over the island, we get to get into the prison complex itself as the second group. Our tour leader, Thulani Mabaso, isn't just a tour guide: he has been imprisoned as a political prisoner like ANC ex-presidents Nelson Mandela, Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe, and Jacob Zuma. Mabaso was imprisoned for 2190 days.

The view at Cape Town and the city's Table Mountain, as seen from Robben Island.

Thulani Mabaso was imprisoned because he was responsible for a bombing that left more than 50 people wounded. When he was just 19 years old, he received a 18 years prison sentence. In an interview with British newspaper The Guardian, he said: "I could have killed people, if I had wanted to. But our goal was to make a statement."

One of the Robben Island gates and watch towers.

Mabaso was released in 1991, after the ANC had convinced the white president to release all political prisoners. 11 years later, he returned to Robben Island, this time as a tour guide. It still hurts him to share his stories with visitors. In the aforementioned interview, he said that he still has nightmares, because of his work as a guide. "But I never regretted my decision to join the armed struggle. Life under apartheid was bad."

An ex-prisoners locker, decorated with pictures of ladies.

Hoi! My name is Joost Bastmeijer, and I’m a Dutch freelance travel writer and photojournalist currently traveling through Africa. Check out my photos on Instagram at instagram.com/joostbastmeijer, or visit my website to see some more of my work: joostbastmeijer.com!