43. Days 15-18 (Aug 30-Sep 2) – Game Drives

Our main purpose in coming to Manyeleti was to see wild animals in their natural habitat.  And while there were a few sightings of animals in camp, for the most part you have to go out to find them.  At least you do where we were.  Often the animals are found around water but there are few large bodies of water in Manyeleti.  (Some camps I know are in trees or otherwise elevated with animals roaming around underneath at night.  This is not where we were.)

Now, don’t for a minute think that we went out looking for animals by ourselves.  In each camp there are game drives – where you load as many as 10 people plus a driver and a spotter into a vehicle.  Now the animals in the game preserve may be wild, but they are not stupid.  As Noël Coward noted, only “mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noonday sun.”  Being neither, we went on game drives in early morning and early evening, the traditional times at nearly all camps, which also are the best time to see game.

A typical day starts around daybreak and the wakeup “call” at our camp was the recorded sounds of drums.  And this was followed by one of the more civilized customs of the Manyeleti camp – namely they bring you tea, coffee, or hot chocolate to help cushion being awakened.  (It appears that this tradition is associated with Manyeleti – another reason to be happy that’s where we were.)  We then had about 15-30 minutes to get dressed, have our wakeup breakfast beverage, and stash the remains in the monkey-proof box in our living room.  Then off to the vehicle, in our case usually starting out at about 6:30 am.

We had chosen to go on safari in winter.  It turns out that there is no perfect time to go.  Summer is rainy season and results in very lush foliage.  But the lush foliage results in greater camouflage for the animals you’re trying to see.  Winter, being dry, results in much more browner and sparser foliage but easier to spot animals both in terms of the foliage and in terms of the drier climate resulting in animals tending to congregate around water supplies.  But both winter and summer result in temperature extremes.  At least that was what we were told.  

Winter is also trickier in terms of Cape Town which has a more Mediterranean climate which means rain in the winter.  And then there is the Victoria Falls add-on at the end of the trip.  When there is too much water, like the middle of the summer, Victoria Falls can be so misty and booming that the falls are like being drenched in a downpour with little to see.  And at the end of the dry season, the falls can be so attenuated that there is little to see.  We did hit what I think is the sweet spot at Victoria Falls which we’ll see where we get to that part of the trip.  

What I experienced was that it was definitely drier and more sparse foliage but I found it very picturesque (and hope you will too from the pictures I’m posting).  However, due to the lack of many significant watering holes on Manyaleti (at least in terms of where we went), there was not a congregating of game around the water – except for one place which we will see.  Nonetheless, we saw plenty of game of various types and I am most pleased with the choices we made in terms of timing.  

While the morning drive was a bit chilly for many, in most cases a simply fleece or a couple of layers would stave off the cold.  And if you really needed it, they had blankets.  The drive started by searching out game in an open sided four-wheel drive vehicle (both Toyota Land Cruisers and Land Rovers were used and they were, in my view, indistinguishable).  The vehicle did have several poles that supported a canvas roof. 

Here is a view looking forward in the vehicle.  Notice several things:

View Looking Forward in Vehicle

1) The driver is on the right-hand side of the vehicle since South Africa is a drive on the left country.  Of course these vehicles are mainly being driven on dirt paths and sometimes not even that. 

2) There is a windshield on the vehicle although it is folded down.  When driving at fairly low speeds this does not make much of a difference, and I believe the windshield would quickly get dirty if driving in an up position.

3) There is no gun on the dashboard.  Sometimes we came across people from other places whose driver did carry a gun.  Ours did not.  I’m not sure of the pros and cons in either case.  The rules about the game drive, designed for our safety (and probably insisted upon by the liability insurance carriers), require that we remain in the vehicle except where expressly allowed out by the driver.  And, when observing dangerous animals, we were not supposed to stand.  My own view, based on nothing but having been there, is that so long as we are all in the vehicle, we present to a wild animal as a large, green, smelly animals that is neither food (metal doesn’t taste good) nor danger (since we are only hunting with our cameras).  Once you stand, or even more, once you leave the vehicle, you then present as lunch (or maybe just a snack depending on the size of the animal).  We were also advised to wear neutral colored clothing and not to wear perfume or cologne.  And in some cases our driver asked us to keep silent.

4) There is a man sitting on a chair that sits atop the left front bumper of the car.  He is our game spotter.  He sits there scanning back and forth looking for signs of game – and talks with our driver (not in English) about what each thinks is a good way to find game.  (At least I assumed that is what they were talking about.)  Our driver also talks to us at times about animals we are seeing, and the signs or tracks of animals as well.  His knowledge about all the animals, including the many different birds, is astonishing and shows the importance of having a knowledgeable driver.  

5) The path or road that we are on in this picture is a very high quality track – wide, smooth, and well graded.  This is not true of all the paths we were on.  The entire area appears to be crisscrossed with all sorts of paths (including some that are whimsical at best).  And there is nary a road sign -- except for two or three -- in the entire area pointing the way to one of the camps.  

6) You can tell that this picture was taken on a morning ride as our driver and spotter are still wearing warm clothing.

What doesn’t show here is that the vehicle is equipped with a communications radio and the drivers from our set of related camps kept up a fairly lively chatter (again not in a language I could understand although given my hearing impairment it could have been English) usually, we were told, about what each vehicle had seen in terms of game so that we could see as many different animals as possible.  

When the special animals (generally lions, leopards, and rhinos) were found, the drivers would keep to a fairly well understood policy of staying out of each other’s way, not disturbing the animals, and sharing the view.  I’ve been told that this is not as well practiced either in the more public parts of Kruger nor in Kenya and Tanzania although this is not based on personal observation.

Here is another picture of our driver with our vehicle.

Driver with Vehicle

He was not only funny (at times), friendly, and skillful at finding his way around the game preserve, he was extremely knowledgeable about all the animals – including the many birds – and how best to find them.

Here is a photo showing the shadow of our spotter as we drove along on a game drive.

Shadow of Our Spotter

The spotter had somewhat less English skills but was friendly and seemed to know a lot about animals and especially how to spot them.

Now, let’s talk a bit about positioning within the vehicle.  As we’ll see shortly the vehicle consists of 4 rows of 3 seats each, with each row a bit higher than the one in front of it.  At first glance it might appear that the middle seat is not very good, especially towards the back of the vehicle.

View from Upper Back of Vehicle

But like many things in life, each position in the vehicle had its pluses and minuses.  And the view you get in many cases depends on where you’re looking.  One of the problems with being too high up is that the canopy can get in the way of your view.  But the height can help you see further.  Most of the people did not like to be in the middle seats.  While it is true that being so means you’re always looking across someone, if does mean that you can more easily see game on either side of the vehicle.  And you can lean forward to improve your view and those to either side of you did not, as a matter of courtesy, lean forward (or at least didn’t do it more than once <g>).  

About 1-1/2 hours into the morning game drive, we would stop in a fairly open place and be able to get out of the vehicle.  And our driver and spotter would then turn into servers, providing us with a little bit of bread of some sort and hot coffee and hot chocolate.

Setting Up for Morning Beverage Break

Here we see them setting up our morning break.  There is a convenient foldout shelf on the front of our Land Rover.  This also provides a good opportunity to get a better sense of the configuration of the vehicle.  You can see the three rows of three seats each – rising to the back, the canopy, the folded down windshield, and the spotter’s seat.  You can’t really see the driver’s seat (and space next to it where one of our party can ride) but it is there.  

While you’re looking at this vehicle one question that may come to you is just how do you get into the seats – especially the high up ones.  There are different ledges sticking out from the side of the vehicle and you simply work you way up them and then climb into the seats.  Several items I read before going on the trip mentioned that you needed to have some agility to get into the game drive vehicles, and that was true but it wasn’t that difficult but did require a bit of agility.  I should also mention that there are seat pockets in front of your seat for storing such things as camera lenses, binoculars, or gloves.

After the morning break we did some more game searching and returned to camp around 9:30 am.  Then we had breakfast and the opportunity to rest and relax or wander about camp (but not outside camp) until lunch. 

Sometime around 3 or 3:30 begins the afternoon/evening game drive.   The temperature is the reverse of the morning drive – it starts out warm (or warmish) and by the time the sun goes down and you return to camp it is cooler.  Like the morning drive, there is a break roughly half-way for what are called sundowners, or drinks around sundown.  

Evening Sundowners

As you can see, it’s the same basic setup although the drinks are now cocktails and soft drinks together with some light appetizers.

Our game driver and spotter are well trained to provide us a good game viewing experience.  The driver can give mini-lectures about any of the animals we see.  And both the driver and spotter are excellent trackers.  Since the vehicle travels at a very low speed (most of the time), the driver is often watching the ground for tracks.  Sometimes he and the spotter stop and get off the vehicle to see if they can read where an animal passed through and when.

Looking for Signs of Animals

Then the driver will share the information with us, although we don’t really become good trackers with just 3 days of experience. 

Sharing the Information

Sometimes the driver and spotter will go a bit away from the vehicle when tracking an animal.  This might look like a casual jaunt but there are wild animals out there (in fact, they’re looking for them – rhinos in this case I think) and our driver and spotter were unarmed.  (We occasionally came across another vehicle from another camp where the driver carried a rifle.)

Tracking Away from the Vehicle

Of course, sometimes you have no difficulty finding an animal, like when they are standing in the middle of the road straight ahead.

Can You See a Griaffe?

In fact, this giraffe didn’t see why he should move out of our way.  So we just had to bide our time.

Why Doesn't the Giraffe Finish Crossing the Road?

Next up: Game drive videos

Link to Full Resolution Photos

42. Days 15-18 (Aug 30-Sep 2) – Life in Camp

(Note: For the next number of postings I am not keeping strictly to exact days.  Rather I am combining things that happened from our arrival in our safari camp through the time we left it.   The pictures that appear in any one posting may have been taken on any one of the days from August 30 through September 2, but they tell a story that is not chronological.  For example, I saw lions on two separate days during my game drives but it really makes sense to combine the photos and discussion of all the lions in one posting.  And a bit later, when we get to the actual animals, I may also include photos taken not here but on the mini-safari in Botswana, indicating when that is the case.  After all, an elephant in Botswana is pretty much indistinguishable from one in South Africa although I would never say if you've seen one elephant you've seen them all.)

In this spirit, let’s start by looking at life in camp.  As noted in the previous posting, we were picked up at the airport near Nespruit (although I never exactly placed there airport there geographically) and drove some 2-1/2 hours along a paved two-lane road to the turnoff to our camp.  The “office” of the camp (and of its sister camp located about 1 mile away from our camp) is down a fairly decent road leading to a building which contains an administrative office and, of course, a gift shop.  From there were are separated from our luggage, which is placed in one four-wheel drive vehicle and we are all loaded into another such vehicle.  (The vehicles used here, the same are used for the game drive, will be discussed as part of the game drive logistics.)

We then go down the road further, following the signs (well, there was one at least) to the camp.  

Sign to Camp

Fortunately our drivers work for the camp, so they know their way around the various roads here.  I use the term road in a fairly loose sense (which will be covered in more detail during the discussion of game drives).  Eventually we arrive at the main “building” of the camp.

Main Building

The animals depicted are the big five (discussed in the previous post with the top row containing the elephant and rhinoceros, the middle row the cape buffalo, and the bottom row the lion and leopard.

To orient you here, there is a dropoff just beyond the front of the photo, which is where the various vehicles park.  You can walk up stairs to a walkway which you can see in the bottom right of the photo.  Further along is a room which is open to the elements on two sides.  This serves as the bar, lounge, and dining room.  Behind this room is a kitchen which is enclosed on all four sides (probably required to keep food from curious four-footed animals).  There is electricity in this room (except when there isn’t – to be discussed in a bit)

As I mentioned, this building houses the dining room for the camp.  Meals are served family style and while the table configuration does change a bit from time to time, it often is as shown below with all the people currently in camp around one big table.  

Group at Dinner

(By the way, that bearded fellow in the front on the right is not wearing a green dress shirt.  It is rather a safari-color-approved, mosquito repellant impregnated fabric designed more or less for safari wear.  He always was the height of fashion.  For further proof note the stylish hat on the back of his chair -- also mosquito repellant and color-approved.)

This dining room as you can see is open on the right hand side, and the kitchen entrance is off to the left near the end of the room.  And next to the door leading to the kitchen is a small wine cellar.  Immediately to the photographer’s left is a similarly sized room, open to the back of the photographer, which is the bar and lounge and with the door (which we saw in the previous photo) all the way to the photographer’s left.  Some of the people seated at the table are from our group, some are from other groups, and some are staff.

Just to the right of the dining room, on a small deck, is what passes for a swimming pool.  

Swimming Pool (Sort of)

The pool is not very deep and is not heated.  And I would remind you that we’re at the end of August, winter down here in the Southern Hemisphere.  So, no, none of us tried it.

Also out on another part of the deck, is a fire ring where, at night, you can gather round to talk, drink, or just relax.  But I will remind you once again that it’s winter down here in the southern hemisphere and once the sun goes down so does the temperature, fairly rapidly.  Although it tends to not get below 50. 

Fire Ring on the Deck

Now, those of you who have been paying attention have probably noted two things: (1) I haven’t mentioned any sleeping rooms, and (2) the name of this place includes the words “tented safari camp.”  So there are no sleeping rooms but, rather, tents – variously called Nehru and Hemingway style tents on the websites but it appears (and I can only base this on the relative number of hits on Google) these are what are known as Hemingway tents.  There are twelve of them scattered around two sides of the main building.  Here is ours.

Our Tent from a Distance

If you look carefully, you can see another tent in the background.  

Now let me remind you that we are in a game reserve, with no fences between us here and the rest of the game reserve, and no fences between us and the entire Kruger National Park.  Yup – wild animals of all types – lions, leopards, elephants, cape buffalo, hippos, rhinos, giraffes, monkeys, warthogs, hyenas, and who knows what else – with nothing between us and them except land and tent canvas.  The snakes are generally not about in wintertime.  And, fortunately, there is a lot of land between us and the animals – usually.  Although there are monkeys in camp fairly regularly (more on that in a bit) and one day several of us were told when we were in the main building that we couldn’t go back to our tent quite now because there were some elephants in the way.  And the rule was that at night when you wanted to go back to you tent it always had to be accompanied by a staff member.  And there was a whistle in the tent for emergencies.  And never a problem when we were there in this regard.

We’ll talk about the rules when out on a game drive when we get there.  For now, let’s look at little closer at the tent, first along the side of the tent.

Tent from the Side

The tent as you can see in on a platform, and by the slant of the platform we can tell that the ground is slanted.  At the far left of the photo is our “living room.”  We’ll see it in more detail in the next picture.  The middle part of the tent contains the bed with mosquito netting (which you can just barely see at the left opening to that room.  The right third of the tent, with more substantial walls, is the bathroom with toilet, sinks, shower with quirky hot water supply, and even a safe bolted to the concrete.  There is running water and there is electricity in the tent (usually).  In fact, in what is becoming truer and truer in various places in the world, there are British and European plug adapters as well as South African (but not US adapters).  The current is all 220 volts.

So, let’s take a closer look at the front of the tent:

Front of the Tent

Here is the front view of the tent with the elegant grand staircase leading up to the platform.  There is an overall canvas roof overhanging over the main tent.  The front room of the tent here has both the canvas and netting sides rolled up and behind it is the bedroom which you can just see with the mosquito netting down.  

Now lets take a closer look at the front two rooms.  

Front Two "Rooms" of Tent

In the bottom left of the photo is a box that is quite important.  It is a fairly simple wooden box with some shelves inside and a latching top.  The latch protects whatever is inside the box from marauding monkeys.  The monkeys, who cavort around the camp, are attracted by food and shiny objects.  They won’t enter your tent when you’re there (or at least they didn’t in our experience) but they will come and help themselves when you go, and very soon after you leave.  We diligently used the box and didn’t suffer any losses to the monkeys.

In the background of the photo is the bed which has the mosquito netting down.  Kruger is a malarial zone and the mosquito is the vector for passing malaria.  In winter there are not supposed to be mosquitos.  Nonetheless, we did use the mosquito netting and took anti-malarial medicine prophylactically. 

As you can also see there is a very small couch, a chair, a desk, and a lamp that I can only describe as whimsical.  

The camp was basic but pleasant although it did get a bit cold (in the low 50s or high 40s) at night and there was no heating in the tents.  

I’ve made allusions to electricity in camp.  For the most part of two days we had no electricity because the cable between the two camps had a break.  The cable is about 1 mile in length and lightly buried and finding the place where the cable was broken was not simple – or at least that is what appeared to be the case.  One problem was getting the probably only person in the area who could diagnose and treat the problem.

The Most Important Person When the Camp Electricity is Out

Each night during the power outage they would take camera batteries and chargers from us and take them over to the other camp for overnight charging.  (The other camp had electricity because it was closer to the source and our electricity came down the cable from that camp.)  The kitchen primarily used gas and thus didn’t have a significant problem.  And the lighting around the dining, lounge, and bar area was well handled by candles.

And, while we’re on the issues of technology, there was no cell phone coverage anywhere around the camp.

Next: An anatomy of a game drive.

Link to Full Resolution Photos

Part 5 – South African Safari - 41. Day 15 (Aug 30) – Off to Safari

Today it’s finally the start of what, to many, is the main reason for going to sub-Saharan Africa, off to a game park where we will go on a photographic safari. I will admit that this was one of my reasons, but not the only major reason.  (And, if you want to know whether this was #1, #2, or #3 on my list of reasons, the most correct answer is it depends on when you ask me.)  We were going to spend 3 days in what is sometimes referred to as “The Bush.”  Indeed, Wikipedia notes that “Going to The Bush” (note the capital T of The) can refer to going to a game park or game reserve.

The term “game” is one fraught with potential problems.  Traditionally game, especially big game, referred to (large) animals that were hunted – that is killed either for trophy or food.  And if you went on a safari, you were hunting big game.  Fortunately today, safari most often (but not exclusively) means photographic safari and the only “taking” of animals is the taking of their pictures.  I’m not going to get into the debate about trophy taking of animals other than to note that I am generally opposed.

The term safari, by the way, comes from the Swahili language and means a long journey.

The fact that game on a safari used to be hunted does affect the current experience in a few ways – most notably in terminology.  You hear reference to the “Big Five” animals as shown in the rather dramatic advertisement in the Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport which is one of the three airports serving the Kruger National Park area.

The Big 5 Is Waiting

The Big Five, which is a sub-Saharan African term, is commonly misunderstood to refer to the five most difficult to spot animals or the five rarest big animals. But clearly this is not the case given who the big five are: Cape buffalo, elephant, leopard, lion, and rhinoceros.  The term originated with big game hunters and either referred to the five most difficult animals to hunt on foot or the five most dangerous animals to hunt on foot (perhaps the same thing).  Certainly some of the Big Five are fairly difficult to find (leopard and, sometimes, lion or rhinoceros) and some are among the biggest of game animals (elephant and rhinoceros).  And the success of your safari is supposedly measured by whether you saw the Big Five (we did).  But we also saw hyenas, a much rarer animal.  

Our safari took place in an area known as the Manyeleti Game Reserve, an area of about 90 square miles located on the western border of Kruger National Park.  Now while this area is fairly small, the fact that it borders the huge Kruger National Park, with no fences between the park and the reserve, means that animals freely roam between the two places, as well as private game reserves to the north and south as well.  On this map, look for the red asterisk that shows the approximate location of the reserve.

Location of Manyaleti Game Reserve (red star)

Note also that Kruger National Park has a significantly sized park right next to it in Mozambique, called the Limpopo National Park.  Kruger itself is over 7,500 square miles.

Manyeleti is not the only private game reserve abutting Kruger and the general situation now has every such reserve without fences between it and Kruger but rather the fences are between the reserve (or Kruger) and non-game-reserve land.  The major difference between a private reserve and Kruger is which humans may use each -- only those staying in a private reserve may use its territory for purposes of safari.

The choice of where to stay when you go on safari obviously depends on various factors, including the amenities of the game lodge. the skill of the guides and trackers, the location within the greater Kruger area of the game drives, and the cost.  In our case, the decision had been made by Road Scholar in setting up the overall tour and it worked out very well.  We’ll look at the specifics of the Honeyguide Camp – one of three camps within Manyeleti – later.  Let’s first look at Manyeleti.

Manyeleti’s website is quite upfront noting that “the chances of seeing large predators are slightly lower compared to [two adjoining] game reserves, as there is less water in Manyeleti.  There is also a big upside …:  it is much quieter in terms of visitor numbers.”  I did not have a chance to compare directly but I also had no complaints in terms of the amount of game observed and I was quite pleased that we came across other game drives very rarely.  In making a choice to go to South Africa rather than Kenya or Tanzania we had already decided that a smaller amount of game (although still a definitely adequate amount) was a preferable trade-off to avoiding “traffic jams” and “jeep races” to get the best observation points.  We was also told there would be less opportunity for seeing kills by the big predators – I’ll leave to you whether this was a good factor or a bad one.

Another reason why Manyeleti has fewer visitors is that it is less well-developed in terms of tourism.  And this is explained by history.  The apartheid regime in South Africa restricted access to all places based on race.  Kruger National Park, established in 1928, was not accessible to non-whites.  Manyeleti, established as a private game reserve in 1963, was the only place in the greater Kruger area that allowed non-whites.  I didn’t know this before making our plans but was pleased the area was chosen.

The nearest airport to Manyeleti that is served from Cape Town is the Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport, some 950 miles by air from Cape Town -- a 2 hour, 20 minute flight in a generally northeast direction.    

On the flight up there were clear signs that it was still winter, as shown by these snow-covered peaks.

Snow Covered Peaks

The airport itself certainly seems like what it is – an airport in the bush country, complete with thatched roof and a statue of a rhinoceros (at the far right edge of the photograph).

Kruger "International" Airport

After landing we then took a two and a half hour drive to the game reserve. In part of the land, there was some farming.

Farming Land in the Kruger Area

More Farming Land in the Kruger Area

And in another location there were a bunch of trees seemingly planted along the edge of the highway, whether to provide a windbreak for the car traffic or some other purpose is unknown to us.

Wind Break?

Along much of the road there were settlements, not very high in density. 

Kruger Area Settlement

We never did see much in the way of significant industrial or commercial establishments and when some of our group asked our guides what the economy of the region was, they were unable to answer.  

There were fairly basic commercial places here and there.

Basic Commercial Place

Another Basic Commercial Area

Eventually we got to the turnoff for our area.

Turn Off to Manyeleti

Coming next: Honeyguide Camp and the logistics of a game drive.
Link to Full Resolution Photos

40. Day 14 (Aug 29) – Robben Island

Robben Island is a small (1.95 square miles), oval shaped (2 miles north-south, 1.1 miles east-west) island about 4.3 miles off the coast of Cape Town.  Its name means “Seal Island” in Dutch.  

Robben Island was used as a prison over much of its written history, beginning in the mid-17^th century through 1996.  From 1846 through 1931, it was also used as a hospital for people with leprosy and the mentally and chronically ill, and during World War II, it was a training and defense station.  

Nearly from its start, it was used for political prisoners and the apartheid regime used it as a maximum security jail for political prisoners from 1961 to 1991 (and as a medium security prison for criminal prisoners from 1961 to 1996).

The reason for the fame (or perhaps more appropriately the notoriety) of Robben Island concerns its most famous prisoner, Nelson Mandela, from 1964 to 1982.  But it should be noted that many others were also imprisoned there, including two others who would later also become presidents of the Republic of South Africa --  Kgalema Motlanthe and Jacob Zuma.  The island is now a South African National Heritage Site and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

For some reason, our tour did not have all of us going to Robben Island.  It was, instead, an optional activity this afternoon.  Since the history of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa was one of the important reasons I chose to visit here, there never was any question what my activity choice would be.  To our surprise, we were the only two members of our group who chose to visit Robben Island.

You start the trip to Robben Island at the Victoria and Alfred Wharf.  Inside the building is a copy of a poster that reminds us of the struggle against apartheid.

Free Mandela Poster at Embarkation Point for Robben Island

We board boats and proceed away from the mainland for a 40 minute boat trip.  This gives us a wonderful opportunity for photos of Cape Town.  

Cape Town View from Boat to Robben Island

Of course, it wasn’t so picturesque for Mandela and others.  His autobiography tells of being taken to the island in the hold of a boat in the dark of night.

The island itself is fairly flat and quite low lying.

Approaching Robben Island

And any doubt that you’re entering what used to be a prison is quickly erased when you land.

Definitely Entering Former Prison

Arriving visitors are divided into two groups.  The first group (which I was in) sees the cells and buildings first and then gets a bus ride around the island itself, while the second group does just the opposite.  

The guides at the Robben Island Museum (which constitutes the entire island), are former prisoners and apparently also some guards.  Some of them get to live on the island.  My guide, shown in the picture below, was a prisoner on the island for undertaking anti-apartheid work as a youth in Port Elizabeth.

Guide and Former Prisoner

This is supposed to be Mandela’s cell while on the island.  

Mandela's Cell on Robben Island

In Long Walk to Freedom, Mandela notes that he was housed in the political prisoners’ wing of the prison.  Prison officials took care not to let the political prisoners have much contact with the common law (or criminal) prisoners. 

Cape Town must have seemed very far off to those who were imprisoned on Robben Island.

Cape Town Viewed from Robben Island

One of the stranger buildings on Robben Island is the Robert Sobukwe house.  He was an anti-apartheid activist who originally was a member of the African National Congress.  He later split from the ANC and founded the Pan African Congress.  The ANC was a multi-racial organization which invited help and support from non-African peoples, while the PAC was Africanist and rejected working with non-Africans, including whites.  The PAC was generally considered more radical than the ANC and was viewed by the apartheid regime as more dangerous.

Sobukwe was imprisoned for 3 years following a demonstration against the Pass Laws in 1960.  But when he finished his sentence he was sent to be interred on Robben Island under a law that became known as the Sobukwe clause – as he was the only one who was held under its terms.  It allowed his continued imprisonment, under the discretion of the Minister of Justice (ironic note), to be reviewed annually. Sobukwe was kept in solitary confinement in the house shown below, although with certain privileges denied other solitary confinement prisoners such as books, newspapers, civilian clothes, and bread.  

Robert Sobukwe House on Robben Island

But we need to remember that he had supposedly also served the length of his originally sentenced term.  He was finally released from the island in 1969 and sent to internal exile in Kimberly, where he died in 1978.  Sobukwe was pretty much a destroyed person when “released” into internal exile based on the many, many years in solitary confinement.

A word about bread specifically and food generally to those in prison in apartheid South Africa.  There was a significant discrimination as follows (Africans included blacks while non-Africans included whites and Asians/Indians.  I don’t know how coloured (i.e., mixed race) prisoners were classified – perhaps the classification depended on whether you were part African.  And remember that how you were classified was often arbitrary):
Morning pap (finely ground corn) was served with 1 teaspoon of sugar to non-Africans and ½ teaspoon to Africans;
Coffee or tea: twice a day for non-Africans, once a day (and one cup) to Africans;
Lunch- non-Africans got mealie rice (grits) while Africans got boiled corn
Bread at supper – only non-Africans got it.
While meat or fish was given four times a week, non-Africans were given 110 grams while Africans got only 60 grams.

And remember that this was the officially sanctioned system of discrimination.  Various prisoners, including Mandela, have noted that the system in practice was even more degrading and discriminatory against Africans.

Mandela and the other political prisoners who were also supposedly kept in solitary confinement on Robben Island developed elaborate systems of communication, both oral and written, while on the Island.  One of the punishments inflicted on the prisoners was the requirement that they work each day in the lime quarry shown here.

Lime Quarry Where Mandela and Others Met and Worked

But the guards often left the prisoners here on their own and the prisoners soon developed a political school which met usually in the cave shown above.  They not only were able to develop philosophy and strategy, but they were able to keep in communication with each other.

The water around Robben Island is very dangerous for boats, with lots of shallows which have claimed many boats, including one boat that was carrying many gold coins to the Dutch East India Company in what is now Indonesia.  The boat sank and while a few coins have washed up on Robben Island, the ship itself and its big treasure have not been recovered.

A lighthouse was constructed on Minto Hill on Robben Island in 1864 to warn ships.

Monto Hill Lighthouse on Robben Island

This light, which is the only light in South Africa that flashes rather than rotates, was switched to electricity in 1938.

Next: It’s time for the stereotypical or iconical part of the trip.  Tomorrow morning we leave on safari.  

Link to Full Resolution Photos