Spent the morning in Robben Island. Booked the first ferry across and a few of us from my tour got educated on how innocent people were imprisoned for non-crimes and how a prison can be so much harsher towards a political prisoner than a criminal prisoner.

When we arrived on the island we got put on buses and had a guide who told us all about the island as we drove around. We were not allowed to hop out of the bus, however the information the guide was giving was so interesting that no-one wanted to move. There is a community who now lives on the island and the majority of them are previous prisoners and wardens. It was amazing to see the level of forgiveness and lack of hostility towards the system and past wrongs. Everyone portrayed a country that has moved on and forgiven past wrongs.

We then got taken through the prison by a past inmate. Our guide as 22 when he was imprisoned for 5 years for attending a student protest against Afrikaans being the offical language of tuition in universities. He was of course black. We saw the individual cells where Mandela and other 'leaders' were held and also the group/common cells where up to 20 - 60 inmates were held. It is all nicely painted and smelling normal now, but he gave a grave description that left you in no doubt that we are seeing a very different prison now to what he once lived in.

At midday we were back on the ferry on our way back to the mainland. There was little opportunity to walk around the island or move outside of the organised tour, but that I guess also preserves the island and allows the community some privacy.

Laura and I posted ourselves a postcard from Robben Island, so the race is on - wonder if it will make it to Mum and Dad's before me...

The afternoon was spent on the waterfront in Cape Town relaxing with some seafood and wine. The hostel I am staying in, The Amber Tree Lodge, is absolutely lovely and has a great living area which we took full advantage of this evening. It is amazing how much you can miss a comfortable living room when all you have is a camp stool with no back rest.