{"id":5786,"date":"2017-06-22T15:11:25","date_gmt":"2017-06-22T20:41:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/studentstories.soe.umich.edu\/?page_id=5786"},"modified":"2023-07-10T19:42:25","modified_gmt":"2023-07-10T19:42:25","slug":"robben-island-and-table-mountain-cape-town","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/studentstories\/past-trips\/south-africa-2017\/south-africa-sites\/robben-island-and-table-mountain-cape-town\/","title":{"rendered":"Robben Island, Table Mountain, and our final dinner in South Africa (Cape Town)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Robben Island, used as a prison since the late 17th century, sits tantalizingly close to the shoreline of the African continent.&nbsp; Nelson Mandela spent 18 years here as a political prisoner.&nbsp; He was then transferred to another prison near Cape Town, and finally another near Johannesburg, serving a total of 23 years before his release in 1990.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our solemn journey to the island begins was a boat ride from the V&amp;A Waterfront.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/studentstories\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2017\/05\/DSC_0883-1.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/studentstories\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2017\/05\/DSC_0883-1.jpg\" alt=\"DSC_0883\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>We take a brief bus tour of main sites around the island then begin a walk tour of particular buildings and prison grounds.&nbsp; Our guide was himself a political prison on the island, serving five years as a young man for his involvement in a student protest while in high school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/studentstories\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2017\/06\/IMG_7921.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/studentstories\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2017\/06\/IMG_7921.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_7921\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>He describes the conditions and the mechanisms employed to keep key political prisoners isolated and from one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/studentstories\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2017\/06\/IMG_5955.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/studentstories\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2017\/06\/IMG_5955.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_5955\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>It is a&nbsp;poignant reminder of how far South Africa has come in such a short time, as well as a moment to appreciate the freedoms we sometime take for granted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/studentstories\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2017\/06\/IMG_5968.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/studentstories\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2017\/06\/IMG_5968.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_5968\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In the afternoon, we return to the mainland and take advantage of the clear weather to ascend to the top of Table Mountain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/studentstories\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2017\/05\/20170602_161736-1.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/studentstories\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2017\/05\/20170602_161736-1.jpg\" alt=\"20170602_161736\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The views are spectacular and the wind is very strong.&nbsp; We watch the sun dip toward the horizon, with Robben Island in the distance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/studentstories\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2017\/05\/IMG_8058.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/studentstories\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2017\/05\/IMG_8058.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_8058\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Returning to downtown Cape Town to share our final South African meal together, we enjoy dinner and entertainment at the Africa Cafe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/studentstories\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2017\/05\/DSC_1029.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/studentstories\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2017\/05\/DSC_1029.jpg\" alt=\"DSC_1029\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Our faculty leader, Dr. Betty Overton, shares and solicits final thoughts and impressions from the group.&nbsp; It has been an amazing two weeks.&nbsp; Full of learning, full of emotion, full of preconceptions being dismantled about this young democracy whose higher education system faces many similar challenges as in the U.S.&nbsp; A little tired, but with a lot to think about, we return to Ann Arbor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/studentstories\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2017\/05\/IMG_8185.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/studentstories\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2017\/05\/IMG_8185.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_8185\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Robben Island, used as a prison since the late 17th century, sits tantalizingly close to the shoreline of the African continent.&nbsp; Nelson Mandela spent 18 years here as a political prisoner.&nbsp; He was then transferred to another prison near Cape Town, and finally another near Johannesburg, serving a total of 23 years before his release&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":5676,"parent":5543,"menu_order":16,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5786","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/studentstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/studentstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/studentstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/studentstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/studentstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5786"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/studentstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5786\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6543,"href":"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/studentstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5786\/revisions\/6543"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/studentstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5543"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/studentstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/studentstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}