Robben Island and the Wine Country

Cape Town is a city with diversity, complexity and stark contrasts. It's history of Apartheid is sad and has created a city with challenges and opportunities. Through our travels we saw both the wealthy areas and the poor. That is why today I decided to show two areas of sharp contrast, the Wine Country and Robben Island.

As I mentioned in my first blog post we wanted to try to see Don's grandfather's gravesite when we were in Cape Town. Unfortunately the area near the cemetery had several protests happening when we were there. Additionally, the graveyard had been damaged and it would have been next to impossible to safely find the grave site. We did drive to the area just to check and it was not a safe area to get out of the car. We felt good we tried to visit the site but didn't want to endanger ourselves or our tour guide. Most importantly we throughly experienced the town Don's grandfather lived in years ago.

After leaving that area we traveled north to the Wine Country of Cape Town.

A few facts:

• Jan van Riebeeck, planted the first grapevines near Cape Town to combat scurvy on ships traveling to the East

• initial efforts were challenging due to unfamiliar conditions, but the industry grew, especially after French Huguenots arrived in the late 17th century, bringing winemaking expertise

We visited the Stellenbosch area. It is also home to Stellenbosch University. During our time we saw three wineries, one of which was Ernie Ells' (famous golfer) Winery where we had lunch.

The next morning we took the ferry to Robben Island. This is where Nelson Mandela was kept for 18 of his 27 years of imprisonment. The island is now a museum where tours are given by former prisoners. It was very interesting to hear the story of Robben Island from someone who experienced it first hand. I think this was a good idea and definitely added depth to the experience.

A quote by Nelson. Mandela - "The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall". This powerful statement emphasizes the true triumph that comes from the resilience to overcome setbacks and hardship. This really speaks to me about who Mandela was in his life. I can't i begin to imagine what he or the other prisoners experienced. I can see how the history of apartheid has made it difficult for Cape Town to completely recover.

My key take aways from the tour by the former prisoner:

• The prison was called a 'university' since many of the black leaders during apartheid were being held there and other prisoners could learn from them while in prison.

• There was severe discrimination there between the black and white prisoners in terms of medical and overall care. Mandela helped to change this while he was there.

• The prisoners themselves worked to build gardens and keep the prison as clean as possible to improve living conditions. In fact Mandela's manuscript was buried in the garden.

The last two photos are of Nelson Mandela's cell - cell #4. The bucket was the toilet. At times there could be up to 6 people in a cell this size. Our guide is in the second photo. The sign he is holding is details the different treatment for black and white prisoners.

These two different areas show the stark difference that lies within Cape Town. I am so glad we got to experience all of the areas of Cape Town to truly understand this beautifully complex city.