Hello friend steemians Traveling, how are you guys today? Perhaps some of you have visited some of the sights on the holidays late last year, from some sources I search most people prefer the beach as a tourist destination and some others choose mountains, zoos, museums and others.
In my post this time, I will review a little about one of the tourist destinations in South Africa is Robben Island. Perhaps Traveling friends have heard or even visited this place, Robben Island is one of history's most popular tourist destinations in South Africa and even outside the African continent because this place was once a place of exile from the heroes of liberation of Apartheid practice in South Africa Nelson Mandela.
From some sources I have been searching for, since the late 17th century Robben Island has been used as a place of exile, especially for political prisoners and Robben Island was used by the immigrants from the Netherlands and used as a prison, a place of quarantine for people with leprosy. At the time of World War II, the island was used as a fort and BL 9.2 inch guns were installed as part of the Cape Town defense.
Since 1660 the Dutch have used Robben Island as a place to detain political fighters from Asia, especially Indonesia. The Cayen people of Sumatra were the first Asian people to be detained there in 1667. Robben Island became famous for being the place of detention of South African fighters against the regime of Apartheid at the time and Nelson Mandela had settled on the island from 1964 until with 1974.
Robben Island is located in the Atlantic Ocean with a distance of about 15 km from the City of Cape Town. According to information from various sources, formerly Robben Island is a mainland with Blouberggstrand region, but eventually separated due to natural phenomena that occurred in the millions of years ago, the name of Robben island is derived from the Dutch language meaning (Seal Island) because there are many dogs here sea. Robben Island is slightly oval, from north to south 3.3 km long and 1.9 km wide and has an area of 5.07 km².
For Traveling friends do not ever hesitate to visit this place because Robben island tourism facilities have been managed with a very professional, when starting departure to the island of Robben, the tourists simply buy a ticket and wait for a turn to board a large enough ship that can accommodate up to hundreds people and after arriving, the tourists are awaited by the buses that are ready to get around the island, the bus will stop in places that have history.
To travel by boat to Robben Island takes approximately 30 minutes, so if you have plans to vacation in South Africa worth visiting this place, because now Robben island no longer serves as a prison, the island is converted into historical sights. So, if you are a tourist who wants to know history while on vacation, you should visit this place.
Penitentiary
Nelson Mandela detention room
Lighthouse
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Usually the group of tourists who come here will go down the prison's halls to see the room cell Nelson Mandela is very small that is 1 x 2 meters and only use a very simple bedding. Here we can imagine the life of Nelson Mandela who spent 27 years in this tiny cell.