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We offer holidays to the four corners of the globe. If you want specialist advise please phone our travel team and we will be happy to help.
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- Destinations
- Africa
- South Africa
- Cape Town
- Robben Island
Robben Island
South Africa's most widely known tourist attraction is probably
Robben Island, seven miles (11km) from Cape Town in the centre of
Table Bay. For nearly 400 years this tiny rocky island outcrop was
utilised as a place of banishment, exile, isolation and
imprisonment for numerous categories of people ostracised by
society, ranging from political protestors to lepers. During the
years of Apartheid, Robben Island became synonymous with
institutional brutality as numerous freedom fighters, including the
island's most famous resident Nelson Mandela, were imprisoned here
for more than a quarter of a century. The island is now a museum,
symbolising liberation and the triumph of the human spirit. Regular
island tours are conducted, lasting three and a half hours. The
tours, which are guided by former prisoners, include a visit to the
maximum-security prison on the island where an estimated 3,000
freedom fighters were incarcerated between 1962 and 1991.
Information & Facts
Admission
Tours are R200 (adults), R100 (children 4-17), which
includes the return boat trip across Table Bay
Language
South Africa has 11 official languages, including
Afrikaans, English, Xhosa, Zulu and Sotho. English is widely
spoken.
Money
South Africa's currency is the Rand (ZAR), which is divided into
100 cents. Money can be exchanged at banks, bureaux de change and
the larger hotels. ATMs are widely available (there is a daily
limit for cash withdrawals) and major international credit cards
are widely accepted, except in petrol stations where cash is
required. Visitors should be vigilant when drawing cash from ATMs,
as con artists are known to operate there. Travellers cheques and
some foreign currencies are accepted at larger hotels and shops,
but commission is charged, otherwise all commercial banks will
exchange them.
Opening Times
Boats leave at 9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm (weather
dependent)
Time