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To limit access to the delicate ecosystem of this legendary island, only government-run tours managed under the banner of Robben Island Museum (encompassing the entire island) are allowed to land on this World Heritage Site, for many years a source of controversy and mismanagement (including scandals of disappearing funds). Visitors are transported via a large catamaran that takes approximately 25 minutes. (The views of Table Mountain and Cape Town as you pull out of the harbor are fantastic -- arrive first to ensure you have a top-deck, open-air seat.) Unfortunately, the tour of the island itself is quite underwhelming; passengers are packed like sardines in a bus, and chances are, you'll be on the receiving end of fairly neglectful, unexciting narrative that hardly welcomes any sort of interaction. 

The 45-minute bus tours of the island provide passing glimpses of the lepers' church and graveyard; PAC leader Robert Sobukwe's house, where he was imprisoned; the "warden's village," a collection of houses and a school that seem stuck in some lifeless period movie; thelighthouse; World War II fortifications; and Robben Island's wildlife (keep your eyes peeled for colonies of African penguins). At one point, you'll be stationed (seemingly endlessly) beside the lime quarry, once worked by political prisoners (take sunglasses -- the brightness ruined many inmates' and wardens' eyes). Mercifully, at one point you're let off the bus to admire the view of Cape Town across the water -- this is by far the best part of the bus ride. The tour's real highlight, though, comes right at the end, when an ex-political prisoner takes you through the "maximum security" prison, where you can view the tiny cell in which Mandela slept for 18 of his 27 years of imprisonment. 

Unfortunately, none of this provides a very fitting or poignant account of what it was like to live here; the prison has been sanitized, and the walk through the buildings seldom evokes much pathos. Tours take 3 1/2 hours (including boat trip) and are terribly cloying and formulaic. Many visitors leave feeling thoroughly ripped off, and you'd do well to consider that feedback you might have heard from celebrities and VIPs almost certainly refers to a totally different tour experience.

Advance bookings (tel. 021/413-4233) are highly recommended and essential during the busy summer months; you can book online through the website, but be sure to do this well in advance, and note that ticket dates and times are not transferable. Note: Reports of ticket sales irregularities continue, with bribes being paid to secure tickets for tours that are apparently sold out.

Island of Tears 

The remarkably varied history of Robben Island goes back some 400 years. It has served variously as a post office, a fishing base, a whaling station, a hospital, a mental asylum, a military base, and -- most infamously -- a penal colony, for which it was dubbed "South Africa's Alcatraz." The banished have included Angolan and West African slaves, princes from the East, South African chiefs, lepers, the mentally insane, French Vichy POWs, and, most recently, opponents of the apartheid regime. But all that changed on September 24, 1997, when the Robben Island Museum was officially opened by its most famous political prisoner, Nelson Mandela.

The island, once the symbol of political oppression and enforced division, was to be transformed into a symbol of reconciliation. In Mandela's words, "Few occasions could illuminate so sharply the changes of recent years; fewer still could bring to sharp focus the challenges ahead." Rising to this challenge is an eclectic complement of staff -- artists, historians, environmentalists, ex-political prisoners, and ex-wardens. It's hard to imagine how a group of people with such diverse backgrounds and ideologies could work together, but it seems anything is possible once you've established common ground -- in this case, the 586 hectares (1,447 acres) of Robben Island.

Patrick Matanjana, one of the prison tour guides, spent 20 years behind bars on the island. Now he spends time at Robben Island's bar, fraternizing with the very people who upheld the system he was trying to sabotage. "They know me; they respect me," he says when asked what it's like to sit and drink with former enemies. "We are trying to correct a great wrong. They also buy the drinks," he grins. The island's ironies don't end here. Even the bar, the Alpha 1 Officers' Club, has historic significance: This is where Patrick's latrine bucket would have been emptied in the 1960s and 1970s, before the prisoners had access to toilets (not to mention beds, hot water, or adequate nutrition).

Despite the radical changes, the remaining ex-wardens, some of whom remained in charge of island security, did not want to leave. "You cry twice on Robben Island," explained skipper Jan Moolman, who first stepped onto the island in 1963 as one of PAC leader Robert Subukwe's personal wardens, "the day you arrive, and the day you have to leave."

For the many day-trippers, all it takes is the sight of Mandela's cell.

Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.