Today was full of scenic views and interesting history! We started out by going to Table Mountain this morning and riding a cable car to the top. Table Mountain is one of the new 7 Nature Wonders of the world and the views are breathtaking. On our way up, the cable car floor rotated around so we had a 360 degree view of everything going up the mountain. We spent about an hour at the top and took great pictures! We even saw gophers that inhabit the mountain, as well as someone repelling down the mountain. We had a lot of fun snapping pictures, and everywhere we looked there was another great view.
After Table Mountain we came back to the waterfront to grab lunch before heading out to Robben Island. We took the boat to Robben Island about 1:30, and the ride took about an hour. Nelson Mandela was imprisoned at Robben Island for 18 years, so we took a tour around the prison and saw his cell. We saw the lime quarry where he and several other of the political prisoners worked, as well as where another political figure, Sobukwe, was held apart from the other prisoners. After seeing the film set yesterday, it was so neat to see the prison in real life. The courtyard and hallway looked so similar…as did the stone, but today it wasn’t painted styrofoam :). The boat ride back from the island was so beautiful because the sun started to set!
We had a group dinner tonight at a restaurant named Moyo, which serves traditional African food. They washed our hands before dinner and painted our faces with designs. The food was delicious and the jazz band was phenomenal. We had a great time interacting with each other and enjoying the experience.
Tomorrow about 15 members of the group are going shark diving, and the rest of us are doing the Cape Peninsula tour. It should be a fun and scenic day for those of us doing the tour, and we hope for the best for the shark divers!