6 - Robben Island, Apartheid, Greater Cape Town and Wine

Today was our first full day on the tour with Tauck and it started early.  After breakfast, we met with a former Robben Island political prisoner.  Robben Island is very close to Cape Town and is where Nelson Mandela and numerous other political prisoners were held during apartheid.  We learned about the caste system in South Africa - Coloreds – people  with Indian, Malaysian, Indonesian or mixed-race backgrounds were held in higher esteem and received better treatment than African Blacks.  But,  they were clearly considered as “not white”.  This caste system was applied to the prisoners – Coloreds received more food, better clothing and better facilities than blacks. 

Political prisoners were considered to be more dangerous than normal criminals.  Murderers, robbers, rapists, etc. were able to obtain parole after a certain portion of their sentence was completed.  Political prisoners were forced to serve their full sentences.  The political prisoners were placed in cells with the criminals in the hope that the hard core criminals would abuse them. One of the amazing things that happened was that plan also resulted in the criminals becoming more aware of what was happening in their country and everyone helping each other to a better education.  Many of the political prisoners were well educated and they passed their knowledge along to many who were illiterate when they came to prison.  Through the political prisoners and later, correspondence courses, many of the colored and black inmates received high school, college and graduate degrees.

We are amazed by the lack of a display of bitterness about apartheid, outwardly at least.  Most have adopted the attitudes of Nelson Mandela.  How revered Mandela is in this country – by both blacks and whites!  He brought the country together soon after his election and the Rugby World Cup victory for South Africa (depicted well in the movie Invictus).

Some of the sayings we have heard in Africa:

• "TIA" - This is Africa - which means "not everything happens the way you want it to, or, be patient, things don't happen when you want them to" (Remember the Blue Train Schedule? TIA)
• "Now" - sometime soon
• "Now - Now" - very soon
• "Lazy Town" - Cape Town
• "Robots" - traffic lights
• "British have watches but we have time

 Observations:

• Native flowers are absolutely beautiful and they grow wild. 
• Mushrooms are served with almost every meal and are delicious.
• Oak trees have been imported but because of the climate, they do not mature properly and  become diseased. This means that the oak used in the barrels to age wine  must be imported. (South Africa has a booming wine business.) 
• Many of the wines do not have corks.  Cork, in many cases, is the most expensive part a of bottle of wine because it must be imported.  
• The move to screw tops has helped make South Africa's wines cheaper to bottle and therefore allows them to compete in the world market.
• Despite all the problems past and present in South Africa – especially about race and economics – everybody we have encountered is cheerful. 
• South Africa was settled by the Dutch and colonized by the British.  The influence of both countries is still felt.  The English influence includes language, tea, food and churches.  The Dutch influence includes architecture, Afrikaner language and also, churches.
• There are 9 provinces in Africa – each has their own language.  In addition, there are two official languages – English and  Afrikaans.  Most people speak 3 languages! (English, Afrikaans and the language unique to their home province.)

After our tour of Robben Island, we did a city tour, walked through a beautiful public garden in Downtown Cape Town and drove out to the Hout Valley, a major wine producing area, for a four course food tasting/wine pairing at Steenburg Winery.  The food, while it could not compete with The Test Kitchen experience we had on Thursday night, was wonderful and we loved the shiraz, and the cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and merlot blend.

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 [GS1]