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Home8-Hour Nelson Mandela's Robben Island Prison Museum Cape Town City Tour + Ferry Tickets
Highlights
- Climb the Table Mountain
- Marvel at the structure of the Castle Town
Description
This is a great tour which brings the tourist face to face with history, nature and sightseeing opportunities. Experience the life of World Statesman Nelson Mandela during his 18 years of imprisonment at the world heritage site Robben Island as part of his 27 years in prison. Climb the Table Mountain - voted one of the new seven world wonders in 2012, attracts 800 000 visitors annually. Experience Cape culture at Bo-Kaap, which has brightly coloured houses to celebrate their freedom from slavery. The first residents arrived from Indonesia, Java, Malaysia and other parts of Asia. It is also a heritage site. The Company Gardens has a rich history and museums like the Slave Lodge, the Iziko South African Museum, and the Planetarium. The S.A. Art gallery, the Cape Town Holocaust Centre, St Georges Cathedral. There is also fantastic fauna and flora. The Castle of Good Hope is the oldest standing colonial building in South Africa.
Itinerary
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Nelson Mandela's Robben Island Prison Museum Cape Town City Tour and Ferry Ticketsexpand_more
- After being picked up from your hotel in Cape Town, you will be driven to the V&A Waterfront, where you board the Robben Island Ferry to the world-famous place of incarceration of Nelson Mandela for 18 of his 27 years. This place, dubbed “South Africa Alcatraz”, served as a leper colony, a place of isolation, banishment, and imprisonment. The Island is a state reminder of the harsh conditions endured as a reward for freedom from the Government of apartheid. After the historical, emotional, educative and informative tour, which is conducted either by ex-prison warders or ex-prisoners of Robben Island, you board the ferry back to the Waterfront. You then have lunch and are picked up immediately after.
- The tour proceeds to the Bo Kaap (Afrikaans for upper Cape), which has colourful houses for a Cape cultural experience. Also known as the Cape Malay Quarter, this is one of the major tourist attractions on the City tour. It is a place known for its brightly coloured homes and cobblestoned streets. The area is traditionally a multicultural neighbourhood with a predominantly Muslim community. Slaves were initially imported from Malaysia, Indonesia and other parts of Africa hence the name “Malay”.
- The Company Gardens is a park and heritage site located in central Cape Town. The gardens were originally created in the 1650s by the Dutch East Indian Company purposefully to provide fresh vegetables, fruit, and water. Here are some of the reasons you visit this garden History – It was built as a refreshment station for sailors sailing around the tip of Africa to and from the East. Ships sailing to the East would stop by after months at sea to stock up on fresh produce which was grown in the Garden and freshwater – hence, “The Company Garden”. There is so much in terms of history in the garden, with a combination of memorials, statues, and monuments all contributing to the rich history of the Garden. There is more to see. Critters – This garden is home to amazing and overwhelming amounts of fauna. In there, you will find pigeons, Egyptian Geese, herons, rodents, the famous squirrels and last but not least, an aviary where you can view dozens of bird species. If you fancy it, you may buy a bag of peanuts in the gardens to feed the squirrels, which are more than happy to scamper right up to you for a snack. The Food The Food – The restaurant in the Company Gardens is very popular with domestic and international tourists. Sit down and enjoy traditional Capetonian food that includes – burgers, sandwiches, fish, and chips. A variety of juices, beers, milkshakes, and wine can be enjoyed in the huge outdoor seating area. Really a lovely place to enjoy a city centre lunch, and beneath the large trees among the reeds- it a dreamland. The Art- The Company Gardens is also home to the South African Art Gallery, which houses an impressive permanent collection of South African, African, British, French, Dutch and Hamish art. This Gallery also hosts temporary exhibitions by some of the country’s top artists and occasionally international artists too. The Natural Beauty- A trip to the Company Gardens is not complete without sparing a moment to admire the beautiful flora. There’s an 80-year-old bamboo plantation, the Ginkgo tree with no living relatives, the towering rubber tree and the ancient saffron pear. Next to the Company Gardens is the South African Parliament, National Library of S.A. St Georges Cathedral, Slave lodge, centre for the books and more. After the Company Garden, you proceed to the Castle of Good Hope.
- This is an imposing structure in the City of Cape Town known as The Castle of Good Hope. It was built by the Dutch between 1666 and 1679 and is the oldest standing colonial building in S.Africa. This has been the centre of civilian political. Religious and military life at the Cape from around 1679. In its current state, the Castle arguably represents one of the best-preserved 17th-century DEIC architecture on the entire globe. The Historical building now houses, among others, the William Fehr Collection, a permanent ceramic exhibition (FIRED) and the Castle military museum. The tour ends with a drop-off at your hotel.
- Our registered Guide will then take you to District Six Museum, which is located in the former inner-city residential area in Cape Town. This Museum was established in 1994 as a memorial to the forced removals of 60 000 multicultural inhabitants of District Six. Tourists will be taken on an emotional tour about the forced removals from 1968 after a declaration by the Apartheid government in 1966.
What's Included
- Hotel pick up and drop off after the tour
- Return ticket to Robben Island by boat from the Nelson Mandela Gateway at the Clock Tower
- Entry fees to District Six Museum and the Castle of Good Hope
- Air-conditioned vehicle
- Bottled water
What's Excluded
- Lunch
- Gratuities
- Drinks
Know before you go
- Not wheelchair accessible
- We pick up from any hotel in Cape Town within a 5 km radius from the city center. We also do pick ups from the Cape Town Cruise Ship Terminal
Language
French, Portuguese, English
Activity Level
Easy