Sharon and Andy's World Tour 2006

On Wednesday we arose bright and early, eager to start exploring South Africa and to experience for ourselves some of the things we had only read about so far.

Top of the list was a trip to Robben Island, upon which Nelson Mandela and others were imprisoned for their political beliefs. Firstly we needed to return to Cape Town, an enjoyable hour's train ride along a beautiful sun-kissed bay beside the sea, backed by seemingly endless mountain ranges.

Capetown itself is friendly and impressive, but we weren't here for sight seeing. Instead we made our way down to the Victoria and Alfred docks and were lucky enough to get tickets for the next ferry to Robben Island which was leaving in ten minutes.

Little can prepare you for the emotional rollercoater of visiting this island; the island itself seems innocuous enough, but it is the sheer passion with which the guides - some of them ex-inmates - speak about the history of the island and the origins of the ANC which is so moving. When coupled with a tour of the prison quarry where the men were sentenced to hard labour, and of the prison cells (Mandela's has been preserved as it would have looked during his incarceration), the overall experience is unforgettable.