Ile Robben (South Africa)

I was impatient to visit this place because it is marked as a must-see in the guidebooks. Moreover, it is necessary to book well in advance to obtain a place on the tour. And the 45 minutes it took to get there by boat did not deter me... Because the tour was going to be guided by a former prisoner who passed several years on Robben Island, it promised to be interesting. In fact, it wasn't at all...

First of all, we did a small tour of the island by bus and a very nice guide (I went there in December 2014) gave us a commentary on what we were seeing (in English, of course!). You have to know that there are 2,000 people living here!!! Then we arrived in front of the famous prison and were impressed by its tens of metres of wire fencing and its watchtowers. But the tour that promised to be interesting was very boring in the end because the former prisoner droned on in a monotone for 45 minutes, which did not suit the resonance of the room. Being a former prisoner was never a guarantee of being an unparalleled orator! And I truly struggled to understand despite my English not being too bad. It was sleep-inducing... For the rest of the tour, it says that you are free to look around, but this was really only a hurried look... Of course, we passed by Mandela's famous cell. It is the only furnished cell out of all the cells that are there and there is a queue for taking photos...

In conclusion, this tour is reserved for out-and-out fans of Mandela and/or those who speak and understand English very well. Do not go there on a family outing if your children do not understand English; they will get bored. But if they do understand English, they may get bored anyway. In that case, it would be better to visit the very beautiful museum that is located on the Waterfront. It will be less expensive, you will not get seasick, and—without a doubt—you will learn a lot more.