Robben Island

Robben Island - darkometer rating : 9 - A prison island in the bay outside Cape Town . It was here, in the island's 1960s-built maximum security prison, that Nelson Mandela and several of his followers were imprisoned for many years under the harshest of conditions. Since the abolition of Apartheid and the subsequent reopening-up of South Africa to the world, the island has been preserved as a memorial and is even recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It can be visited on tours led by ex-prisoner guides. It is the prime dark tourism site in South Africa , and one of the best experiences of its kind in the world (see top-20 ). > More background info > What there is to see > Location > Access and costs > Time required > Combinations with other dark destinations > Combinations with non-dark destinations > Photos More background info: The island had long been used as a prison by successive colonial powers ( Dutch and British ), and e.g. during the colonial wars of the time Xhosa leaders were imprisoned here. The island also served as a leper colony and mental "hospital" between 1846 and 1931. But it gained its greatest notoriety during the Apartheid years, esp. from 1961 to 1991, when political prisoners, most prominently ANC leader Nelson Mandela , were incarcerated here in a special "maximum security prison". Mandela didn't spend the entire 27 years of his imprisonment here, but a substantial proportion of it. Conditions were harsh. Political prisoners were kept in small isolation cells, and generally separate from other prisoners (ordinary criminals were also still being kept here), and obviously in strict racial segregation. Rations were meagre and treatment rough. Visitors or letters were allowed only once every six months.