Journal #3 from Cape Town
The Olivet College women's volleyball team is on a 10-day trip to Cape Town, South Africa. While there, the players will be writing blog posts and sending them back to the U.S.A. to be posted on the website. The home page for the blog, where future posts will be linked to is: www.olivetcomets.com/sports/wvball/2019-20/cape_town_blog/
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 11 -- written by Drue Mullin
We started our day by enjoying one last meal with a view at the Aquila Resort and we made it a big one because we knew we were going to have a busy day ahead of us. After we had a delicious breakfast, we headed back to Cape Town to get our tickets to travel to Robben Island. On our way back, we were able to see some of the living conditions people had to live in and it made us so grateful for what we all have and the opportunity to be able to see this part of the world. It is tough and sad seeing these houses people live in but I believe it really opens up our eyes to how much we have to be grateful for.
Once we got to the waterfront, we were waiting for Coach Merchant to buy our tickets for the boat to tour Robben Island and while she was buying the tickets, some of us girls were exchanging money to African Rand. It is very confusing trying to figure out what the equivalent is in African money to American money. Once we were all set, we headed to lunch.
We had the most American lunch I could have ever asked for, a cheeseburger and french fries. The place was called Wimpys and it is almost comparable to a Steak-n-Shake. We had to hurry in order to make our boarding time for the boat which would take us over to the island.
Once we got to Robben Island, we got on the tour bus and that is when the fun started. The island has a prison where political prisoners and convicted criminals were kept. We were shocked to hear murderers and rapists were kept in medium security and political prisoners were kept in maximum secutiry. Our first stop on the tour was seeing the Church of the Good Shepherd along with another church which was located in the prison. Our next stop was the grave yard which was located in the same area as the churches. There was also a school inside of the prison, which we all found very interesting because we were not expecting a school to be inside of the prison. Once we drove all around the prison, we got to stop for pictures of the island and soak in the view of Cape Town from the shore of the island.
We hopped back on the bus and took an actual look of inside of the prison. Our tour guide was an actual prisoner who was held in the Robben Island prison (from 1978-1990 during the time when Nelson Mandela was also there) so it was incredible to hear his experiences and have the opportunity to see inside of the prison. We went through step-by-step what was done once you stepped into the prison. You no longer had the name you were given at birth, it was numbers you had to go by now. We got to see the exact prison cell Nelson Mandela was kept in and many different places inside of the prison. Having the opportunity to see how rough the conditions were in the prison and being able to realize how different their lives were before apartheid ended was a huge learning experience for all of us.
Right when we got back from the tour, we headed off to our next adventure… Which was dinner. We looked all around for the right place and finally found what sounded good and decided on “Café Alfredo.” So far, we have not been disappointed by any of the restaurants we have chosen to explore, yet. The girls were getting a variety of entrées which included pasta or pizza, along with a variety of salads and sandwiches.
After dinner many girls grabbed some ice cream before we headed to check into our last hotel on the trip. All of the hotels have been really great but this one is extra nice. All of the rooms are two-story suites with two bathrooms, a kitchenette, two-story great window, soaking tubs and views of the city and mountains. This hotel will make dorm life tough to come home to!
Click here for today's photo gallery.