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On Freedom's Trail in South Africa

A Personal Journey to the Places Shaping the Rainbow Nation

Feb 18, 2009 Tonya Fitzpatrick

The South African natural landscape is as compelling as the journey through the places shaping the country's transformation from apartheid to a multicultural democracy.

From standing at the tip of the Cape of Good Hope in Western Cape to seeing the majesty of God’s Window along the Blyde River Canyon in Mpumalanga, South Africa’s natural beauty stirs the soul. As compelling as the natural landscape, the journey through the places shaping South Africa’s transformation from apartheid to a multicultural democracy touched us as much as the country’s scenic beauty.

Whether retracing the footsteps of Nelson Mandela and other freedom fighters imprisoned on Cape Town’s Robben Island, to touching the people and the places that defined Soweto as a center of hope and liberation, to seeing apartheid relegated to the footnotes of history in the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg, the Rainbow Nation’s spirit and soul came alive along on our recent journey on freedom’s trail through South Africa.

First Leg–Cape Town and Robben Island

With great attractions such as Table Mountain, the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, the vineyards of Stellenbosch, and the Cape Peninsula, the Cape Town region’s primacy as South Africa’s top tourist destination is unquestioned. The first stop on freedom’s trail took us to Robben Island–a United Nations World Heritage Site, where former South African President Nelson Mandela lived as a political prisoner for 27 years.

The Robben Island tour began with a short ferry ride from the Nelson Mandela Gatweway at the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront to the island, where the guides–once prisoners themselves–recount the struggles of the island’s most famous political prisoners and their strategies for transforming the apartheid state as one experiences the infamy and oppression of the prison up close and personal. From the limestone quarry where Mandela and others toiled and educated other political prisoners, bound by a credo of “each one [will] teach one,” the tenets of a democratic South Africa were literally carved from stone.

As we completed the first leg of our journey along history’s path we were reminded that the civil rights movement in South Africa was more recent than that in the United States, and it was sobering to see how much more progressive South Africa was from our country—until recent events and the election of President Barack Obama. I look forward to sharing the remainder of our journey along the path of freedom in a short series of articles and I look forward to hearing from you about your experiences in this extraordinary country. I also invite you to listen to a previous radio show that we broadcast about South Africa. Visit www.Traveln-on.com for more information.

The copyright of the article On Freedom's Trail in South Africa in Sub-Sahara Africa Travel is owned by Tonya Fitzpatrick. Permission to republish On Freedom's Trail in South Africa in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Robbin Island