Prison break

To complement this morning's lessons in apartheid, Charlotte York and I toured Robben Island in the afternoon, learning about the fate of those who dared defy the apartheid government. After a quick lunch at the waterfront, we hopped onto a ferry and made our way through the cold, thick fog toward Robben Island with approximately 60 other tourists from around the world.

Exhausted from jet lag and the day's touring, I admit that I napped through the first part of the tour, where we sat in a bus and toured the island's facilities, while learning about its history. When the bus stopped and we all gathered in one of the prison's cells, however, I was quite awake and very interested in our tour guide's story.

Our guide was a former inmate, a political prisoner who'd been arrested for the crime of "sabotage." He shared with us his experiences about spending time in isolation, the conversations he had with other political prisoners and explained how, even in prison, the inmates were treated differently based on their skin color.

He told us about the physical and mental torture he and the other prisoners had to endure, described how even in their confinement, the prisoners worked toward a future where blacks wouldn't be considered second-class citizens, and demonstrated an inpiring optimism that South Africa is due for its bright, democratic future.

Clearly, he stayed on message and the tour was interesting, if not sanitized. The other tourists furiously took pictures of Nelson Mandela's cell, but I couldn't help but think that it's sort of an empty gesture to snap a photo without fully understanding what he stands for and what he endured. It's kind of like how Naima and Keenya argued about the gravity of the experience on America's Next Top Model. Instead of worrying about capturing a photo, I think I'll read Long Walk to Freedom instead.