Escape from Robben Island
Distance: 7079 metres
9 Feb 2022 - 18 Jul 2022
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Challenge
Audience: Joinable Challenge
Robben Island, with its clear view of Table Mountain, was a prison from before 1700 until 1996. The Xhosa worrier, Makhanda, escaped on Christmas Day 1820 but drowned in Table Bay. Nelson Mandela spent 18 years on the island. The deep ocean water that wells up is cold (often below 14 degrees) and swimmers need to cope with a strong Atlantic swell often with high winds that have combined to wreck many a ship along this coast. Sharks may be fewer in the cold water, but they circle the island in search of the seals (robben in Dutch) that give the island its name.
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