Robben Island is more than a world-famous symbol of racial reconciliation. On the insistence of Nelson Mandela, who was imprisoned here for 18 years, Robben is also "a monument to [ecological] preservation."
This is only fair. Without tiny Robben Island and its wildlife, South Africa as we know it would never have existed.
In 1601, Dutch sea captain Joris van Spilbegern landed and killed "a quantity of pinguins." He found them "crisp of flesh and very tasty." Robben soon became a crucial re-victualing point for ships on the Spice trade route and a larder for Cape Town's struggling settlers.
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