South Africa - The Lions on the Road: Cycling London to Cape Town - page 321

I thoroughly enjoyed the traffic-free climb and when I arrived at the top, I took a
break to enjoy the beautiful panoramic views.
I made my way down the pass and since there were no vehicles in either direction,
I free-wheeled down the centre of the road, hands off the handlebars and conducting selec-
tions from the Sound of Music in the wind. I felt overjoyed.
I cycled into Franschhoek where I stopped by the Victor Verster Prison (renamed
the Drakenstein Correctional Centre) to ask for directions. This low-security prison was
a farm prison used as a stepping stone for low-risk political prisoners. Incidentally, after
Robben Island, Nelson Mandela lived in a private house inside this prison's compound for
the last three of his 27 years of incarceration. On Sunday the 11 th of February 1990, the
world watched as Nelson Mandela was released from here and took his first real steps into
freedom. (There is a statue of Mandela outside the prison gate to commemorate the event.)
The guard told me that I was on the right road to Stellenbosch and to simply follow
it along. My road took me into the centre of the wine-growing region of South Africa and
again tried to visualize what it would be like during the growing season before harvest.