The cell of prisoner 466/64

Cell 5. This is where our former president, Nelson Mandela, spent much of his time during the 18 years between 1964 and 1982. On the left you can see the toilet bucket, which prisoners had to make use of during lock-up; and to the right, the thin mattress and blanket issued to them. The conditions were designed to make these people weak, and yet the effect seems to have been entirely the opposite. To get a real idea of the resourcefulness and courage of these men, do yourself a favour and read Long Walk to Freedom, Dr Mandela's autobiography. It's truly inspiring. You can read an excerpt here. As our guide Sipho - himself a former political prisoner of the island - said: "We do not do these tours to remember the bad things that happened in the past, but rather to celebrate the strength and triumph of the human spirit."