With Table Mountain conquered, for the second or two I dared to look down, there was one more of Cape Town's must-see attractions that I wanted to get ticked off my list yesterday morning.

Robben Island, the notorious prison complex that housed the key protagonists in black South Africa's liberation struggle for the best part of three decades.

In days gone by, it was impossible to get off the place. Now, with thousands of football fans congregating in Cape Town and looking for an alternative to an afternoon on the Windhoek (infinitely superior to Castle in my opinion - not of course, if the editor's reading, that I'd know) it's proving impossible to get on.

The island is located three or four kilometres from Cape Town's Waterfront, but can only be accessed by a ferry from Nelson Mandela Gateway.

Each ferry takes around 100 people, and there are six ferries on and six ferries off a day.

Yesterday, at around 10am, there were approximately 1,000 hopefuls queuing for tickets. Even with my rudimentary grasp of mathematics, the odds did not look good.

Sure enough, the sold-out signs were being placed in the ticket booth window long before I got anywhere near the front of the queue.

"Come back tomorrow and we might have more places," I was told. "Or alternatively, you could always swim."

It was meant as a joke, but a group of lads from Liverpool had already begun to take off their shoes when it was pointed out that the presence of Great White Sharks probably didn't make the option quite as appealing as it sounded at first.

I've spoken to a couple of England fans who visited the island earlier in the week, and they say it's an amazingly reflective place. The silence, apparently, is what gets to you most.

Nelson Mandela's cell has been left exactly as he left it - a small stone enclosure that housed the world's most famous political prisoner for more than 20 years.

Former prisoners lead the tours around the complex, and apparently their tales are both harrowing and inspirational.

I'm hoping I might be able to make it across the water in the morning, and England fans being England fans, there'll no doubt be a few sore heads restricting the numbers at the crack of dawn.

Either way, I'm glad I tried. It is only 13 years since control of Robben Island passed from the Department of Correctional Services to the Department of the Arts, Culture, Science and Technology.

For all of its problems, it is always uplifting to acknowledge how quickly South Africa has changed.

** Because of its historical ties to Britain, there is little in South African culture that is particularly alien.

Everybody speaks English to a certain degree, you drive your car on the left-hand side of the road and, even in the black townships of Johannesburg, the rhythm of everyday life is as European as it is African.

One of the few real surprises has been the food, which is less recognisable than I thought it would be.

I've experienced a number of uniquely South African dishes, which seem to borrow more from African traditions than from traditional European fare.

One of the key staples is 'Mielie Pap', a maize product that can be served with pretty much anything. On a morning, South Africans like to have it as we would have porridge, with milk and sugar or honey.

On an evening, it is served dry, with the addition of vegetables or dry fruits, much in the manner of a north African couscous dish.

One imagines it became so popular because it is filling. A plateful of 'Mielie Pap' and you're certainly ready to tackle the day.

Boerewors (a meaty type of sausage) were especially popular in Johannesburg, whereas menus in Cape Town, perhaps unsurprisingly given its proximity to the coast, tend to be dominated by fish.

Kingklip, a meaty white fish similar to cod or haddock, appears to be the most popular variety.

Cape Town cuisine is also dominated by Cape Malay, a form of mild curries that was popularised by the Asian and Madagascan slaves who were shipped to the colony in the 18th Century.

It's fairly similar to Thai or Indonesian food and goes down well with some of the local red wine.

** SABC is the main South African broadcaster with live coverage of the World Cup finals, and it's been amusing to see the number of pundits popping up with North-East connections.

Former Newcastle boss Ossie Ardiles is SABC's main analyst for matches involving South American teams, but as of yet, I don't think he's talked about 'Tottingham'.

Ex-Middlesbrough skipper Paul Ince pops up every once in a while, but the star of the show so far appears to be former Sunderland midfielder Dwight Yorke.

He was centre stage yesterday wearing the most incredible leopard-skin cravat and handkerchief combo. Something tells me he wouldn't have been able to get away with that in the Glass Spider.