Balloonist to fly from old mandela jail

Apr 04, 2013 |

The power of ideas nourished Nelson Mandela during his confinement on Robben Island, but even this visionary might not have imagined the surreal scene planned for this month at the outpost where he spent 18 of 27 years as a prisoner of apartheid.

Wind speed and direction permitting, a man in a harness will strap himself to 200 big balloons filled with helium, float off the island beneath a bulging latex column of colour, and drift to the shores of Cape Town for a charitable cause.
There are a few things he wants to avoid: an international airport, a major harbour, a nuclear power station, and the odd shark in the waters below.
“Apart from all those hazards, there’s nothing to worry about,” said Matt Silver-Vallance, a South African-born manager at a medical device company who will pilot the whimsical craft.

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