Day 61; 7 March Îles du Salut, French Guiana

Day 61; 7 March

Îles du Salut, French Guiana

The three islands hove into view as soon as the sun was up and by 0710 we arrived off the largest, Île Royale. Anchoring took awhile, from 0745 to 0830. The other two islands are Île du Diable (Devil's Island) and Île Ste-Joseph. The most notorious is Devils' Island. The three are separated by narrow channels of strong currents and hungry sharks. 

 

The island has a small hotel based in the former Warder's barracks and is also home to the European Space Agency's tracking station for space launches out of nearby Guiana.

These islands off the coast of French Guiana were a penal colony from 1852 until 1946. The three could accommodate 2,000 prisoners at a time and over the life of the prison, some 80,000 prisoners had been sent there. Only some 30,000 survived. The dead prisoners were thrown to the sea where the sharks took care of the remains. The warders who died were buried on Île Ste Joseph. The children on Île Royale. Conditions were so bad that being sent there was practically a death sentence. Escape was prevented by the strong currants and sharks that surround the islands. Sadistic prison guards made life even more difficult for the prisoners. This was truly the end of the world for french criminals, political prisoners and for many guards and Wardens. The book and subsequent movie Papillon was based on survivors accounts.

gap between Royale & Devil's

Ile Royale

Ile Ste Joseph

To get ashore we boarded a tender, going in at 0915. The Captain advised us that the cruise ship AidaVita was also coming in to visit the island with some 1,000 passengers. We went ashore early to avoid the flood. We walked the island (there is no transportation other than a few maintenance vehicles) for 2 hours and took in the beauty and horror of the place. We watched monkeys gather fruit and the local rodent Agoutis that look like giant guinea pigs with long legs. I paid a visit to the decrepit Children's cemetery. We walked through the ruins of the solitary confinement and the condemned cells, past the living quarters for the married Warders, past the great reservoir, visited the semaphore station and to the hotel. The hotel bar was popular and cold drinks were selling well. The hotel gift shop did a great business as well. We next took in the Commandant's house/museum and back to the landing for a tender ride back to the ship. 

find the monkey

children's cemetery

children's cemetery

the trail

Cell block for Solitary

Cell block for condemned prisoners

cells for condemned

Warder's barracks now a hotel

Commandant's house

view of Devil's Island

the prisoners built the walkways and stairs

Devil's Island

 We were back aboard by about 1130 in time for a brats 'n beer cookout on the after deck. By then the other ship was running 4 tenders between ship and shore so we avoided the crush. At 1810 we retrieved our anchor and followed the Vita out to sea. Our course will be northerly now with the next port to be Bridgetown, Barbados. First, a sea day tomorrow.

See also www.tourisme-guyane.com .

http://mapcarta.com/19106574

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Île_Royale