Devil’s Island: Jan 11, 2020

Our excerpt from March 16, 2019: These are the Salvation Islands, made up of three islands, Isle Royale, Saint Joseph, and the Isle du Diable (Devil’s Island). These were originally a leper colony turned penal colony in 1852 by the government of the Emperor Napoleon III. It soon became home to the worst criminals, political and military prisoners as well as the repeat offenders of the French Nation. Officially it was known as “Bagne de Cayenne” or “Cayenne Penal Colony” but soon coined by the prisoners as “Devil’s Island”. This was because of the harsh living conditions, isolation and disease. Many of the more then 80,000 prisoners sent here were never seen again. The remote location along with the surrounding open sea proved to be very effective in preventing any prisoners from escaping the island. There were in fact two successful escapes, one in 1901 and the other, more famous one, in 1941, when convicted murdered Henri Charriere escaped the island. The second escape are much better described in the book and movie adaptation, Papillion - staring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman (1973). After 1938, France stopped sending prisoners here and in 1952 the prison was permanently closed. In 1965, the French government transferred responsibility of the islands to the newly formed Guiana Space Centre. Now, more that 50,000 tourists come to this island annually to visit the prison and the Space Centre. The prison features are still is good condition and well laid out for a good look at life, or so called, life, here. Give yourself a good 2 to 3 hours to explore the buildings and the many interesting animals here, peacocks, monkeys, parrots etc. 

This is our second visit here (within a year), so Jan decided to stay aboard while I headed over for a 3 hour visit pretty much retracing our steps from our March visit. Although rough with really no beaches, I think this island is quite beautiful, I took my time and had the camera clicking at the many picturesque spots. There is a gentleman on board who is an avid swimmer and I heard that he was planning on going for a swim here - yes, in the known to be, shark infested waters. I happened to be by the prisoners pool when I looked over to see him preparing himself for the plunge - good on you Joe, may be I will see you later? I stopped at the only hotel on the island for a reminiscent Heineken beer, I gave you a cheers Marcel if you are reading this. Anyway, a few pics of our day here in Devil’s Island, hope you enjoy…