Tuesday, October 29, 2019, Iles du Salut, French Guiana
FRENCH GUIANA (ÎLES DU SALUT), FRANCE
The Salvation's Islands (French: Îles du Salut, so called because the mis-sionaries went there to escape plague on the mainland; sometimes mis-takenly called Safety Islands) are a group of three small islands of volcanic origin about 11 6.8 miles off the coast of French Guiana, 8.7 miles north of Kourou, in the Atlantic Ocean.
Devil's Island, the most famous due to the political imprisonment there of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, is better known to French speakers as "Île du Diable." The total area is 0.24 square miles. Devil's Island and Île Royale are separated by Passe des Grenadines, Île Royale, and Saint-Joseph Island by Passe de Désirade.
The islands were part of a notorious penal colony from 1852 for only the worst criminals of France. The main part of the penal colony was a labor camp that stretched along the border with Dutch Guiana, which today is Suriname. Île Royale was for the general population of the worst criminals of the penal colony to roam about in moderate freedom due to the difficulty of escape from the island. Île Saint-Joseph was for the worst of those criminals to be punished in solitary confinement in silence and for extra punishment in darkness of the worst of the worst criminals of the penal colony. Devil's Island was for political prisoners, including Dreyfus in 1895-1899 after his conviction in metropolitan France for treason.
This penal colony for the very worst criminals of France was controversial for it had a reputation for harshness and brutality. Prisoner upon prisoner violence was common, tropical diseases would kill many others, and a small core of broken survivors would return to France to tell how horrible it was and scare other potential criminals straight. This system was gradually phased out and ended completely in 1953. Nowadays the islands are a popular tourist destination. The islands were featured in the autobiography Papillon, by Henri Charrière, later adapted into a film starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman. He was imprisoned for 9 years. Joseph Conrad's short story An Anarchist (1906) is largely set in Salvation's Islands.
If you have not already seen the movie, we highly recommend it. It really shows how mankind can be terrible to its fellow man.
If you have not already seen the movie, we highly recommend it. It really shows how mankind can be terrible to its fellow man.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvation's_Islands
We arrived the three-island complex around 7 AM.
St. Joseph Island above.
St. Joseph on left, Royale on right.
Royale Island.
Opposite side of St. Joseph.
Harbor of Royale.
Northern point of St. Joseph.
Royale.
Three walking routes of Royale, the primary island.
Steep stone "green" route road to top of Royale.
Found a friend. Extremely mild demeanor.
On top of island. Prison superintendent's office and quarters.
Chaplin's quarters.
Staff hospital.
Prisoner's work yard.
Laundry tubs.
Staff and family quarters.
Ruins of small confined spaces for first offenders of rules.
Area for repeat offenders confinement.
Confined quarter's entry gate.
Hallway to many one-man cells.
Door to a one-man cell.
Inside one-man cell. Note steel bar on bed; attached to wall at one end, prisoner at other end.
Family quarters for current hotel and island staff.
Was guest house; now hotel and restaurant.
Plumeria.
Backside of hotel.
Devil's Island.
St. Joseph Island above.
Staff bedroom.
Open-air restaurant dining area.
Views from dining area.
Tender ready to return us to anchored cruise ship.
Mainland French Guiana in distant background.
We sail at 6 PM to head for Santarem, Brazil, a little inland from the mouth of the Amazon River. We will have two sea days getting there.
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