Exploring French Guiana
Boat from Suriname to French Guiana
The last stop during the tour of the Guianas was to French Guiana. Like Guyana and Suriname, whose official languages are not Spanish, French Guiana's official language is French. Even though French Guiana is not particularly well-known in relation to other countries in South America, it is famous for being the site of a penal colony in the 19th and 20th centuries, and it was a very pleasant surprise for me in terms of its history and beauty.
In order to get to French Guiana, myself and the others on the tour were taken from Paramaribo to the border between Suriname and French Guiana. In order to cross the border, we had to take a wooden longboat across the river which took about fifteen minutes or so. Upon reaching French Guiana, we were led into the border checkpoint where our passports were stamped. Since we were the only visitors, the checkpoint went very quickly, and then we were picked up by our driver, and we began the journey to Cayenne, which is the capital city.
En route to Cayenne, we stopped at a historic church in the small town of Iracoubo. It was a beautiful wooden church that dated from the 18th century and which had beautiful artwork. Upon reaching Cayenne, I was quite surprised as to how busy it was. I was half expecting the city to be a relatively quiet and provincial place. However, there was a lot more activity than I was expecting, and there were a lot of French tourists, which is not surprising since there are regular flights between Cayenne and France. Even though we did not stay in Cayenne, we were given a tour by a local guide. It was very easy to see the colonial influence that the French had on the city in terms of its architecture. While I would have wanted to stay and explore further, it was not possible.
Author in Cayenne, French Guiana
While the tour through Cayenne was interesting, the main highlights of French Guiana was a visit to the Salvation Islands, which were the location of an infamous penal colony, and the European Space Center, which is where the European Space Agency (ESA) sends rockets to supply the International Space Station.
Alfred Dreyfus House
Of the two sites, the Salvation Islands were by far my favorite destination of the entire trip to the Guianas. On the day we went, we were picked up at our respective hotels and taken to a catamaran. However, because one member of the tour overslept (it was not me), we were a bit late to the boat. Once we arrived a the boat, we were joined by a group of other tourists from France who were also going to the same place.
Myself and the others on our tour were the only English speakers. During the boat ride to the islands, we could sit in different areas on the boat and enjoy the views while also having a mix of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. Since I knew there would be a lot of walking around in very hot and humid weather, I kept to drinking water because I did not want to get dehydrated while on these islands, which have limited facilities. On this day, the weather was picture perfect. The first stop was to Royal Island, which had the ruins of several buildings that were part of the prison penal colony. It was from here that you could see the famous Devil's Island with a sole hut that belonged to the famous prisoner, Alfred Dreyfus. Unfortunately, it is not possible to set foot on Devil's Island itself, but it was very easy to see. Admittedly, while the location of the hut is set in a very idyllic location, I could see how it would be very difficult to live there considering the climate conditions.
Prior to heading to the Guianas, my father had encouraged me to watch the movie "Papillon," which takes place on Devil's Island. There are two versions. The original version, which came out in 1973, was the one that I watched. There is also a more recent version from 2017. I will admit that the movie was better than I was expecting it to be although it was a bit long. After watching it, the sites that I saw on the islands corresponded to various scenes in the movie.
After leaving Royal Island, we visited Saint-Joseph Island. This was my favorite island of the three since it had the most ruins. It was extremely picturesque with the remains of various prison buildings that were gradually falling to the ravages of nature. The prison cells in particular were very interesting to me. The cells were small and had metal bars in the ceiling so that the guards could look down on the prisoners. In one scene from the 1973 movie that I particularly remember is when the main character is put in solitary confinement in what is supposed to be that building, and guards look down on him from bars in the ceiling. He is given very little food rations, and as a result, there is a scene where he catches a centipede, mixes it with soup, and drinks it. When I saw the bars over the ceiling, I immediately thought of that scene.
During the tour of the island, it was extremely hot and humid, and I was covered in sweat during the entire time. It was easy to imagine how difficult life would have been here when this area served as a prison. After the tour was over, we were given some free time to hang out on the beach and explore on our own. During this time, one of the French women who was on a tour got bit by a large centipede on her upper leg. When I saw the size of the centipede, I was amazed that the woman was not in more pain since this centipede was the largest one that I had seen. It made me all the more thankful that I decided to wear hiking boots and long pants to avoid that very issue.
The next day, we headed to the Guiana Space Centre. This is used by the European Space Agency (ESA) to shoot rockets into space. Prior to booking this trip, it was made very clear that the Space Centre could be cancelled at any time and without warning. On this day, we were very lucky. Prior to being admitted in, we were all told rules about safety around the launch pads, and when we could and could not take photos. The space centre is very large, and in order to get around, we were on a bus with two guides. One spoke English for the group I was in, and the other spoke French for the French speakers on the same tour. Some of the highlights of the tour was seeing the viewing room with adjoining control room, where people can come and watch rockets lift off. In addition, we got to see some of the launch pads where Ariane and Soyuz rockets from launched from.
After the tour ended, we were taken back to our hotels, and the next day were taken back to Suriname, where tour of the Guianas concluded.
Getting back to the US from Suriname is not particularly easy. There was one flight from Suriname to Miami, but I had problems with Surinam Airways and my credit card, so I had to take a flight from Suriname to Curacao. While I did spend a day in Curacao before my flight back to the United States, I did not really have time to explore thoroughly, but I was able to explore a bit of Willemsted and get some nice pictures of the brightly-colored colonial buildings facing the waterfront. Because I only stayed a day in Curacao, I opted to stay at the hotel right next to the airport, which had definitely seen better days. The only nice thing about the hotel was that it had a beautiful view of planes taking off and landing from the airport.
Overall, the tour to the Guianas was amazing. Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana had been on my travel list for a long time, and I am thankful that I finally had the opportunity to visit these places since they are culturally unique and different from the rest of the South American countries. The only place that I still need to visit in South America is Venezuela, and hopefully that location will be able to be visited in the future.
