Oct 29, 2019 - Devil’s Island, French Guiana, Papillon

October 28 and the morning of the 29th we were at sea; in the afternoon we tendered to Devil’s Island. To get us ready for the Devil's Island experience, we watched the 2017 remake of Papillon. In case you have forgotten or weren't alive at the time, Papillon was the book that chronicled the life of a Devil's Island prisoner and then escapee. In the movie made after the book was published, Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman played the lead roles. I somehow missed the memo that there had been a remake, but Roger and I thoroughly enjoyed...

Nov 16, 2018 - Devil's Island

After “riding the waves” for 36 hours (nice way of saying that the water was a bit rough) and spending all that time in the cabin under the influence of Dramamine, we arrived off the coast of French Guiana. We used Room Service the entire time while we exiled ourselves to the cabin, which was great. Hot food arrived hot and cold food/drinks arrived cold and we didn’t need to get all dressed up just to eat. Our Room Steward ensured that our mini-frig was refilled daily with our favorites and we never ran out of anything. In talking to our...

Jul 24, 2018 - Rain, Devil's Island, and Rain

Up at 6:00 and went to the hotel breakfast – nice but cold eggs! Then took luggage down to the lobby and packed up the van and headed off to the cruise to Devil’s Island. Or Triangle Islands. Or Salvation Islands. Anyway, on a catamaran. It took about an hour to get to the island complex (three islands) and we noticed lots of rain in the vicinity – we also saw, from afar, the Arianne rocket on it’s launch pad. We were in and out of the cabin area and spent quite a bit of time on deck. We sailed through the three islands and the swells were...

Jul 23, 2018 - Transportation camp and Kourou

Up early and breakfast then into the van to head off to French Guiana. Nice ride, even though in the back seat, with lots of jungle punctuated by the occasional village or logging camp. We stopped at a coupe places for short breaks – one with some caged animals in the back and a song bird in front. We also passed the Moi Wanna 86 memorial. In 1986 over 80 people were murdered in the then civil war. Each person killed had a marker. Luckily we live in more calm and settled times, but it wasn’t that long ago. Then we passed through customs at...

Jan 17, 2018 - Paramaribo with a stop in Cayenne

Breakfast at the hotel then pack my bag and off to the airport for my flight to Paramaribo, at the airport was a long check inline for my airlines with only two people doing the check in, it took a hour to get thought the line wow, and this was just for the plane that I was on. A real test of patience, Then off for the security check point there was another wait for the security people to show up got through the line and to the gate the plane was just getting to the gate, got loaded up and off to French Guyana for a stop to let people off...

Apr 12, 2014 - April 12, 2014 – Devil’s Island, French Guiana

April 12, 2014 – Devil’s Island, French Guiana Devil’s Island is the smallest and northernmost island of the 3 Iles du Salut (Salvation Islands) located about 6 nautical miles off the coast of French Guiana. It was a small part of the notorious French penal colony in French Guiana until 1952. It is a rocky, palm-covered island which rises 131’ above sea level. The penitentiary was 1st opened by Emperor Napoleon III’s government in 1852 and became one of the most infamous prisons in history. While the colony was in use (1852-1946) the...

Mar 7, 2014 - Devil's Island, French Guiana

Thursday 6 March Day 63 - Devil's Island, French Guiana We docked at seven and we could see all three Islands in the Salvation Group. We were actually going to Isle Royale but is generally known as Isle du Diable because that is where the French Penal Colony was situated. It is situated seven miles off the coast of French Guiana. The penal colony was formed by the Government of Emperor Napoleon 111 in 1852 and it became the home for the worst criminals, political and military prisoners as well as repeat offenders. It was originally called...

Feb 23, 2013 - Devils island

We docked today off the French Guiana islands, Isles du Salut. They are 3 very small islands, Devil’s island, St Joseph Island and Royal Island. All were prison colonies (many political prisoners) for the French in the 19th Century, Devil’s Island being the most notorious. We were tendered to Royal Island as it is very difficult to land on the others. We had a lovely walk round it and enjoyed the views from the top. The prison is now in ruins of course but the warders houses are still there and are used as accommodation for the hotel. We...

Jun 2, 2011 - jour 10- Kourou espace centre

Aujourd'hui, je vais au centre spatial de Kourou. Il est un endroit étonnant et très pédagogique, haha. Quand je suis arrivé, j’ai réalisé que je n’étais pas exactement autorises à aller à l’intérieur et tout autour, qui a changé mes plans. Je voulais vraiment allerais, mais je suis allé l’ile de salut. Comme je suis maintenant la réalisé ce fut la meilleure chose à faire. Les sites à voir sont incroyables, comme vous pouvez le voir dans mes photos. Ma partie préférée était en visite à la dame avec les perroquets. Elle était belle, et les...

Jun 2, 2011 - jour 11- En conclusion

Il est triste de penser que je suis sur mon chemin maintenant en attente de mon voyage en avion. Tous les endroits visites par je, je tous les sites ont vu, sera dans ma mémoire pour toujours. J’ai eu un grand temps, je serais ravie de le faire encore, si j’ai le temps. Allant de Montréal, au Nicaragua, puis a la Guyane française a été incroyable, fatigant et écrasante. Si j’y vais encore une fois, je vais prendre des photos pour tout voir, et vous pouvez entendre parler de la beauté du monde. Jusque-là, adieu.

Jan 10, 2011 - The Amazon

Sunday, January 9, 2011 Today I was on the schedule to give a presentation on Travel Blogging. Was I nervous talking before my group, many of whom knew a lot more about computers than I do? A little. But, I think it went quite well. A number of people approached me and are encouraged to either start their own blogs or have their family log onto mine to find out what we are doing. At about 1:30 pm it was evident we were entering the Amazon as the ship is churning up mud from the bottom of the river leaving a brown wake. There is no land...

Jan 8, 2011 - Ile Royale

Saturday, January 8, 2011 I couldn't seem to get the map co0ordinates for this small island, but this is very close. It’s going to take a long time for me to get dried out after the trek on Ile Royale. Ile Royale is part of a group of islands off the coast of French Guiana known as Iles du Salut (Salvation Islands) The other islands in this group are Ile du Diable (Devil’s Island) and Ile Saint-Joseph. All of these islands housed murderers, thieves and traitors. The most famous of the islands is Devil’s Island which the movie “Papillon” was...