Devil's Island, French Guiana

The penal colony of Cayenne, commonly known as Devil's Island, was a French penal colony that operated in the 19th and 20th century in the Salvation's Islands of French Guiana. The prison opened in 1852 and closed in 1953 was infamous for its harsh treatment of detainees, with a death rate of 75%. It is located approximately 14 km (9 mi) off the coast of French Guiana.
Devil's Island was notorious for being used for the exile of French political prisoners, with the most famous being Captain Alfred Dreyfus. He was a French artillery officer of Jewish faith and ancestry whose trial and conviction in 1894 on charges of treason became one of the most controversial and polarizing political dramas in modern French history.

We arrived at 11:30 AM. It is a tender port. The Crue lowered tender boats on the port side, but the swell was too high and they had to abandon that and reverse the process to the other side of the ship.

Knowing that there is no reason to rush to see this small island, we proceeded to get tender tickets after 12:00 PM. The sea was pretty rough, so it took a long time to board people on the tender boat. By 1:15 PM we were on tender boat and headed to the island.

There were some monkeys right when we disembark. Then there was a long rocky road to the small museum and even further up to prison. One can just imagine the horrible condition people were kept in. It is a very sad place.

On the way back we decided to take a short cut and use stairs. I did not take a picture of Boris navigating this stairs...it was scary.

We were hot, sweaty and tired. Back on the tender boat and our ship.Read more