Paramaribo to French Guiana

After breakfast, we departed the hotel to travel 2.5 hours along the coastal road to the border point at Albina. Customs and immigration formalities. Then boarded a pirogue (a small semi-covered motorised boat) crossing the Maroni River for French Guiana. Here we were met by our French guide on arrival in St Laurent. A mini city tour, making a brief visit to the well-preserved Transportation Camp. The facility was the processing centre for the majority of convicts being sent to the penal colonies in French Guiana. Having served their original sentences, the convicts were then obliged to serve the same length of time here in an attempt to populate the colonies. Perhaps the best-known inmate was Papillon.
A wander around the historic old town, very French in style, through the market, and then a lunch stop.
Then a drive for a couple of hours, with a short stop to visit the church of St. Joseph in Iracoubou. The entire inside of the church was hand-painted by a convict from a nearby penal colony.
Late afternoon, we arrived in the small city of Kourou for two nights at Hotel Atlantis.Read more