This morning we dropped anchor just off of the Isle Royale which is the largest and only inhabited island which once served as the headquarters of the French penal colony. This area is most known for the smaller island (Devil’s Island). The third island is St. Joseph. All three islands are very close together. The penitentiary was first opened by Napoleon and over the years some 80,000 prisoners were sent here, but only 30,000 survived. The only way out of here is by boat. Many scenes from the 1973 Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman movie, Papillion were shot here depicting the life Henri Charriere here on Devil’s Island and his numerous escape attempts. Today the island get about 50,000 tourists each year and serves as station for rocket scientists for the Kourou base where nearly half of the world’s commercial satellites are launched in French Guiana. The coastline is only 6.8 miles away and the huge rocket launch site can be seen from the ship.
In these photos you can see a group of school girls from French Guiana who came over by boat to visit Devil’s Island. Many of the prison ruins are in good shape while others are only a wall or two. The Isle Royale is very steep so the walk is a little hard in the heat and humidity.
We are en route again now. Tomorrow is a sea day and the next day is Port of Spain.
In this photo you can see Devil’s Island across the way. It only held about 6 to 8 of the very worst prisoners at any time.
