Grand South America 2017: 2017.03.04 Devil’s Island, French Guiana

Originally a leper colony, the Salvation Islands are made up of three islands: Isle Royale, Saint Joseph and Isle du Diable (or Devils Island). Located seven miles off the coast of French Guiana, a penal colony was formed on the archipelago by the government of the Emperor Napoleon III in 1852. It soon became home for the worst criminals, political and military prisoners and repeat offenders of the French nation. Officially known as “Bagne de Cayenne” (Cayenne Penal Colony, named for the capitol city of French Guiana), its prisoners soon coined the name Devil’s Island. Because of harsh conditions, isolation and disease, many of the more than 80,000 prisoners sent to the prison were never seen again. The remote location and the surrounding open sea proved to be very effective in preventing prisoner escapes from the island. There were only two successful escape attempts from Devil’s Island The first was accomplished by Clement Duval, a French anarchist who escaped the island in April 1901 and found sanctuary in the United Sates where he spent the remainder of his life. The second received much more publicity. Convicted murderer Henri Charriere successfully escaped the island in 1941, and his exploits were described in the popular book and movie adaptation, “Papillion”. After 1938 the government of France stopped sending prisoners to Devil’s Island, and in 1952 the prison was closed down permanently. In 1965, the French government transferred responsibility of the islands to the newly founded Guiana Space Centre. More than 50,000 tourists come to this island annually to visit the prison and the Space Centre.

This is one port where there is no tour. We are Ile Royale, not Devils Island. Devils Island is where they sent those that were in solitary confinement. This is where Henri Charriere was kept. We set out to walk the island. Here is the map that they gave us.

We were anchored and had to take a tender to the island.

As we walked around the island you could see Devil’s Island, but they discouraged you from swimming over to it because of sharks and currents.

The first structure we saw was the workshop they used.

Next were the pigpens.

Then the slaughterhouse and the prisoners pool, which is in the ocean.

Before getting to the main buildings we went by the Guesthouse.

Now we walked through a denser area on our way to the main buildings. And there on the path were the squirrel monkeys. One was rather large and we figured he was the male.

Once you get to the main building area there are most of the buildings where they did their business. There was the chapel (under renovation) and the gendarmerie (police).

And the hospital where they worked. The hospital was not for the prisoners, but for the staff. If a prisoner had a health issue they sent him back to the mainland. They often faked illness to get to the mainland and try to escape.

There was a lighthouse behind the convent and also out by the lighthouse was the rocket guidance radar, used to track the rockets that were shot from the mainland.

We then went to the condemned prisoners quarters. In the picture of the yard area you will see four stones on the ground. This is where they would behead the prisoners.