Devil's Island, French Guiana – December 29

yes, we're in France

Weather…hot – 30ish, humid, muggy, sunny, you get the pattern. The cruise staff has repeatedly warned us about how hot and humid it is here, and they weren’t wrong…India was more so, Turkey was more so, but this is up there! This is why included ship-done laundry is such a luxury! 

more monkeys!

monkey!!!

stairs to ???

I woke up today after a night of the ship rocking and rolling to my belly doing its own rocking and rolling. As I mentioned yesterday, this is not unusual for me after a few days at sea. We were told that the
bay we’ll be anchored in today should provide shelter which is exactly what happened. As we approached our anchor spot, the water calmed right down and so did my belly. However, right before we entered the bay the swells were pretty big and a few

insect nest??

things in our bathroom toppled to the floor. I’m doubly glad my belly calmed down as I don’t feel like being sick on Devil’s Island…apparently the ‘facilities’ are ‘rustic’. I’m happy to use a ‘hole’ to do some of my business in, but not all of my business if you catch my drift!

abandoned building

Apparently, like we were rocking and rolling so much last night because of how shallow the cove is around Devil’s Island…the ship can’t use its stabilizers…this means my belly will be doing
cartwheels AGAIN as we leave, which is exactly what happened. I called it a bit of an early night – an even earlier night actually as we turn the clocks back an hour tonight!!!

ship

French Guiana is an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northeast corner of South America. Brazil to the east and south and Suriname to the west. They use Euros here. This isn’t the only Euro (actually French) port we’ll be visiting before this cruise is done…we brought euros.

children's cemetery

Devil’s Island was a French penal colony that operated from 1852 to 1952 – kind of like Australia but didn’t quite turn out like Australia did. It was infamous for the harsh treatment of prisoners and the tropical climate and diseases. At its worst the prison had a death rate of 75%. The movie Papillion was based on Devil’s Island. I haven’t seen either version of this movie but may before the cruise is over…it’s playing on the TV here.

We learn that we are the first cruise ship to visit Devil’s Island since covid. I’m

still not entirely sure why the boat stops here. This is only the 2nd stop we’ve ever made with a cruise where no tours available. I suspected that there must be something in it for the ship, this was confirmed by another passenger we spoke to who mentioned that the taxes, or fees or something were lower, or nonexistent to stop here.

In the end I’m glad we came here. It was a wonderful day despite the heat

biere

and humidity. The island is gorgeous…lush, lush, lush. I feel like I said that about Rio’s urban forest, which that was, but this is rugged and uninhabited. Exactly as I’d picture Gilligan’s Island!

There is little more to do here than hike

the 1-hour trek around the island, visit old, abandoned prison buildings, marvel at nature, and grab a beer at the island’s solo bar, and that’s plenty. The landscape is palm trees, vines, rocky coast and crashing waves. All of this sprinkled with the occasional monkey, lizard/iguana, agouti (big guinea pig like animals) and peacock.

As we entered the bay, we could see 3 small islands in the distance while one of the ship’s lecturers narrated our arrival. He pointed out things of interest and

gave additional information. This played on our TV, which was a pretty neat way to wake up. We’ve been on cruises with this who is super informative. He’s been lecturing for the past couple of days about Devil’s Island – its history and what to expect. Regent cruises typically have lecturers onboard illuminating areas of the world we are visiting…these lecturers can we seen live in the ship’s theatre, or they play on TVs in the rooms…we watch on our TV.

A 7-minute tender boat ride got us to the island around 11AM. As we approach

the island, I can’t help but think that this is exactly what I’d imagine Gilligan’s Island looking like - I’m not sure any more vegetation could fit onto the island. Most people took the paved road around the island to the abandoned prison buildings which was a good idea…a fair number of people we cruise with are older (and we’re not exactly spring chickens!) and have mobility challenges. The path we take hugs the mostly rocky coast and has us negotiating slippery rocks, protruding

Devil's Island(s)

roots, fallen trees, puddles and enormous insect nests…we think the nests are termites having seen similar before, but who knows. At one point we where there must have been what I’m assuming are a million congregating insects that make the loudest sounds…it creeped me out a bit so I didn’t stick around to investigate. The monkeys more or less minded their own business and just let us watch them, which I could have done all day despite me melting. We’ve encountered aggressive city monkeys in the past, looking for food and shiny objects being habituated by humans…Devil’s Island monkeys…not so much.

abandoned prison

giant log and giant rock

Then we checked out the abandoned prison buildings, the children’s cemetery (brutal) and finally found the hotel/bar for a beer. We try Jeune Gueule – a local beer we’ve never seen before (one that’s 8.5% and one that’s 6%...yikes!)  We are no longer enjoying South American (or maybe I should say Brazilian) prices. The beers cost us €6 each (9CAD). I’m happy to say I didn’t find out how rustic the facilities were…with all this sweating, I see why they don’t invest in their facilities.

back to the tender

We spoke to some passengers who have been to Devil’s Island many times and choose not to get off today…If I ever come back, I’ll definitely be getting off…

WHAT A GLORIOUS DAY!!!!!

just to do that hike again…glorious!