The Isles de Salut, Salvation Islands, consist of three
Islands, which were originally a leper colony. They are located about 7 miles
away from the coast of mainland French Guiana.
Of the three islands, Isle Royale, Saint-Joseph, and Isle du
Diable, the last one is best known as ‘Devil’s Island’ from the Movie
‘Papillon’. In 1852, under Emperor Napoleon III, it was made into a penal
colony, where it became home to the worst criminals, political and military
prisoners and other repeat offenders of the French Nation.
Its official name was Bagne de Cayenne, Cayenne Penal
Colony, after the capital city of French Guiana.
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| Warden's Rock Pool |
Governor's Mansion
80,000 prisoners arrived here and lived under atrocious conditions;
however isolation and disease decimated the population and few of these 80,000 condemned
ever returned. In 1938 France stopped sending prisoners here, but only in 1952
the penal colony was closed permanently.
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| Prisoners Cells |
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| Imagine this in 40 degrees centigrade and no air conditioning |
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| Not a vacation on Devil's Island |
Instead of prisoners, 50,000 tourists visit the islands annually
now to look at the ruins of the old penal colony, light house, church, convent
and rows of cells and warden housing. The mansion of the governor, built –
including a swimming pool - to exacting and elegant standards by the convicts, serves
today as a museum, which illustrates the history of the colony and tells the
story of some of their more famous or infamous inhabitants: Dreyfuss, Charriere
of Papillion, Clement Duval et al.
An Auberge, hotel, perches beside a dried out water cistern,
large enough to have been a small interior lake with caimans and lizards (gone
since the last time I visited). Many visitors stay overnight to enjoy fishing,
diving and wild life watching as well as a picnic on the prison’s lawns and
take a dip in the warden’s rock swimming pool (built as well by convicts).
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| Local Rodent |
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| Monkey and his Coconut Dinner |
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| Monkeys taking over the old prison |
The Main Island, Isle Royal, is small enough, that one may
walk around it in an hour. Monkeys, birds, turtles and lizards provide constant
entertainment to the visitor.
To a casual visitor or vacationer, the Isles de Salut may
seem a perfect tropical paradise, replete with flowering bushes, swaying palm
trees, abundant wild life, crashing surf and great fishing opportunities, to
the involuntary visitors some decades ago it was living hell.
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| Prinsendam at Anchor off Devil's Island |
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| Lizard on the landing wharf |
