French Guiana | Around the World with Corey Sandler

By Corey Sandler

Devil’s Island, L’île du Diable, is one of the most evocative, terrifying, inspiring, and memorable places I know of.

You cannot visit Devil’s Island without some of it staying with you the rest of your life.

The good news, of course, is that we are sailing in on one of the most luxurious cruise ships in the world.

And the even better news is that we will be sailing away in the early afternoon, just in time for lunch and a Piña Colada by the pool.

It was not at all like that for the 80,000 or so guests who checked in to Devil’s Island between 1852 and 1953.

We arrived today under bluish skies, but as close to 100 percent humidity as I can imagine. Half an hour after tendering ashore with the first group of guests, the skies opened. I have been less wet inside a shower stall. But eventually the rain ended and we headed for the cells of the convicted, the tighter quarters of the condemned, and only slightly less awful holes for those held in solitary confinement.

Devil’s Island, across the narrow and treacherous strait that separates it from L’île Royale. Photo by Corey Sandler

Devil’s Island and the two nearby islands of L’île Royale and L’île Saint-Joseph, as well as the mainland of French Guiana was used by the French as a penal colony for 101 years. Collectively they bear the ironic name of Les Îles du Salut (Islands of Salvation).

And to be precise, we visited L’île Royale, which was a general prison camp and administrative center and home to some of the cells.

In 1895, French army captain Alfred Dreyfus was unjustly convicted of treason and sent to Devil’s Island in 1895. The French author Emile Zola helped bring about a retrial, and eventually Dreyfus was exonerated.

The prisons were kept open during World War II, but from 1946 until 1953, one by one the prisons were closed. The Devil’s Island facility was the last to be closed.

in 1970 came the book Papillon, published as a memoir by a former prisoner, Henri Charrière in 1970.

Charriere’s book was an international bestseller, and in 1973 the film Papillon, starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman made the story part of the global cultural DNA.

Historians say not all of Charrière’s recounting is accurate, but the general tone of awful despair is true. You can feel it in your bones when you visit.

I’ve been to hell in paradise half a dozen times, and escaped successfully each time. And yet it draws me back.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

————-

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

If you would like to purchase an autographed copy, please see the tab on this page, “HOW TO ORDER A PHOTO OR AUTOGRAPHED BOOK”

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IA9QTBM

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

Devil’s Island, L’île du Diable, is one of the most evocative, terrifying, inspiring, and memorable places I know of.

To be precise, Devil’s Island is one of three islands that make up Les Isles du Salut, the Salvation Islands. And those three were in turn part of the vast prison complex established by the French in their colony of Guiana off the southeastern coast odds of South America. As a whole, the complex was known by its most evocative island name, Devil’s Island.

You do not visit Devil’s Island without some of it staying with you the rest of your life.

The good news, of course, is that we are sailed in on one of the most luxurious cruise ships in the world. And the even better news is that we sailed away in the early evening, just in time for drinks at the Bar and a five-star dinner.

It was not at all like that for the 70,000 or so guests who checked in to Devil’s Island between 1852 and 1953. Devil’s Island and the two nearby islands as well as the mainland of French Guiana was used by the French as a penal colony for 101 years.

It was a hot, humid, disease-ridden, outpost of hell.

The vast majority of the prisoners sent to the Devil’s Island prison system never made it back to France. Many died due of disease and harsh conditions. Sanitary systems were limited, and the region was mosquito-infested, with endemic tropical diseases. Only a few convicts ever successfully escaped, and most of them were captured on the mainland.

Devil’s Island is the third-largest of the ironically named Îles du Salut (Islands of Salvation). To be precise, we came ashore at the Ile Royale, which was part of the prison complex. On the far side of Royale is a view across a narrow strait to Devil’s Island.

It is not considered wise to swim in the rough currents between Royale and Devil’s Island. Not so much the currents; the sharks.

It’s a rather foreboding place, with not much to recommend it unless you like to see marauding bands of super-sized rodents, large monkeys, and killer sharks patrolling close to shore.

The reason we visit is to immerse ourselves in the history of the place.

The penal colony was not a secret. In 1895, French army captain Alfred Dreyfus was unjustly convicted of treason and sent to Devil’s Island in 1895. The French author Emile Zola helped bring about a retrial of Dreyfus, and eventually he was exonerated.

In 1938 the penal system was strongly criticized in Rene Belbenoit’s book Dry Guillotine. Shortly after the release of Belbenoit’s book, the French government announced plans to close the bagne de Cayennes. The prisons were kept open during World War II, but from 1946 until 1953, one by one the prisons were closed. The Devil’s Island facility was the last to be closed.

And then in 1970 came the book Papillon, published as a memoir by a former prisoner, Henri Charrière who had a tattoo of a butterfly, a papillon, on his chest. Charriere’s book was an international bestseller, and in 1973 the film Papillon, starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman made the story part of the global cultural DNA. Charrière said that all events in the book were truthful and accurate, allowing for minor lapses in memory.

A few hours walk around the island leads to this conclusion: close enough, and let’s be on our way.

Monkeys on high, cat-sized agouti down low. Neither were much bothered by our presence.

The church, one of the few places of relative “liberty” for the prisoners. And a section of the housing for the guards, very different from the cells for the inmates.