Day 22 – The Isles Du Salut
Fortunately, I was just about well enough to visit the Isles Du Salut – the infamous Devil’s Island where the French dumped 80,000 of their worst criminals to be ravaged by yellow fever and malaria so that 90% died.
They showed the film the day before (Papillon), but I missed it because I was ill. Liz saw it and was horrified with what she had seen and wasn’t looking forward to it.
That morning I was up with the sun.
We berthed at a distance – no insects on board today – just the chirping of a lonesome cricket hidden away where they hadn’t got to him yet.
Then the islands came into view.
The islands looked idyllic with their palm trees – like desert island paradises. It was hard to imagine the hell on earth they were for so many.
I was feeling very jaded so we walked round the perimeter, saw the beauty of the rocks and trees, looked across the dangerous straits separating the three islands with their strong currents and sharks infested waters, saw the old prison buildings with their terrible history, looked across to French Guyana (with its rocket sites), met up with a troupe of monkeys breaking coconuts open by bashing them against rocks, saw agoutis, watched turtles swimming among the rocks, and managed to lose each other! It was swelteringly hot so we met up and went back to the boat.
It was a bonus that I had managed to do it.
As we sailed away it was hard to imagine such horrors existing in such idyllic settings.
Next stop Tobago! Our first port of call in the Caribbean!