Select Page

Îles du Salut has a long, troubled and famous history. Located off the coast of French Guiana, the island group is most famous for hosting one of the most notorious French penal colonies from 1852 until 1953. The Îles du Salut consist of 3 islands, Île Royale which was the administrative island with a chapel, a light house, a hospital and the housing for the guards. Île St. Joseph was the home of the somewhat more dangerous prisoners. The most famous of the islands, Devil’s Island, held the most dangerous prisoners and also had the worst living conditions.

Warning signs are frequent around the island

Warning signs are frequent around the island

Many inmates tried to escape the prison on Devil’s Island but very few succeeded. The most famous escape attempt was chronicled by Henri Charrière in his bestselling book Papillon. This book describes Charrières time on the island as well as several escape attempts until he actually managed to escape on a sack of coconuts. He made it to Venezuela where he became a free man. While this was written as an autobiography, there has been a lot of controversy around this. Most historians agree that while what is written in the book did happen, it did not happen to Charrière, rather, they were stories he had been told.

Strong currents and shark infested waters made it difficult to escape

Strong currents and shark infested waters made it difficult to escape

These days, French Guyana is owned by the French space agency, Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES). While they do research and launch space rockets and satellites from the capital Cayenne, the Îles du Salut are left for the tourists. A lot of the buildings still stand, especially on Île Royale which is where I went ashore to explore.

Sign from the French space agency

Sign from the French space agency

Due to the notorious currents surrounding the islands, the swells to get into the tender were pretty big. Luckily for us, we have an amazing crew and they safely helped everyone into the tender. Ashore we were met with intense heat, a jungle and a turtle swimming in the water. For what used to be a prison it was very picturesque.

Port area

Port area

Prison Guard house

Prison Guard house

Our First stop was along the edge of the island where we saw some of the houses the prison guards and their families used to live in. We could also see Devil’s Island a short distance off Île Royale. We could even spot the house that was the home of Alfred Dreyfus, a French artillery officer sentenced to life on the island for treason – a conviction he was later found innocent of.

Devil’s Island with the house Alfred Dreyfus called home

Devil’s Island with the house Alfred Dreyfus called home

Continuing up a hill we came to the main “center” of the island. We saw even more houses that used to host the prison guards. Today one of them even acts as a hotel. Next to these houses you have the old solitary confinement cells. While one of the buildings is mostly in ruins, the other one is mostly intact – except for the doors and furniture that is. Walking inside you could almost get a feel for how bad the conditions must have been. While the fact that you are inside shields a bit from the heat and sunshine, it is still extremely hot, the cells are tiny and there is no light except for a tiny window over the door.

Entrance to the solitary confinement cells

Entrance to the solitary confinement cells

Not much space or light

Not much space or light

Next up was my favorite part of the island, a massive square with a hospital and a light house on one side and a big satellite and helipad on the other side. The hospital was not used by the prisoners, but rather by the guards and their families. It is a massive building, and with the equally massive light house right next to it, it makes for an impressive sight. Unfortunately we were not allowed to go into either buildings. I do not know the history behind the helipad, nor the big satellite, but I am guessing this has something to do with the rockets being launched from neighbouring Cayenne.

Hospital and light house

Hospital and light house

Traces of more modern times

Traces of more modern times

At this point we were done with the ruins, and decided to go look for monkeys. Or rather, we thought we were done with ruins. On the way we passed by the graveyard and a building that used to hold the petrol tank for the cable car that used to exist between Devil’s Island and Île Royale. Following the road through the jungle we finally saw a monkey, then another one and another one. One was sitting nicely on a branch just waiting for his photo opportunity.

Petrol tank

Petrol tank

Modern day petrol storage

Modern day petrol storage

Monkey!!!

Monkey!!!

Back at the pier it was time for a sticky and bumpy tender ride back to the ship.