In French Guiana you'll find the three Îles du Salut, or
the Salvation Islands - named like this because they provided a healthier
environment than the mainland for the French gold seekers of the 1760s.
About 8 miles off the coast from Kourou, you'll find our goal.
This is a place for that guy from that show of "Dark Tourism" for sure. The penal colony of Cayenne was a French penal colony that operated in the 19th and 20th century in the Salvation's Islands of French Guiana. Opened in 1852, the Devil's Island system received convicts from the Prison of St-Laurent-du-Maroni and had political prisioners exiled, but they had hard and harsh treatments for their habitants, with a death
rate of 75%... So they closed the prision in 1953.
They had 3 islands for this, and they picked the worst and most dangerous prisoners to go to Devil's island. Escape attempts from the "Green Hell" were common and mostly unsuccessful. Henri Charrière, the author of Papillon, later made into a famous movie, tells the story of one man's efforts to get away.
In this islands you can see lush growth, palm trees, and forests covered the islands, obscuring the
water beyond. Left to nature, the tropical growth covered most of the
ruins of the penal colony.
How to visit:
Well, you cannot go there actually, just to see it from far. The access to visitors is
strictly forbidden on the now uninhabited territory, since the currents are so
strong that no ships are allowed to dock here!
I suggest you to stay in one of the other islands, and take a boat trip to be close enought from our mark. More remnants are on the largest of the three islands, Île Royale, where there are also options for overnight accommodation.
Here you have some links to check on tours:
Happy journeys in French Guiana!
