The Îles du Salut (Salvation Islands) were the setting for the incarceration of Alfred Dreyfus and Henri Charriere (Papillon. If you've read the book or seen the movie you'll know who we are talking about. We also suggest you research the story, as we did due to our visit, but be warned you may not like what you find out about the story...). There are 3 Islands: Île du Diable (Devil's Island), Île Royale and Île St Joseph. Other than Papillon and Dreyfus, a huge number of prisoners were sent to these islands and in its almost l00 years of operation to 1947, some 80,000 are reported to have died as a result of the brutal conditions.

We met our catamaran to Îles du Salut at around 10.30am for the 1.5 hour trip out to the islands. On the way we were served rum and juice which made for a nice morning tipple! After viewing Devil's Island from the boat (boats are no longer allowed to land there) and the house where Dreyfus was kept we disembarked on Île Royale with a few hours to explore. The islands now appear to be an idyllic setting, with palm trees and beautiful clear aqua waters. It's hard to imagine this was a place of such hardship and so much death.

A few paths circle Île Royale, with the ruins of the old prison facilities at the top of the hill. We headed there first and wandered through the old cells, administration buildings, church, stables, and guards quarters, which are nicely kept with green grass surrounds. The guards quarters have been restored and are now used for a rather expensive accommodation option. This island was for lower level prisoners.

On a lower trail we walked around the shore finding a nice spot for lunch and a swim, then headed for the museum which opened only half an hour before we had to meet our boat. We absorbed as much information as we could, then boarded again to go to St Joseph Island.

This island was smaller, and the prison ruins atop the hill were falling apart and overgrown. These cells were for more dangerous prisoners and solitary confinement. A sign advised a restoration project soon to start, and another advised us not to enter but we did anyway. The eerie corridors of cell after cell were crumbling away, but we were able to see the open grate roofing that allowed the sun to torture the prisoners in the midday heat.

A small shell beach provided a swimming spot to cool off, then we had time to walk around the rest of that island before getting back on our catamaran to return to Kourou. We watched the sunset on the return journey, while sipping a few more rums with juice and chatted to an interesting couple of space engineers from France and Germany who were working on the Ariane 5 shuttle at the space station.

LAPFWT