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French Guiana

The boat crossing from Albina, Suriname brought me to the first of French Guiana's three cities, St. Laurent du Maroni, which served as the administrative center of France's penal colonies from the late 1800's through the middle of the 20th century. The Transportation Camp (Camp du Transportacion) was the point of entry for most of France's prisoners, including Henri Charriere (aka Papillon, author of one of the greatest stories ever told).

Transportation Camp - St. Laurent du Maroni

Prison Cell - Camp du Transportacion

Latrine

Bus Stop Graffiti - St. Laurent du Maroni

Cool Graffiti

I took a boat the next day to the Iles du Salut (Salvation Islands), commonly known as Devil's Island even though it's composed of three islands.

Home of France's most famous political prisoner

Ile Royale Ruins

View from Iles Royale to South American mainland

Devil's Island

Ile Royale ruins

View from Ile du Joseph to Devil's Island

The catamaran ride back to the mainland was nice and wouldn't have been complete without a serving of Ti Punch, a sweet French alcohol they seem to drink on any occasion.

Catamaran - Royal Ti Punch

I got a ride to Cayenne, the capital, with a couple of French girls. Cayenne has a lot of crack addicts and isn't too interesting. The next day we headed east, to the Swamps of Kaw.

Snowy Egret in the Swamps of Kaw

Snowy Egret - Kaw

Kaw vagetation

Kaw swamp life

Kaw dragonfly

Toads of Kaw

French Guiana stream fish

The French don't go into the rainforest without brie and fine wine.

The site of a fine French meal

Kaw rainforest

French Guiana rainforest caterpillar

Kaw rainforest

Me and the French Girls

Capybara - the world's largest rodent

Good caiman

Bad caiman

Throat view

Home for a night - the caiman camp

South American ferns

Since French Guiana has no air connections to the non-French world, I headed back west, to Paramaribo, Suriname to catch my flight out of South America.