Retracing Steps of Prisoners on Notorious Devil’s Island

Day 7, 2024 Grand World Voyage

Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024; Devil’s Island, French Guiana

A friend in Andorra is tracking our journey and noticed yesterday that we were sailing down the northeast coast of South America, past Venezuela toward Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. “Are you going to Jonestown?” he texted. “DO NOT DRINK ANYTHING THERE!”

It was in poor taste, I know, but I couldn’t help chuckling. No, instead we were heading to Devil’s Island, a location perhaps as tragic as Jonestown. These three islands off the coast of French Guiana formed part of a French penal colony etched into history through the movies “Papillon” (1973 with Steve McQueen/Dustin Hoffman and 2017 with Charlie Hunnam/Rami Malek) and the earlier imprisonment of Alfred Dreyfus (the “Dreyfus Affair,” a French political scandal.)

On this, my third visit to Devil’s Island, I was determined finally to explore Île Royale, the largest of the three islands. Just a month ago when we arrived in the heat of the afternoon, I avoided climbing the hill to the main buildings and stayed on lower paths. I did much the same during my first visit four years ago, when I forgot my camera and used my sister’s photographs.

My weather app predicted rain showers for most of the day, so when the rain stopped and the sun broke through shortly after we anchored at 8 a.m., we decided to tender ashore before the rains returned. We enjoyed the only slightly cooler morning temperatures (and the rains never came back).

Last month on the Zaandam we received a much better map of the paths, trails and buildings on the island, and I was glad I still had it on my phone. If you exit the pier to the left, you are soon faced with choices – a paved relatively level road, a steeper path of stones and grass, and steep stairs to the first of the abandoned prison administrative buildings.

I took the short flight of stairs in the past, but this time we set off on the paved road to reach the upper levels. Yes, it might be longer, but I found it easier to navigate after the rain. The road also was almost deserted (another advantage of going ashore early), except for the occasional Capuchin monkeys who came out to see if we brought food (we didn’t), and the agouti, a rodent similar to a guinea pig but bigger and with larger legs. The agouti were too fast for me to photograph, but the “organ grinder” monkeys didn’t mind posing.

We reached a small cemetery with a concentration of children’s graves. Someone had left heart-shaped flower petals, held down with stones, on several of the graves.

It’s hot this close to the equator, but it’s the humidity that gets to me. I tried out my new toy – a portable neck fan – which helped a little, but really was no better than the slight humid breeze on top of the island. I was briefly tempted to stop to sketch the old buildings or one of numerous peacocks, but quickly talked myself into taking photos to use later in my air-conditioned cabin.

One of the larger buildings has been converted into a guest house with a restaurant and small store, but we kept going so we could finish our circumnavigation. Just past the swimming hole we could see how close Devil’s Island is.

It is where political prisoners were kept, with only a rigged cable car connected the two islands. It is said that the blood from the butcher shop on the larger island ran into the narrow channel, attracting sharks and discouraging escape by swimming. Solitary confinement was housed on the nearby Saint Joseph Island.

The wonderful Zuiderdam crew welcomed us back to the tender pier with cold water flavored by fruit slices.

Late in the afternoon, the sail-away party shifted into high gear on the aft Lido deck, with live music, appetizers and drink specials. Many of the ship’s officers joined us for the festivities – just another element of the return of “grand” cruising.

Last night our friend Jeri joined us for a special Tamarind pop-up dinner in the Pinnacle Grill. The larger Holland America ships have a separate Tamarind Restaurant featuring an Asian menu every night. During this cruise, there will be special nights in the Pinnacle featuring regional specialties, meals by guest chefs who come aboard for a week or so and special dinners paired with fine wines. I’m sure we’ll be back for a few of them.

Now it is on to a week on the Amazon River. Richard Watson, one of the cultural ambassadors from Oi Brazil, is repeating his excellent talks about the history, geography, indigenous people and life on this river. Other members of the group are teaching classes on Brazilian crafts, dancing and music.