January 11, 2024. sailing toward French Guiana

We are sailing down the Amazon on the northeast coast of South America, past Venezuela toward Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. This is desolate rain forest. Picture the terrain of Jonestown, the massive massacre that occurred in Guyana in 1978 and you will get a picture of this hot, humid area.

Today we passed what was once known as Salvation Island, an island where early missionaries sought shelter when there were plagues on the mainland of French Guiana (Guyane). This island was soon to be known as Devil’s Island.

Starting in 1852 until 1952, the prisoners who were sent to this notorious French penal colony called it the “dry guillotine” because it was a certain-if bloodless-death sentence. In the Islands worst years, 75% to 90% of all prisoners perished. And to be certain that no one tried to escape, the prison butcher would drain the blood from the monkeys he called and drip it on the shoreline to keep a steady group of sharks circling. Most of the prisoners were political prisoners who opposed the Third French Republic. The most famous of these was Captain Alfred Dreyfus, who was falsely imprisoned there for treason.

If you are not familiar with this story, his case exposed antisemitism in the French army, as well as other forms of corruption, and it had complications that shook a good portion of Europe at the turn of the 20th century. No space here, but if you are interested: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreyfus_affair

If you are like us, you might want to rent the movie “Papillion” this weekend a movie that etched into history the story of this French Guiana penal colony. (1973 with Steve McQueen/Dustin Hoffman) If you prefer a more recent adaptation (2017 with Rami Malek.)

Thanks for traveling with us.