Our
first morning in the islands was uplifting after the disappointment
of Jacare. Palm trees swaying on the breeze, blue skies and birds on
the wing. We were on holiday again.
dock at Il Royale |
Le
Ils du Salut (Isles of Salvation) are three small islands and part of
French Guiana and since 1965 have been owned by Centre National
D'Etudes Spatiale, or, the European Space Agency whose rocket launch
site is just 9 miles away at Kourou. When a rocket is launched it
passes directly over the islands. For the three days around a launch
no boats are allowed to anchor here and the residents move to the
mainland. Residents are the hotel staff, officers from the islands'
police station and the camp chief on Ile St Joseph.
anchorage |
day boats on moorings |
Prior
to being part of the Space Age, I read the islands have been a French
territory since 1664, a site from which to colonise the interior of
South America, but in 1854 Napoleon Bonaparte decided they were to be
a prison for political prisoners, repeat offenders and anyone not
wanted in mainland France. Convicts were last transported here in
1937.
The
convict who is most closely associated with the islands never stepped
foot on them. Henri Charriere, aka Papillon wrote a book which he
claimed was an autobiography of his time on Ils du Salut. The real
truth is he was incarcerated on another prison island near Cayenne
and his book is a collection of stores he was told of life on these
islands. Many people are very disappointed when they come here and
discover the most well known resident wrote a book of fiction not one
of fact. And the eponymous film wasn't shot here either. That
location was either Hawaii or Brazil depending who tells you.
Before
we sailed here we'd read the blogs of friends who've travelled came
before us and trusting their accounts to be true we had been prepared
for a rolly anchorage so we were happy to find all was calm during
our visit.
When
we arrived at 3am in the morning there was one boat, a catamaran
called Magic Bullet with Australians Geoff and Kim on board, anchored
close in to the day boat moorings (not available to visiting yachts).
They left the morning after we arrived, hopefully not something we
said, and we moved closer in to the bay. There was no difference in
conditions to being further out, but we were 200m closer to the boat
dock. It was still calm.
The
boat dock is used by the catamarans which arrive at 9am each day from
Kourou transporting eager guests. Some come for the day, others stay
overnight at the hotel or camp for free. The dock and entry to the
islands is free for visiting yacht.
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