We tied our dinghy on the inside of the jetty and went off to explore. When it was a prison island Ile Royale was where the governor, the guards and their families lived. It has the administration buildings, houses and a prison. The central and highest building is now the hotel. Guests also have the option to stay in the barracks.
We began our visit at the museum to familiarise ourselves with the history, then with the aid of a free map from the hotel took a tour of all the buildings and paths. It's not big. Our walk around the coastal path took a leisurely 50 minutes.
You can see Devil's island from Il Royale, but it is closed to visitors. The given reason is danger and difficulty of landing boats. At one time the two islands were joined by a cable car. Now they are divided by strong currents. The first resident prisoner, Alfred Dreyfus in mid 1800's, was charged with treason and interred on Devil's. It was later a place for many more prisoners.
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| Devil's Island |
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| Governor's house |
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| the military hospital |
There is one small cemetery on the island with the graves of fifty children. Only the children of the guards were buried, all others went elsewhere, due to lack of space.
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| children's cemetery |
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| helicopter pad and lighthouse |
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| entry to cells |
We were surprised to find monkeys living here. They are Capucins although we didn't see many. We did see lots of agoutis. We're told they are similar to the dassies of South Africa - these are larger and eat coconuts.
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| agouti |
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