Tuesday, January 14 - Devil's Island, French Guiana

 The captain warned us that it would be touch and go for the tendering this morning, but it must have been within acceptable limits.  There are no tours here so it was just get off when you want.  We went around 10:30 and it was a pretty slow process because it was actually quite rough and passengers had to wait until the crew said "go" at which time they pushed/pulled you onto the bouncing tender.  It was probably as bad as we have seen in the past.  After a very short ride we had a little bit of trouble getting off as it was still rather bouncy even at the pier.

As I think I mentioned, Devil's Island is actually 3 islands (Royal Island, Devil's Island, and St. Joseph) that were all used as prisons for over 100 years up until 1953.  The only one you can visit now is Royal which is where the administration was set up, along with some prisons.  The movie and book titled Papillion were based on one of the prisoners, a French soldier named Alfred Dreyfus who was sent here for treason for 5 years, although later had the charges dismissed.  We were a little disappointed that there were not many signs telling you what you were seeing, or directions to find anything.  But I did get some pictures.  We only spent about 30-40 minutes walking around the small island as it was very hot and humid.  It took longer to get to and from on the tender!  But we're glad we went because it is sort of a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

The three islands

St. Joseph's island was for criminals.  

Where the prisoners were brought for interrogation (I think!)

More admin buildings?

A capybara, sort of a cross between a rat and a rabbit.

The building on Devil's Island where Dreyfus was kept.  This was for political prisoners.

Dreyfus' cell as seen through bars from the butcher's shop.

Workshops, or what's left of them

While we were waiting on the return tender at the pier, we were held because there was a helicopter medical evacuation from the ship.  We have no idea who or what, but fortunately French Guiana is only a few miles away.  And getting off the tender at the ship was just as harrowing as it was earlier.  Very glad to be back "home".

All 5 of us were at Trivia and we learned that there were more interesting things at the top of the hill on Royal Island.  We thought about going up there, but my hip has been talking to me lately and all those steps looked daunting.  Now I'm sorry I didn't push through as Bo's pictures looked really good. Ah well, lesson learned. 

Roger said he heard it was the lecturer, James Grant-Peterkin, who was taken off in the helicopter.  He did cancel a lecture yesterday because he wasn't feeling well, so he must have taken a turn for the worse.

We went to dinner at Compass Rose with Bob and Bo. Roger and Inka don't normally eat with a group, as she has hearing issues and feels uncomfortable. We ran into Bill Lee afterward, who confirmed that it was the other lecturer, James, who was taken off the ship. Hopefully, we'll get an update.

I made it to the show tonight - Lisa Marie Holmes, a classically trained British singer who also does Broadway music.  She was excellent and well worth hearing, even if it was a bit too loud at times.