French Guiana

After an ominous day at sea, today we were scheduled to visit French Guiana

Unfortunately, this port is a “tendered port” (meaning the ship does not dock, and guests are brought ashore on dinghies, which are small boats that shuttle ~50 or so folks at a time). At any rate, the poor weather conditions prevented us from visiting, and we all waved as be bypassed the island. (Presumably the more astute passengers took pictures, but being 8:00 in the morning, I had failed to put my dusty old astute hat on yet…)

So, in lieu of recanting captivating tales of our endeavors, I offer you what I learned of the island today.

French Guiana is not to be confused with Guyana, The Guianas, French Guinea, or Guyenne. (Whew, that’s a mouthful.) It is referred to as an “overseas department” of France. Established in 1797, the island is located on the northeast coast of South America. Although it has 300,000 residences, it is over 30,000 square miles, which is is predominantly made up of Amazon Rainforest. Its largest city is its capital  Cayenne. The primary language spoken is Créole Guyanais, and inhabitants are EU (Easter Union) citizens.

Although the harvesting of gold and diamonds, as well as their seafood trade has made French Guiana one of South America’s wealthiest and most expensive countries, it is perhaps best known to westerners as the home of Devil’s Island, the island prison that served as the backdrop of Hollywood’s three popular Papillon movies. (If you have not seen the recent remake, staring Charlie Hunnam, it’s worth a look.)

We are at sea for the next three days, so here are some stock photos of the island to hold you over.