Final Post--Decadence in the Caribbean

After 10 days sloshing around in the jungles of the Amazon and being hot, sweaty and dirty, 4 days in the Caribbean seemed warm, beautiful and luxurious (although not as interesting….).

Moving from southeast to northwest through the Caribbean, we first stopped in Barbados, which is very British..  It’s primarily known for its rum and duty-free shopping, although we found the views (Picture 1) much more interesting.

Our next stop was the French territory of Guadeloupe, although we bypassed the two main islands. Instead we visited the island of Terre-de-haut, which is one of the several islands (mostly uninhabited) in the les Saintes archipelago. Discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1493, it is only 5 km long and only about half that wide. It has one sleepy little village and goats and chickens roam the best beach, but there’s a pretty amazing fort that was built by the French, with amazing views of the entire island. Picture 2 shows the town from the fort (zoomed a bit).

Then it was on to French St. Barthelemy (St. Barths). It too was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1493 and named for his brother, Bartolomeo. It’s capital, Gustavia, has a harbor filled with yachts and streets filled with designer clothing stores. There are more cars than people on the island and getting around is a nightmare on narrow, winding roads, but it is beautiful (Picture 3). St. Barths does have one dubious distinction: it has the 2^nd shortest runway used for commercial aviation in the world (Picture 4) at 2183 feet. The largest plane that lands carries 21 passengers and pilots must have a special certificate to land there. We watched a couple planes land and it would scare the daylights out of me. You come across a saddle between 2 hills, point the nose downhill as you go down the other side and then pull up as you hit the end of the runway, stopping before you get to the beach at the other end of the runway.  By the way, the world’s shortest commercial runway is on the island of Saba in the French Antilles and is only 1150 feet long.

Lastly, we spent yesterday on Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands and finally had a bright sunny day without rain. There’s one sleepy village on the island and lots of yachts in the harbor or near the beaches. We spent the morning on one of the beaches (Picture 5). As Seabourn traditionally does on beautiful beach days, they delivered caviar to the beach and served it on a surfboard, standing in the water (Picture 6). We can attest to the fact the caviar and champagne can be enjoyed before noon. How very decadent….

We now have 2 days to sail to Ft. Lauderdale, where we will leave the ship. We’ve had a great time. Thanks for traveling with us.

Devil's Island

Our final stop in South America was Devil’s Island in French Guiana. Devil’s Island is really 3 islands, Ile Royale, Ile Saint-Joseph and Ile du Diable, 7 miles off the mainland.  These islands were home to one of the most notorious penal colonies in the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

Both Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci sailed by in 1498 and 1501, respectively, but never landed. In the 17^th century, this area was controlled by the French, English, Dutch, Portuguese and, finally, the French. 14,000 immigrants were sent to colonize French Guiana in the 18^th century, but 10,000 perished from disease and the humid, hot climate.

In 1854 a penal colony was established for French prisoners and housed some of France’s worst criminals, political and military prisoners. Horrible conditions and illness claimed the majority of prisoners. If someone was released, they then had to spend an equal number of years living in French Guiana before returning to France. So few came home.

Picture 1 shows the 3 islands. Ile Royale, with the only tourist facilities, is on the left, Ile Saint-Joseph is to the right and Ile du Diable is in the middle. Picture 2 shows that the coasts of the islands are lovely, but make escape very difficult. Other than a few people maintaining the facility, the only other residents are the the Palm Rat (Picture 3), which is squirrel-sized and monkeys (Picture 4).

Ile Royale contains remains of the penal colony, which are in various stages of decay and restoration. Picture 5 shows the lighthouse and hospital facility and Picture 6 shows the chapel.

There are 2 residents of note that did leave the island. The first was Alfred Dreyfus, who was convicted in 1893 of treason in France, based on very flimsy evidence. A fortified compound was built for his solitary confinement on Ile du Diable. His appeal was eventually heard and he was retried, but France would not admit their mistake. Instead, the president pardoned him in 1899. In 1906 he was totally exonerated, his commission in the army restored. He then went on to serve gallantly in WWI.  His trial and imprisonment were an embarrassment to the French legal system.

Henri Charriere’s story is also interesting. He was a small-time criminal, who was convicted of a murder he says he did not commit and sent to Devil’s Island.  He became known as Papillon and was depicted in a movie of that name by Steve McQueen. He made several escapes from Ile Royale and was finally confined on Ile du Diable with another prisoner. They stuffed coconuts into the burlap sacks in which they received their meals. He studied the tides and realized that every 7^th wave pulled out, instead of pushing in, so they lashed themselves to the burlap sacks and launched themselves on the 7^th wave and 2 days later arrived on the mainland, where his companion got mired in quicksand. Charriere managed to escape the quicksand and Devil’s Island and documented his time there in the book “Papillon”. France, however, continues to deny the stories in the book and says in the museum on Ile Royale that Charriere merely made up stories and recounted stories of others from a decade earlier. Our lecturer told us that his research indicates the opposite: Charriere more than likely told the truth. Guess it’s time to watch the movie!

We are now on our way through the Caribbean Sea with stops at Barbados, Guadelupe, St. Barts and the British Virgin Islands. We’ll post something about these stops during our last 2 days at sea, before we arrive in Ft. Lauderdale 4/9