We spent a day on Devil’s Island after reaching the Atlantic Ocean. We booked a zodiac boat island tour to the main island where the prisoners were kept until the facility closed in 1953. Our ship had the movie Papillon available on demand in the cabins so we watched it early in our cruise to catch up on the history and brutality of the penal colony. Our tour was a go, then put on hold because of a missile launch from the island was rescheduled to the day we arrived. Then the missile was rescheduled again but there was a port worker strike. The strike was solved then 10 minutes before we left for the tour we were notified of an unplanned military exercise on the island. So… they gave us the day on the adjacent island that housed the prison’s guard staff, hospital and solitary confinement.
The view of the island on approach by our ship’s tender. Very mysterious looking.
Such a lush tropical place!
Entrance to one of the cells. We had open access to most of the buildings. There was even a small hotel and restaurant on the island. We couldn’t figure out why anyone would want to stay, though. You can walk around the entire island in about 90 minutes.
The ruins of two solitary cells.
Scary things can become beautiful with time.
The grounds had beautiful flowering trees and bushes.
This is a missile monitoring tower that supports the French spaceport on the island next door.
This little guy is an agouti. They’re everywhere. They have cute orange rumps and feed off of coconuts and nuts on the island. They’re like a very large guinea pig with long legs and are used to people admiring them.
The island had a healthy colony (a muster, actually) of peafowl. The hens were ignoring the males completely, despite their best efforts.
Hello gorgeous!
Another photo. Just because.
Missing Willow Farm 
Apr 06, 2017 @ 08:24:59
Thank you so much for sharing! Papillion is a favorite of mine along with Midnight Express and Shawshank Redemption. Guess I love prison movies.
Apr 06, 2017 @ 09:35:09
Scary prison, but beautiful Island. The flower pictures you took are gorgeous.
Apr 08, 2017 @ 08:41:29
what’s next on the bucket list? Amazing trip!