The islands of the notorious penal colony
The Îles du Salut were part of the French penal colony from the 1850s until the 1950s, and Devil's Island, where Alfred Dreyfus was held, was the most feared. Today catamarans from Kourou reach Île Royale, where prison buildings, a chapel and cells slowly crumble among palm trees, with agoutis, monkeys and macaws for company. Île Saint-Joseph has overgrown solitary cells. Devil's Island itself cannot be visited but can be seen from the water. Some visitors stay overnight at the old guards' quarters.