10%

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

Part 21 - Around the World 06/2015 - 02/2016

By Beyond All Maps - Portraits of our Planet by Thorsten Mehret

February 3^rd, 2016

Write your story here. (Optional)

French Guyana was always strongly linked to me with the Space Center and the stories from Papillon about his confinement. It‘s not a classical backpacking country. Cheap hostels are non existent, most people speak only french, public transport is limited and information about tours are scarce although exploring the waste mostly untouched rainforest with Indio settlements along the river might have some good touristic potential. But this kind of tours are much easier organized in bordering Surinam. I decided to rent a car as it´s probably the easiest way to explore a bit of the country.

Cayenne

A few interesting buildings in the center a bustling market with really good Vietnamese soups and otherwise a quite shabby appearance, the capital of French Guyana can be explored in 2-3 hours. Nothing special.

City overlook

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

A typical street

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

Townhall

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

A simple beer for 8€, welcome in French Guyana

Beach at Cayenne, not really appealing.

The bustling and colorful market was the most interesting part for me in Cayenne.

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

Vietnamese soups in the market, popular and good.

Yummy

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

Reserve Naturelle Mont Grande Matoury

The reserve, some km outside Cayenne, is an appetizer for the waste Amazon rainforest of French Guyana. I tried to reach the start point of the walkways with my small 2wd Peugeot but after the road started to look like in the pictures of a Camel Trophy brochure and I almost got stuck in one of the huge muddy water puddles I decided it´s better to walk the last 2 km. A wise decision as it only got worse.

Some of the smaller muddy water puddles

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

Kourou and the Space Center

Probably French Guyana would be completely overlooked from the world if there were not the European Space Center ensuring a regular appearance in the news with one of the up to 12 rocket launches a year. A free 3 hour tour of the huge area gives an interesting insight. So I was surprised to see a launch station for the Russian Sojus rockets used for midsize weights (5 tonnes). Ariane is used for heavy weights (10 tonnes) and Vega for small weights. The slingshot effect close to the equator allows 20% more weight / or less fuel than a launch from Cape Canavaral in the US and even more compared to Baikonur in Kasastan, making French Guyana the ideal launching place. Unfortunately I was not in the right time to see one of the launches. Must be an amazing experience. Kourou itself is clean and functional but a bit like an artificial french ski resort, totally without atmosphere. I did not even take a picture of the city.

A nicer part of Kourou

Kourou Beach, not too bad.

Entrance to the Space Center

Sojus rocket launch site

Another launch site in the expanse area

The main control and press center

The museum, quite interesting.

In papillons Foodsteps

The Îles du Salut, 15km from the mainland were used since Napoleon III as a prison. Due to strong currents and shark infested waters the three islands were considered as escape-proof. No wonder that Hollywood decided to make a movie with Steve Mc Queen out of Papillons biography in which he describes his 9 and finally successful attempts. In the time from 1852-1947 more than 80000 prisoners died by diseases, cruel treatment and the guillotine. Having this in mind, visiting the beautiful green islands with the old guard houses and sometimes completely overgrown ruins is a very eery and fascinating experience. Not to be missed.

I took a catamaran tour to the islands. When I saw an American cruise ship anchoring in front of the islands I was horrified seeing myself already surrounded by thousands of people. Well, luckily it was not that bad, but having the islands almost for yourself considering the few people from the catamaran tours definitely will even emphasize the eerie feeling. Nevertheless for me this tour was the highlight in French Guyana.

Kourou pier, starting point for the catamaran tours.

Ahhhh, nooooo, .... a cruise ship. The day is spoiled.

Curse it! ;-) At least not a giant one with 4000 - 5000 people.

Exactly the target group you would expect from such a cruise ship.

On the catamaran

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

The scenery on Ille Royale is absolutely beautiful…..

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

Devils Island

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

…and the old buildings kinda spooky and fascinating.

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

Write your story here. (Optional)

Look towards Devils Island. Access forbidden.

Ile Joseph with its completely overgrown old prison buildings is even more eerie. Especially as the cruise ship crowd gathered on Ille Royal. Wandering around and exploring the ruins shooting photos was fascinating but I had to be cautious not to run in one of the many spider nets with inhabitants.

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

Feeling like a prisoner. Guards used to overlook the cells from above.

....uahhh. Watch out, everywhere around.

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

Completely overgrown structure of the dining area

Write your story here. (Optional)

What an eerie place

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

Write your story here. (Optional)

Swimming outside the rock pools is to dangerous.

Old cemetery

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

Back at the pier.

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

Over the Jungle - Flight to Surinam

Write your story here. (Optional)

French Guyana - Ariane meets Papillon

© 2026 Beyond All Maps - Portraits of our Planet by Thorsten Mehret

Story Told With

Start publishing stories like this

Loading, please hold on.