Blogging from A to Z 2026 - D is for Devil's Island

 

As I travel the world I take many photos that pique my interest. During the year April 2025 to March 2026 our travels included visits to many islands large and small. My theme for 2026 Island Hopping will give precedence to Islands visited in the past year but for those difficult letters like X and Z I will dig into my photo archives for content.

I had to go to my photo archives for the letter D as  Devil's Island is the only D island I can recall getting close to. 

"The penal colony of Cayenne (French: Bagne de Cayenne), commonly known as Devil's Island (Île du Diable), was a French penal colony that operated for 100 years, from 1852 to 1952, and officially closed in 1953, in the Salvation Islands of French Guiana." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil%27s_Island

I actually blogged about our visit to the Iles Du Salut here in 2017 but that post concentrated on windows.

Years ago I read Henri Charriere's book Papillon, the story of his incarceration and escape from Devil's Island. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would have the opportunity to visit this isolated place. After a cruise down the Amazon River in 2014 our ship called in at The Iles de Salut in French Guiana and, although we couldn't land on Devil's Island we were able to visit the adjoining island, Ile Royale, where most of the French prisoners had been held in the penal colony's gaol. It was only the incorrigibles like Charriere and political prisoners who were sent across to Devil's Island.

Today I'll share a few images of  the ultimate place of punishment, Devil's Island. 

First sighting of Devil's Island

The stone hut on Devil's Island provided shelter

It's not possible to visit the Island

Devil's Island from Ile Royale

Political prisoners were housed on Devil's Island. In the 19th century, the most famous was Captain Alfred Dreyfus.

Dreyfus information in the small museum on Ile Royale

Other D islands we have visited include Deception Island