Julia in Guiana!

Jack and I are leaving tomorrow to visit Suriname for two weeks. We're taking a flight from Cayenne to Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname. I'll try sending postcards during our vacation in Suriname, but I have no guarantee if you'll ever receive them or not! Also, since I won't be able to continue the blog for two weeks, I thought I could leave a few pictures of my favorite moments with Julia, when she and I came to visit Jack in March 2014. First, enjoying a pina colada in downtown Cayenne...

Visiting Montabo beach...

Watching the Mardi Gras parades in the streets of Cayenne...

Going horseback riding in the savannah...

Visiting the space center in Kourou where France launches its satellites...

And relaxing on the Salvation Islands, a tropical island paradise but also, sadly, a former penal colony...

Market Day

Every Thursday, there's an open-air market in Rémire-Montjoly within walking distance from our apartment. Since Jack had to work all day, I decided to go have a look and buy a few groceries. Like most people, I took an umbrella and used it as a parasol to protect me from the hot sun on the way there. Nevertheless, I still arrived hot and sweaty at the market.

I wanted to take a lot of pictures, but the heat made this uncomfortable. However, I did get a few shots of items such as these locally made cocktail drinks (mostly made with rhum).

Further down, there were a lot of people selling their produce. Do you remember what this fruit is called?

No, those aren't rotting bananas but rather plantains used only cooked, usually fried or made into chips. They can also be prepared into soups, too. Unfortunately, the heat stopped me from taking any more photos at the market. I'm sorry because there were so many strange fruit and vegetables that I'd never seen before but I'll have to show you them at another time. On the way back home, there was a strange mixture of sun and rain all at the same time. Thank goodness for my all-weather umbrella!

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I did buy a couple of these. Hm. Can you guess what they are? Fruit or vegetable? I'll give you a clue by opening one of them.

If you said a mango, then you're right! It was actually very juicy and sweet, perfect for our dessert.

The leatherback turtle

If Guiana had an emblem, it would probably be the leatherback turtle. In fact, Guiana is known the world over by marine biologists for its beaches which constitute the largest nesting site for marine turtles of the entire Atlantic ocean. The turtles lay their eggs between April and July and the hatchlings emerge anywhere between 80 to 120 days afterwards.

The leatherback turtle is the largest of all turtles and can weigh up to 700 kilos. The energy they exert just to struggle up the beach to lay their eggs forces your admiration. Although they lay over a hundred eggs, only one or two hatchlings will survive to adulthood.

The leatherback turtle is extremely vulnerable to predators and is an endangered species today. The hatchlings are gobbled up by birds, crabs, fish and stray dogs. The adult turtles are accidently killed in fishing by getting entangled in nets. Illegal Brazilian fishermen, pushed by poverty, are responsible for many deaths. However, the leatherback turtles are such an important ally to man because their favorite food is jellyfish! As the turtle population keeps dropping, the number of jellyfish is exploding everywhere in the world because the leatherback turtle is just about their only predator.

Yet the leatherback turtle can't always see the difference between a jellyfish and a floating plastic bag. Therefore, the biggest threat to the survival of the leatherback turtle is simply human activity.

Thanks, Jack, for letting me borrow your photos for this article.

Cayenne's creole architecture

Just before the Bastille Day ceremonies on July 14, Jack and I arrived a little early in Cayenne in order to take some pictures of the town for you. Contrary to European cities, Cayenne is very geometric with parallel or perpendicular streets. Everywhere you can admire the creole houses with forged iron balconies. (Don't hesistate to click on the photos for a better view...)

Many of the houses are also brightly colored which adds a festive atmosphere to the city. Here are some of my favorite houses that we saw on our walk.

However, Cayenne is not as rich a town as most municipalities in metropolitan France. There are a lot of underprivileged neighborhoods too with dilapidated housing in need of renovation. Here's an example...

I don't want to live there! Jack and I also went to the top of a hill overlooking downtown Cayenne. Every time we go there, we always see young Brazilian couples making out (kissing) under the trees. I was able to get a nice photo of Jack, though, whose presence seemed to chase away most of the kissing Brazilians.

Bastille Day in Cayenne

France's national holiday is celebrated on July 14th and is commonly called Bastille Day in English. Like in the United States, it's a day for military parades and fireworks. Jack and I decided to attend the festivities, held early in the evening, in Cayenne. Firstly, we went to Cayenne's main square called "la place des Palmistes"where groups of military people were assembling.

We saw a group of solidiers from the Foreign Legion too.

Unfortunately, Jack and I were so impressed with the foreign legioneers that we didn't notice we were standing ON a nest of red ants. Within seconds, the red ants had declared war on us and were biting and stinging us savagely. We left the foreing legioneers standing in formation and ran for our lives! Some military vehicles were lining up in formation.

We wanted to see the parade, but some military commanders were making such long speeches that we finally grew tired of waiting. We did enjoy seeing the sunset on Palm Square (place des palmistes) though.

Before going home, we decided to have dinner in Cayenne and walked into one of the many inexpensive Vietnamese restaurants which you find pretty much everywhere in Guiana. We enjoyed a fantastic Pho soup.

On the way home, we stopped at Montabo beach. The sea turtles love going there every year to lay their eggs. Eureka! I saw my first leatherback turtles digging holes in the sand to lay eggs. We also saw some hatchlings emerging from the sand and scattering to the ocean. What a spectacle! As it was night, however, I couldn't take any photos. Sorry...

The Jesuits in Guiana

Today, Jack and I went for a walk through the jungle. There is a path called the Sentier de Loyola which is just a ten-minute drive from our apartment.

There are a lot of plants that we commonly see here in the jungle which either don't exist or can only be found in garden stores in Europe. For example, can you guess what this is? Take a close look...

I hope you didn't mistake those fruits for coconuts! In fact, this is a cocao tree from which chocolate is made. A little further, we found this strange-looking flower. What is it called?

According to my nature book, it's called a Heliconia bihai. Another curiosity that you will often see as you walk through the forest is a big ball of earth stuck to a tree. Hm... what in the world could this be?

That is a termites' nest! Don't build your house next to one of those... Jack and I also admired how big some of the trees are. One of our favorite types of trees is called the "arbre fromager" or the kapok tree.

We really awed at how majestically it stretched into the sky. We felt so insignificant underneath this jungle canopy.

We finally reached a clearing where local archeologists have excavated some ruins of a Jesuit plantation built in 1668. The revenues of the plantation financed missions to evangelize the Indians. However, due to the degree of corruption of the Jesuit order later on, King Louis XV banished them from France and the French colonies in 1763. Here's what's left of the plantation today.

Sadly, up to 500 slaves worked here during the plantation's peak, harvesting cocao, coffee, cotton, and indigo, and producing rhum, sugar, and molasses. The Jesuits believed slavery was acceptable since they baptized their slaves and gave them a Catholic upbringing... As Jack and I neared the end of our walk, we were very hot and sweaty. However, we were rewarded with a striking view of the sea in one clearing along our path.

My new school

Well, today we did a lot of shopping to get ready for moving into our new apartment. On the way to the shops, we passed in front of the high school where I'll be working. It's called Lama-Prévot. Here is what it looks like.

It's located in Rémire-Montjoly, the town just next to Cayenne. Apparently, I'll be working with four other English teachers, one of whom is also American. Lama-Prévot is also the most recently built high school in the county. Isn't a school funny without any students? I also took a shot of the playground... do you notice anything particular about it?...

Well, it's a covered playground because of the hot sun, and the roof is lined with solar panels. I like the idea of a high school that's also environment friendly. Well, after the shopping, we went to the beach. It's just a ten-minute walk away from our apartment.

We searched everywhere for some hatching leatherback sea turtles, but didn't find any. Boo hoo. Fortunately, we got a glimpse of a fabulous sun set so we didn't go back home empty handed.

Tomorrow, Jack and I have decided to go for a little walk somewhere in the jungle. More pictures to come, I promise!

The departure

Before arriving in French Guiana, my last days in France were spent trying to say good-bye to friends and family. My collegues at work in Le Mans invited me out to dinner.

I also had a wonderful lunch with some of my favorite former students. In fact, I'd been teaching English to Nicole, Martine, and Janick for over a decade!

Hardest of all, however, were the last moments spent with Niels and Julia. At least we got to do a few fun things together and Julia got her Galop 2 diploma for horseback riding. Now, she's becoming a real pro!

I'd really like to say thank you to everyone in Le Mans for those last special moments shared together. I hope you'll stay in contact with me by leaving a message or two on this blog whenever you can. I'm going to take some pictures of Guiana for the next entry. Apparently, the baby leatherback turtles are hatching at the beach... I'll try to go tonight to see if I find any.