Mardi Gras in Cayenne

The carnival season is in full swing and will last six weeks this year. Some people are a bit discouraged because it had lasted eight weeks last year. Anyways, French Guiana can boast of having the longest Mardi Gras season in the entire world.

I took nearly a hundred photos of today's parade through the streets of Cayenne, the capital. I've selected some photos I'd particularly like to share. (Click on photos to enlarge).

The parade is full of characters known in the Guianese culture and traditions. The first characters to appear are the "sweepers" who symbolically clean the streets and prepare for the festivities.

 These colorful ladies dance and sweep to the sound of the bands' drums. They can really move their booties and give everyone a great laugh.

 I didn't understand these characters. Are they supposed to be Creole smurfs?

 Lastly, the parades are full of men in drag. The guys parade around and act as ridiculous as possible to get everybody's attention.

 Lastly, this character is called a Touloulou. She's covered from head to foot so as to completely disguise herself and avoid recognition. Touloulous are the real queens of the parade. If one of them asks you to dance, then you can't say no... you're not allowed to refuse a Touloulou's wish!

More to come next week...

The Salvation Islands

During our Christmas vacation, Jack and I spent five days on the Salvation Islands and even celebrated New Year's Eve there. The three islands are just 14 kms off the coast of Kourou where France launches the Ariane rocket. Getting to the islands is actually a rough ride on the small ferry as we're sailing against a strong current. Many people were sick... except me! Having been to the islands before, I took my motion sickness pills before leaving and was even able to almost enjoy the ride. (Click to enlarge)

Royal Island is the only one of the three Salvation Islands with tourist capacity. There's a wonderful hotel with a view of Devil's Island from the balcony.

Saint Joseph's Island is visible near the port and offers some lovely pictures as well.

There's a lot of wildlife on the islands to discover, but it was mostly introduced by man. Therefore, the birds and monkeys are quite used to seeing tourists and don't run away. There was even one macaw that would come visit the tourists as they were eating at the island's only restaurant, hoping to get a few scraps off plates.

Royal Island is very small and it only takes about an hour and a half to walk around the entire island. There's also a museum on the history of France's penal colony.

All three of the Salvation Islands were occupied by the French penal colony. Prisoners were held there in appalling sanitary conditions and death was common. Moreover, the prison staff disposed of dead bodies by dropping them into the sea: this attracted large sharks which made escape by swimming quite impossible. The ruins of the prison are still visible but are rapidly deteriorating since being abandoned in the 1940's.

During our stay, we enjoyed quiet walks around the island's interior to spot the monkeys and birds. There are a number of paths like this one.

We also went swimming every day in the convicts' pool, a swimming basin created by the convicts to protect themselves from shark attacks. There are rocks that surround the basin and there's a fantastic view of Devil's Island.

All in all, the Salvation Islands are one of the most beautiful and peaceful places to visit in French Guiana today-- and such a paradox in light of its reputation as "hell on earth" during the penal colony years.

Christmas Day in Cayenne

Merry Christmas everyone! Jack and I had a very quiet day trying to stay out of the heat and humidity. However, the sun and good weather finally drew us outside in the afternoon and off we went to the beach. Would you like to come with us on our little walk? Once we leave our apartment complex, we go down the street to the roundabout and then turn right. (Click on photos to enlarge)

Next, we'll go straight along this road for about five minutes...

...and we'll turn left down the first dirt road.

After another right then another left, we arrive at this street. If you look carefully, you can see the ocean at the end of the street.

In just another two minutes, here we are at the beach! Along the way, one of the houses seems to emerge from the luxurious vegetation.

This will be the first time we ever go swimming in the ocean on Christmas Day. The water was actually quite nice and warm, and we had fun splashing around.

We wrote you a little message in the sand just before a wave came to wipe it away. Can you make out what it says?

As we left to return home, we admired the sunset through the palm trees.

In just three days, we'll be leaving for the Salvation Islands about one hour by ferry off the coast of French Guiana. I promise lots of photos. Until then, merry Christmas once again!

Merry Christmas...

Finally! School vacation began yesterday and I've got until January 5th to rest, do housework, prepare lessons and correct papers AT MY OWN PACE!

The rainy season has also started and our backyard is flooding more and more often these days... (Click on pictures to enlarge)

 The rainy season, however, is not mansoon season like in Bangladesh with continuous rains for months. Here, it's just storms every day ranging between 10 minutes to a couple of hours. Temperatures are cooler so it's easier to stay outside during the afternoon.

The rainy season is also bringing more critters into the backyard... mostly giant sized such as this grasshopper...

or this moth.

 Frogs and toads are everywhere. This frog decided to stick to our sliding glass door for a couple of hours...

...and we found another small frog hiding amongst the dishes in our kitchen sink.

One positive side to the frequent rains, humid atmosphere, and steady heat is the general effect on my garden. My plants are thriving and I can enjoy many flowers in full bloom such as my orchids...

or hibiscus...

and a few others.

Next week, Jack and I will be leaving for the Salvation Islands to spend four days together on this little tropical paradise (but with a dark history). I promise lots of pictures and some explanations about what you can see and do there. Until then... merry Chistmas!

Grocery shopping in French Guiana

As an overseas department (or state) of France, French Guiana has most stores that exist in metropolitain France. It's just getting there that's a little different.

Since there's very little public transportation here, it's necessary to have one's own car. To go grocery shopping, Jack and I first drive through the rain forest for about 7 minutes. (Click on photos to enlarge).

 Some houses have been built along the road...

 Géant is the closest large grocery store from our house. As you can see, it's pretty big.

 We can find pretty much everything we need at Géant. The prices are about 30% higher than in France because everything is imported from Europe. Also, French Guiana is part of the European community which means that it can't trade freely with its neighboring countries in South America... there are European trade quotas, high customs fees and European law requirements and restrictions. This situation has thus created a paradox : people in Guiana are forced to buy their products from Europe at high prices whereas the same products exist in South America at low prices...

Our local slum...

Although French Guiana is part of France, the world's fifth largest economy, it is located in South America and is surrounded by utter destitution. Our two neighboring countries, Surinam and Brazil, are facing great challenges to create decent living conditions for their average citizens. To increase the disparities, French Guiana offers free health care, unemployment money and a higher-learning educational system which costs barely nothing. In this manner, French Guiana has become a magnet to attract large waves of poor immigrants from throughout South America and the Caribbean. The problem is that the population is exploding : France also gives every family money depending on the number of children they have... the more children, the more money. Making babies has thus become a business here : pregnancies often start while in junior high school or high school and many families have between 8 and 13 children. (Incidentally, having 8 children pays about 1,500 euros per month... That's the salary I earned when I started my career as a teacher.)

It's all happening too fast. There's just not enough housing being built to accomodate for the rapid rise in population. As a result, people build slums to settle in-- anywhere and everywhere.

In order to go to the grocery store from our apartment,  we have to drive through a slum which is just a few minutes away from where we live. At first, it appears almost normal... (click on images to enlarge)

 Most of the inhabitants here are from Haiti or Brazil which is often proudly displayed.

Some houses almost look normal...

But it keeps getting worse as you go down the street.

As none of these houses have an official address, the inhabitants just buy a mail box and install it alongside the main road. No wonder mail is so slow in French Guiana!

Worst of all are the environmental and sanitary problems of our slums. There's no evacuation of sewege, little running water, and electricity is hacked from city power lines.... as a result, there are often power malfunctions or outages and other residents down the line have to pay for the stolen electricity on their bill.

Garbage collection is also a problem. The city organizes rounds for the garbage trucks to collect what they can. However, many of the slum inhabitants also litter and throw their garbage in mounds along the roadside.

Is the French government capable of handling this situation in French Guiana? What can we do? Help!