Ìlet La Mère

 

As planned, we prepared for the trip to Ìlet La Mère, just for the afternoon. The main risk is that the trip may be cancelled due to the sea conditions, but we were very hopeful. Arrived at the docks, right behind the commercial port of Cayenne, we had a feeling of being in an area where they invite you to, subsequently, remove one of your kidneys. Jokes aside, there were no people when we arrived, leaving us wondering whether we were on the right spot or not. We were, as a few minutes after our arrival other people on the trip arrived. We were invited on the boat by a huge guy, with Pacific traits. As for Pacific islanders, he turned out to be an amazing person, despite the size may frighten a little bit at first sight. He was very welcoming, explaining a lot of things about what to expect on the boat, what to be careful to, what to expect and not to do on the island. To be fair, one of the best guides that I have ever seen. We started our journey in the Mahury river, which is extremely wide. On one side we could see civilization, where the outskirts of Cayenne are as well as the port, on the other bank of the river there was complete nature. It was an astonishing view. As soon as the boat entered the Atlantic Ocean, the journey became a bit more bumpy. But fun! At least for us. For one of the kids on board, it was definitely scary and I am so sorry for him. At some point our guide left the commands, to tell us the story the locals have for the islands. Outside Cayenne there are five islands. From south-east to north-west are: the Mamelles (or referred to as the Twins, two small islands that are pretty much the same), La Mère (the mother, the one we visited), Le Père (the father), and then Le Malingre (the family butler, the locals refer to that as family servant). This family was once on the shore, and it counted a son as well. During a storm, they were pushed outside in the ocean and the son disappeared, probably much farther away. The storm passed and they got stuck in their actual position. The mother is very close to the twins, to protect them and avoid the same fate of the son. The father is not too far from the mother but is far apart: he started the search for the son. The family butler is ahead of the father, involved in the search of the son too. Where is the son then? Well, it is a bit further north-west. In fact, there is an island called “L’enfant perdu” (the lost son).

Mamelles (A and B), La Mère (C), Le Père (D), Le Malingre (E), and L’enfant perdu (F)

After this story we reached the island, which was once inhabited by indigenous populations, then it was a prison (the dock is the result of the forced labor), and eventually a research center for the Pasteur Institute, which abandoned it in 2001. Before docking, the guide gently stopped and turned a bit around. He told us to watch at starboard and we spotted some round backs with a fin sticking out of the water. Those are dolphins! 

We decided to go and  check out the beach first, as gloomy clouds seemed to approach the island. Once arrived at the beach, it did not convince us enough to stay. Actually, Montjoly is much nicer and if we wanted to be on the beach we would have stayed on the coast. We went for a trek. Unfortunately, the paths were not fully well marked. In fact, we went on to a closed path to, then turn around. Our goal was to have a full tour of the island but not really possible at that time. As we learnt by walking. The small monkeys on the island, inoffensive to the human being, are the main attraction. They are used to tourists and come for food. Some of them may try to open the backpack and grab the food, but we did not see this behavior. You can bring fruits with you to give, such as bananas, but nothing else. Despite this recommendation, we saw some people giving sandwiches just to have the perfect Instagram picture: the monkey on the shoulder. We managed as well to take that but without any tricks. They just climb over you and see if you have food. It was rather uncomfortable at first, as the get also close to the ear, which is something that bothers me personally. On the other hand it was an unusual and funny experience. We will definitely have some great memories about this trip in the form of pictures. 

We decided to take another path, and despite there was a landscape outlook marked, we did not see any and ended up all the way to the antenna that is on the top of the island. This was a sort of inconvenient, as we had to get most of the way back but little we knew that this would give us another interesting experience. 

On the way back, we bumped into a tortoise. It was not the classic massive tortoises from the pictures, the island is very small, but it wasn’t a tiny one either. We took pictures and we got close. Unfortunately, we made a sudden movement and it decided to retreat in its shell. We decided to move along. The rain we expected had arrived as well. It was pouring dogs and cats. And monkeys. At first, the forest (by its density) protects you from the rain but eventually it carries on raining even if it stopped. The water on the leaves of the higher trees takes some time to make its way down to the ground. It was the typical tropical rain: chilly but not cold, which is pleasant because of the temperature. It rains a lot in a short period of time and in ten minutes it is over. Then it may come back again.

Tortoise

Once we were back to a bifurcation, the other path was not very well marked either so we decided to get back to the docks, go towards the beach and pass it in order to reach a landscape outlook point. It was the best decision ever. We bumped into the monkeys yet again. 

Squirrel Monkey (Saïmiri commun in French)

Furthermore, we reached the outlook with a complete view of the shore, as well as of the twins in front of us. It is an open space with palm trees and a small beach too. It is on the south-east part of the island. We contemplated the ocean, with its strong waves breaking against the rocks, in particular against the twins. The beach is also surrounded by black rocks, which seem to have volcanic origin (this was not verified so it may be a false information). At 5PM we had our journey back so we went back to the dock. We boarded and at some point the guide proposed us an aperitif. We went for a coconut-based cocktail. It tasted like a Coconut Baileys with cinnamon. It was delicious. The guide also pumped up the music, making the journey back a “happy boat” trip heading to the sunset. I really enjoyed the joke he made about the cocktails: c’est fait bateau. In general, c’est fait maison is translated as homemade. The joke can be translated as “it’s boatmade!”.

The outlook spot (pictures don't do justice to the place)

Overall it was an amazing experience. The monkey are so sweet. We had the chance to see the dolphins, which I have never seen before in their environment. The tortoise was also a pleasant extra. I really enjoyed the outlook on the twins as well. It was a cathartic moment and place. In addition, the forest is a wild forest: we were looking for this. It was more “deep in the nature” experience than Rorota, which can be seen as a public park of the city. Last but not least: the fact that we were 10 people on the island, plus two crab fishermen, made it like an exploration. I felt like I was one of the first ones on the island, or someone who rediscovered it after quite some time. It was an amazing experience that I definitely advise to do while you are in French Guyana.

What’s next? Les salines, probably, in search for more turtles laying eggs.