The first few days
This post was supposed to be done earlier but, as you have read so far, a few things happened in between. By now a couple of weeks went by, so the right title would be "the first few weeks". 😓
The first days were relatively easy, at least for me. I had the time to get the jet lag out of my body. I do know, though, that I struggle more when I travel east than west. I have noticed that I feel it more than I did when I was younger. It makes sense. Normally, there are four hours difference between continental Europe and French Guyana. Just before departing, Europe switched to Summer daylight saving time (one hour ahead). This increased the gap to five hours. As our arrival was not expected (despite we confirmed that at least one month before), we had to improvise for the first night: we used our towels to cover the mattress and cover ourselves during the first night. Luckily we took extra towels, as we were expecting to swim often in the sea. Our personal flight neck pillows were our pillows for that first night. If we only knew, we would have taken the ones from Air France. I have never done it, but I have seen people doing that.
After the experience in Madagascar (notes and pictures will come after the 90 days in French Guyana series), our expectations were quite low. The fact that we were supposed to go to Mayotte, did not help. We were expecting a less developed area. Stupidly. We were dead wrong. In fact, it is France and there are all (or most of) the comforts needed. The supermarkets are abundant, and are the same as in France. The same products, which we know after shopping in France while living in Switzerland. The roads are in good conditions, at least all around the capital. There is no road between Cayenne and Maripasula. You have to fly over the forest. There are buses. To be fair, we felt like in France, just with a tropical flora, fauna, and climate. It is a great experience.
Courtesy of mapsofindia.com
The people? The people are really nice, both locals and foreigners. We are aware that in the border areas such as St. Laurent de Maroni (border Suriname-French Guyana) the situation is more difficult and it is a dangerous area, but in general we felt safe in most parts we have visited so far. Even in the evening, or night. We did feel relatively safe in Madagascar as well, but we were quite apprehensive. I mean, I did not feel really safe while crossing part of Antananarivo in the darkness of the early morning but nothing happened and we were not even approached. It was, though, a risky situation. We have not been in something similar so far. The visitors or foreigners are also much kinder than on the continental Europe. It is often the case that they tell us good morning or good evening, despite we don't know them. It is nice and helps us to feel happy here. Yesterday evening we went to the beach for an aperitif. We were having our snacks and drinks, by ourselves and people were passing by. At some point a couple goes by and the guy tells us "bon appetit and enjoy your aperitif" while going by and, possibly, going back home. It was really nice from their side.
Another pleasant discovery was drinkable tap water! We read about non-drinkable water in French Guiana and the fact that we were supposed to buy bottled water. We did for quite a few day, piling plastic bottles up. Yes, I know, we could have boiled the tap water. Anyway, one day we saw a few of our flat mates to fill in the bottle and drink up tap water. We asked and they confirmed that it was drinkable. We were so happy! Mostly because we do not like to use plastic bottles and contribute to environmental pollution. The only caveat is that when it rain copiously, attention must be paid because it may be contaminated by water filtered by the ground. In fact, the water from the faucet may turn brown. But as Homer J. Simpson said: "It if is brown, drink it down. If it is black, send it back".
The rest of the following days went on between a work assignment, and a swim in the pool. For me. For my girlfriend, most of the days were spent with patients for her internship. 😉
So far, so good. We are enjoying our time in French Guyana, which is often target of prejudice. It is a beautiful country with beautiful people. It is safe, and everything that is needed can be found or obtained relatively quickly.
Did you have any place where you felt unsafe during your travels? What was the safest place you visited? Would you recommend any country or place to be visited next?
Let us know here below! 👇
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