January to June 2004
French Guyana

For us, as for many people arriving there, French Guyana started by a hot, humid, dark night. In Cayenne, we were welcomed by some friends, the time for us to settle all the administrative stuff before joining our school in Saint-Georges de l'Oyapock at the Brazilian border.
Our time in Latin America was over as was our time far from "France." Because at a first glance, French Guyana had a strong taste of France : the signs on the road, the shops, the commercials, the turnaround, some administrations, the gendarmes (a French kind of policemen), French cars, some of the good food we were used to at home and our first payment in Euros! About this, we were just as uneasy as any foreigner to the EC.
Whatever, it was not long before this France feeling got short. We were in France, surely, but we were not. It was not a taste of America either. Sometimes a feeling close to the Caribbean islands, by the coast… but yet… We happened to be quite disoriented: feeling like being back home and to be still far from it at last.
Once in French Guyana, we were not French anymore, just "Metro." Metro is a word referring to people living or coming from continental France. It's usually not very appreciative... For the locals, Metros are guilty as they just come for money and a short period of time… thus a feeling not to be very welcomed.
Actually, French Guyana's society looks like one of the largest melting pot in the world. Native people, Creole, Metro, Chinese, Viet-Namese, Hmong from Laos, Brazilian, Surinamese, Haitian… But if they all share the same space, they barely don't live together. Drugstores, Farms, Administrations … each ethnic group seems to specialize, to fit in a hierarchic society where native people lie at the bottom.

Saint-Georges de l'Oyapock lies on the French side of the Oyapock River, a natural border with the giant Brazil.


Going to St George, flying over the jungle and the Oyapock river

Until the end of 2003, Saint-Georges was linked to the rest of French Guyana only by plane and by boat. A road as since been built across the jungle and is likely to affect the peaceful village for ever.

Every week-end now, hundreds of people of the rest of the department drive to Saint-Georges and the village which has known only 4 cars for years change into a parking.

As soon as the tourists arrive in Saint-Georges, they jump in one of the many taxi boat to join Oiapoque, the city on the Brazilian side of the river where they'll buy cheap goods, party and, for some of them, have fun with the numerous prostitutes.

Saint-Georges has officially 2.500 inhabitants. Some says unofficially that there could be not less than 5.000 inhabitants: mostly illegal Brazilians. Illegal but tolerated because necessary to the economy. This uncomfortable status is lasting as the Brazilian demographic pressure frightens the actual balance of the power…

Up river starts the native country also named forbidden zone because one needs a prefectoral authorisation to get in. This was elaborated to protect native people of course… But each election sees boats full of alcohol going to the isolated communities to seduce voters. Every month, as soon as the social programs deliver the money, entire native families go down river to reach Saint-Georges in order to take their money. Each time, many of them ends like zombies, completely drunk for days before going back to their villages along the river.

In Saint-Georges, there are a kindergarten, an elementary school and a high school. Some 55 teachers are working there and, at the end of the line, very few will get graduated and scarce are the one who managed to go farther in their studies… May this help to enlighten the particular conditions of the education in Saint -Georges.

Kids from the elementary school are in the street of Saint-Georges during the Carnival.

Betty and I have been teachers with young kids. Not many of them had French as their mother tongue. They were Brazilians, Creoles or Natives and language was their main difficulty and our main task. We had a wonderful experience by their side.

Considering our daily life, we had no need of a car, no heater of course and we washed with cold water.

On week-end, going to Oiapoque, Brazil, for shopping.

Regularly, for 3 Euros per person, we were catching a water taxi to the city of Oiapoque, 15.000 inhabitants, 20 minutes away from Saint-Georges by the river in order to do some shopping or just for partying like Brazilians have the secret. This city is the one that benefit the most of the new road, enjoying a commercial boom. Shops are just improving month after month. But Oiapoque stays a remote place, in the far end of rural Brazil, 15 hours away from the first important city, Macapa, by the Amazon River. Oiapoque is a border town where roads are made of laterite -a red and almost sterile dirt-, lost in the Amazon basin, living from the commercial exchange with French Guyana, gold and prostitution.


One of the main road of Oiapoque, close to the market.

Thus the image of Oiapoque can be either cool or sordid, naive, decadent, rustic, depending… Whatever, no one can be indifferent.

French Guyana, it's also the jungle. With no doubt its prettiest thing. On week-ends and during holidays, people use to go camping in the jungle, by a river or a creek in what we call here a "carbet", a camp more or less basic where one can hang a hammock and find refuge from the rain.


A week-end with some friends in a carbet near St Georges

Another week-end canoeing the Comté River close to the village of Cacao.

We enjoyed the jungle so much that we participate to create an association to promote hiking in the area of St Georges. One of the main task as been to open trails in the jungle with machetes.






With some friends in the jungle close to Saut Maripa.

French Guyana has a bad reputation for the hatred animals you can encounter. Surely, many snakes and spiders live in the area but we don't get to see them very often and, at last, they are not as dreadful as they are said to be!

Many fancy diseases and infections exist around here but once again, no reason to panic…

And there was rain also. Some said that was not enough. We are ready to believe it… but how could it have been possible? More Rain!? Clothes were damp, so difficult to dry, that they often turned smelly. Uncomfortable at times… Humidity was covering with mushrooms any leather, belt, shoes, entering any electronic materials. Peculiar precautions were necessary.

French Guyana is also a place were we met many good peoples. Greetings to all those who populated our Guyana: Alex, Céline, Mathieu, Manu, Martine, Christian, Pantxo, Françoise, Laure, Stéphane, Idelma, Alfred, Yann, Alice, David, Fred, Ingrid, Céline, Chantal.

At dawn, when boats carry their fishery to the little market of St Georges

In February, Cayenne's carnival (the longest in the world!)

20 miles away from Guyana's coast : islands du Salut, famous for the infamous bagne (detention camp). Here the Devil's Island where Dreyfuss was ostracized.

stgeorges15 I celebrated my 33rd birthday with my father and my sister. Very emotional after 3 years of separation. Here with our friend Martine.

Close to St Georges: Saut Maripa, one of the prettiest saut in French Guyana. Here during dry season.

Week end with friends close to Cacao : Manu Dom, Audrey, Hélene and Alex.

Crossing the Maroni River, the natural border with Surinam, with Manu and Estelle.

Paramaribo, Surinam's capital. Dutch colonial architecture. Of this town I know the hotels as I spent 5 days in a bed with high fever. I caught Dengue fever, another disease transmitted by mosquitoes.

Awala Yalimapo, on the coast of French Guyana, close to Surinam, the giant Luth turtles come from may to july to lay their eggs on the beach.


Birth and first paddling of a baby turtle willing to join the ocean. Babies find their way thanks to the moonlight. This night, moonlight was so scarce that Betty had to help this one with her flashlight.

Some animals :

Mygale terafosa in the jungle close to Ouanary.

Agouti

Tamarin

Aras.

Dendrobate frog : her toxic skin prevent her from predators. This substance is nowadays used to fabric medicaments.

Leaf frog, the art of dissimulation.

Peaces of flora :

With the seeds of that plant, Roucou, native people used to color their skin in red to protect themselves from the sun and the mosquitoes. Thus the expression "red skin."

The fruit Cajou and its nut.