Ilet la Mere

A short shuttle off Cayenne's port, Ilet la Mere packs French Guiana's easiest wild day: a forested islet whose resident squirrel monkeys - habituated, agile and shameless - meet the boats and work the picnic tables with pickpocket professionalism, while trails loop the island past ruins of its layered past (penal annex, pasteurian research station) to coves where the swimming is calm and the mainland's mud-brown coastal water finally clears to green. Bring lunch you are willing to defend, sturdy bags, and a morning-to-afternoon appetite for the Guianese coast at its most cheerful.

History

Îlet la Mère was first inhabited by Amerindians; Jesuits settled here in 1643, and after they left in 1776 it became a leper colony with a hospital, abandoned in 1786. In 1852 it became one of the oldest prisons of the penal colony, holding political prisoners, with 70 buildings and up to 600 men at work, until yellow fever ravaged it in 1875 and it closed; the ruins can still be seen. In 1923 the wife of a former prisoner named Duez rented the island and farmed it with her husband and about 20 convict labourers until 1933, and from 1981 the Pasteur Institute kept a farm of squirrel monkeys here to make an antiserum against malaria. The island became a protected area on 28 December 2000 and opened to the public in 2007, with a 3.5 kilometre path around its sites, and the monkeys are still there and not shy of visitors (Wikipedia, Îlet la Mère).

The landscape

• The squirrel monkeys - the islet's larcenous welcoming committee.
• The loop trails - forest paths past the settlement ruins.
• The swimming coves - the coast's clearest easy water.
• The Cayenne panorama - the mainland skyline from the crossing.

When to go

July to December for the driest trails and calmest crossings; weekends carry the picnic crowds and the monkeys' peak workload - weekdays are gentler on both counts. Shuttles run to schedule; confirm return times.

Before you go

The monkeys are wild animals running a protection racket: feeding is prohibited (and enforced by signage more than compliance), bags must zip, and anything held loosely is community property. Facilities are minimal - carry in, carry out. Book shuttle seats ahead in holiday season.

Nearby

Cayenne's markets and fort, Remire-Montjoly's beaches and the Salut islands offshore.

Key facts