Saül

Saül sits almost exactly in the centre of French Guiana, a village of around three hundred people founded on gold and left with no road in or out, so everything and everyone arrives on the small plane from Cayenne. What it has instead is the best trail network in the territory: marked forest loops leaving straight from the village into primary rainforest, maintained by the Parc amazonien, walkable without a guide.

What you actually see

• The trail network - marked loops into primary forest straight from the village.
• The fly-in isolation - a village with no road, supplied entirely by air.
• The gold history - the rushes that founded the settlement.
• The forest itself - primary rainforest with its birds, frogs and giant trees.

When to go

July to November is the dry season and the trails are at their best. The wet season peaks April to June and the paths become heavy going. Flights book out ahead in the dry season.

Honest expectations

Flights are small, weather-dependent and cancelled or bumped regularly, so plans need slack. Accommodation is a handful of guesthouses and carbets. Big mammals are rarely seen; the forest experience is trees, birds and sound rather than wildlife spectacle.

Nearby

Maripasoula is west across the forest, and Cayenne is northeast by air.