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Other entries in French Guiana

Iracoubo & Sinnamary (12 May 2004)

The plan was to visit the Iles du Salut, three islands in front of the coast of Kourou, about an hour away by ferry. When I heard that the price tag for the return trip to the islands read 35 euros, I started scratching behind my ears and not because it was itching. 35 euros for a ferry of one hour one way! Sorry, my budget it limited and 35 euros was my day budget for the Guyanas. So I changed my plans to something cheaper.

I read in the guidebook that Iracoubo had a nice church and that Sinnamary is a nice village too. Visiting villages is for free if you manage to hitchhike all. It took about half an hour to get someone to stop at the highway junction, just outside Kourou. Incredible that she lived in Iracoubo. I had slept till late so I left Kourou around 13:00. Iracoubo is about 120 km from Kourou and it would be nice if I would reach Kourou again that night. The friendly woman asked whether I had a problem with the big dog in the back of her car and I answered that I only bite him when he bites me first. Old joke, but she thought it was funny.

The church in Iracoubo was indeed a beautiful old Parish church dating from the late 1890's. It was all wood except for the roof. The ceiling had a beautiful painting of Jesus Christ and the whole little thing was just nice. The rest of Iracoubo fitted in the mid-day shade of the little church. Strange enough there were three small supermarkets on the main street so I had plenty of choice for choosing a place to buy lunch. I had chosen the wrong place as the ham was quite disgusting.

It was very hot, but dry that day, so it might have been nice on the islands too, but the fact that I had saved 35 euros made this nice day even better. It did not take too long to get a lift back in the direction of Kourou. Guess where the car was going to? Indeed, Sinnamary, which is about 40 km from Iracoubo along the highway to Kourou. There is only one highway in the country anyway, so most places are long this one.

Sinnamary was a sleepy town along the Sinnamary river. The view from the bridge to town, with the little church in the background was pictoresque. Trying to find something to eat in Sinnamary around 17:00 (I was till hungry after I had thrown away half the disgusting baquette) was difficult. A few places were open, but their kitchens were still closed. A big Magnum (EUR 1.80) and a bottle of softdrink (EUR 2.60) helped a bit too still my hunger. Walking around all streets of Sinnamary is no hard work, there are only 18!

It was almost 18:00 when I left the town and walked back to the main highway, about 2 km away. Hitchhiking from there is not easy. Not at all so to say! I decided to walk towards Kourou, knowing that there would be a hotel about 5 km away, so in case I got stranded I could at least eat (expensive) and sleep even more expensive. There was no shelter anywhere along the road so I was happy that it was almost dry all the way.

Around 20:00, after two hours a car stopped at Hotel du Fleuve where I had arrived after an hours walk. This was an interesting guy. He was from Peru, 38 years old, and did not speak French. He spoke nine other languages and even new a few words in Dutch. He had been traveling through Europe and happened to be one of those people you see making music in those Inca music groups in big cities. I had to think about the Dutch stand-up comedian Bert Vissers who wondered how it was possible that when you see them in Amsterdam and you take a train to another city, that you see the same people playing the same music in the other city. He figured out that they run in front of the train. So, you now always know which side of the Dutch train is the front part. It is the part where the Inca musicians are running! He had very good music in his car, mainly from Peru. Sounds good and I am looking forward to Peru already!

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