Archaeology handicrafts and science and technology sites to visit Coastline

This CNES space launch facility, based in Kourou, covers an area of 69,000 hectares. Visitors can either take a guided tour, or attend a launch.

Visit the Guiana Space Center.The CSG authorities organize guided tours which are free of charge and open all year round, Monday to Friday, to anyone over the age of 8. Valid identification is required. Visits are suspended the day before, the day of and the day after a launch. Access to the facilities remains subject to operations: tours may therefore be modified to ensure visitor safety. Visits take place twice a day from Monday to Thursday and on Friday mornings (average duration: 3h30 to 4h). Meet at 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. for check-in, then depart by bus for a 3-hour tour of all the launch zones and the Ariane launch center. Finally, visit the Jupiter room until around 11:30 a.m.-12 p.m. or 4:30 p.m.-5 p.m.

Watch a launch. By 2023, the number of launches has dropped to just under 10 a year, all launchers combined. If your stay coincides with a launch, try to attend the show. Requests for invitations to a launch are free of charge. Invitations are limited to the number of places available, and sites are activated according to personal protection constraints.book in advance and reserve online: cnes-csg.fr - ✆ 05 94 33 44 53 - Mail: [email protected]. To be admitted to the Agami site (7.5 km from the launcher), you must be over 16. For Ibis, Venus and the Jupiter VIP room, the age limit is 14. However, the Carapa site (12.5 km from the launch zone) remains open to the public without invitation or age restriction. It is located on the mountain of the same name, just outside Kourou. The site can accommodate around 1,450 people. Although access is free, once this number has been reached, it will no longer be possible to enter. We therefore advise you to arrive well in advance, bearing in mind that the site opens 2 hours before the launch. Bring a pair of binoculars and a camera. Other popular sites in Kourou on launch days are the beach and the summit of Monkey Mountain. In Cayenne, head for Place des Amandiers, where you'll find plenty of entertainment (and sometimes a giant screen)!

In the penitentiary organization, Devil's Island was a place of deportation, a treatment reserved for political prisoners who were sought to be isolated from the rest of the world. One of the first of these men was Charles Delescluze, a Paris Commune leader convicted of conspiracy in 1849. It was on this 14-hectare rock that Captain Dreyfus landed on April 13, 1895. For four long years, he occupied the island, alone with a few warders who scrupulously ensured his isolation. During his stay, nothing was spared for Dreyfus, who found himself in irons in his hut for several weeks at a time. In deep despair, he would spend hours silently gazing out over the ocean, sitting on a stone bench that can still be seen at the tip of the island, near the tip of the Caribbean.

Without the charisma and courage of his supporters, the most famous of whom was Zola, Dreyfus could have ended his days on Devil's Island, as some of his detractors wanted. After Dreyfus's departure in June 1899, other political prisoners were deported to the island, many of them anarchists. By this time, prison conditions had eased considerably, and these men served their sentences under a regime of semi-liberty without compulsory work. Listed as a historic monument, the Dreyfus house has benefited from a restoration program financed by the CNES.

The history of this penitentiary is relatively poorly described in Guyanese literature, with frequent contradictions. The establishment was set up in 1931 to deport Indochinese nationals guilty of crimes or who had been too vocal in their pro-independence intentions. The majority of these prisoners came from the Annam region in central Vietnam, which explains the camp's name.

The prison operated until 1938, but for most of the deportees, the journey to French Guiana was a one-way trip. Constantly on the lookout for workers, the colonial authorities hoped that the released prisoners would stay on to develop the land. When this became a compulsory rule, the prisoners revolted violently, but their insurrection was crushed without mercy. Detention conditions were extremely harsh at the Annamite camp. Austere dungeons, hard labor and iron discipline combined with a climate conducive to the development of numerous diseases, including malaria, which wreaked havoc in the area.

Scattered here and there, the remains of the penal colony are now abandoned. Rust-ridden and overgrown, they make for a surprisingly gloomy sight. At the entrance to the trail, a veritable forest tunnel, a sign provides a few historical landmarks about the penitentiary. The visit is divided into two successive itineraries. The first section takes around 40 minutes. After this pleasant walk, you come to a clearing where most of the remains of the penal colony are grouped together. You'll discover wagons, cells... You can also take the second part of the trail, which for a while follows an old railroad installed by the convicts (approx. 30-40 minutes' walk). The trail ends at the small Anguille creek, where you can swim and picnic. If you're tempted to take a dip, be careful, as stingrays and eels can lurk beneath the sandbanks! Although the path is not very well signposted, it's hard to get lost if you stick to the wooden slats on the ground, which show you the way. It's an easy stroll, but as with any walk, you'll need comfortable footwear, as the whole circuit is 7 km long.

The Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales is a public industrial and commercial establishment, created in 1961: it is the French space agency. As such, it is responsible for France's space policy: its main missions are to analyze issues, manage major programs, lead the industry, operate national systems and support research. Its centers are located in Paris, Toulouse and the Centre Spatial Guyanais in French Guiana, which is open to the public.

The site, located on the grounds of the Centre Spatial (CSG) and maintained by the ONF, is magnificent. You can choose between the botanical trail, a loop of around 650 m, or the more challenging 3.3 km trail over the summit of Montagne des Singes: the sentier de la Montagne. From here, you have a magnificent viewpoint, not to mention the diversity of the environments traversed. There's a carbet under which you can picnic and stretch out your hammock. The paths are easy to follow, but it's best to stay on them. Stay safe and enjoy!

Île Saint-Joseph was chosen as a site for solitary confinement: where strong heads were sent to serve their sentences. The "man-eater" and the "dry guillotine" were among the island's sinister nicknames. Today, tropical vegetation has invaded the stone ruins: roots and creepers intertwine between the bars of the abandoned dungeons. A walk that can be a little chilling, but not without a touch of the dreamlike.

From the landing stage, there are two paths: one circles the island, the other splits it in 2 at its summit, where you'll find the Reclusion camp. Once in the camp, you'll discover thedormitory, then the cells. The cells had openings only in the ceiling, enabling the guards to keep an eye on the prisoners from above. Convicts were subjected to hard labor for 10 hours a day, and were allowed one walk a day within the camp walls. They were not allowed to communicate with each other, hence the nickname "Island of Silence". There were also a number of totally dark cells, where the most difficult convicts were locked up in absolute darkness, sometimes for several years.

As you head for the shore, you'll come to the warden's family quarters, then the staff cemetery, overlooking a small beach of volcanic rock where a swim is in order. A path leads to the pontoon, where you'll find the janitor's quarters, now converted into a rest station for the French Foreign Legion.

The Amana nature reserve lies between the villages of Awala and Yalimapo, covering an area of around 14,800 hectares, from the Maroni to the mouth of the Organabo. Beaches, mangroves, lagoons, marshes and mudflats make up this wetland area, the management of which has been entrusted by the state to the Syndicat intercommunal à vocation unique (SIVU) de l'Amana since 1998. The aim is to learn more about the biology and behavior of sea turtles, and to protect one of the world's most important leatherback nesting sites. Visitor reception, public information, compliance with regulations and scientific monitoring are the SIVU's missions. A sea turtle museum completes the picture.

If you're in French Guiana between July and September, you can witness the hatching of the eggs: tiny turtles emerge from the earth into the ocean. You can save them by warding off predators, such as birds and dogs, who see this spectacle as an opportunity to feast. Today, Hattes beach is a victim of its own success: as far as possible, avoid coming to watch the turtles lay their eggs at weekends, as the crowds, unscrupulous about the intimacy of egg-laying, disturb the turtles.

The mangroves are also home to herons and egrets, while iguanas gather along the coast every year during the egg-laying season. Further south lies the Coswine River marsh, home to Guyana's only sphagnum bog.

Not far from Creeque Canceler is Creeque Toussaint, 3 km from the town of Sinnamary. Its sandy shores and the large carbet set up on the banks of the waterway invite you to take a restorative break or even a picnic stop (tables and benches are available). Fishermen and swimmers alike will be delighted by the creek's fish-filled waters: the shallow riverbed is quite wide, and a little deeper near the bridge.

At the edge of the forest, opposite the Montsinéry zoo, you'll have to leave your vehicle behind and walk the 400 m to reach Creeque Patate (just take a white sand track to get there). The rainy season often makes this an impassable spot, unless you're a daredevil! Otherwise, it's an ideal place to enjoy a sunny afternoon, swim and picnic. Creeque Patate is very popular with the local population, so the site tends to be very busy at weekends.

These two rivers are not often explored by visitors. Yet it is possible to fish for black piranha, of which there is no shortage in Grand-Laussat creek! Here, a Saramaca village, which lives to the rhythm of the sun and the forest, offers a genuine journey back in time, thanks to its simplicity and authenticity. You can take a guided excursion into the forest to discover its riches, canoe up the creek and discover Saramaca handicrafts.

The Mana River, Guyana's wildest river, cannot be tamed. It has to be earned, and discovering it is undoubtedly a singular experience, requiring good physical condition, a certain spirit of adventure and excluding amateurism. Fortunately, there are a number of easy and inexpensive ways to enjoy the mysterious atmosphere of this region for a day or a weekend. Alas, the river is increasingly damaged by gold-panning, and fewer and fewer service providers are offering it as part of their program.

With its source in the Yiji Pripris, Canceler Creek is a calm stream where you can splash around to cool off in the hottest hours of the day. In an exceptionally verdant setting, people come here to relax, sheltered from the rain and the sun under the two carbets (which are perhaps a little lacking in maintenance), sitting on the rocks that line the creek, or in the calm of the hammock you've stretched out in the shade between two trees. A little corner of paradise, which often gets very crowded at weekends.

At the entrance of Pripri De Yiyi, Maison de la Nature offers to enter the heart of the marais thanks to the canoe rental. Eco-museum has permanent and temporary exhibitions, works naturalist and aquariums allowing to observe fish of the marais.

Because of its location, Morpio Creek is certainly one of the best-known coves in French Guiana. It is located on the edge of the N1 motorway, and is laid out like a rest area. Several carbets, some with hooks for hammocks, invite you to rest, while tables and benches are ideal for picnics. The site is well-maintained and ideal for swimming: the water's color - golden red - is surprisingly clean.

Located in the Pariacabo industrial zone in Kourou, the Centre d'Archéologie Amérindienne de Kourou offers visitors the chance to discover pre-Columbian culture in French Guiana. This archaeological interpretation center is located in the immediate vicinity of the "Carapa Engraved Rocks" site, classified as a historic monument on November 18, 1993. More than 200 polissoirs and rock engravings are found on these rocks, known as the "Hippopotamus of the Savannah". Mysteries waiting to be discovered.