Voyage en Guyane, USA News (Cayenne and Kourou, French Guiana): The planet’s lungs appear in all their immensity as the vast green canopy of the Guianese forest comes into view. As a fortunate omen, a double rainbow appears in the airplane window. Fogged-up glass filters the blurred shapes of palm trees, a few hangars, and the control tower as the aircraft taxis on the tarmac following a nine-hour flight from Orly.
This French territory in South America officially counts nearly 300,000 inhabitants, alongside tens of thousands of undocumented individuals traveling through the region. In this melting pot, Creoles and Amerindians live alongside Brazilians, Cubans, Haitians, Surinamese, and Guyanese. The Bushinengués, descendants of maroon communities who fled slavery, account for arguably more than a third of the local population. Spanning an area of over 80,000 square kilometers, French Guiana stands as France’s second-largest region by surface area, trailing only Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
Returning to a territory once considered for relocation and work at the age of twenty-five during national service as a young lieutenant brings back distinct memories. Cayenne has changed very little. The Place des Palmistes remains, where local delicacies such as caiman steak and agouti steak—a large Amazonian rodent known for its meat—were once served in local eateries. Today, to avoid encouraging the scourge of poaching, these dishes have largely disappeared from restaurant menus. An acquaintance waits at the Bar des Palmistes, a magnificent establishment built in 1890 and classified as a historic monument since 1994.
