Devils Island, French Guiana – by Gary

 

I reckon there would be few people my age that hadn’t heard of, or read the book, or seen the film adaptation starring Dustin Hoffman called Papillon by Henri Charriere.  The book was first released in 1970 and sold almost a million copies just in the first few months.  It is a powerful story, brilliantly told, and its ‘anti-establishment’ themes had powerful resonance with my anti-Vietnam/flower power generation.

The book purports to be the true story of Charriere’s experiences, after being sentenced in 1931 to hard labour for life and transported to French Guiana.  In the tough, savage world he describes, Charriere is driven by the injustice of his wrongful conviction, his hatred of the ‘system’ that grips him, and a burning passion for escape.  After successive unsuccessful escapes he ends up in solitary confinement in Ile Saint-Joseph and according to one of his translators, the esteemed Patrick O’Brien, Charriere writes:

a deeply moving account of the silence, the heat and the utter loneliness of that dim, timeless, underground cage – two years of it.  When at last he was over and he was out in the light again, he began to make a raft for another break, but a fellow convict informed upon him, and having killed the informer he went back to solitary – an eight years sentence cut to nineteen months for rescuing a little girl from the sharks.  Another attempt at escape; transfer to Devil’s Island and then the final break at last, riding two sacks of coconuts through the shark infested sea to the mainland.

Papillon ends with Charriere finally a free man after fourteen years of imprisonment.

Naturally enough, our time in French Guiana simply had to include a visit to the tiny archipelago Iles Du Salut, with its three islands, Ile Saint-Joseph, Ile Royal, and Ile Du Diable (Devils Island).  The compact little group lies about 10nm off the South American coast, adjacent the town of Kourou.  And indeed the ruins of the Bagne, a vast penitentiary complex spreading across the archipelago, is a grim, compelling reminder of man’s ability to visit inhumanity upon his fellow man.  The first shipment of convicts arrived in 1852, the last in 1938, and it wasn’t until 1954 that the last prisoners were repatriated to France.  The museum on Ile Royal pulls few punches in describing the harsh treatment, tropical diseases, poor nutrition and appalling death rates visited upon inmates.

Mojombo anchored off Ile Royal.

Top left:  Devils Island from Ile Royale.  Bottom right: Ile Royale from Ile Saint-Joseph with Devils Island far right.

The Director’s house on Ile Royal, restored and now a museum.

Church on Ile Royal.

Hospital on Ile Royal, stabilised but not restored.

Restored semaphore station on the highest point of Ile Royal.

Part of the penitentiary complex on Ile Saint-Joseph, urgently in need of stabilisation.

The jungle steadily reasserting itself, Ile Saint-Joseph.

Cell block, Ile Saint-Joseph.

The cells are pretty compact.

This inmate is attempting a breakout.

Cells afforded little privacy, with rows arranged down a corridor and back to back with an adjacent row, they had grated ceilings and guards patrolled down a central, elevated spine (seen crossing a corridor, bottom left), looking down on their captives.

A windowless solitary cell (illuminated with our camera flash) on Ile Saint-Joseph – perhaps the one where Charriere spent two years plus of his life.....

The museum on Ile Royal includes a brief profile of the lives of several of the inmates, and it has this to say about Charriere:

Henri Charriere, alias Papillon
Despite his success in the bookshops and on the screen, Papillon never was an outstanding figure of the Bagne.  Sentenced for an unpremeditated murder in 1931 he had a bad relationship with the other convicts with whom he frequently quarrels. He flees from Cayenne, not from Devil’s Island as he later will claim in 1944. 

He would become famous after the publication of his book, in which he lays claim to many adventures and glorious actions actually accomplished by others.  He does not describe the Bagne as he knew it, but as it existed 20 years earlier.

Whom should we believe?  Patrick O’Brien was no fool – amongst others he was Simone de Beauvoir’s translator.  Could it be the establishment still running for cover???

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How We Had a Blast – by Zeke

At the moment we are in French Guiana.  We very luckily arrived 2 days before a launch of a ... space rocket.  What you might be asking is why there is rocket in French Guiana.  The reason is that the Guiana Space Centre(CSG) is here.  In this blog entry I will tell you about the, Ariane 5 rocket, an Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) and the launch.  What we didn’t realize was how special this mission was. You know, I hope, about the International Space Station where four guys live?  So every now and then these guys run out of strawberries and once a year they send some more up in an ATV.

The Ariane 5
The worlds heavy lift champion this top of the line rocket is assembled and launched from CSG.  Ariane 5 can put ten metric tons of stuff into geostationary orbit or twenty tons of stuff into medium or low earth orbit, which is where the International Space Station is. The Ariane 5 is more importantly is the rocket that puts the ATV into space. The Ariane is the biggest rocket launched from the CSG. It is also the rocket that we saw launched.

The ATV
So the ATV is the transfer vehicles for supplies between earth and the International Space Station.  It is loaded up with food water and air before departure  The ATV goes up into space, it docks with the space station and they take every think off before loading it back up with all there junk, including their waster water, sewage and garbage.  They then send it back down to earth.  But the ATV is not made to renter the atmosphere so what happens? Well it’s rather simple you see it just burns up along with all the junk.

A model of the ATV. At the front of the ATV you can see storage for food and at the back storage for water and air.

The Launch
Liam and Vanessa, whom we met when we were walking around town, very kindly offered to drive us out to a hill. The hill, other wise known as Carapa, is an one of five official viewing sites where you can see the rocket go up in smoke.  Having lucked out of a long walk our ride picked us at 5:30pm.  Off we went with Nina on Mum’s lap and Mum telling Nina off for getting so big.  Arriving at the gate we were given tickets to the launch.  We were also checked out by the guys with metal detectors who confiscated Dads bottle of rum (Dad joked with the guards when we got the bottle back that it was emptier).  We then walked up the hill to viewing area.

We were twelve kilometers from the launch pad.  Just out side the safety perimeter.  We had arrived an hour early so as to securer a seat.  We had stocked up with French goodies so we set to work demolishing wheels of camembert, cans of pate, olives, chips and bagets.

Five minutes to take off the crowd fell silent.  All of a sudden an orange glow appeared around the base of the rocket then it was off.  Foot ball stadium sized clouds of exhaust gases billowed out around the rocket.  As the rocket arced across the sky a sudden billow of gas was seen then two pin prick sized light were seen falling towards the ocean!  The booster rockets had fallen off. After this we lost sight of the rocket. The funny thing was that a few seconds after lift of we could here this deep rumbling that seemed to come from all around you and fill your stomach. As suddenly as it started it finished.

A sudden glow lights up the evening.

Thousands of cameras salute the sky.

Momentarily lost behind some clouds...

The rocket arced across the sky.

720 tonnes of fuel burning up in a few minutes.

This deep rumbling seemed to come from all around you.

The booster rockets falling off.

The solid fuel rocket boosters exhaust huge quantities of hydrochloric acid...

... beautifully illuminated by the setting sun.

On the way back to the boat we didn’t stop exclaiming at how truly amazing it was.  I hope you enjoyed this blog entry and thanks for reading it.

Au revoir

The Guiana Space Center (CSG)

by Nina (and rearranged by Dad a bit)

The Guiana Space Centre is a program run by the European governments dedicated to sending ‘payloads’ into space.  A ‘payload’ may consist of a satellite for scientific purposes, or it could be a telecommunications satellite.  There are three kinds of rockets currently launched at the CSG, the Ariane 5, Soyuz and Vega.

Here are models of the three rockets (left to right Ariane 5, Soyuz and Vega).

In this blog I am going to tell you what I learnt about them while in French Guiana.  We arrived at the space centre at 8:30am.  A friend dropped us there and then organized us tickets to go on a tour around the place.  A tour bus turned up and everybody got on, it drove past helicopter pads and areas fenced of with tall fences that had razor wire and electric fence on top.

I will now tell you about my experiences there.

A high tech security system with four layers, one a small chain-link wire fence, two a three meter high chain-link wire fence with razor wire and electric fence on top, three a moat of razor wire and electric fence, four poles with cameras and lights mounted on top.

Ariane 5
Ariane 5 is the largest ‘payload’ rocket on the market.  It weighs 800 tonnes and 90% of that is fuel, and only ten tonnes of that is what they want to send into space.  The Ariane 5 rocket costs $150,000,000 fuel price included, and the satellite costs $50,000,000 so $200,000,000 is going into space and no rocket parts are reusable.

At the Ariane 5 launch pad we saw there was a water tower and a huge pipe going to the launch pad, we asked what they were for.  It turns out they pump huge amounts of water on the launch pad after it goes up to absorb the heat and energy.  The energy makes it vibrate and it can damage the ‘payload’, so you put water on it and it uses up all its energy on making the water into steam.

Ariane 5 at the launch pad with the water tower in far right.

The Ariane 5 launching.

Soyuz
Soyuz can take 5 tonnes into low earth orbit and three tonnes into geostationary orbit.  The rocket is the same design as the rocket that brought the first man into space, he was a Russian.

We learnt from a video how the Soyuz is put together.  It takes 2 years to make and 6 weeks to assemble. It comes out of the assembly building and along a road on a platform, at this stage the rocket is laying down.  When the rocket gets to the launch site a mechanism brings the rocket upright, then the servicing gantry goes around it.  At the moment it does not have the satellite on it so they put that on.  Then the gantry is moved away and the rocket launches.

For launching the rocket Soyuz is suspended over a pit on a platform, the force of the rocket goes up the side of the pit helping it balance.  200,000m³ of earth was moved to make the pit.  We stopped right next to the Soyuz launching platform.  The pit was very impressive.  We saw the large servicing gantry that goes around the rocket when it is on the platform.

The Soyuz pit, launching platform and servicing gantry.

All the different sections of Soyuz.

Soyuz launching.

Vega
Vega is the smallest rocket launched at the CSG.  It can carry a 1.5 tonne ‘payload’ and is designed for sending small scientific satellites into low earth orbit.

We went to the building that had the control rooms for Ariane 5 and Vega; it controls the roll-out, fuelling and pre-flight checks. The control rooms weren’t that amazing; there were three rows of desks with computers and a huge TV screen on the front wall.

Vega in final assembly building, with people checking the satellite cowling.

The control room for Ariane 5 and Vega when they are on the launch pad, it controls the fueling up, system checks and the moving of the rocket from the final assembly building to the launch pad.

The Jupiter Room
This is the room that monitors the launch of Vega and Ariane 5.  There are lots of desks with computers on them, and behind them is a gallery of seating for the VIPs and customers.  There are also places for the press.  At the front is a huge television.

Top the VIP seating with models of the three rockets, left the control room, right our guide explaining everything.

The Museum

Then we went to the museum.  The museum wasn’t that good.  It had lots of bill boards and each represented a different era or event, it started at the Big Bang and became more detailed at the start of space exploration, it finished with present events.

The CSG is now considered the most modern and reliable space centre on earth.  20 types of rockets have launched from here.  I have now told you about Ariane 5, Soyuz and Vega, the three rockets launched there at the moment and about our experiences there.

THE END

Megafauna - by Nina

Introduction

This report is about megafauna, a race of giant animals that existed when earth once again became habitable after the comet struck it. Most megafauna in that age were mammals but there are a few exeptions, as in birds and reptiles. I am going to focus on South American megafauna, there are two different types of megafauna, Pleistocene megafauna and modern megafauna.

I got into megafauna when I went on a trip into the northeastern Brazilian hinterlands. We went to a hotel that owned some very impressive fossils and we also had a look at a some drawings of what a few native megafauna that lived in that area are supposed to have looked like. I decided do a project on them based on what I learnt at the hotel.

I will now tell you about the Stegomastodon, Cuvieronius, Doedicurus, Megatherium and the Toxodon and the animal that hunted all of these giant herbivors, the Smilodon.

Stegomastodon

The Stegomastodon is an ancient elephant that stood 2.8m tall  and looked like a bulkier version of a modern day elephant. It weighed about 6000kg, it had two tusks like a modern elephant but they grew about 3.5m long. The Stegomastodon ate grass and it had very specialised teeth to do so, they had a complex pattern of ridges.






A full fossil skeleton is on display at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.

Cuvieronius

The Cuvieronius was an elephant like Stegomastodon but it was slightly smaller at 2.7m tall, it had two tusks that grow in a cork screw pattern. It evolved 4.6 million years ago in North America but moved to South America when the two continents joined, bones and bits of hide have been found south as Chile. Cuvieronius is a herbivor but it probably ate a whole range of of food such as leaves, branches and grass.

A fossil skull  is displayed in the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle Paris.

Doedicurus

Doedicurus is an ancient, giant mammal that resemebled a reptile that has a shell like an armadilo, a head a bit like a tortise and a long tail that had a ball of spikes on the end. Doedicurus  was about 1.5m high and 4m long. It was a herbivor and lived in grasslands and woodlands. Its fossils have been found in South America and North America.

 

Megatherium 

Megatherium is a giant sloth that had huge claws and was about 8m long and was about the size of a modern day elephant and weighed 4000kg. The giant sloth usually walked on all fours but by fossilized foot prints it could have stood on two feet to reach up and get the  juicyest leaves from the top of the tree, it was thought to have a long tongue to pull leaves off a branch.

A full fossil skeleton is on display at the Natural History Museum, London.

Toxodon

The Toxodon is an animal that had a rhino like body and a head like a hippo. The Toxodon was first thought to be an amphibian but after looking at the tibia and the femur and the position of its head scientists had to conclude it had  features similar to an elephant and a rhino and could not be a water dwelling animal. Charles Darwin was the first European person to discover the Toxodon and he bought a skull off a native. The Toxodon was a herbivore, and ate mainly leaves and twigs, it had a speacilised jaw to do so. The Toxodon probably went extinct because of over hunting.

There is a full skeleton in Buenos Aires.

Smilodon

The Smilodon or sabre-toothed tiger was the top of the food chain in the Pleistocene era. It was big enough, fast enough and strong enough to kill animals as big Toxodon and juvenile Cuvieronius.



There are three diffrent types of Smilodon, Smilodon gracilis, Smilodon fatalis and Smilodon populator. Smilodon gracilis was the smallest and  weighed about 55 to 100kg, Smilodon populator was the biggest and had a shoulder height of about 120cm, it weighed about 220 to 400kg.



The Smilodon was the biggest cat to ever live, it had a short tail, powerful legs and long canine teeth. They are more robust than any cat alive. It has long front legs and short back legs giving it the look of a hyena. It's teeth were fairly fragile and could not bite through bone so it did not use them in bringing the prey down, it used them in killing the prey, it can slice through the juglar and wind pipe in one bite.

It would have had a wide range of prey including deer, tapirs and ground slothes and some of the larger species may even have preyed on juvenile mammoths and mastodons.






A full skeleton is on display at the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo, Japan.

Why Megafauna Nearly Went Extinct

 The Pleistocene megafauna nearly went extinct, there are a number of theorys about the circumstances. One theory is that a comet struck earth and brought climate change and disease. Another is that an ice age occurred and lots of animals went extinct, or it could have been just climate change or disease or a combination and the most likely answer is humans hunted them. The Pleistocene megafauna NEARLY went extinct, if it had gone extinct modern megafauna would not have been abel to evolve. All the Pleistocene megafauna went extinct a while ago, exept maybe a handful of animals such as the salt water crocodile, the others are represented by their often smaller modern day relatives.

Conclusion

I have just told you about the Stegomastodon, Cuvieronius, Doedicurus, Megatherium, Toxodon and the Smilodon and about when they evolved, whether they were a herbivour or a carnivour and and there apearance.

Brazilian Cachaca - by Zeke

Hello family and friends. Recently my family and I went on a trip into the interior of Brazil. In this story I will be telling you about one of the things we saw; the production of cachaca (pronounced cashasa), all the way from the field to the bottle .  Cachaca, often called rum, is known to most as cane spirit. The big difference is that one is made from sugar juice and the other from molasses. Mum and Dad tell me the two tastes completely different.

Cachaca

This drink is manufactured from sugar cane.  So first of all you have to grow some sugar cane. Once it has matured a fire is put though the field to burn the sharp leaves that make working nearly impossible. After the burning labourers come in and hack down the remaining cane before it is loaded on to a truck and taken to the processing plant.

At the processing plant the cane is dumped at the juicer where every last drop of liquid is squeezed out. The juice is then fed down a pipe to the distillery where it is left to ferment for a day The yeast will now get to work . Meanwhile the cane that’s had the juice squeezed out of it is spread out on a hill to dry. The dried bagasse is then used in the fires that boil the cachaca.

After being left for a the sugar juice is poured into a big copper pot. After this a fire is lit under the pot to get all 15% of alcohol out. Because alcohol boils at a much lower temperature its vapors are the first to rise to the top of the still. Their they cool the alcohol down and drain it off into a tub. The cachaca is then left for a minimum of six months. In some cases the cachaca would be distilled twice then put into oak barrels for a year and a half. After a year and a half in barrels the cachaca is almost ready for market there’s just one last thing.

Bottling

At the factory bottles were placed in holders that moved along a track first though a cleaning machine then a filling machine before coming to a thing that stuck a lid on and finally stick a label machine. After this the bottles are stacked in crates ready to be sold.

Sugar cane in the field

Cane on the way to the factory

The juicer, it squeases the juice out of the cane.

The bagasse being dried on the hill.

The sugar juice left to ferment – this makes about 15% alchohol.

A copper still, it evaporates off the alcohol out of the sugar juice.

The dried bagasse waiting to be burnt under each still.

The bottling machine.

More on Cachaca

The second factory we visited was powered by steam and had a four hundred year old juicer for squeezing the juice out of the cane. In action this machine would resemble a giant death trap. The stills in this factory were fired by steam. The steam was generated by a boiler which was fuelled by bagasse and water was pumped out of the near by creek. This factory also had a bottling plant similar to the one at the first factory.

A very old horse/donkey powered juicing machine – we saw it in a museum.

Still being used!  This 150year old steam engine is powering the juicing machine in this factory.

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