Camp Canopée

Being Finnish and growing up in the suburbs of Finland meant that I spent an awful lot of time in the forest and up trees. To be honest, the most vivid childhood memories I have from Finland (before we moved abroad) are more or less all from the outdoors. Whether it was climbing and swinging in trees or swimming and sauna-ing (where I come from this is a valid verb) at our summer cottage, the outdoors was always where I felt most at home. Being out in nature, as you can imagine, is thus something that still is a very important part of my life.

So...  my birthday was way back in October and Anthony had promised to take me for a trip in the trees as a birthday present. I didn't really know what to expect from it. What I had understood was that we were going to have some sort of treehouse-type experience. I wasn't really sure what to expect from it but I was really excited all the same. It's an organized trip by a local small organization called Camp Canopée, follow the link if you're looking for more info http://www.canopee-guyane.com/ .

So one weekend in May we set out from Kourou on a 2 hour boat trip up the river. It was a rainy morning and we were both a little apprehensive about whether or not the weather was going to hold up. Nobody wants to spend a weekend in the trees in torrential rainfall. Luckily however, it cleared up nicely.

The boat or pirog, as it is locally called, is a long-wooden boat, seating three-abreast at maximum width. We loaded in the gear up front, including large ice-boxes carrying food for the whole group for the weekend. And in we popped, little sardines on a wooden stick!

The eager crew heading out. Our captain was extremely skilled at dodging the lolling trees and branches which floated along the river. There is really no "coastline" or sandbank to speak of usually, it is just vegetation. This means that trees basically get pushed into the river by its fellow comrades behind it - "Off you go Billy!" SPLASH.

We did get rained on from time to time but that is only to be expected; we were, after all, traveling into a breathing sponge of humidity. A pair of wild Macaws actually flew right above us. If you haven't ever heard a Macaw screech, check it out because these parrots make quite a racket! I took it to be the welcome cry of the jungle.

About half-way up the river we came across this golden sand-patch just when the sun was coming out. "Palm Beach à gauche!" Our bohemian tour-guide shouted.

A naturally formed smooth sand-patch was a welcome break... and incidentally, an apt moment to empty the boat from leaking water - all quite standard practice we were assured. Something to always be weary of in Guyane. Standard practice often takes on the sense of "we'll just see how it goes. I'm sure it will be fine".

It seems funny to think about how remote these places actually are. Standing on a teeny tiny beach two hours up an amazonian river in French Guiana. A rather unconventional weekend trip!

We landed our pirog beside a small wooden pier, complete with this makeshift wall, designed to keep the edge from collapsing I suppose.

Just casually heading up to our "rooms" :)

There were two different tree-house sections in which to sleep in, linking the two was this suspended footbridge.

No treehouse would be complete without a giant dream-catcher.

I'm no architect but it looks sound-enough to me! :) Can you imagine building this, in the middle of the forest, without any modern use of cranes or such. That's only after you've transported the building materials by boat. Very impressive!

The entire camp had a lovely peaceful ambiance to it.

I mean who wouldn't enjoy doing the dishes when you're looking at this?

Not to mention doing your business up in the trees. Talk about natural ventilation! (The documentation ought to be complete, so I had to include this picture - apologies to the prudish!).

Now, at night, the place really comes to life! Candles are set up all around the camp, in the trees, down below and everywhere. I don't know if you can even imagine it, but... it is utterly magical.

So far, I'm feeling right at home in the trees! ... Anthony likes to pretend he is not scared of heights, but really he is. I'm thinking... YES! I found SOMETHING he is scared of! :D

We had a wonderful lunch and then set out for the days trip - a hike in the surrounding forest. We had the choice of a small, medium or long hike, and luckily we were with an athletic group so we did the long walk. And although we were not the luckiest, groups have sited Macaws, snakes and all sorts of animals... but unfortunately, we did not manage to see much. A lizard. And maybe heard a forest-dwelling wild chicken creature... but we weren't actually sure... so there.

We saw plenty of different types of trees and plants though, so it was a very nice walk all-in-all.

Like this "little" guy. Finger for scale :)

After our hike, we travelled back to the camp via (a very unstable) canoe. But neither of us fell in, and I dare se we managed the two-person wooden canoe paddling technique quite well :)

A delicious dinner, complete with acoustic music was waiting as we arrived back to camp. 

And there we go, our five-star beds for the night!

Next morning I was up bright and early. I figured what a perfect spot to go and salute the sun with some invigorating morning yoga by the river. Obviously I was not very deep into my meditation as Anthony managed to disrupt me mid-session.

The Kourou river... et moi

Now for the real fun - tree-climbing and zip-lining through the trees!

Getting geared up... this stuff is very tight... but I gathered better that than a flattened Sarah.

First zip-line down. One more to go... but first, up we go!

 

So yeah. I was maybe not the most fantastic climber ever. But looking down a 40m drop when you're just attached to this one line (which you hope to God is not going to break on you) is really REALLY unhelpful. You are also regretting that extra Nutella that you spread on your pancake that morning for fear it is definitely going to be the tipping point and you are most probably going to fall to your death in the middle of the Amazon rainforest because of it. 

Yup, a 42m climb upwards. Heave!

Here is a clip of Anthony reaching the top of the platform. It gives you a sense of what we were going through.

Finally up, we could enjoy the sights of the canope from all around. Of course, safety first! I wonder what happens if you put three people on the bridge O.o

It's ok to look down... once you're attached.

You do end up treading carefully, just incase you would put something out of place and the whole structure would collapse.

Taking the final ladder up to the very top.

and now all there is to be done is enjoy the view!

Coming down the zip-line was absolutely nothing compared to going down it. Now I've been mountaineering in Scotland and even gone skydiving, so I'm not a complete virgin with heights. But. And it's a big but, that initial swing off the ledge, resting your weight into the harness and the single rope... terrifying. Absolutely every instinct is telling you to not step off that ledge.

I had understood our trusted French-speaking guide the whole while but in that moment, when he was explaining what to do. Just no. Brain failure. I spoke no French. Anthony had to translate whatever he told me. A part of me was absolutely sure I was going to die there. Let go of the wrong rope and fall splat to my death. Needless to say, everything went just fine. Anthony and I descended side by side facing each other and everything was fine. It was quite romantic actually, in a sort of extreme-sense :D

 I do however have a new found respect for extreme-mountaineers and tightrope walkers. And a small subtle message: "You people are CRAZY!" There. I'm done.

Now I joke about it, but really it was a fantastic experience. This memory is certainly going to stick around for a long time to come! At least until Anthony takes me on some other life threatening adventure.

On our way back we got to zip-line straight into the camp. Here is a clip of Anthony coming in.

Portrait of a boy in a boat.

Couldn't have asked for a better (or more original) birthday gift!

Thank you munchkin! ;)

Trip to Îles du Salut, the "Salvation Islands"

Bonjour tout le monde!

This post will cover our day-trip to the three islands located about 14km off the coast of Kourou in the Atlantic Ocean. Collectively they are known as the Îles du Salut (the "Salvation Islands") because the few missionaries who managed to get to these islands survived the outbreak of the plague which hit the mainland. However, the history of these islands are more commonly known for something far less pleasant. Specifically, it was a French penal colony with a reputation for harsh living-conditions as well as draconian brutality.

Originally, our trip was claimed as a fishing tour, but we caught no fish. So really, in my opinion we cannot call it a fishing tour since we didn't actually catch any fish to speak of. Not even one small one. Zero. Well, we had bait on the boat in the form of dead fish, but we bought that, so really it wasn't much of a success on the whole catching fish -front.

When your alarm clock rings at 6AM on a saturday morning, one is generally not pleased. When it rings at 6AM intentionally and it is pouring down cats and dogs outside and you're supposed to spend the entire day on a boat with four other (presumably fish-smelling men), you are definitely not a riot of excitement.

Having said that, when you are greeted with this sight when the whole river is just waking up and the rain has just subsided, you cannot help but feel a sense of peace come over you.


And I even got the chance to get creative with my camera. So really, I was over the moon.

Anthony (sporting his free tourist gift) and I, having stolen his jacket that kept me nice and warm. Thank you dear.


Here you see the very fancy fishing gear being employed when we were still feeling young and eager. There will be no more fish-gear related photography featured in this post because, as I said, we caught bugger all. But within no time the weather had cleared and we were greeted by the open-armed rays of sunshine.

and this glorious-looking island: Île Royale. Shortly upon arrival our designated sea-captain started feeling rather ill, and as we were not catching any fish anyway we decided to jump off and discover the island a bit - And good thing we did too!

This is the harbor on Île Royale. Naturally, it comes lined with palm trees and a fantastic quaint little feel to it.

Anybody fancy a dip in the blue? :)

Anthony ventured up some of the steps and found this fantastic looking building which we late found out belongs to some "premier resident" of the island.

A green explosion.



A spiked tree. Yes, I said SPIKED TREE.

The vegetation on these islands is mainly covered by palm trees. The ground was simply covered in coconuts in various forms of degradation. The coastal areas, all the way down to the very edge is covered by palm trees.

Remains from the islands rich historical significance. We didn't actually go see any of the cell remnants as we didn't have enough time so we left that for next time.

Any my favourite encounter of the whole day: MONKEYS! To be precise, these are Capuchin monkeys and they sure were a friendly bunch. We ran right into a big family which was very busy tricking tourists into giving them food, just for being a monkey.

Some very nice (and prepared) tourists had brought some baguette with them. The monkeys are on French soil, which makes them French, which by default means they love baguette as all French blooded things do. Obvious really :D Anyway, they gave us some of their bread so we could feed the monkeys too. Thanks guys, awfully cordial of you :)

This monkey is clearly lost in thought. It's funny, because Anthony gets the same face when he eats sometimes. Relatives.

Look at this little cute guy!

namnamnamnam....


Anthony also tried to feed some but he was not given any bread so he was trying to cheat them into coming close with only a dried leaf to offer. Needless to say, they learned quickly that he really wasn't bringing anything tasty to the situation.

A beautifully back-lit acrobat.

We also saw these little guys, called an Agouti, which is some kind of native large-sized rodent. Anthony called them local pigs.. but really they look more a jumbo-sized sporty version of a  hamster/ guinea pig. Whatever they are, I thought they were ridiculously cute and thought we should casually steal one and have it with our chickens. Anthony was not as keen.

The color of their shiny fur was a gorgeous fox-red in the sun.

We then stumbled upon some of the older buildings riddled with decay, but absolutely gorgeous nonetheless. Situated right by the modern-day hotel which sits on the top of the island overlooking the Atlantic.

And here is the view from the top of the hotel grounds. Not a bad view to get up to I say.

This is for my mum, who loves flowers. (Dom var helt ljuvliga mamma - Hit skall vi absolut fara när du och pappa kommer och hälsar på!)

The vacated buildings had something fantastic about them just because they were so grand somehow, yet completely empty. It kind of felt like walking through a beautiful historical ghost-town of sorts.

Equipped with a bright red lighthouse.

Anthony peeking from behind the vacated grounds.

A modern-day convenience, the helicopter pad.

So picture postcard perfect that it almost looks a if we have been photoshopped in - but I swear! It's completely authentic. I don't have those kinds of skills.

If you look closely you will find a brightly colored hammock with a leg sticking out of it (which would be mine). We even had time for the midday nap - which I have to say, I am the biggest fan of. I swear people would be generally happier and more effective if they got a chance to take a nap every day. If given the chance to have it in a hammock amongst the palm trees whilst listening to the hush of the sea, all the better. Probably the best nap I have ever taken, hands down.


I had to take a picture of this when I saw it whilst glancing at the ground. I am not sure if it is a set of roots or an odd rock formation, but to me it was clearest shape of a heart and since I absolutely loved my day, I had to capture it as a memento (along with my oh-so-comfortable trusted tourist-shoes).

A sensational day in this exotic paradise!

Thank you world :)