Îles des Salut, off the coast of French Guiana: former penal colony and one-time home to Dreyfus
Land! After nearly six days at sea, a very welcome opportunity to set foot on dry land – Tenerife is some 3500 miles back east. A tropical island – a group of three in fact including Devil’s Island – with a fascinating if unappetising history.
Hummingbirds which we have already seen, iguanas, squirrel monkeys, peacocks and parrots and all manner of insect life (one sounding exactly like a timber-yard circular saw which was quite disturbing and thankfully, heard not seen). Plant life a plenty though I do not think much of it is indigenous – I’ll have to do some research now I am back home.
I’m a little out of strict chronological order for these slide shows, having already given you Barbados, which was the last stop in my trip. The Cape Verde Islands and the Orinoco River are yet to be posted, though if you are a Facebooker, there are pictures already on ‘public’ albums if you care to look these out.
I’ve been out gardening today though this has mostly taken the form of clearing leaves off various lawns (which while mundane, is still an important job). I have planted up some seasonal containers with Skimmia, Gaultheria macrantha and Pennisetum grasses, bejewelled with prickly stems and fat hips from Rosa rugosa.
I have set aside a generous collection of stems with big bright rosy rose hips from The Generous Gardener and will set these on my Christmas table next week.
The Teddington Gardener 