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nCayenne Day – French Guiana
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nNot to be confused with French Guinea, which was an African colony of France and is now the independent nation of Guinea, or with Guyana, which was a British colony in South America and is now an independent nation, French Guiana is an overseas region of France located at the northern end of South America.
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nCayenne is the “capital city” of this region, and today is its regional festival.
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nFrench Guiana is about the size of South Carolina, but people live pretty much only on the strip of land next to the ocean. The interior of the region is thick jungle that is hard to travel through.
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nRowing to French Guiana…
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nA young woman named Katie Spotz (22 years old) planned to row a boat solo from Africa to French Guiana. She ended up having to go farther, past Cayenne in French Guiana, to Georgetown in nearby Guyana, because of bad weather and ocean swells.
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nWhich ocean did she cross?
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nSpotz’s website includes a map of her journey and several interviews, all found on the righthand side. Spotz became the first American to row solo across an ocean as well as the youngest person to do so. Her 70+ day journey raised 75 thousand dollars for Blue Planet Run, an organization that helps communities around the world obtain clean drinking water.
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nGet a taste of French Guiana with these five photos.
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