From the edge of the forest French Guiana factsheet
Welcome to the country of land and water
“In the beginning Kuyuli created the world, with birds in the sky, fish in the water, and snakes and men on firm land. But men were ungrateful and mocked their creator’s repugnant appearance. Embittered, Kuyuli decided to take his revenge by sending a flood which destroyed mankind, apart from a few kinsmen. But he soon felt remorse for the world he had created, and asked the birds, who had survived, to bring him earth from the edge of the world, which had been spared in the flood. It is said that the most skilful birds were the black-bellied cuckoo and the woodpecker that patiently managed to bring back soil they held with their feet and which became mankind’s new homeland”
In this way the Earth came into being according to the elders of the Amerindian Wayana tribe.
Some feel that French Guiana has kept the exubERANT nature of these early times, making it a remarkable exception given that elsewhere the great tropical forests are inexorably retreating year after year. It thus provides a privileged observatory for Amazonian flora and fauna, which has been largely preserved here. The national Guiana Amazonian Park is the largest area in the world to have been granted national park status if taken in conjunction with the Tumucumaque park......