Paramaribo

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Georgetown to Paramaribo 5-25
Hotel: Guesthouse Albergo Alberga, Paramaribo, Suriname, 30 Euro
We woke up at 4:30 AM today, our taxi driver Roy would be arriving around 5 AM to take us to the border. The weather looked really bad today, big storms all along the coast. The border was about a 3 hr drive away, but there was a ferry in the middle that only ran once an hour. It started raining quite a bit after leaving town and Roy was driving slower to be safe. He was speaking about his experiences in Guyana and New York, how he had family all over the Caribbean and Guyana/Suriname. We ended up arriving at the ferry about 6:35.. literally a minute too late for the 6:30 ferry! We were still ok on time though, the ferry to Suriname wouldn't leave until 11. However the Suriname ferry only runs once a day, so missing that would be a setback! The wait wasn't too bad, and the next ferry arrived and started filling up. Several trucks and minibuses boarded the side-loading ferry. There was a turntable, but it hadn't worked in years. The ferry ride itself was pretty quick, and the rain had let up some, but it started coming down again once we reached the other side. It was still another hour and a half before we reached the Guyana side of the ferry. We changed money, though not at the best rate, then bought tickets for the ferry ($10). Sat down to wait, as it was only about 10 by this time, but we had already been on the road since 5 am! The ferry arrived at 11 (it was supposed to leave at 11), then it started raining, and raining, and raining. Noon passed, then one o'clock.. the ferry still sat there waiting while the natives were getting restless. We started talking with an older American woman there, she was from Florida and had traveled quite extensively as well. Her son was posted to the embassy in Georgetown and she was taking a few weeks to see Suriname and French Guiana, by herself! Found out she was staying at the same hotel we were in Paramaribo, so we decided to all get the same minibus/taxi once on the Suriname side. Finally, at 1:30 the ferry set off, it was still raining. Apparently the ferry operators didn't want anyone to get wet, but it was 2.5 hrs late already! There were only a few cars going across. The crossing itself took nearly a half hour, for some reason the ferry terminals on either side are nowhere near towns; on the Guyana side it is 8kms away from the nearest town, at least on a good road. On the Suriname side, it takes an hour to get to the nearest town, and that's if it hasn't been raining...

We hadn't eaten much all day, not much of an opportunity, as we left before the hotel had breakfast ready, and we hadn't bought any snacks for the trip. I had a few Cliff bars I had brought along which helped; and there was a canteen at the ferry terminal where I spent my last few Guyana dollars to buy a packet of stale cookies. We had thought about going to Nieuw Nickerie, the closet town on the Suriname side, to have lunch (though it was already 3:30 pm, Suriname being an hour ahead) and town was at least an hour away. Immigration passed smoothly, then we all got into a minibus heading directly for Paramaribo. The driver offered to drop us off at the hotel since there was four of us, very nice. The fare was 45 Suriname dollars. The road indeed was pretty horrendous, and we ended up being the last bus to leave, soon all the other buses had zoomed ahead leaving us behind. Pothole, mud, pothole. It was like being in Africa. No signs of human settlement either, just the road and cleared jungle. We did soon come to fields of rice, the tractors here are equipped with huge side paddlewheels so they can work in the mud. Couldn't get a picture of one but saw one tearing through a field like a mudbuggy. It ended up taking nearly two hours to the town, and that still left three hours to Paramaribo, at least this was on a paved road! The road was severely flooded in parts, which made for really slow going. You'd think the Dutch of all people would have drainage figured out! Suriname is the former Dutch colony on the northern part of South America. The Dutch traded a little island in New York called Manhattan with the British for Suriname. Not an even trade methinks. Suriname has quite a multicultural society, with Chinese, Javanese, blacks, Indians, etc.

We drove on, still few signs of villages, just scattered houses and rice fields. We finally pull into Paramaribo about 9PM, nearly 10 1/2 hrs after we left Georgetown! Paramaribo, or locally known as Parbo, seemed a much more modern and safe city than Georgetown. We got to the hotel to find they hadn't understood my email and didn't have a reservation for us for that night! Luckily they did have two rooms available. It was already pretty late, but we were starving. We decided to head over to the nearby Torarica hotel where there was a strip of restaurants. The Albergo Alberga guesthouse was a great location in an old colonial style building, within walking distance of all the old city. At 30 Euro for a double, the price couldn't be beat either. Suriname mainly gets a lot of Dutch tourists, didn't see much info on the web that was available in English. We walked by the Presidential palace to the hotel. We were very surprised to find a row of bars, restaurants and dance clubs, with lots of people walking around, lots of tourists. Mainly groups of Dutch girls dressed up to party! Quite a change from Georgetown where you don't walk around at night, certainly not dressed to the nines. 😊

We ate dinner at Cafe Vat; I had the Pom which was a local dish, kinda like a pork tamale but softer. Suriname has really good Indonesian food with the Java influence; the Dutch had brought in alot of indentured workers here from their colony, just like the British had done with Indians to Trinidad and Guyana. We were exhausted from the long day though, and went back to the hotel after a little internet. It was already after 11, making for a really long day.

5-26
Hotel: Guesthouse Albergo Alberga, Paramaribo, Suriname, 15 Euro
We spent this morning walking around Paramaribo. After the long day yesterday in the car/bus we were eager to stretch our legs. Breakfast at the Albergo was 3 Euro, for either toast and cheese or a fried egg. We passed the Hof van Justie and the palace again, past the unpronouncable Onafhankelijksplein (Independence Square) and down to the Waterkant, the row of buildings fronting the Suriname river. We found a tour company and inquired about options to Brownsberg park. Like in Georgetown, this was slow season and there weren't any tours going out. We had hoped to spend the night out in Brownsberg park, but this requires booking the lodges beforehand in town, but it was the weekend and the STINASU park was closed. We then went down to the Maroon market, which had an assortment of traditional crafts, spices, and bush meat. We saw a smoked monkey arm for sale! The market was huge, with two buildings and alleys winding behind. We then wandered up Jodenbreestraat, to a paradoxical sight of a synagogue next to a mosque! Suriname has quite a mixed culture society, they are proud of their heritage and the different ethic groups seem to get along well.

Paramaribo has the uber-present McDonalds and KFCs, we stopped at Micky D's for a milkshake as it was beginning to get warm. We then went over to the Avis office to see about renting a car for the next day; their office closed at noon but we wouldn't need the car till the next morning. We filled out the paperwork and arranged for our rental to not start until that evening; that meant we would only need a single day! Back to our guesthouse, buying a bottle of rum along the way, where we told them we would need two more nights. Spent the afternoon wandering some more about Paramaribo, having a roti for lunch. The Zeelandia fort was closed (on Saturday?), so we were only able to get photos from the outside. We saw many more Dutch girls today, very few Dutch guys. They must come here for their eco-experience, or to hook up with a local guy. We saw several walking around with local boys! That night we went back to the restaurant strip and ran into Diane again, the woman we had met waiting for the ferry. She was headed off to one of the beaches, it is currently turtle nesting season. There were several discos going tonight but we were pretty tired still from the long day yesterday and walking around that we just went back to the Albergo and crashed.

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Photos

Suriname border
Welcome indeed

Parbo beer
Not bad, but not to my taste

Waterkant
Classic houses along the waterfront

Fixxer-upper
Roof not included

Roman Catholic cathedral
Closed since 1979 due to structural instability

World peace
Suriname cultures get along well, the mosque is next door to the synagogue

Comments

[Ben Tipgever]

stadsverniewing
Kom op vrome mensen in Suriname. Knap uw hoofdstad eens een keertje voor eens en voor altijd. Wat een schaamte. Achterlijk en bouwvallig. Het kan wel heel mooi worden. Doe je best. Next time I come I would like to see results.

[Claire]

Being a tourist and being a traveler...
Paul Bowles wrote beautifully about the difference between a tourist and a traveler... Although you have visited 106 countries/territories in the world (truly impressive so chapeau bas) you still expect a ferry in Suriname to be as punctual as a train in Oslo or Zurich... Then you are leaving your hotel at 4:30 am to cross a border by a taxi/ferryboat and a bus between two countries travelling mostly thru a 400 km of partly swamp forest… and you don’t take even a snack with you… Were you expecting a Subway or a Pizza Hut on your way?;) Not even a snack in your backpack? If you were from Ohio travelling for the first time in your life, I would not be surprised at all… But thanks for posting your observations. Interesting and inspiring.