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Published: October 8th 2007
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Close encounter with a toucanWe travelled to Paramaribo from Georgetown, Guyana, deciding to go overland. We had a not-too-comfy minibus pick us up at 3:30 am. Only 10 or so people on board. It took a couple of hours to get to Rosignol and we didn't have to wait long for the short 6:30 am crossing on a rickety old ferry to New Amsterdam. Passing through we could see that New Amsterdam and Berbice were quite pretty. A couple of hours later we stopped in Corriverton where the Corantijn river served as the border with Suriname. The next few hours were about pain and suffering. First it took 45 minutes in a queue to get stamped out of Guyana and buy the ferry ticker. We were swiftly through customs but had a two hour for the ferry. The waiting room had seats and tables and a TV playing a bollywood movie with English subtitles. But the sun reflecting on the screen made it impossible to read. The ferry was quite modern with space for cars and people. The ferry landed somewhere in the middle of nowhere south of Nieuw Nickerie. Here we queued for another good hour or so due to there being one immigration
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Ariana Waterfall guy for a ferry full of people. We got a different minibus on this side with different drivers although it was part of the same fare paid in Georgetown. A young fella with a gold tooth complained about the boss on the Guyana side. This guy had to get 19 people and their belongings into the minibus. We were right at the back with a mountain of luggage in the seats behind us. People piled in and used all the fold-down seats. I had my knees around my ears for 5 hours due to sitting over the wheel well. And fate would have it that we were dropped off last.
Arriving late evening at the Guest House Albergo Alberga on Lim A Po Straat we were awake enough to notice the lovely old buildings, all white with porches and saloon doors and green trim like the wild west. These were the reason for Paramaribo being a UNESCO site. At the hotel a flighty lady assured us we didn't have a reservation and just as we were thinking we would have to go elsewhere a bloke turned up who said they had plenty of rooms available anyway. Hmm. We took
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One of the dozens of lizards at the campsite a big aircon room with TV for 30 euros. Being knackered we didn't find the roti restaurant we were directed to by the hotel. A nice man directed us to McDs. Sad but useful, a quick feed. We felt quite safe on the streets late at night. This town used to be the safest capital in South America. There were road works at the end of our street and all the workers were Chinese. Must be cheap and will to work nights. It was an odd sight.
Next day we had trouble with the hotel. We were tired and couldn't be bothered getting up until later. But the lady at the desk demanded payment by 2 pm. The night before we were told we could pay whenever. So we went out about 1 pm to get some Suriname dollars. While out we found a tour agent called Tourist Photoshop. The lady was very helpful, getting out a map and showing us all the places we could go. We settled on a two day trip to Brownsberg leaving the next day. It was a little pricey at 145 euros each but we didn't have the time to seek out local
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Pieter, Jacquiline and Anwa at the camp enjoying dinner transport into the interior and we weren't equipped for camping. When we told her of our hotel unhappiness she recommended a could of different places to stay in town. And when the lady at the desk at the hotel continued to be rude to us on our return we paid for the night and packed our bags and buggered off. We walked to Zus & Zo opposite Palmentuin, a park full of 100+ year old palms. A slightly more modern wooden house with a restaurant underneath, bike hire, tour agent and craft shop (mainly Indonesian). There was a lovely dutch girl who helped us. We took a room for 25 euros which was small with no aircon, no TV, no en suite, but the place had a much nicer feeling.
In the evening we took a taxi to Blauwground and were dropped at one of the many Indonesian restaurants. This one was supposed to be good. But the service was rubbish, the food was cold and didn't taste very Indonesian but the ladies looked very pretty in their Indonesian outfits. We would have to try again.
The next day we left our bags with Zus & Zo and
Paramaribo
The Presidents house but he doesn't live there went down to the Blue Frog tour agency. There was a Nissan 4x4 being made ready for departure and we discovered that we were the only ones going. They would normally require a 4 person minimum they made exceptions in the low season. Our guide was Jacqueline, half Indian and half Amerindian, married to a black man of Jewish ancestry. She was very chatty and loved her job. A history specialist we enjoyed the doing nature trips to add variety. Our driver was Anwa (phonetically spelt .. it sounded french maybe) and he had been working for the company for 3 months and was very shy. After following bad roads for an hour or two we switched to really bad muddy red dirt road leading south behind the bauxite plant. But the scenery was lovely and green. We passed through a village of the Maroons. These people had been moved to their current location so the dam could be build to make a lake for electricity. A number of villages were drowned. But it wasn't the same as they no longer lived next to the water. And the electricity people didn't even provide them with electricity until recently. We grabbed
some Chinese takeaway and climbed the last bit of very very rough road to Brownsberg. The jungle closed in and it was very pretty.
The camp area is made up of a number of houses and huts that can be rented with a reception and a restaurant. All is spread out across a number of open spaces perched on a hill with a view of the lake created by the dam. You can see the stalks of the dead trees poking out of the water. And there are lots of lizards running around, mostly with green rear ends. We did disturb on really big (more than 1 metre long) grey lizard who took off crashing into the undergrowth.
After eating our Chinese we went for a walk to Ariana waterfall. Anwar tagged along for the exercise. The walk started out quite tame but after we got past the turnoff for Leo fall it started going down quite steeply. It was on this bit that Pieter saw a monkey shoot across the path. A little black fella. But we didn't see him again. Then we heard some crashing about and realised there was a troop of howling monkeys moving
above us. These were red and we watched them until they moved away. Jacqueline turned back as we approached the fall so she could prepare dinner. Anwar followed us down the horrendously slippery slope to the fall. We passed some people coming up and found ourselves alone. No swimming hole as such but you could sit under the waterfall for a water massage, which we did, and it was lovely. Leaving we met some more people coming down. Lots of them and lots of questions about how much further to go. It wasn't as difficult on the way back and we were soon approaching the camp. Before we got there we spotted an Agouti just trotting along the path. He didn't let us get close. Dinner was lovely. Chicken and rice and spinach (or something like that which was very nice) and veg. Our hut was occupied by ourselves, a bunch of students and a couple of young guys. One was from French Giana and one was from Switzerland. The Swiss guy was Andreas and Pieter soon established that he was a couch surfer.
Couchsurfing.com is a network that travelers can use to get in contact with locals, meet up
for a drink or stay with them. Andreas had stayed with Alina in Kourou, the same girl we had emailed a day or two ago. Small world really. It rained very heavily and Pieter chatted to the guys until late.
Pieter didn't have a good hammock experience. It feel down more than once. We were woken early by the howling monkeys. They are not called howling monkeys for nothing. And they were very very loud. And a little haunting. After breakfast we wandered around a bit looking for wildlife. We saw another (or the same) Agouti. Pieter saw a toucan. And there were two unfortunate baby possums drowned in a rubbish bag.
We went to another waterfall. Another muddy descent. At the top of the fall it became apparent we would not make it to the bottom, too dodgy, so we just rested a bit at the top. A morpho butterfly flew up and then down the fall. And we slowly returned.
Before and after lunch we wandered camp looking for more animals. We spotted a toucan high in a tree. That was nice. Later we saw the toucan in a small tree in the middle of
the camp. It was great to be so close. And he stayed for a long time hopping around and pecking at the fruit. He wasn't too fussed with our presence.
Back in Paramaribo we went for pancakes, proper dutch pancakes. The service sucked again, the tide was out on the pina coladas and the bitterball was not right (it was only potato inside, no meat) BUT the pancakes were perfect. Pieter had savoury and I had sweet. Yummy.
The next day we spent shopping and resting. In the evening we decided to take another stab at finding a proper Indonesian feed. We asked the taxi man for Blauwgrond but he didn't know the restaurants we had heard of. But he mentioned Sarinahs which is not at Blauwgrond. Jacqueline had mentioned it too so we went there. the front of the restaurant was a takeaway and it wasn't obvious that a side door lead to a beautifully decorated restaurant. The rijkstaffel was more expensive that the last but there was satay. And the satay was good. It was different but delicious. Very chunky and a bit spicy. The food was more like the Indonesian we knew but still a
bit different, more dry. It was really good and great service also. That made a nice change. Pieter chatted to the taxi man (same guy as getting there) on the way back. He used to work at the restaurant but was happier driving his taxi. If he earned 50 SRD (18 USD) a day he was content.
We reserved our last day in Paramaribo for museums. We had to take a taxi to the slavery exhibition. It was 8 SRD and contained lots of interactive things but was quite small. But there were so many kids it was difficult to follow through without constant tripping over them or having their heads pop up in front of something you are trying to read.
Next stop was the fort. Here we found the National Museum inside the walls. Another 8 SRD. It is a very well laid out museum, beautifully kept, and the fort is highly restored. A fantastic bottle collection but foolishly kept behind glass. A damp spot in the wall meant condensation obscured the display. And a fabulous pharmacy complete with matching white and blue ceramic pots. From the wall you have a great view of the bridge
and the port, complete with shipwreck.
We were keen to get some local perspective so had emailed the only couch surfer in Suriname. Cedrick met us for a drink. He was new to couch surfing and a little shy but we chatted and watched the football. Cedrick and Pieter had a common interest in airplanes. It was the final of Copa America, Brazil vs Argentina, and we were in a bar, one of many in the same block, with lots people watching, a few wearing shirts of the teams. A few Brazilians were marching around and blowing their whistles. When Brazil won the few Argentina supporters in the crowd looked very unhappy. The coverage we had been watching included a Suriname feed with dancing and singing. As we walked back to the hostel we passed a big shed where the coverage was being filmed from.
We had less than a week in Suriname but it was enough to get a taste of the jungle and get to know Paramaribo quite well.
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Demaris
non-member comment
Amazing
Hi Pieter and Rae, I know you are having a grea time. Wish I was with you. Love all your blogs and have sent them along to the UNESCO_site group as well. Stay safe and continue to have fun. Demaris