Suriname

All over the Guianas, you see people, mostly men, walking around with a bird in a cage. People here treat their birds really like pets and take them everywhere they go. To work, shopping, visiting friends and even to a doctor’s visit. Many houses (and even lamp posts) have a hook to hang the cage up so that you don’t have to put the cage on the ground. They say that the more the bird gets used to different environments, the nicer it will sing, but mainly they just take the bird with them for company. Although the tradition of bird singing competitions such as the ones on Sunday mornings in Paramaribo is slowly disappearing, carrying your bird around remains a popular thing to do.

One of the few easily accessible areas in Suriname, Brownsberg, is a forested mountain next to the man-made Brokopondo lake. Once up there, you can spend days doing forest walks to rivers and waterfalls. The walks go on narrow and sometimes steep mostly well-marked trails through dense forest where at the end you reach a pretty river or waterfall where you can freshen up and sometimes swim. Since the base where you can stay overnight is pretty much on the top of the mountain, all trails go down to the destination and going back can be more strenuous because of the uphill. There are monkeys and plenty of birds to give you a real jungle feeling.

Pretty Paramaribo is a colonial jewel. The old town is full of well-kept colonial houses with front porches, steps leading up to the front door and white-washed wooden walls. No wonder it is now protected by UNESCO. The Dutch colonial history is very present in all the names you see. The Palmentuin (Palm garden) is a pleasant place for a stroll and the St. Petrus en Paulus Cathedral is supposedly the tallest wooden building in the world. Fort Zeelandia is a great place for a lunch unless you feel more like an Indian Roti or some Indonesian food at the colourful market. Paramaribo is furthermore one of the few places in the world where you can see a mosque and a synagogue peacefully next to each other. Hopefully, Paramaribo will be able to keep its charm after the big plans they have for changing over the Waterkant (water front).

Suriname has a long and strong plantation history. You can easily visit some plantations that are just a bike ride away from Paramaribo. Take your bicycle across the Suriname river and head past the Fort Nieuw Amsterdam where the Suriname river meets the Commewijne river. Continue cycling on to Mariënburg sugar cane plantation, which is very much in decay. A former plantation worker can show you around the facilities and explain how things were done around here. It is all nicely overgrown and a little mysterious. You can head further on to Peperpot where you can cycle through a small nature reserve and see many birds and Squirrel monkeys (monkimonki). Arriving at the former cacao and coffee plantation of Peperpot, you can sneak into the buildings and find a treasure of deserted factory facilities.