Adventures in South America: Paramaribo, Suriname

As described in my French Guiana blog post, some "South American realities" meant I need to return to French Guiana today; so yesterday, Sunday, was, in essence, my last day in Suriname. Among other things, I saw the mosque . . . 

. . . which is right next to the synagogue.

I ate some soup for lunch.

After lunch I went to the Central Market. These are photos of it closed up, because I did not want to photograph it when it was bustling.

I also tried to figure out the bus to Albina, on the border with French Guiana. This meant research visits to the bus station, but ultimately I decided the taxi was the better option.

As planned, around 16:00 a snake expert picked me up to drive me out to Peperpot Plantation. We were to meet the other two tourists at Peperpot, across the Suriname River from Paramaribo. Although its history is steeped in colonialism, capitalism, slavery, etc., now Peperpot is a paradise (at least that's what the Dutch tourists who were staying there told me).

These same tourists, one of whom had spent some time as a child in Paramaribo, had a lot of criticisms of Suriname and I would guess they think the country would be better off if it was still a Dutch colony. Anyway, they were happy at Peperpot and very excited for this tour and in particular the snakes they might get to see. In reality, this tour was custom designed for them, and I was just a tag-along. I started out in my kayak and it seemed idyllic.

But, it turned out that my kayak was one of the few that was not badly broken, and after an hour or so of my going back and forth waiting, it was confirmed that Peperpot did not have any more "creek worthy" kayaks. And, so, the one tour I had managed to book got canceled. My snake expert guide drove me back into Paramaribo. 

This morning Carlos, my driver from Friday, picked me up and we began the trip back to Albina. Carlos drives this route frequently (he is from Albina and has family there still, and some of his stories included how he had to smuggle people during COVID lockdowns), and so knows the best food stands, currency exchange places, etc. We stopped for breakfast sandwiches here:

I ordered Bokking, which hot-smoked herring, per Carlos's recommendation.

At Albina, it was back onto Larry's boat and across to Saint Laurent for a passport stamp.

With my passport stamped, we headed down the river to pick up another passenger.

Back in Albina, I finally got the stamp that would satisfy the police and ensure I have no issues leaving Suriname by airplane tomorrow.

On the way back to Paramaribo, we stopped to observe (really we were not able to help) a car crash that must have happened two or three minutes before we arrived. You can tell by how far the car is into the bush that they were going extraordinarily fast!

A group of young men were emerging through the broken windows. There was definitely some blood and shock, but everyone seemed okay otherwise. Further down the road Carlos had another stop to make, this time at a place that sold many things, including vacuum cleaners . . .

. . . but also sausages, so we had another tasty roadside snack.

I was back in Paramaribo by mid-afternoon. The city tour and dolphin sunset cruise were out of the question now. I asked Carlos where I should go for roti, and he dropped me off at his recommended place. This is fast food Paramaribo style, with your Coke poured straight from a 1.5 L bottle.

After lunch and a coffee, it was time for a COVID test, which would allow me to board my early morning flight out of Suriname to Miami tomorrow. It was a bit of a walk to the lab, through streets I had not yet walked, with some advertising that I found intriguing for a variety of reasons.

With my rapid test negative, I was good to fly. I ate my favourite Surinamese food for dinner, chicken and bami, chicken with noodles and green beans, which are not like green beans I am used to--they must be two feet long before they are cut up! Anyway, it is delicious! 

My time in Suriname certainly did not go as planned in terms of tours not working out and the forced return to French Guiana, but I enjoyed myself nonetheless. By the way, my visits to Guyana and Suriname mean the only South American country I have yet to visit is Venezuela. May be a few years before a visit there seems viable, but hopefully not too long!

Adventures in South America: Paramaribo, Suriname

I woke up Wednesday morning to some sad news: my tour to Kaieteur Falls was canceled. I was not entirely clear why this was the case, but it was clear that not only was it canceled, but there was little to no likelihood that it would be rescheduled any time soon. 

With no reason to be in Guyana anymore, I scrambled to see if I could snag a 13:30 flight to Suriname. I got ahold of the TransGuyana airline and they outlined what I needed and said if I made it to the airport for 12:30 I was good to go. I had my proof of vaccination, my Surinamese visa, etc., but I needed a COVID test, so I literally ran down the street to the pharmacy where I could get the test. No luck there, it would be an hour wait. I ran two more blocks and there was more successful. Fifteen minutes later I had my negative test result and jogged back to the hotel to pack.

Of course, now I became my own worst enemy, because the hotel had called me a taxi and told me it would be a few hundred Guyanese dollars. The cabbie quoted me 1,500 (about $10 CAD), however, and I balked. He would not move, and I threatened to go down the block to find another taxi, and he said go ahead. With not much time to spare, I walked off, only to end up walking several blocks, including past the same cabbie who had returned to his house! Needless to say, he had a good laugh at me as I trudged by with my heavy backpack in the heat, still without a taxi! In the end I found a taxi, and paid him 2,000, because at that point I could not afford to waste any more time bargaining! The most ridiculous part about it is I had way too much Guyanese cash anyway, and it is nearly impossible to exchange, so I was just being dumb about it all anyway.

I was flying out of Ogle airport, which is much closer to Georgetown than the larger airport I had flown into.  

Ogle mostly handles small planes flying domestically or to Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, or just across the border in Brazil. 

We had some good views as we flew.

Suriname is an hour ahead of Guyana, and I landed in Paramaribo's Zorg En Hoop Airport airport--even smaller than Ogle!--around 15:30. It was a fairly quick cab ride to the Hotel Palacio from there. 

Hotel Palacio is nothing to write home about, but it is quite close to the historic centre of the city, including the Saint Peter and Paul Basilica. 

The historic centre is a UNESCO world heritage site.

Unfortunately, it also largely feels like a ghost town. Many of the buildings are vacant, some derelict, others under restoration. Other buildings are apparently government offices, but even then there is very little activity. The neighbourhood has a lot of potential, but would require quite a bit to make it vibrant again.

Besides touring the historic centre of Paramaribo, I also made sure to try Suriname's most popular beer, the Parbo. Here is a can of Parbo with the Suriname River in the background.

Fort Zeelandia, which dates from the 17th century, is right next to the river here.

As much as I was interested in experiencing Paramaribo, I was hoping to see other parts of Suriname as well. Much like my experience with Guyana, I had difficulty while planning the trip in confirming any options to travel inland. In particular, I had been told significant flooding had made many roads impassable, so tour companies were having challenges accessing many of the usual tourist destinations. On Thursday morning I visited several tour companies offices and all told me more or less the same thing: I did not have a lot of options. I ended up purchasing a tour that involved visiting an old plantation and a nature tour along a creek in kayaks both in daylight and dark, but that would be on Sunday. I also heard about a Paramaribo city tour and a sunset dolphin tour where the Suriname River joins the Atlantic, and so both were on my radar. In the meantime, tomorrow I head off for French Guiana. I was also told to expect flooded roads there, so I am not entirely sure what to expect!