My journey with Madventure through Northern South America continues with lots more adventures. Previous posts can be found here:

Traveling Brazil: Highlights and Hidden Gems
Exploring Brazil: Highlights from Rio to Salvador
Exploring Hidden Gems of Brazil: Chapada to French Guiana

Suriname. March 28 – April 1

There is no way to get into Suriname via land border. You either fly or take a boat. So we hauled all our stuff and loaded up pirogues / canoes. Of course it was raining. It’s the theme of this trip. They covered the bags but mine got left in the rain. Thankfully it didn’t soak through.

Then we hauled everything out again and loaded up 2 mini buses that took us to Paramaribo where we checked into a (for us) luxurious hotel. 101 Suites. A few of us asked the ladies on front desk for dinner recommendations. When she suggested McDonald’s we decided her tastes couldn’t be trusted. We wanted Indian.

The first place would accept only Suriname dollars for payment and suggested changing money at the casino. There we were told we had to play something. We all looked at each other. Nope. No gamblers. We didn’t have a lot of hope but asked at a small roti place. Not only we he accept euro and USD but he’d exchange some too! His rate wasn’t bad either. The food was good too. Win/win

The next day was spent wandering the streets on a “David walking tour”. Whether he wants the job or not, he’s stuck with it now.
Paramaribo is an interesting mix of culture. There’s lots of Caribbean influence as well as Africana and a bit of Dutch. We happened upon a Palm Sunday celebration at the Basilica. They paraded out of the church with palm leaves singing hymns. It was lovely and I could sing along in English. A strange man went through the crowd carrying a picture of a family and held a gun to his head. Since the locals didn’t seem to react, I assumed he was harmless and just said “not now” when he approached me. Apparently not. The poor fellow was actually saying that the government killed his family and he wanted someone to film him killing himself. So sad. Some said he drove away in a taxi and others that the police took him. Either way, I hope he gets help.

There’s lots are lots of Chinese stores and Indian food. We did a long walk to find the “best” restaurant. It was hot but we didn’t get rained on. Waring Manís was really good and the host was incredibly helpful. He accepted our various currencies at a reasonable rate and even ordered us a taxi home.

I have completely lost track of time and dates.

March 30-April 1 (I think)

Jungle time!

We sorted bags again and left most of it in the hotel storage. Our small bags prepared for 3 days in the jungle, we loaded onto 2 mini buses and headed to Boven. There the road ends and the adventure begins. We loaded up into 2 pirogues and headed to Menimi eco lodge. Since the river was high it only took an hour or so to get there. When it’s low it can take 5-6 hours.

After an amazing lunch spread we had free time to I headed to the river for a swim. So refreshing! I joined Peter and Debs for a walk in the jungle. Our focus was on not getting lost. We succeeded.

After dinner we got back in the boats to go caiman hunting. They were elusive but while looking through the mangroves little silver fish started jumping in the boat. Lots of squeals and laughter as we threw them back in. Then Catherine screamed “It’s a big one!” I thought it was another fish. Nope. A giant tarantula landed on her head. She brushed it off and it was on her hand. She screamed as she threw it in the water. We were in hysterics. A very eventful boat ride! It had been sunny all afternoon so none of us thought of rain gear. Silly. Of course we were soaked by the time we got back.

After breakfast the next morning we got back in the boats to go up river and visit some traditional villages. The Maroons are groups of people who were once escaped plantation slaves. The Suramese maroons are some of the best preserved cultural heritage outside of Africa.

We hiked through the jungle to the next village. It wan’t difficult but there were iffy spots where we had to cross a river. Cho explained some of the plants along the way. At the next village they had a museum and a local lady explained the displays while our guide interpreted.

Back in the boats and along the way we saw troops of squirrel monkeys up to their usual antics.

After a late lunch I went swimming again. The river was much higher so I didn’t dare go out as far since the current was raging. We were supposed to go on a night hike but opted not to since again it was pouring rain.

Back down the river the next day our driver navigated rapids. Fun in an inflatable raft. Not so much in a large wooden pirogue. He seemed to enjoy it though.

Back in Paramaribo we were reunited with our luggage. Some of us had booked tours. 8 of us went to see leatherback turtles laying eggs. We were treated to pink dolphin spotting along the way. They were all around the boat and seemed to be playing with us. We didn’t see a leatherback though. Despite combing the beach till 10:30 pm we only saw a green turtle. She came up, had a look around and went back in the water. Apparently they don’t like wet sand.

April 2-4

Bigi Pan

Again we sorted luggage
This time was for one night in Bigi Pan. Another bus to the river where we waited for a boat to pick us up. It took us up river to the other side where we boarded smaller boats to navigate the canals. We traveled for about an hour, viewing lots of birds along the way.

The lodge is on stilts in the middle of the “pan” which is only about a metre deep. During the dry season it gets very low and is often not navigable.

During our stay we did several boat trips to see wild life and were very well fed. At night we went caiman hunting and a few of us got up early for a sunrise boat trip. I paddled a kayak around a couple of times too. It was a really nice, relaxing couple of days.

I don’t know what happened on the way back down the canals but the mosquitos came out in full force. We were sitting ducks and kept slapping each other on the back, killing the hordes.

The guys all helped the guides transfer one of the boats to the river. One young man had to drag it through the last bit with mud up to his hips.

The border crossing to Guyana was anything BUT relaxing. That’s the next post.