Suriname

What a contrast! Suriname and Guyanna are side by side, but it is quite obvious which country has had the good fortune. Suriname is like a very little piece of Europe that has been populated by Javanese, Chinese, Maroon and the occasional Dutch person. The people are friendly and helpful, the roads are good, the driving is calm, the markets are full of lovely fruit and veg, the many grocery stores have a good selection. People seem happy here. The capital city, Paramaribo, is a UNESCO World Heritage Sight, because of its numerous well preserved wooden buildings. There are roads that go most places in this small country. You can rent a car very cheaply. Oh and the anchorage/mooring area has a swimming pool and good wifi and laundry! What more could a cruising family ask for.

So, what have we been up too.

Well, when we arrived in Domburg, Suriname, we did a lot of catching up on school work, laundry, internet stuff and swimming.

We then made our way to Brownsberg, a national park, with our adventuring partners from Sasquatch, to spend a few nights in a simple cabin and going for hikes during the day. It was a nice respite from the boat. Good to stretch our legs and great to see so much wildlife. The road up to the park was rather twisty and steep.

 As you can see neither us our our Sasquatch buddies had the best cars for muddy conditions. Thankfully it is the dry season in Suriname and the roads were dry. 

The park hosts met us at reception and took us to our cabin. We quickly settled into our bunk beds and surroundings and then headed out for our first hike before dinner. 

Just minutes after we began our hike we came across this amazing little beast. Wonder what kind of butterfly it will turn into.

At the end of our hike we were meant to reach a waterfall. All of us had visions of the waterfalls at the end of our hikes in Dominica. Not exactly the same, but it was wet and cool and Lucy and Ruth went for a "swim" or rather a mist. 

While at the waterfall family of monkeys arrived overhead...too far away to know what kind they are. We made our way back to the camp after this and we met on the road by the biggest beetle I have ever seen!

Wonder what it tastes like and if the locals eat them?

Dinner and dishes done and dusted settling down to some quiet reading and this lovely leaf bug arrives causing lots of screaming from the girls. Pretty cool I think. It's wings even had veins like a leaf.

The agouti!

Some kind of jungle bird that was being fed by the camp manager to attract them to the area for us to photograph

Howler monkeys graced our presence on our last day at the camp. They actually started to urinate etc, not sure if it was directed at us or we were just in the way of their daily routine. 

 Our second hike took us to another waterfall, this a tad bit bigger. Adam and John found it a very thoughtful place. 

And with that it was time to say goodbye to the cabin and head back to the boat. 

On our way back to Domburg, we came across some very large logging areas. The logging companies seemed to be selectively cutting trees so much of the forest was still standing, but it is still such a shame to see so many large old trees being cut down just so we can have more furniture. But on the other hand Suriname needs to be able to provide jobs for its people...so, a balance must be met. Not sure if that is happening here. Didn't see enough of the country to form an opinion.

These graves were right by the side of the road as we heading back to Domburg. It would appear that they are the graves of the Ducht Missionaries that were working in the area in the 1800s to 1900s. Someone is keeping them well maintained.

Vultures! Perhaps turkey vultures? 

Lots of big boats up and down the river!

Once we returned to our boats in Domburg we began to plan our next trip up the Commewijne River to the Cottica River. There is a nice article about a 9 day trip a family took up the river in 2012 on the boat Antares. It was very helpful during the planning of our journey. These two rivers were once home to the most plantations in South America. As a result there are now many Maroon villages along this area. Maroons are escaped slaves and there are various tribal groups throughout the Caribbean and this part of South America. 

Our third anchorage was by a Maroon village. Once we were anchored John, Mike and Adam went ashore to bring a gift to the Captain of the village while Julia and I got a bit of school done. Later in the evening we were lucky to meet the Suriname ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago. She was in her village showing two Americans around. One a student from UCLA, the other a Semiroon, who gave us a bit of a history lesson on the Maroons and their integration into the Seminole tribes of America, 

The half hour encounter gave us glimpse into Maroon culture and Surinamese politics that we had yet to experience due to our language barrier. While some people are able to speak some English it would be very helpful to be able to speak or read a bit of Dutch.



So, what did we learn. Well, we heard a bit about a battle that was fought a few mile up the river from the village where the battlements had bridges that went underwater making it impossible for the Duchtmen looking for the Maroons to get into their fort. Apparently it wasn't until a paid informant gave away the location of these bridges that the fort fell. We also learnt that their are six Maroon tribes in Suriname all speaking a different language. The village we were in had roughly 300 people living in it, their own school and had only been reestablished a few years ago once the civil war was over and a school had been built. This tribe had a king that lived deep within the rain forest a 2 day walk and canoe trip in the dry season. We also learnt that the Maroon govern themselves, they have a voice in the government and are able to determine their own fate. According to the ambassador they are the only people to be able to do this within a country outside tribes in Africa. Though we were able to gain much from our discussion we were well aware of the private nature of the Maroons, the need to keep themselves to themselves and protect their culture and their people. They wanted to share some of their virtues, but they didn't want to show us everything. Somethings are not for outsiders to ask about or see, such as sacred trees or the spirit bottles. 

Nevertheless our time up the river was invaluable. A wonderful trip back in time and a chance to reflect on the horribleness of slavery and see a different outcome.

So, river trip over, but Thanksgiving must be celebrated! So, we found a turkey, and various other Thanksgiving necessities and we had our own little feast on the deck of Dark Horse. It was really nice.


Thanksgiving with Sasquatch and All Most There in Domburgh

But Thanksgiving is over now and it is time to get the sails up. So, we make plans to head for Barbados, and bid our goodbyes to our very dear friends on Sasquatch, our adventuring partners on so many islands this past year. They will be heading back to Grenada and then they are not sure where, and we will be off to Barbados and then NORTH.  May fair winds and calm seas carry us all swiftly on wards and hopefully our sails will cross again in the not too distant future.