We are happy to be in Suriname, and are walking across the airport tarmac towards the immigration formalities.
This is a country with less than 700,000 in population. Having invested the visa fee, we thought to give ourselves a week instead of 3-4 days, maybe we'd go on an eco/adventure tour - we spent a considerable amount of time investigating. A couple of hours walking around in the sun (it's dry season here and the sun is directly_overhead-at-noon a mere 2 degrees to the south), we gave up that idea as well - we didn't want to be overheated and underwhelmed (we were super satisfied with all the wildlife we saw in Panama). So, our entire three Guianas program was reduced to Paramaribo, the capital city of Suriname.
Paramaribo turned out to be rather interesting. The Dutch colonial center is UNESCO listed and consists of a few hundred buildings in various states of repair or disrepair, a lot of wood construction, many public buildings, such as forts, churches, hospital, administration buildings, schools, in addition to residential buildings. Quite an extended empire!
Video view to Paramaribo from the Jules Wijdenbosch Bridge while crossing the Suriname River.
The opposite river bank as seen from the Wijdenbosch Bridge.
Interior and Exterior of the wooden Saint-Peter-and-Paul Basilica.
The late 18th-century home of the Samson Sisters.
There are several striking Modern 20th-century buildings in Paramribo designed by the architect P.J. Nagel: Central Post Office, EBS building, and DSB building below.
One morning we strolled over to the Tropical Plant Market with its tranquil pond and un-hurried shoppers.
During the Colonial period there were 200 plantations growing coffee, sugar, and cotton, imported 200,000-300,000 African slaves (for comparison, this is more than half of the number of Africans that brought to the US), at 1863 emancipation there were only 33,000 slaves, plus maybe another 10,000 escaped slaves (for comparison, 4 million in the US). Just beginning to imagine the brutal conditions makes me shudder. After slavery was abolished, indentured servants were brought to Suriname from India, China, and Indonesia to work on the plantations.
The main mosque is next to the only synagogue.
The Chinese Association Building is nearby.
Today, none of the plantation crops is grown commercially. Most of the plantations lay unproductive. Since the Dutch colonial government claimed all the land in Suriname, most of the land is still owned by the current government. Suriname exports 30 tons of gold (1.4 oz per citizen) from its public owned mines, accounting for 2/3 of total export. Suriname is about the most unequal country in the Americas.
In addition, the country has been going through hyperinflation. Even though their currency lost a lot of value against the dollar, everything still feels overpriced to me, but they cannot really devalue more as they import almost everything - how much can you produce yourself when you have less than 700,000 people. Yet the people are gentle, helpful, and hardworking, many speak English as well as Dutch. Cubanos and new Chinese have arrived to seek their living. The plot is so thick, my head is exploding.
We ate some very tasty mid-morning rotis at Geeta's Shop and Snack before buying some fruits and vegetables at the Central Market. The adjacent fish dock and market was a wonderful photo-op.
Our studio apartment (3rd below) was just a few hundred meters west of the French Embassy. We enjoyed walking down our tree-lined "dirt road" street several times each day.
A McDonald's in city center.
Some typical Dutch Colonial residential buildings.
Historic Fort Zeeland (1st below) and important government buildings surround Independence Square: Ministry of Finance (2nd below), National Assembly (3rd), and the Presidential Palace (4th).
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