Second up on our tour of the Guianas was Suriname, formerly Dutch Guiana. Our travels brought us to Paramaribo, the capital. We planned to take local transport from Georgetown, but that proved to be very complicated (as is all intra-Guianian travel). So we opted for a 45-minute flight instead. As we’ve been doing with unfortunate frequency lately, we arrived in the middle of the night!
Paramaribo is very different from Georgetown, much more lively and ‘touristy’, though that is always a relative term in the Guianas. The city’s Dutch heritage is on view pretty much everywhere you go in the historic centre, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. There are a number of beautiful colonial-style houses, and even though some are in various states of disrepair, a walk down nearly every street in the historic centre will nonetheless reveal some lovely and some stunning houses.
None of the houses, however, can compare to the most amazing building in Paramaribo, indeed one of the most beautiful buildings we’ve ever seen – the Cathedral Basilica of St Peter and Paul. Its status as a (minor) basilica dates back only to 2014, to the visit of Pope Francis. Built originally in 1882 (but only finished in 1901), the cathedral underwent a renovation in the 1970s which proved ineffective. So with funding from the EU, a major renovation took place in 2007-2010. Like St George’s Cathedral in Georgetown, the basilica is entirely wood, brick and stone being unavailable in the Guianas. It is the largest wooden structure in the western hemisphere. St George’s is the tallest, but Paramaribo’s church is larger in overall size, measuring 59 m (194 ft) long, 16.5 m (54 ft) wide, and 14.6 m (48 ft) high. The towers are 44 m (144 ft) high.
The exterior features native woods, greenheart and basralocus, painted yellow and blue-grey. There are two bell-towers. It’s a beautiful building from the outside, but once you enter, there is so much more.
The interior is breath-taking. The wood used here was Surinamese cedar, and there are beautiful carvings throughout. Graceful arches line both sides of the aisle leading up to the altar. The cedar itself is two-toned, and contrasts attractively with the dark wood of the pews. There are a number of tall windows on both sides which give a very open feel to the church. At the top there are smaller circular windows and these, together with the lower ones, let in the light which reflects beautifully off the wood. Splendid carvings – of figures, geometrical shapes, and inscriptions – abound, and they are the work of Maroon craftsmen. Last but not least, we should also mention the pipe organ which has 1,550 pipes! Alas, we did not have the opportunity to hear it play.
Paramaribo also features the remains of an old Dutch fort, Fort Zeelandia, built in the 18th century. Much of it is given over to government and military offices, but you can still get a good sense of what it was like in its heyday. Across the street is the building that houses the National Assembly of Suriname, and not far from there, the President’s residence. There are a number of monuments in the area, including the so-called TRIS monument (Troepenmacht in Suriname = Troop Force in Suriname), commemorating the Dutch force that was in Suriname until independence in 1975), and one for the Surinamese who fought in the Korean War. (Their soldiers were part of the Dutch contingent.)
Peperpot Nature Park was also high on our to-do list. (It takes its name from the nearby Peperpot Plantation, where, as it happens, they never grew pepper.) The park is huge, some 820 hectares (2,025 acres), though much of it is off-limits to tourists. But there is nonetheless much to see in the way of birds, monkeys, iguanas, and jaguars.
Mind you, we did not see the latter during our daytime visit, which is perhaps just as well. But the park has wonderful trails on which you can walk or bike. (We were on rented bicycles.) There are lots of signs to alert you to what might be there or coming up. And the greenery itself, full of bromeliads, orchids, and other beautiful things, is worth the visit by itself.
We are never far from food, so we decided we would make the trek of a kilometre or so to the Boutique Hotel Peperpot, a restored plantation house that opened in 2018. It’s a luxury hotel, and we had heard the attached restaurant was excellent. (It was.)
And speaking of food, we did have some lovely meals in Paramaribo. Our first meal was at Roline’s de Waag on the water. It’s a place that really gets going at night, and they have a lovely bar and bar area. A particular favourite was Souposo, home to the Young Professionals Café, was very close to our hotel. (We were never quite sure of the relationship between the two, since they occupy the same space.) Here we had some delicious saoto (stay tuned for more on this) and the best falafel burger we’ve ever had. Very sweet waitstaff, a nice area outside to sit, and good drinks made it all a wonderful experience.
The other place we really liked was called Zus and Zo (Dutch for ‘so-and-so’). The restaurant here is attached to a guesthouse, and there’s a bike rental place as well, so there were always lots of people milling about. The food was a lot like that at Souposo. Here we had the bang bang salad, a delicious chicken dish, and (a special treat for at least one of us) fried bananas with peanut sauce.
We’ve already mentioned the diversity of the Guianas, human and otherwise. We were particularly taken with Paramaribo’s synagogue and mosque, not least because they stand right next to each other.
There was also a beautiful palm garden that we promised ourselves we would spend more time in, but we didn’t have the chance. On the bright side, we now have a reason to go back!
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