Last weekend I took off for a two days trip to Gusterie with a Dutch friend, who stays in Suriname at the moment, and her 2 colleagues. The cooling box was filled, our bags were packed and on our way we made a stop at Lelydorp to do some shopping for dinner. For lunch we brought some roti’s. That’s a kind of thin pancake stuffed with kousenband (Yardlong Beans), potatoes and chicken with a curry (masalla) taste. At Gusterie we wanted to make some rice with chicken, cucumber and beans for the first day and rice with coleslaw and shrimps for the second day. Suriname is famous for its tasty shrimps. And with a homemade garlic sauce with lots of garlic it’s totally complete and you’ll keep everybody, including the mosquito’s at a safe distance!

The road up to Zanderij, where the Johan Adolf Pengel airport is, is in a proper state, but from there on the concrete road changes into a sand road full of holes. Our road was getting more and more adventurous because of the mud pools that appeared. The rain season showed its presence.

On the way we made a stop at a monument for an airplane disaster. On June 7th, 1989 an airplane of SLM (Surinam Airways) crashed and 176 people lost their lives. Only 13 people survived the crash. Among the dead people were 14 football players and their coach of the Kleurrijk (Colorful) Team of Suriname. A bit further in the sand behind the monument you can still see some plane parts which is kind of bizarre.

We continued our drive and came at the Saron bridge across the Saramacca river, where we had to pay SRD 5 ($1.75/ euro1.40) toll to the bridge guard. We now understood why the bridge seemed a bit dilapidated. You can’t do that much for SRD 5 per car! Finally we arrived safely at the other side of the river over the wooden boards.

The next bridge we reached was an emergency-bridge near the Moeroe creek, made by residents and passers-by because the water had taken possession of the road. Parts of the road had been washed away creating a big and deep hole: our next exciting challenge to overcome! We started to feel like real Camel Trophy riders, the great adventure had just begun!

After driving a while the red bauxite road with mud made place for the lose white sand from the savanna, which meant we were close to Gusterie.

Here we enjoyed ourselves a lot! A bit of swimming, fishing, peddling in a korjaal (dugout canoe), chopping wood for the campfire, making dinner, while drinking a cool Parbo Bier (a local beer) or a Borgoe-Cola (a Surinamese rum with a sweet, soft taste).

I won’t show all pictures so I won’t give wrong impressions! Like the boat that sank, with us still in it! Apparently the boat was built for 2 persons instead of 4! We thought we could make it! In the end we could save all, the boat, the peddles, the Parbo beer and last but not least ourselves!

Gusterie is an area with a lot of bird species (like parrots and toucans), the beautiful blue morpho butterfly and you can even spot the jaguar here. Besides this there are armadillos, tapirs and pingo’s (wild swines living in the jungle), caimans and lots of fish. You can see a lot of snakes as well, like the very poisonous Labaria (Bothrops atrox, common lancehead).

The next day we visited Bigi Poika, an Indian village about 15 km. from Gusterie. That we were handling very up to date we saw the next day in an article from the newspaper “De Ware Tijd” (Monday June 11th). The very bad and almost impassable road that we had crossed was the subject from the article. In thick and big characters at the front page it said: “Isolation threats for Bigi Poika and surroundings”. In the article inhabitants ask for help from the government because the public bus, the only conveyance for most of the people to go to and come from Paramaribo, can’t reach Bigi Poika anymore. The Moeroe creek had washed away 3 meters of the road near the creek. Food, diesel supply for the generators (electricity) and water was becoming a problem. Let’s hope that the government has some attention for this problem.

On our way back to Gusterie we saw a sign indicating sea cows. If you follow that road there is a possibility to spot sea cows, but we didn’t do that since it was not the season.

We had another good time at Gusterie and after a good and tasty meal, being extra tasty in the forest, we started our way back to Paramaribo.

Soon it became clear that the road was even worse than on the way up. When we saw a big truck with big tree trunks stuck in the mud, we followed its example a little while later and became deeply stuck in the mud, up to the front bumper of the car.

Luckily there’s more traffic at this road, Surinamese people being well prepared for this kind of bad roads, with good jeeps at their disposal. Like the big pick-up jeep behind us bringing salvation, with lots of power, high on its big profile tires and with a winch at the front. There’s a kind of solidarity feeling in the forest and Surinamese people in general are very friendly and willing to help other people in distress. With help from the winch we got pulled out of the mud and could continue our trip… but not for long, because the next problem was coming up: the emergency bridge was no longer a bridge! (it had gone scuba diving)

The water was rushing over it with full power! And there was a deep hole in the road caused by the streaming water. What was supposed to be a road was now a creek! Across the water there were more people ready to offer help if necessary. We were still being followed by our hero’s who helped us out and again the experienced driver from that car managed to get, under loud applause and encouragement from us, our car across the water like a miracle!! Hip hip hurray!

This was the situation, mentioned in the article in the newspaper. We were living it ourselves!!!

We were glad to feel the concrete road beneath us again, on our way back to Paramaribo. After washing the car thoroughly, another adventure had finished. Next time we better hire a bigger and stronger jeep for this kind of adventure!

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Let me start by introducing myself. My name is Erna van de Huygevoort, born in Holland and already 39 years old. (More details by request…!) I’ve been living in Suriname since January 2006. Why Suriname?

Because since the first time I visited Suriname, I at once fell in love with this beautiful country with its tremendous nature and people (and good food). Of course no country is perfect, so there will always be some comment, but until now I enjoy living here! Because I came into the world of traveling as a tour guide, I wanted Suriname to be the country where I would do my job and that’s why I finally decided to live here.

After living on Aruba for 4 and a half years, I packed all my stuff in a container (off course too much because I can’t throw anything away or leave behind) and left with my dog and two cats in the plane to Suriname!

Meanwhile we’re one and a half years further and do I want to start my own business with a booking office for tours (it will be called “That’s It”) to offer all possible tours in and through Suriname. And to offer possibilities to travel through Suriname on your own. I will let you know more when the website is ready!

Because I was looking for someone (and not just anyone!) to build my own website, I came in touch with Rehuël. And see here the result… Now, besides my booking office, I’m going to write articles together with Rehuël for this site about Suriname to make more people enthusiastic for this country and do I want to help to give a clearer picture from Suriname. So now, besides a Surinamese guy, there’s also a Bakra (as the Surinamese call a Dutch person) who is going to write about Suriname.

Because of my job as a tour guide I was in the position to see a lot of Suriname, so I’m sure I can tell you something about my experiences. Also on my own, with friends or people I know I like to travel to the interiors of Suriname. That’s how I learn more and more about Suriname, about the people, food, culture, nature and history. So I’m going to try to share that with you.

I must work on my English here and there, but “what the heck!”, I will do my best and try.

I hope you enjoy it and get a better picture and knowledge of Suriname and hope that you will visit this website often in the future to read more new stories. This way, my original job as a teacher is still a little bit usefull.

Much reading pleasure!

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Well, I’ll leave Fort Zeelandia for another moment. Let’s continue north. We pass by the first entrance of Palmentuin (Garden of Palm trees).

This park is directly behind the Presidential Palace. As you can see in this picture, these are not your regular palm trees. These palms are centuries old, and are very tall.

This used to be the private spot where plantation owners would meet and mingle. At night their sons and daughters would have their romantic walks here. About a century ago, this park was opened to the public. At that time, school children would frequently visit this park to just chase each other through the trees, but nowadays there is not much activity in the Palmentuin. Exceptions are especially during national holidays, when organizations have festivities here. Some words of advise: Even though the entrance in the next picture looks inviting, this is not a place you want to hang around at night. Since this area is kinda secluded, it’s a great place for thugs to attack innocent strollers who walk alone. However, Palmentuin by night can be fun if you’re with a nice big group.

Before we continue, I want to walk back somewhere between the two entrances, which are about 100 meters apart, amd take a look across the street.

Behind the Statue of Mother with Children is the Presidential office building. This is the only place where you’ll see the presidential flag raised. On this flag, the yellow star is replaced by the Code of Armor of Suriname, with a white background, as high as the red bar of the flag. This flag will remain raised until 6 pm, or as long as the President is in the building, whichever comes first. I thought this was worth mentioning. Ok, let’s continue.

After crossing a small bridge, we have now entered “Uitgaanscentrum” (literally: “Going-out Center”). This area hold a lot of spots for entertainment. We’ll get to them, let’s talk as we walk.

The first thing you notice when entering Uitgaanscentrum is the row of sidewalk flower shops. This place always smells great. Every one of the stand owners tries to sell a wide variety of Surinamese flowers. Some even decorate the flowers with some paint and glitters, just to stand out.

Walking a couple of meters down the street from where the previous picture was taken, you would be greeted by ‘t Vat.

Yes, I know, nothing special about all those trees. But this is one of the busiest spots in the evening, especially crowded with tourists. This little outdoor terrace is called ‘t Vat.

‘t Vat (vat = wooden barrel) has the whole area under the trees as place for people to sit and enjoy some food or a drink, or just each other’s company. The food is good, their bar is well stocked, and there is always some nice vibe under those trees. In the future I’ll have some more close-up pictures of ‘t Vat and surroundings.

Speaking of surroundings, if you were to stand where the gray car is, two pictures up, and look north, you would see ‘t vat in front of you. In the same building, a little more to your left, Sun and Forest Tours is located. Right next to it is the reception desk of Zeelandia Suites, a relatively small lodging facility. About 75 degrees to your left you have Tropical Café Papaya’s (which until recently was called Charelle’s).

Looking across the street from Papaya’s, you see Café La Caff, a spot where the younger tourists hang out. Next door to La Caff, there is a pool bar, Margaritha’s, which is on the first floor of a ice cream shop.

Ok, let’s get back to the main road. If you would stand at the bar at ‘t Vat, looking towards the street, you would see the construction of Royal Torarica.

Torarica, to the left of this construction site, is one of the largest 4-star hotels in Paramaribo. More on Torarica later.

I crossed the street to take the next picture.

The first building, adjacent to ‘t Vat, is a Internet café. No need to explain what happens there I guess. Right next to it is Suriname’s biggest discotheque, Club Starzz. Queen’s Garden is the terrace bar/restaurant, located on the ground floor of Starzz. Next to Starzz is another restaurant, Mambo Grill, serving exotic, grilled food. And next to Mambo Grill, Suryani serves Indonesian food.

Across the street from Suryani you see Tangelo, Torarica’s pastry, snack and cocktail bar & terrace. About 50 meters from Suryani (yup, we have to skip a part, because there is some more construction going on here) we have Queens Hotel and “The Spot” (previously known as De Punt, which is Dutch for The Spot), right across the street from the entrance of Torarica Hotel and Casino.

Now you understand why this is called Uitgaanscentrum: Lodging, food, drinks, party and entertainment, all within a couple of seconds walking distance of each other.

This is just a summary of this area. Expect more in depth coverage of each of these places in the future.

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This flag was adopted when Suriname became an independent republic on November 25, 1975, replacing the earlier flag.

The look

The flag is made up of 5 horizontal bars.

• A green bar, double the width of the white bar
• A white bar, single width
• A red bar, three times the width of the white bar
• Another single width white bar
• Another double width green bar

In the middle of the red bar there is a five-pointed yellow star.

The meaning

In the middle of it all, the yellow star represents the unity of the ethnic groups, with a golden future. It is directly surrounded by love and progress, represented by the color red, which in turn is surrounded by peace and justice, the white bar. The green bars on the outside stand for hope and fertility.

So my explanation of our flag is:

This flag represents a diverse people, lovingly united to progress to a prosperous (golden) and peaceful future, based on justice and hope, since there is constantly room for growth for this young nation.

I have often heard people saying that our flag is one of the most beautiful flags around. And I share their opinion. A lot of our Caribbean brethren love the flag, because “most of the Rasta colors are represented”. Since Reggae virtually originates in the Caribbean, the relation to Rasta is understandable.

One love!

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Most of the ethnic groups created communities and stayed there with their family. It’s not until the last century that the ethnic groups started to mix. Black/Native Indian and Indian/Indonesian were the first mixes to rise. Well, I mean aside from the white slave owners who were mixing with the black slave girls. Before you know it, everyone started mixing.

One thing that is very unique in Suriname is the hospitality. It is very normal to visit someone and be invited inside to enjoy a meal together. There is some ethnic discrimination, but compared to most parts of the world, it’s negligible.

Holidays, cultural food and traditions are shared among the races. Almost everyone eats what the others cook. Religious holidays are celebrated by everyone. Even though there are quarrels here and there so now and then, the Surinamese people have a strong bond when it comes to their country.

1 week in Paramaribo will teach you so much about cultures from around the globe. One more reason why Suriname is a very good choice for vacation.

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Climate
Suriname lies a little north off the equator, so we have humid tropical weather here. We have 4 seasons: 2 dry seasons and 2 rainy (wet) seasons. From February to April we have a short dry season, from April to August a long rainy season, from August to November the long dry season and from November to February the short rainy season. Very important note is that these seasons are never completely dry or rainy.

Suriname is outside what is known as “the hurricane zone”. We don’t know tornado’s and hurricanes here. The “sibi busi” (sibi = broom, busi = literally bush, forest) is the heaviest rainfall combined with winds we know here.

Temperature
The temperature in Suriname varies somewhere between 20 and 34 degrees Celsius. The best weather for visiting Suriname will be during the long dry season between August and November.

It’s always funny to think about how we here are freezing our butts off when we reach temperatures of 18 degrees. But make no mistake, a lot of visitors adapt to the weather really fast, and even they get uncomfortable with the “cold”, especially when they have been sweating in temperatures of 28 degrees all day long.

For a lot of visitors the climate alone is enough to convince them to come and relax here during the winter. But that’s not all Suriname has to offer. However, I don’t think you expect me to write that all in one post! And even if you did, I will leave some more for some other time.

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Holi (Hindi: होली) or Phagwah (Bhojpuri) is an annual and popular Hindu spring festival. It takes place over two days in the later part of February or early March. As per the Hindu calendar, it falls on the Phalgun Purnima (or Pooranmashi, Full Moon). It is also called the Festival of Colours. In West Bengal, it is known as Dolyatra (Doljatra) or Boshonto Utshob (”spring festival”).

On the first day, a bonfire is lit at night to signify burning Holika. On the second day, known as Dhulandi, people go around until afternoon throwing colored powder and water at each other. A special drink called thandai is prepared, sometimes containing bhang (Cannabis sativa). People invite each other to their houses for feasts and celebrations later in the evening. Rangapanchami occurs a few days later on a Panchami (fifth day of the full moon), marking the end of festivities involving colours.

This festival occurs at the onset of spring. This period, during which the weather changes, is prone to cause viral fever and cold. Thus, the playful throwing of the coloured powders has a medicinal significance as the coloured powders are made of Neem, Kumkum, Haldi, Bilva, and other medicinal herbs prescribed by Āyurvedic doctors.

In 2007, Holi was celebrated on 3 March, the burning of Holika was on 4 March and the Dhuleti on 5 March.

Although a Hindu celebration, other religions in India celebrate it as well. In fact, some of the best Holi celebrations are said to happen in Punjab, where Hindus and Sikhs celebrate together. This celebration in Punjab typically involves Dholi’s and other musical instruments as kids and adults celebrate.

Here in Suriname other religions also celebrate Phagwah as if it was their own.

I was told that this year the burning of Holika was delayed a little because the moon eclipse occurred here in Paramaribo around the time the bonfire is usually lit.

Yesterday we were invited to celebrate Phagwah with one of the coworkers of Barbara, my wife. We were greeted with powder and colored mud. First Barbara got powdered


Now THIS is the woman I wanted to marry
Well, I didn’t look that bad either

As was said in the long exciting conversation we had, Phagwah should be more widely celebrated, but a lot of people don’t know the meaning of most of the rituals and just participate because it’s fun. On the other hand, because they don’t know why the colored powder and water is used, they don’t want to get “dirty”.

We got some roti to eat. They had planned to cook masala (curry) duck to serve with the roti, but we had masala chicken. They did have a lot of ducks running around though. Roti is eaten by hand, no utensils involved. I can not imagine people eating roti with fork and knife.

By the end of the afternoon we were dropped off at home. We would probably not be welcome to ride in a local bus. Since the daughters were coming to the city to go to a celebration party. Barbara and I raced each other to the bathroom to take a shower, but we paused in front of the mirror for a second to see what we looked like:

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With my slippers on (I have no other footwear that goes with a pink shirt on blue jeans), I walk back toward the Dr. Sopie Redmonstraat, but this time I walk to the Central Market.

The Hakrinbank building is situated across the main entrance of the market and is one of the taller buildings in Paramaribo. Tried some creative photography by taking a shot where the letters in the foreground are the letter that are blurred by the sun on top.

On the other corner across the street of the market we have another (credit) bank, the VCB Bank, in a relatively modern building.

Yet another modern building in that area.

There is a lot to see in the market, but one thing that really stands out is awarra (Astrocaryum Vulgare), a bright orange fruit . This fruit is sweet, but it has a lot of “threads” which stick to between your teeth, so a lot of people only eat it when they have access to a toothbrush and floss/toothpicks. Awarra grows on a palm tree, but not the usual palm tree. The trunk of this tree is covered with razor sharp thorns, with an average length of 10 cm.
In the same basket, and in the one to the left there are maripa (Inaja, Kokerit), another palm tree fruit. This fruit is simply a hard seed, usually more then 90% of the size of the fruit, covered with a eatable thin film,with a protecting shell around it, topped with a up side down “crown”. A lot of work to enjoy a small layer of sweet taste, which makes it one of my less favorite fruits.

Here is a basket with maripa and some nuts. I don’t even know what these nuts are called so it’s difficult to find the exact name. We just know them as nuts! A thin hard shell (about 2 mm) and the rest is a great nutty nut! This one I can crack all day!

In most countries fruit needs to be imported, but here we have our own grown, fresh fruit. These fruits are usually a lot sweeter and tastier then the ones imported in the big countries. Here we have oranges, then mango’s behind that. If you eat one of these mango’s you probably will never buy an imported mango again!

Tomatoes and peppers. Need I say more???

More produce: String beans, egg plant and cabbage.

This lady was very nice. This is where I bought my banana phone, Sir Hawkeye. This lady liked my idea of taking pictures for my blog. “Maybe my family can see me on the Internet.” I have to make sure I bring her the URL of “Exploring Suriname” so she can tell her folks to look fer her picture.

I know some of you are used to your lobster and king crab, but this is the closest you can get to that taste, for a lot less: our own mud crabs (that’s what I call them). Clean them up, stew them in either a masala (curry) sauce or a coconut sauce and voila! Still a lot of work to crack the legs, where you will get a lot less to eat then the “scissors”, but it’s really worth the work (and the wait :)).

If you see these buggers in the barrels they are usually kept in, you will understand why there is a Dutch saying “Als krabben in een ton” (like crabs in a barrel), which means, everyone is pulling the other down in an attempt to rise to the top.

Just fish. In the Fish Hall of the market, this was the biggest fish. The guy was supposed to stay next to the fish, but he probably didn’t understand that, or just was camera shy. You can still see his foot in the top right corner of the picture, so maybe you can use that to estimate the real size of the fish. People more often sell a lot smaller fish, because visitors to the market usually buy for households, so it’s no use buying such a big fish, unless you’re planning a big party.

One quick last shot of the main hall of the market, before we exit to continue our quest.

This has been the spot where these small dug-out canoe like boats have been docking for decades to bring passengers to and from Meerzorg, on the east shore of the Suriname River (our main river). Dug-out canoe like, because these boats are not really dug out of a tree, but rather build using 2 by 4’s and 4 by 4’s. Since before the bridge across the river was build (visible in the background), these boats were used to carry passenger to Meerzorg, while, back then, the cars were transported by ferry. Nowadays, strong hearted people, who don’t want to wait for the bus and then make the, quite a bit longer, ride across the bridge, just face the shaky boat ride, where the water comes up to 10 cm from the edge sometimes. It’s the most fun when it’s raining and there are strong winds across the river. It is nice to see how these experienced boatmen navigate through the waves. (idea for a future journey?)

Waterkant (literally: Water side) is a spot where people just chill. There is a food court, where a lot of food and beverages are sold 24/7. This is a hot spot, especially at night, before people hit the clubs or after the come from the clubs and, due to the combination of alcohol, dancing and loudly talking a lot of crap all night, are hungry, or just don’t feel like going home yet.

Across the street is the building of the Central Bank of Suriname. This is where Suriname’s gold would have been kept, if it was not given away to multi national companies.

This side of the road at Waterkant (that’s actually the name of the street too) has only houses that were built in colonial times. This is seen by the colonial architecture. Most of these houses look totally different than they were originally built, but it’s important that their front should look the same as it did originally.

Personally I prefer modern architecture over colonial, but hey, everyone has his own taste (mine is the best!).

Here at Waterkant there are some steps leading into the river. These steps were made with bricks. I shot this picture, mainly to show how muddy the water is so close to the coast. We have mud banks along the whole sea line, so our beaches and rivers are not as “tropical” as the rest of the Caribbean. The only exception is that we have a sand bank in front of the Marowijne river, the river that forms the border with French Guyana. But even though the water is less muddy over there, it’s still not the blue ocean kind of water. The only good thing is that we have sandy beaches over there at Galibi.

At the end of the row colonial houses you have a slight turn that leads pass the Independent Square. The first thing you see is this round square (???!!?!) with different flags. In the center you see our own flag. In the background you see the Presidential Palace.

When walking towards the Independent Square you see the Toren van Financien (Tower of Finance), the building of the Ministry of Finance. (Google Earth Place Mark)

Even though I don’t like colonial architecture, I think this is the most beautiful colonial building in Suriname: our Presidential Palace. The president does not live here, because “this is the house of the people”, he says. On some holidays, such as our Independence Day and Emancipation (from slavery) day, the president holds a reception where, usually, the whole country is invited to visited the palace and it’s garden, which extends more than twice the size of the building, behind the palace.

I promise to try to make a picture of this building by night. I love night pictures of this palace.

There is some kind of colonial graffiti on the Palace. This is no history lesson, so I won’t be able to tell you exactly what is in that image and especially not what it portrays. Well, not right now, anyway. I just thought it was nice to point out
Pictures of the Independent square, viewed toward the east. If you zoom this picture in, you see the next picture:

This painter sells his paintings on this corner.

That’s enough for today. Still got a couple more pictures, but my eyes are starting to weigh a lot more then the usually do. I think I’m going to concentrate and study the back of my eyelids. I’ve been doing that for years but still can’t say what’s there to see!

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If you want to have a better visual understanding of the route I took, use Google Earth to see the spots I placemarked and put in this file

30 seconds away from my front door we have, what we know as “Kerkplein” (Church square), simply because there is a church at this square (to the left). To the right we have the RBTT Bank, where the ABN Bank (a Dutch bank) used to be.

Next to the RBTT Bank we have the Heerenstraat, which I put here, because of the mahogany trees along the side. These trees are older than my father (can be a lot older, but I have his tales to tell).

[break] I just went and put some hot water in a cup to let it cool down a little, while I’m adding these pics. I recently read that when putting green tea, infuse your teabag for 3 minutes in boiling hot water (100 degress C) you get a biter taste, use 80 deg water and you get an astringent taste, use 60 degree water to get a sweet taste. I have no thermometer here, so the best taste I got till now is astringent. Now back to “work” [/break]

To the right you have the Sint Petrus & Paulus Cathedral, The largest wooden building in South America (they say). Right next to it you see De Surinaamsche Bank NV (old way of writing, nowadays we just write Surinaamse), which now changed it’s name to DSB Bank.

This is Spanhoek, the spot where the trains used to have their last stop in Paramaribo back in the days when we did have trains here. Now it’s a very modern square with Spanhoek Passage to the north-west (with the Golden Arches across the street), Staten monument in the middle (surrounded by a fountain, which is dormant in the picture) with the and Telesur to the south-south-west, in front of a Carillon

(I’m so happy that Google Earth also runs on my Ubuntu Linux box!)

In the Keizerstraat, on about 1 football field distance from Mc D, we have, what is sometimes referred to as “the great symbol of harmony in Suriname”: A Jewish Synagogue right next to a Muslim Mosque. (get the Google Earth placemark files for Jewish Synagoge and Muslim Mosque, because I forgot to add them in the collection)

Coming from Spanhoek, going to the left, we have the Domineestraat. This is probably one of the most visited streets in Paramaribo. If someone comes to Suriname and has not walked the Domineestraat, his/her trip has been in vain! Not that there is so much special there, but just because for some reason people meet/mingle/chill on the intersection of Domineestraat and Steenbakkerijstraat, right below Popeye’s in the Krasnapolski Building and around the entrance of the Kersten Mall (fifth picture from top in this group). These pictures were taken before school was out. The ones below were taken right after school was out!

Schaafijs

On a hot day in Suriname there is probably nothing (non-alcoholic) more refreshing than a “Schaafijs”. As seen in the picture, a plane like tool is used to rasp a block of pure, regular H20 ice. This “Schaaf” has a chamber where the rasped ice is collected. From here it is transferred into a plastic cup or a small plastic bag, and you can pick from several kinds of syrups (tamarind, cherry, cola essence, passion fruit, Soursop, Mope [Hog Plum], Orgeat and even milk mixed with cola essence). Add a drinking straw and start sucking! This schaafijs seller is standing in the best spot, since there is constant foot traffic here.

This used to be the place where slaves were sold. Now there seems to be a problem with descendants of the owners. They can’t seem to decide what to do with it. And since the decision needs to be unanimous, nothing is done with this property. And I mean NOTHING, as is clear in the picture. (Karma??)

This Brick house is on what is probably the busiest intersection in Paramaribo. Here the Zwartenhovenbrugstraat , which usually mostly contains traffic from south of the city, meets the Dr Sophie Redmondstraat, which usually contains traffic from the western outskirts of the city. Of course traffic that needs to go south and west may need to pass this intersection. Even traffic that needs to go east, because you need to travel south on the Zwartenhovenbrugstraat to reach the Wijdenbosch Bridge to cross the Suriname river to go east!

In the Dr. Sophie Redmondstraat we have one of the oldest clubs in Suriname, club Touche.

This picture was taken to show a nice Fayalobi (Flaming Love) Ixora bush, which is probably the most popular flower in Suriname, with a Billboard against HIV discrimination in the background, and the huge Surinamese flag further in the back.

The Huge Flag

This is probably the most beautiful picture I’ve taken on my journey: A huge Surinamese Flag (6 meters wide) with the beautiful blue skies in the background, making a perfect color combination with the green, red, white and yellow in the flag! It took me a while (and a lot of shots) to get this photo, cause this massive flag would not fly, even though it was kinda windy.

I did have 1 nice shot, but the American Embassy is also on that picture. I was not told that I could not use pictures with the embassy on it (I was approached by a security guard who politely asked me who I was, what I was taking pictures for, what my name was, so I explained a little about the blog and gave him my card), but I’m just careful. Think of it: I use the words “Muslim” and “American Embassy” in one entry, plus I post a picture with the Embassy on it! I’m sure the guys from the CIA, FBI, NSA and/or from other 3 letter acronym organization, are watching my blog as we speak! Let’s not give them reason to shut it down

I like this shot too. Using the pole to block the sun, while having the sun radiate the colors of the flag. Unfortunately the yellow star got darkened.

Misfortune

And then it happens: My favorite set of shoes, the one I have worn for years now, the one that has been through a lot with me, could not take it any more. It just quit on me. And not just a loose heel or something like that, no, the whole side just ripped open. So I had to interrupt this journey and go home to change footwear.

Took a quick shot of the Calorschool (Secondary school), which is mostly build with bricks…

… Needed to drink, so I got me some Pomme de cythère (Ambarella) juice, produced in Suriname…

… Looked in the window of a shoe store, but there was nothing there that was to my liking, or that would fit on blue jeans with a pink shirt…

… met Ajay (brother of my best friend, Sanjay, aka DJ Kuyken, the #1 allround club DJ in Suriname) …

… met my sisters, who were walking to my house where their car was parked.

I changed footwear (just put on some slippers) and continued my quest.

I think this is a good spot to take a break. I will continue this report in a new post. But I think that’s enough for today. The wifey is getting stuff ready for me so I can cook. Sigh. I sometimes wish I didn’t cook that tasty!

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