Since it covers around 80% of the country, it is something you hardly can avoid when visiting Surinam. The moment you leave the city, the roads get sandier, the population gets less and before you know it you will find yourself in a somewhat deserted area. You look behind you and see the city Paramaribo somewhere in the distance.
When you look outside of your car window you see nothing but trees and a poorly maintained road. Once you drive further and further you notice that the number of trees next to you is increasing and the roads get worse. And when I say worse, I mean really worse. The roads basically consist of sand, deep holes and puddles. Don’t worry, even though this might sound slightly scary and nor very beautiful, you are about to experience the best part of Surinam: the tropical rainforest.
The moment you enter the jungle you will be surrounded by plants, trees, and flowers you didn’t know existed. I honestly never felt so small with all these 50 meter high trees around me . There was so much going on around me that I had to step back for a minute and really absorb everything that was around me. The bright colors of all the flowers are really pleasing to the eye and I could hear the sounds of screaming monkeys somewhere in the distance.
As I made my way through the jungle I could tell that the inhabitants of the jungle are not very social and do not like to come close to humans, which is also a good thing because I was not really in the mood to meet up with any pumas or jaguars. The birds flying around in the jungle, however, do like to show off their beautiful colors to humans so I did manage to see parrots in all different sizes and a toucan with its bright beak.
Even though a big part of the jungle is covered by the shadow created by the high trees, it can get pretty hot and humid after walking around for a few hours. Luckily the Suriname river streams right through the rainforest. It is perfect for a swim if you are not afraid of piranhas or snakes. Yes, that was not a typo, I am talking about the small fish with sharp teeth. Before getting into the water, the guide throws a small piece of meat into the water to see if it is safe. If the meat does not get destroyed into small pieces, you are safe to enter the water. I have to admit, I was really scared to get into the water at first but the burning sun will quickly change your mind. And of course, you get amazing bragging rights for swimming with these dangerous fish afterward.
After a thrilling swimming experience, it was about time to eat. However, the question is where; you are located in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, surrounded by 50m high trees and when you look up, ‘the big yellow M’ is nowhere to be spotted. Therefore, the next stop of the tour was to visit some locals. As unbelievable as it may sound, there do live people in the middle of the rainforest. I noticed that even though we did not speak the same language, the inhabitants did their best to make us feel at home. They provided us with food and showed us around. It really amazed me how these people can live under such basic conditions. With nothing more than a self-build house and a little farm, they manage to live their life.
After a long day, we all gathered around a bonfire and reflect back on our day in the jungle. One thing that the whole group can agree on is that this is an experience we will remember for the rest of our lives.