The first night sleeping in a little cabana in the middle of the noisy rain forest was a nightmare.
Somehow I knew what to expect since this wasn’t the first time I was there but something about a living breathing entity which houses millions of insects and animals still unknown to mankind scared me.
The day of our departure adventure already struck. At Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam we checked in at 08:15 a.m. Bringing with me quite a lot of perishables for my family and friends in Suriname I was nervous if my luggage would be seized for inspection. We lined up for a demotivating queue getting through customs but once we had my anxiety dropped. To me vacation had started! Our flight was scheduled to leave at 11:30 a.m. so we had plenty of time to enjoy a hearty breakfast which we did.
There is almost nothing better then a hot cup of coffee to revive you after a short night. We strolled hummingly towards our designated gate C4. It was only a 6 minute walk but when we arrived was noticed no one else was attending this flight.
“How come there are no passengers at this gate for the flight to Suriname?” I asked.
The lady behind the desk greeted me kindly and pointed at the sound system silently.
“Ladies and gentlemen there has been a gate change. Your flight to Paramaribo will departure at gate F16.” said the voice over the sound system.
“Alright guys let's pack up and stroll to the other departure wing. It’s only about 10 minutes walking from here.” I said to my travel companions.
When arriving at gate F16 we were in for yet another surprise. The delay wasn’t just 30 minutes due to a gate change but the initial airplane had to be replaced by another one which was still in the hangar 8 miles away. Scheduled departure time was now moved to 13:00. To kill some time and test my new camera I decided to make some shots with random people near us. I turned on my toy only to be greeted by the wonderful message of ‘no memory card available. Your pictures cannot be stored.’
“Oh my freakin’ God, I left my sd card at home!” i shouted.
“What happened to it? You were checking something on it last night weren’t you?” Maria asked.
“I was, yes, I was transferring already recorded stuff to my notebook to take a clean empty card with me for this trip. I don’t know what i did with it after I had finished.” I replied.
“Maybe I know what happened.” Maria said.
“You know where my card is? Did you bring it? Did you saw me leaving it on my desk and you decided to scare the shit out of me by only telling me now that you have it in your purse? Please say it is so.” I begged her.
“Hahaha, no dummy you got a phone call from your sister when you were transferring those photos after that call you never went back to it and this morning you locked your notebook in your desk.” She smiled annoyingly.
I tried to retrace my steps like she described and realised I never removed the card from my notebook. So now I was without. I felt defeated.
“Cheer up honey, we’re at the airport remember? Numerous tax free shops surrounding us like vultures scanning our wallets tempting us to buy stuff we don’t need, normally. But now you have a genuine reason to buy something overpriced at one of the gadget stores. Go spent some money honey!” Maria always knew how to get me fired up again.
“You’re so right, I’m gonna run by the one we passed while walking to gate C before. I won’t be long. If there’s a flight change or something call me.” I jumped up and went for it.
While I was at the shop i gazed at the clock several times to make sure I wouldn’t miss the flight. I had about 30 minutes to spare so had to be somewhat swift in making a purchase. After about 5 minutes my phone rang. It was Maria.
“Don’t tell me the flight is cancelled!” I answered.
“Noooo but it is delayed yet again. We leave at 14:30.” Maria said.
“Oh great that still gives me time to do some test shots.” I replied.
I strolled back to the gate with my sd card loaded into my camera looking for an interesting subject. Sitting right by us were two little brothers who looked obviously bored.
“Can I take some photos of your kids?” I asked their mother who was genuinely irritated by the flight delay and not in the mood to keep her two bundles of energy busy.
She was checking her FB timeline like it was breaking news. The boys looked at me with smiles from ear to ear when she gave them and me the go. I tried some settings on my camera and while I was playing the boys did the same. We came up with some fun shots don’t you think?
“Flight KL0763 is now boarding please move toward the gate swiftly.” the voice over said.
The boys ran to their mother and took their seats on board. I never saw them again. But the shots were fun to do. Our flight to the tropical continent took around 10 hours from Amsterdam. All went smooth on board. I watched a few movies and started reading the book ‘The Why of Everything’ by Eddie Tjon Fo and Marcel Bos. A real page turner. Check out my review here.
On our final approach I had the opportunity to sit near the window and tried to capture the impressive view of the forest. I hope you like it.
After the doors opened you could feel the heat hugging you immediately. I was glad we landed around 18:30 when the sun was low and getting ready to set. Dry season in Suriname can be like sitting in an oven with the fan on. And humidity sits stationary at 98% year round so feeling sticky has another dimension in this climate. But after a few weeks you get used to it. Maria gave me a kiss when we set foot on the ground.
“We’re here honey!” her eyes had a childlike sparkle when she shouted.
I hugged her firmly and kissed her back. “Yessss, baby we are finally here.” I said.
Getting through customs went smoother than i expected so after collecting our luggage we regrouped with our travel companions and headed out the building. Out of the air conditioned baggage claim three things welcomed our exit from the arrivals hall, a crowd carrying signs and happy smiles, my brother and the heat.
Check out part 2 next week!