Since November a wonderful amount of stuff has happened such as river treks, jungle tours, retreats, road trips, partying, working, moving and generally good times -- not in particular order of course :) We'll start with the undesirable parts of the past couple months where I moved from my first apartment in Suriname, which was a tough decision to make, but I needed my space and was feeling a bit confined so moved into guest house on December 1st. At first it was great to have my own large room with all the amenities, but then realized it was situated directly next to a 24 hours Brazilian after-hours party club. Needless to say, the first Sunday I experienced one of these all-night hooker parties really put me off as I was missing sleep about 3 nights a week due to this place. While I try to be a good sport about stuff like this, it was hard to justify paying over 300 Euros a month for a place I was not only deathly allergic to, but also didn't sleep well in. Following this, I moved again about 10 days ago into a new place with a lovely Dutch girl I met. She has already moved back to Holland, so I'm currently enjoying a few days of the new place with a huge back yard and big comfy bed. I'm finally happy with my living situation!
As I write this, the sky is dark from rain for the first time in well over a week, which is strange for this time of year; considering it is WET season here. Everyone has been saying it's unsual, but I'm not complaining as less rain means less mosquitoes and that is a blessing! I want to eat one of the delicious passion fruits growing in our garden now--straight from the vine is fine : )
In early December, I made a short weekend trip to St. Laurent in French Guyana and it was fantastic to finally be around a foreign language I can understand (after four months of Dutch, I'm still struggling with even the most basic of words) but it lasted only one night. My friend Milton invited me along for the quick trip to go see another friend of ours, Juan, who lives part-time in French Guyana. We crossed illegally into the country, which sounds far more precarious than it really is; involving a short trip on a taxi boat and 20SRD. However, French Guyana is extremely expensive for a country in this part of the world and it's quite surprising how people survive there, when the cheapest hotel we could find available was over 80 EUROS per night!!! Speaking French in the market was a nice experience and leaving Suriname for a few days was nice. I was actually relieved to get back to Suriname--the vibe here is much more relaxed and friendly than French Guyana from what I briefly experienced. Check the picture below for our arrival into the St. Laurent harbour.
Christmas 2010 was spent in a lovely retreat called "Menimi" literally translated from the Sarramaccan language into "Do not forget me" and I certainly will not --- what a gorgeous, relaxing and unforgettable little paradise. I went with about 7 Dutch people and myself as we were all orphaned for Christmas and they had organized this entire trip, leaving me without having to lift a finger; perfect ingredients for a trip IMO. We spent 2 nights at the Menimi retreat swimming and taking day trips to the jungle and visited a couple of Maroon villages named Nieuw Aurora and Gujaba. Small, quaint and dusty little villages located in Suriname's interior where it feels as though you are stepping back in time, literally. I felt a strange sense of the past in these towns and also an overwhelming sense of being an unwanted voyeur amongst a group of white people visiting the town to experience Maroon culture. A strange experience, but definitely worth it.
We spent Christmas nestled in a cozy leafy-roofed hut having cassava soup, rice and chicken. A deliciously simple food cocktail in contrast to the vagaries of providing massive smorgasbords at home in Canada. Full, content and surrounded by pristine jungle and fresh river water made for a quite memorable Christmas this past year. After a couple of days at Menimi, we moved onto "Tan Luku," a less organized version of a summer camp where our guide clearly enjoyed the "high" life and not so much working, per se. It was a lovely place as well and we sat in the seat of small rapids at the foot of the camp, soaking up some of the natural spa treatment places like this evoke.
January was a quiet month, moving again, but just enjoying daily life in Paramaribo. Work has picked up slightly and become a little more interesting and bearable than the first couple of months. I am now working on a report with the two other interns on recommendations for improving Suriname's planning system. We hope to have it done by the end of February.
Last week my (now gone) roommate invited me to Overbridge for a day trip and then over the weekend we went to an incredibly beautiful and magnificent place called Raleighvallen (Raleigh Falls) in one of Suriname's largest conservation areas. We travelled for nearly four hours by car and then 2 hours by boat to get to the location, but when we arrived, it was all worth it. The jungle was teeming with wildlife and rare South American gems, like the Harpy Eagle and Capuchin Monkeys :) We swam, ate and played for four days; clamouring our way up the Voltzberg Mountain on Saturday. Voltzberg is one of the highest peaks in Suriname with clear, unobstructed views of the hundreds of thousands of hectares of untouched rainforest. I have some great pictures, which I will post later, when blogspot wants to let me do it! On the last day we traversed our way onto another jungle pathway to a pristine rapids and swam -- in pirahna and snake infested waters of course; why would you expect less? It IS the Amazon jungle. That same evening, our "Buru" guide (meaning white farmer in traditional Sranan language) took us bird watching on the air strip just steps from our camp. The notables included Eagles, Chickadees (Quaysadee?), Toucans!, Parrots, Macaws, parakeets and vultures. Unbelievable beauty in the skies--filled with such diversity, I think bird watching could become my life pasttime and should become yours too. God, that makes me sound beyond my years, but whatever, I'm owning that! Bring on the bird watching. Another long trip back, brought us back to Paramaribo for the beginning of another work week, but the positive ions of the forest made the week more bearable.
Sitting here now, enjoyed some dinner with friends last night and wishing I had some visitors to Suriname; unfortunately not many of my friends can afford nor want to spend their money coming to a country they know little about. Perhaps my blog can help with that :)
Much love from the misty jungles of South America.
The Manja and Christmas hat is amazing! Oh Menimi!
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