I love going to places that when I say the name, people give me a blank look. But Miamians should have at least some dim idea of Suriname; it’s only 4.5 hours away. Perched on South America’s northern coast, it is one of those places still off the dreaded “Touristy Map.” In fact, the entire country is pretty much a blank slate. That’s all I need to go.
But I might want to brush up on my — huh? — Dutch.
How did a country in South America come to speak Dutch? The same way the rest of it came to speak Spanish or Portuguese: Colonization. Originally called “Dutch Guiana,” the region came into Amsterdam’s sphere of influence starting in the 17th Century. After independence came in 1975, the country was so thoroughly saturated with all things “Netherlands” that the capital of Paramaribo looks a lot like Amsterdam-with-palm-trees.
Colonization also explains how the country became as diverse as it is. Workers from all over the Dutch Empire were conscripted to populate the territory, and today, a Surinamese could well be Indian, African, Amazonian, Javanese, Chinese, Lebanese, European, or a mix of them all. And just to throw you, the everyday lingua franca is Sranan, a creole based on English.
A time warp back to Age of Exploration architecture, rustic Paramaribo (AKA “Par’bo”) was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2002, and it will be here that your adventure begins. Colonial, quaint, and begging to be wandered, old-city Paramaribo has yet to get into showstopper architecture like Eiffel Towers and Taj Mahals (not a bad thing, although Fort Zeelandia ain’t shabby), but it is the country’s interior that gets most of the buzz.
Leave the developed Atlantic coast you enter the northern sweep of the Amazon, that, unlike in Brazil or Peru, is still largely untouched. But more than that, you enter Maroon territory. Descendents of runaway slaves, the Maroons have arguably jumped on the world tourism boat even before the folks in Par’bo, and are a fascinating mix of traditions both African and Amazonian. It’s not exactly the easiest experience to get to — the only way in or out of backwoods Suriname is by prop plane — but is definitely worth the effort to view a culture at once removed from the modern world and at the same time meeting it headlong on its own terms.
Makes you wonder why Suriname is as unknown as it is.
Go to surinamemenunited.com and surinametourism.sr for more information. Be sure to contact Steele Luxury Travel at 646-688-2274 to make tour travel plans to Suriname. Follow us on Instagram: STEELETRAVEL