Northern South America Travel Diary

2012

Northern South America Travel Diary 2012

 

My focus today was exploring Paramaribo’s city centre in a little more depth than circumstances have provided over the past few days.  Given its narrow streets and relatively compact area, this was best done on foot.  I did come to realise, though, that the combination of extreme humidity and sore hip meant that the limit of my endurance came after about four hours of walking, or to be more precise, about 3 hours and 55 minutes.

The humidity was so strong when I began exploring that I experienced something I have never encountered before – the fogging up of my camera both inside and out.  I have had occasions in the past when taking my camera from an air conditioned room or vehicle into the humid tropical air makes the lens mist over, and this usually requires a soft wiping of the lens, sometimes repeatedly, as the adjustment is made.  For the first time this morning there was condensation on the lens filter, between the lens filter and the lens, on the rear element of the lens (inside the camera), and in between the lens elements, as well as ‘the usual’ condensation on the viewfinder and elsewhere.  It was a bit concerning, but it eventually cleared after about 10 or 15 minutes, and it didn’t slow my photo taking again.

There were probably three highlights today (or four if you include the obvious overall grandeur of Paramaribo’s city centre).  First, I was fascinated and impressed to see Paramaribo’s main mosque and synagogue sitting harmoniously side-by-side in Keizerstraat.  The Neveh Shalom synagogue was built in Dutch colonial style, having been completed in 1723.  The mosque next door was a larger and newer building; the claim is that Paramaribo’s mosque is the largest in the Caribbean, and given the huge numbers of people of Indonesian descent in Suriname, I can imagine that its large size is certainly warranted.

The second highlight was Paramaribo’s Central Market.  The Lonely Planet Guide suggests that the market is “not for the fainthearted”, and warns visitors of the dangers of pickpocketing.  The boat captain who took me to the Commewijne River yesterday said the market was fairly safe, but warned me that many of the people do not like having their photo taken, ostensibly because they fear that part of their spirit will be captured.  He added that a small payment might be required to persuade the spirit to remain in the body of its host.

After these warnings, I found the markets fairly tame, certainly when compared to some of the markets I have visited in other parts of the world.  I wasn’t pickpocketed, I wasn’t asked for money (except by one elderly beggar), and I wasn’t knocked over by any putrid odors or filthy slime.  The market was orderly, though certainly far from lavish, with fruits and vegetables on the ground floor and clothing on the upper level.

A walk along the waterfront, past more of Paramaribo’s most elegant colonial buildings, brought me to my third main destination for the day – Fort Zeelandia.  This star-shaped 18th century fort was built on the site where the first colonists landed, and for many years it served to defend Paramaribo from sea-borne attack.  The high walls of the fort provided fine views across the Suriname River, and within the rooms of the complex, the Stichting Surinaams Museum displayed various relics from the colonial era.  I found the air conditioning in the museum to be excellent; I can’t remember much about the details of the exhibits, however.

I will be leaving Suriname early tomorrow morning, comfortable that I have become well acquainted with this lovely city of Paramaribo.  I usually try to plan my flights at convenient times of the day, but flights in and out of Paramaribo are fairly scarce, and the best I could get was a flight departing at 6:15 am.  In order to get to the airport at Zandery, I will be leaving my hotel at 3:45 am, which means setting the alarm for (wince!) about 3:00 am.

I think this might be a day when an early night is justified.


Day 4 - Paramaribo, Suriname

Wednesday

27 June 2012

Today’s extra bonus images