Paramaribo,
the 17th-century capital of Suriname, is graced with attractive Dutch,
French, Spanish and British colonial architecture. Imposing brick
buildings overlook grassy squares and wooden houses crowd narrow streets.
Towering palms shade some areas and mangroves still hug the riverside.
Mosques and synagogues sit side by side, while Javanese vendors peddle
satay and Dutch-speaking Creoles guzzle beer at sidewalk cafés. Central
Paramaribo's focus is the Onafhankelijksplein (Unity Square), fronting
the Presidential Palace. Immediately behind the palace is the Palmentuin,
an attractive park with tall palms inhabited by tropical birds. To
the east is Fort Zeelandia, a 17-century riverside fortification used
for the detention and torture of political prisoners after the coup
of 1980. The main market is found on the riverside boulevard, Waterkrant,
and ferries for Meerzog, on the other side of the river, leave from
nearby. Suriname is reachable by plane from Amsterdam (The Netherlands),
Curacao (Dutch Antilles), Miami (Florida, USA), Port of Spain (Trinidad),
Cayenne (French Guiana) and sporadically from some cities in Brasil
(e.g. Belem). Reservations for these flights should be made as early
as possible since they are quite popular!
Suriname (formerly Dutch Guyana) is a small Republic on the Northeast
coast of South America. The people are a multi-cultural blend and
the land has many beautiful natural resources that make it unique.
It is not unusual to see monkeys traversing the trees and boa constrictors
crossing the various roads that are traveled daily. The Amazonian
interior is unspoiled and sparsely inhabited. The official language
of Suriname is Dutch. A reasonable number of people also speak English.
Surinamese children are taught English in primary school starting
in the seventh grade. The lingua franca in Suriname is Sranan Tongo.
This is a creole language spoken by almost everyone. Suriname's national
anthem is written in Sranan Tongo. |
