In 1998 Suriname joined three existing reserves into one protected block of about 1.6 million hectares — around a tenth of the country — of primary tropical forest with no roads, no villages and almost no history of human disturbance. UNESCO added the Central Suriname Nature Reserve to the World Heritage List in 2000.
Most of it is unreachable. Visitors see its northern gateway, Raleighvallen, a long series of rapids on the Coppename River, where a simple lodge on Foengoe Island serves as base camp.
Top things to do: Central Suriname Nature Reserve
Climb the Voltzberg
A forest walk of a few hours leads to the foot of the Voltzberg, a bare granite dome rising about 240 metres above the canopy. The scramble to the top is steep and hot, and the view — forest to every horizon, without a single clearing — is the image people take home from Suriname.
See the cock-of-the-rock
Near the Voltzberg is a lek, a display ground where brilliant orange male Guianan cocks-of-the-rock gather to compete for females. It is one of the most reliable places anywhere to see them.
Swim in the rapids
Around Foengoe Island the Coppename spreads over rock shelves and pools. Afternoons are for swimming and for watching macaws cross the river.
Wildlife
The reserve holds all eight of Suriname’s monkey species, jaguar, tapir, giant otter and some four hundred kinds of bird. You will hear far more than you see, but monkeys and macaws are near-certain.
How to get to Central Suriname Nature Reserve
- By air: a charter flight of under an hour from Zorg en Hoop airfield in Paramaribo to the grass strip on Foengoe Island.
- By road and river: four to five hours’ drive west and south to Witagron on the Coppename, then several hours upstream by boat.
- Trips normally last four or five days and are organised by Paramaribo operators; none is listed on GetYourGuide. For a shorter, bookable rainforest experience see our tours page.
Insider tips
- Departures depend on enough people signing up. Ask operators about fixed dates and book well ahead.
- Accommodation is basic: bunks or hammocks, shared facilities, limited electricity.
- You need reasonable fitness for the Voltzberg and tolerance for heat and humidity.
- Pack light for the small aircraft and waterproof everything.
Tours: Central Suriname Nature Reserve
GetYourGuide lists only a handful of Suriname tours. These are the real, bookable ones most relevant to Central Suriname Nature Reserve:
Multi-day trip from €796 3-Day Tour of the Suriname Interior, All Inclusive
The only multi-day trip into the Surinamese interior on GetYourGuide. Three days out of Paramaribo with transport, meals and accommodation included: river travel, a village stay, caiman spotting after dark and a try at piranha fishing. Read the day-by-day programme on the listing to see exactly where it goes.
- Transport, meals and accommodation included
- Night-time caiman spotting
- Piranha fishing and village life
Scenic flight from €623 Kaieteur Falls: Scenic Flight and Guided Tour from Georgetown
Not in Suriname, but the classic add-on for anyone continuing west to Guyana: a small-aircraft flight from Georgetown to the airstrip beside Kaieteur Falls, a guided walk to several viewpoints and the flight back. Flights depend on the weather and on enough passengers.
- Small-aircraft flight over unbroken rainforest
- Guided walk to the viewpoints
- The region’s most famous waterfall
