Galibi Nature Reserve is located on the north east corner of the
country. To the north is the Atlantic Ocean and to the east is the Marowijne river
which separates Suriname from French Guyana. There are three Amerindian villages in
the Galibi region, none of which are accessible by road; river access only. The
Amerindians are the aboriginal people of Suriname and seem to be culturally quite similar
to the Indians of North America.
The Trip
The trip from Paramaribo to Galibi is quite
interesting though rather horrendous for your vehicle. They seems to have replaced
those little yellow lines which go down the middle of the road.....with potholes.
The second thing you notice as you drive is how amazingly green everything is. They
say that if you drop a seed at nighttime in Suriname there will be a tree there to greet
you when you awake the next morning. Fruit trees grow wild everywhere and wildlife
is plentiful.
The drive is approximately two hours from
Paramaribo. Along the way you pass many plantations, small farms, towns, and the odd
hut. We were warned that there has been robberies along this road in the past,
though the thieves usually go for the Brazilian gold miners bringing their gold to town to
cash in. Luckily, we had been invited along on the trip by a wonderful group of
people from Shell who were familiar with the area.
The Boat Ride
The last town on the road is Albina, which is
the border town to St. Laurent, French Guyana. Albina used to be a wonderful little
resort town before the civil war in the eighties which did a lot of damage to the town.
The town never really recovered from the damage and in fact you can see bullet
holes in many of the buildings (the ones which are still standing, that is).
The port area of Albina is the real hub of
activity in the town. There are many Surinamese style wooden boats which are used
for transport up and down the river as well as across to French Guyana.
We all piled into one boat and took off up the
river. The water was a mix of fresh and sea water as we were quite close to the
ocean. But the water still had the brown tinge which is typical of the rivers of
these jungle areas. About ten minutes into the ride Albina had disappeared and the
jungle had taken over. After an hour in the boat we arrived at the village
Christaankondre where our camp was.
The Village
Surprisingly, as we approached the village the
jungle began to ease up and gave way to a beautifully sanded beach. This type of
land is called the "Sabana" and is common in many areas throughout Suriname.
This is the type of land the Amerindians always live on as it provides them a place
to plant their vegetable gardens. It is also great for coconut bowling!
The village was larger than we expected and had
a church, school, soccer field, and a generator which provided electricity for a few hours
per night. Although they receive many tourists, the people were friendly and seemed
happy to see us. We soon found out that the following night there was to be a big
festival (piss-up) in honour of the chief who had passed away in recent time. We had
some nice walks around the village and noticed the many mango trees, pineapples, casava
trees, lime trees, and coconut trees. We also managed to find a small cantina on the
beach where we happily drank some cold Parbo!
The Highlights
The highlight for me was relaxing in the hammock
listening to the wind blow and watching the Amerindian children kick-box each other on the
beach. We also had a wonderful time seeing the green turtles laying eggs (see Ana's
journal). The Shellfolk taught us a great Surinamese beach game called
"Jewel" which provided a few hours of entertainment including some great
injuries (bloody knees, stubbed toes, twisted ankles).
The best part of the trip was the lesson in
Surinamese Relaxation. The recipe for this is hammocks, sleep, good food, and good
company.
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