Illegal aliens in Paramaribo

  Paramaribo, Suriname
Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Els writes:

Pink blossom fllen from tree

As soon as we arrived at Albina in Suriname via bus and ferry at the unearthly time of 7.30 am, we were in trouble in that they would not let us into the country. Having been up since 2.30 am this did not go down well with me and I started arguing. It was very satisfying to be able to do it in Dutch. The problem? Our visas started from 7th November, which we thought we had specified as the date we intended to leave the country. Unfortunately we had not noticed this before. The border policeman said that we had to go back to Cayenne. In a perhaps somewhat irate manner I said that I had no intention of doing so because of someone else's mistake. He said 'there is nothing I can do' and continued letting the other people trough. When all were through he disappeared into the next room. We were tempted to make a run for it and jump in the nearest taxi but thought better of it, as he had kept my immigration form so had all my details (Peter had not shown his visa yet). Basically we just sat down  and refused to leave. After fifteen minutes or so, having consulted with his colleagues, the policeman came back and said that there was a solution: if we hared down to Paramaribo right now and presented ourselves at the Foreign Office's consular department first and then the military police before 2 pm, they might be able to sort things out for us.

Street scene

According to our guidebook Paramaribo is a four hour bus ride away, which might be cutting it a bit fine. So we agreed a price with one of the waiting taxi drivers and jumped in. But instead of making for the main road, he drove to a landing area for korjalen (long thin boats with an outboard motor). Many people cross the river this way as ferries are few and far between. He said that he wanted four more passengers before he could leave, so I started arguing again and said that this was not what we had agreed to etc. etc. Anyway, it eventually became clear to us that this is in fact normal practice; the fare he had quoted was for a shared taxi!

Wild flowers near Dutch embassy

Peter, who was not following the argument (Dutch is not his strongest point, well actually there is no point to speak of) had meanwhile checked in the guidebook and realised that this was true. Luckily three more passengers were found quite quickly. Instead of looking for a sixth passenger the driver decided that one of our rucksacks took the place of a passenger – which it did. There was no way a sixth person could have been squeezed in. We had to pay for the rucksack/passenger although I managed to beat down the price, much to the amusement of the other passengers. We drove rather fast along the potholed road, and got to Paramaribo in less than two hours, more than twice as fast as the bus. Throughout the driver and passengers talked rapidly in an incomprehensible Creole language, although all spoke Dutch too. Despite our very cramped positions, we enjoyed the ride.

Cannonball flower

Suriname looks absolutely gorgeous with very lush vegetation. It is clearly more densely populated than French Guyana with plantations and villages all along the way. True to his word the driver deposited us outside the Foreign office where we explained our problems. Although perfectly charming, the woman at the consular department insisted that it was our fault and that we had to buy a new visa, which meant filling in more forms. She said "don't worry, we will check your forms very thoroughly for all the mistakes you are going to make". We had to laugh, and decided that Suriname cannot be a bad place if it has civil servants with a sense of humour. We finally received our new visas on 24th September. Having arrived on 22nd, we were thus illegal aliens for two days!

German ship sunk in river

Paramaribo lies on the bank of the Suriname river. Bang in the middle of the river is the wreck of the Goslar, a German trading ship that was deliberately sunk by its crew in 1942. I had not realised that Suriname played a role during the second world war. Not only was it a haven for people who needed to escape the Netherlands, it also served as a prison for German sympathisers. There was apparently a real fear that Germany might try and take Suriname from the Dutch, as it is rich in Bauxite and there are also gold mines.

View from our guesthouse window

We are staying in a great guest house, right in the historic part of the city, beside a little river which apparently has three metre long anacondas (snakes) in it, but we have not seen them yet. There is greenery all around us as well as exotic birds, lizards and little squirrel monkeys. They are greenish with yellow feet. The historic part of town contains many picturesque wooden buildings in the Dutch style. The area has been designated a world heritage site by UNESCO, so we feel honoured to be staying in it. We really like Paramaribo, it is very culturally diverse, Dutch, Black, Asian, Indonesian, Indian, all seem happily integrated and living side by side. We cannot help noticing though that there is no sign at all of the original inhabitants of the country, the Amerindians. After the struggle to speak French it is great to to speak Dutch, it almost feels like being in Amsterdam. People are very friendly and laid back, it is fine to go out after dark and it all feels quite safe.

Monkey in Peperpot plantation

We have been here six days now and have walked and cycled all over the place, including an old coffee plantation in the Commewijne district on the other side of the Suriname river. This was an absolute delight, the plantation has turned into a lush jungle with lots of birds, huge lizards and monkeys. The next plan is a trip into the interior of the country, but we will leave that for the next blog.

Dus tot de volgende keer dan maar weer.

Mosque and synagogue

Joint haiku:
Paramaribo
Gabled houses and lush palms
Laid back melting pot