We finally got out of the city last weekend on a much anticipated adventure we’d been hoping to plan since we got to Suriname!
Brownsberg Nature Reserve. What a gorgeous place! We found out that Shane, Lindsey and Peter had a couple of days off from YWAM, so we took off early Saturday morning for the infamous Brownsberg reserve. We jumped in a minivan with a few other locals, and headed two hours south of Paramaribo through mining territory on laterite roads. The bumps and potholes and heavy layers of red, laterite dust were worth it.
Brownsberg was a tremendous getaway! Peaceful. Quiet. Great views. Since the reservation is on a 400m hill, it was relatively chilly by Suriname standards, but the perfect temperature for us overheated Westerners! There was also an abundance of animal life, excellent walking trails, cool waterfalls and jungle overgrown with vines, orchids and other green surprises.
We hiked about 30 km over the two days we were there and saw monkeys, snakes, frogs, and a host of weird and wonderful insects. Mostly though, we just enjoyed being out of Paramaribo’s chaos for awhile.
Some of the highlights? Swimming in a glassy creek’s swimming hole; Swinging on jungle vines into the cold water; sitting at the lookout over the man-made lake in the valley below Brownsberg; sleeping in hammocks at night in our own little hut; hot coffee in the cool mornings; getting goosebumps for the first time in three months.
We came back refreshed and ready to take on everything Paramaribo would throw at us – including a tremendous traffic jam on our way back to the city!
Apanoramic shot of Prof. Dr. Ir. WJ. Van Blommestein Lake…The Suriname river was dammed in ’64 to generate electricity for bauxite operations in the area. 5,000 people were displaced by the dam. What’s left? A bunch of dead trees sticking out of the water. The Price of Development. Steve climbs a staircase of vines that have completely enveloped a tree. Amie covered in post-trip road dirt. Amie and Linsday tramping through the rain forest. In this country, they are virtually identical twins. Steve,Amie, Peter, Lindsay and Shane ready to head off on the dusty roads
to Brownsberg.
