The Guianas - The Rough Guide to South America on a Budget - page 654

jaguar, monkeys and tapir have been sighted in the near
vicinity. Stays include a village tour and introduction to
balata cr aft - ma king figurines and scenes out of hardened
tree sap. US $125
Ori Hotel T 772 2124. The loveliest hotel in town, with
wonderfully friendly service and en-suite, wi-fi-enabled
rooms hidden within a tranquil bloom ing gard en. The
restaurant serves delicious Creole dishes. G $6000
Restaurante 2 Naçoes Grab a spot on the patio of this
informal Brazilian joint by the airstrip and order the grilled
meat skewers with an enormous helping of rice and beans.
Stews, fried chicken and other daily specials available (meals
G$700-1000).
Takutu Hotel T 772 2034. E [e-mail].
Friendly hotel 5min from the airstrip, with spic-and-span,
tiled en suites with a/c and wi-fi and a bar/restaurant in a
flowering garden. You can m eet some interesting characters
on karaoke nights. GS $5500

of time, Brownsberg Nature Park , easily
accessible from Paramaribo, gives you
a taste of Suriname's wilderness.

CHRONOLOGY
10,000 BC Suriname's earliest inhabitants are thought to
be the Surinen Indians after whom the country is named.
1498 Columbus sights Surinamese coast.
1602 Dutch begin to settle the land.
1651 England's Lord Willoughby establishes first permanent
settlement - Willoughbyland, with 1000 white settlers and
2000 slaves.
1654 Jews from Holland expelled from Brazil arrive.
1667 Suriname becomes Dutch Guiana with the Treaty of
Breda, after conquest of Willoughbyfort (now Fort Zeelandia)
by Dutch Admiral Crynssen.
1700s & 1800s Slavery under the Dutch particularly harsh,
with rape, maiming and killing of slaves common. Many
run away into the interior and form Maroon communities,
conducting occasional murderous raids on the plantations
and their owners.
1799 Suriname reconquered by the British.
1814 Suriname given back to Holland as part of the Treaty
of Paris.
1853 Chinese plantation labourers arrive.
1863 Formal abolition of slavery (though slaves not released
for another 10 years as part of transition period).
1873 Labourers from India, and later Indonesia, arrive.
1941 US troops occupy Suriname to protect bauxite mines.
1949 First elections based on universal suffrage held.
1975 Suriname wins independence.
1980 Military coup led by Sergeant Major Dési Bouterse
topples government. Socialist republic declared.
1982 Fifteen prominent leaders of re-democratization
movement executed.
1986 Civil war begins between military government
and Maroons, led by Bourtese's former bodyguard, Ronnie
Brunswijk. At least 39 unarmed inhabitants of the N'Dyuka
Maroon village, Moiwana, mostly women and children,
are murdered by military.
1987 Civilian government installed with new constitution
for Republic of Suriname, but Bourtese remains in charge
of army.
1990 Bourtese dismisses civilian government with phone
call in “telephone coup”.
1991 Bouterse holds elections under international pressure.
The New Front coalition wins; Ronald Venetiaan is elected
president.
1996 National Democratic Party (founded by Bouterse in
1987) wins election.
1999 Bourtese convicted of drug smuggling in Holland
in absentia.
2000 Venetiaan and the New Front coalition regains
presidency (and again in 2006).

7

Suriname
SURINAME , formerly Dutch Guiana, is
one of South America's smallest nations
and it shares some traits with Guyana -
a brutal history of slavery, for one.
Though it attracts predominantly
tourists and volunteers from Holland,
English-speaking travellers are also made
to feel welcome. The capital, Paramaribo ,
is the most attractive city in the Guianas,
with much of its eighteenth- and
nineteenth-century wooden architecture
still intact; it also makes a good base for
visiting the former plantations nearby
and river dolphin-watching on the
Commewijne River.
While ecotourism is still in its
fledgling state, and facing constant
challenges (thirteen percent of Suriname's
land surface area is under official
environmental protection but that hasn't
stopped “unofficial” gold mining),
there are two excellent ecolodges in the
interior - Awarradam and Palumeu -
that act as springboards for exploration of
the unique Amerindian and Saramaccan
(Maroon) communities. There's great
hiking and wildlife-watching to be done
at the Central Suriname Nature Reserve,
while on the coast Galibi Nature Reserve
offers the chance to observe giant sea
turtles laying their eggs. If you're short