The Guianas - The Rough Guide to South America on a Budget - page 665

Tour operators Trips to either community are usually
booked through METS (see p.665), which offers four-/five-
day stays at either location (combo visits to both can be
arranged), though if you're looking to hike up Mt Kasikasima,
it's an eight-day trip.

village of Christiankondre. The visit to
the Galibi site itself is at night, when
the newly hatched baby turtles make
a break for the water. Sadly, some
travellers have complained about tour
guides (not from the tour companies we
have listed) picking up the baby turtles,
and some locals continue to take and
sell turtle eggs, in spite of the turtles'
endangered status.

THE CENTRAL SURINAME
NATURE RESERVE
Created in 1998 by amalgamating the
Ralleighvallen, Tafelberg and Eilerts de
Haan nature reserves, the CENTRAL
SURINAME NATURE RESERVE occupies
16,000 square kilometres of southwestern
Suriname, some nine percent of the
country's total surface area. Though
there are complaints of STINASU
mismanagement (the foundation for
nature conservation allegedly turned
a blind eye to gold-mining inside a
designated protected area), it is
nevertheless a staggeringly beautiful part
of the country, home to diverse fauna
such as spider monkeys, ocelot and the
world's largest-known species of the
cock-of-the-rock bird. Natural highlights
include Ralleighvallen (Raleigh Falls) and
Voltzberg mountain. It's a three-hour
hike to the base of Voltzberg, then
another 240m or so to the summit,
which affords good views of the
surrounding forest canopy.
Visitors stay at the basic lodge on
Foengoe Island next to Ralleighvallen,
reachable either by short flight (50min)
or else by five hours in a 4WD,
followed by a two-hour ride up the river
in a motorized canoe. Tours can be
organized through Orange (see p.665),
among others.

French Guiana
FRENCH GUIANA is a strange beast. It's
a tropical corner of France, with its laws,
customs, language and outlook largely
mirroring those of the motherland,
despite many of its citizens coming
from Caribbean stock. It's also one of
the most expensive countries to visit in
South America.
A notorious penal colony for much of
its existence, French Guiana's muggy,
oppressive climate, malaria-ridden forests
and inhospitable terrain were considered
an ideal way to punish French criminals
(as well as WWII prisoners of war).
French Guiana next came to international
attention in the 1960s, when the
European Space Agency cleared a patch
of jungle and built a space centre to
launch satellites into orbit from the town
off Kourou . A rocket launch is one of the
country's biggest attractions, along with
the Îles du Salut , rocky islets that were
once home to the prison population.
French Guiana is perfect for
adventurous travellers; it helps to have
your own transport and to speak a little
French. You'll find Cayenne, the edgy
capital, along with Kourou and St
Laurent, fairly straightforward to visit.
The attractions of the Hmong village of
Cacao and the turtle-watching beach,
Plage Les Hattes, lie in the interior or
somewhat off the beaten path. Finally,
there are expeditions down the country's
rivers deep into the jungle and visits
to remote Amerindian communities
- which means flights by tiny plane,
nights in hammocks and long boat
journeys into the unknown.

7

GALIBI NATURE RESERVE
Situated in the northeastern corner of
Suriname at the mouth of the Maroni
River, the GALIBI NATURE RESERVE is
a major nesting ground for leatherback
and green turtles between March and
August. Several tour operators (see
p.665) run two- to three-day trips to
Galibi (€165-200), which involve
a bus ride to Albina, followed by a
three-hour boat trip, with overnight
accommodation in the Amerindian