WorldWideKittyGlassesProject

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Peperpot Park, Suriname

I had to return the bike in the morning and I was trying to figure out what to do for the day. I remembered that Peperpot wasn't too far on the map, so I decided that I was gonna go for the day. First I took a boat to cross the river. Since there were lots of people wanting to cross the river it only cost 1.25 srd. Then I walked and walked and walked until I got to Peperpot Nature Reserve.(18srd) The people who worked at the Nature Reserve were wondering how I got there because I was sweating so much. When I told them that I walked from the boats, they were shocked. Since I walked so much just to get there, they gave me a map of the reserve to make sure I could take short cuts. I had to walk 3.2km on the main road of the reserve. I saw lots of small lizards and 2 really big lizards. Plus I was lucky enough to see a lot of monkeys swinging in the trees. It was a bit eerie walking around the reserve all by myself and hearing all the creatures move about. Then I saw the sign that showed the jaguars. Then I had a crazy thought: if I died by a jaguar eating me, I would want it in my obituary. Of course, I didn't see any jaguars. When I got to the end of the reserve, I had to walk another 1km to get to the old coffee plantation and factory. It was interesting to see. Then I started to walk back to where I needed to catch the bus to get to the boats. It was REALLY hot. A nice guy saw me walking and offered to give me a lift. He asked where I was heading and I told him that I just needed to get dropped off at the bus stop so then I could get the boat to get back to the city. He told me that he was going to a shop on the main road and he would drop me off there. It was really nice of him. I just needed to walk a lil bit and then I took the boat back to the city. Then I walked around and because I was so tired I got a bit lost. Luckily I had a map with me so I was able to find my way and got a bus back to my friend's place. It was a day FULL of walking! Another great day of exercise and views!

Palmetarium

beautiful palms

crossing the river again

sunken ship ahead

up close

Suriname

Suriname 7109

peperpot park

swamps

3.2 km road

bamboo arch

kinds of snakes that could be found

there is a monkey in the middle of the branches

termite nest

cacao tree

city on the other side

river

plantation houses

more houses

the main plantation house

old coffee factory

inside

really big factory

Biking around.......about 50kms or more!!! Marienburg, Suriname

I decided to rent a bike (30 srd, 250 srd deposit) in the city so that I could ride around the plantations. It took me 7km to get to the point where I needed to cross the river. Since there weren't any others wanting to cross the river, I had to pay for a private boat (25 srd). Once I crossed the river I was surrounded by green. It was completely different that the city side. It was so beautiful and peaceful. I saw the former plantation at Marienburg and when I got closer to the plantation I saw someone waving me to come towards them. It was a group of people and they were already starting a tour of the plantation and said that I could join them. It was a nice group of people from Netherlands and Suriname. The guide, Jessi, was of Javanese decent. He was very passionate about the plantation and his family from years and years ago (~200yrs) used to work at the sugar plantation. After the tour he sold some jewelry that he made. I bought a leather bracelet and wooden necklace from him. Then we biked together in the fields and he showed me a really old house that his grandfather used to live in (100+yrs). Then we parted ways and I biked until the next city. I stopped by the river and had lunch. Then I biked back. However, I wanted to take a different route so I took a much longer way in order to see different things. While I was biking, I saw a man picking mangoes from a tree and I asked if I could have one. He said yes, so I stopped right away and almost got in an accident with the road because I was so excited. Then I went to Neiw Amsterdam to go to the open air museum. It was quite large and it was really nice to walk around. Then I continued along the road until I saw the bridge that went over the river to get back to the city. I just started laughing!! I got off my bike and looked at this crazy bridge. I have never seen such a steep bridge. There was no way I would be able to cross the bridge myself. I decided that I was going to hitch hike with a truck. The first truck I asked said yes, so I was good to go. As we went over the bridge I was just amazed on how steep it actually was. After the bridge they dropped me off and then I biked back to the city and then to my friend's house. It was definitely a great day for exercise and views!