We’re back from our trip to Parimaribo. It was like visiting a little city in Holland. Everyone spoke Dutch and were well versed in English so we didn’t have any trouble communicating. We fell in love with their food, though I think we have a thing for food regardless of where we are.
We started the trip on a low note. The bus ride to Suriname was terrible. It began at 4am, and took 15 hours to complete. We didn’t have a reservation at a guesthouse so we were hoping to get something when we got in to town (obviously I was in charge of our lodging situation). Luckily we got in to the first place we tried and immediately went to sleep. It didn’t even occur to us that there were no mosquito nets so the next morning I found out I got bit over 100 times on my back and a few times on my forehead. Dawn seemed to be untouched. Regardless of the lack of nets, we found our lodging to be a bit dodgy so we ventured out that morning and checked into a much nicer place.
Our new pad was the number one pick in our Lonely Planet Handbook. It was perfect, other than we were in a room with two single beds. Every night I may have said “Goodnight, Ernie” and Dawn may have replied, “G’night, Bert”. Yes. We know we’re dorks.
We walked around the city and familiarized ourselves with the local restaurants. All the while fireworks were going off all day and all night. Unfortunately I didn’t get any good pictures of the pyrotechnics. Sorry fireworks fans.
Old Year’s Night (aka New Year’s Eve) was spent in the thick of a South American celebration. Live bands were playing, crowds were forming, bodies were perspiring, and the smell of Javaneese food was in the air. We loved every minute of it. Though the party was wild and happening, we found it difficult to stay up until midnight. Yes. We know we’re lame.
The next day we rented bikes and did what I would call a marathon bike ride. Dawn would call it a “perfect day”. We travelled out of the city and into the countryside. We stopped at little shops along the side of the road and were greeted by people sitting on their porches. The highlight for me was when we had a picnic lunch on the side of the road.
Overall it was a wonderful trip. It was great to get out of Guyana and recharge our batteries. It was a good taste of things to come when we’re travelling around in the spring. I’ll leave you with a couple more pictures of our vacation. Hope you’re all doing well.
