Suriname Exploits

The rest of the week we did shopping and some sightseeing spending time with our dear friends and ‘Piano’ in about equal quantities.  The weekend was the next highlight.  We all decided to take one of Ottos’ motor launches up river to a local resort for a picnic.  The trip up river was fast and high tech, we all took turns in driving under the close supervision of our Master Mariner Leader.  We covered the distance in good time for lunch and had a swim in a net protected beach too.  - Yes the reason for the net protection is against ‘Piranhas’! Which have been known to nibble peoples toes.  There are also Caimans—crocodile family– known to live in the river which may also have caused concern…  In all it was a luxurious day—we all slept soundly that night.
  Sunday we set off to Jodensavannah and another river resort.  This time we drove over land, since it was further upstream.  The trip involved a river crossing aboard a ’ferry’.  This was a converted barge with a large Yamaha outboard engine.  It could carry about 6 vehicles and took about 10 minutes.
  The Jodensavannah is an area South of Paramaribo on which some Portuguese Jews settled back in the 17th Century (In 1639 the First Jewish Synagogue was built and the ruins can still be seen in this WHS).  They wanted to be able to practice their faith without being persecuted.  They chose a particularly nice spot on the banks of the river which had a natural freshwater spring and was slightly above river level for good visibility, views and provided dry ground to live on.  These first settlers lived comfortable for a time and were joined by like minded kinsmen from another colony in Brazil.  The new blood enhanced to enclave and soon the community had established some 40 plantations covering a large tract of land.  Even in those days there were slaves and each plantation had about 250 slaves to work the land.   The community survived a fire and the ravages of war for ownership of the country in which they were living.  But the final blow was the return of some escaped slaves who returned to free those still enslaved.  Once the work force had been lost the Jewish settlers decided to move back to the city and become manufacturers.
  Our lunch spot was the ’Black Water’ resort.  This time on a smaller river.  It had tarpaulin covered structures for shade and access to the ’beach’ for cooling off.  The water was barely deep enough to swim and was pleasantly cool– if rather dark coloured water (it reminded me of tea).  We weren’t the only white people a group of airline workers were having a holiday with a friend and they shared their BBQ and coconuts with us.  Everyone we talked to in Suriname was especially helpful and friendly.