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April 11, 2005
Paramaribo, Suriname
after what amounted to 50+ bus hours, i arrived here in paramaribo. Dad flew in the same evening, and for the first time in the trip i stayed at a hotel that doesn't warrant the prefix "cheap." actually it's very nice, it even has a pool. Dad is doing well, it's nice to see him on vacation, getting time to decompress from working too much as he always does.
our first full day, we arranged tours, and then wandered around this city. it's a nice city, and totally full of dutch people. i have always liked dutch people, they have a good sense of humor and the ability to laugh at themselves, it's nice. plus the city has tons of ethnic cuisine, which we've been gorging ourselves on. so far my favorite is roti, a hybrid mix of indian food and some other stuff. everything here is really spicy too, aaron would go nuts.
so our first tour was up to the northeast coast, to watch turtles laying eggs. all the dutch people on the tour were mostly my age, over here working on humanitarian projects or studying. we took a boat up the river that divides french guyana and suriname, and i got to see the prison that papillon tried to escape out of by jumping off of a wall, only he broke his ankle badly. by the way papillon is the best book i have read on this trip, steve especially get it before you go to ak. the turtles were huge, 1.5 meters across, hundreds of lbs, and watching them at night with no moon and the sound of the sea gave me good time to look at the stars and feel real small.
after that we came back to the city, and then left again to brownsburg, to hike through the rain forest. that was excellent as well, the jungle makes you have different thoughts as you hike through it then does any other landscape, i think it's all the vegetation and life crushing down on top of itself.
tomorrow we head out to Raleighvallen, in the central suriname nature reserve. we're taking a cessna, and won't be back till the day before dad flies out and i catch another succession of busses back towards caracas. i am having a very good time with dad, and must admit that after he leaves i will be excited to start my trip back to the u.s. and home, where ever that turns out to be.
sorry this is short pops is waiting to go out to dinner.
Posted by bendan at April 11, 2005 03:05 PM
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