Suriname is a small country in the north of South America bordered by Guyana, French Guiana and Brazil. More than 80 percent of Suriname's 163,000 square km area is covered by the Amazon rainforest. Although Suriname's population numbers just 480,000, 15 languages are spoken including Sranan Tongo (derived from a West Indian tribal language), Portuguese and the official language, Dutch.
Human settlement of Suriname dates back to 6,000 BC when indigenous people settled in its rainforests. The Arowak were the first inhabitants of the rainforest and the largest tribe. They were succeeded by the Caribs. Spaniards explored and settled the region in the 16th century. Suriname became an English settlement in the 1650s, then a Dutch colony in 1667. Suriname was granted independence in 1975.
The Amazon rainforest is one of the most bio-diverse environments on earth. In Suriname's share of the Amazon, howler monkeys cry from the trees, wild cats live on the forest floor and tarantulas build their webs in the branches. Suriname's 6,000 squre mile Central Nature Reserve was established in 1998 to help protect this diverse natural environment. Suriname's coast has mangrove swamps and wetlands, and the Coppename Nature Reserve is a habitat for manatee and the scarlet ibis. Galibi Nature Reserve is the nesting site of the Ridley turtle.
Suriname's tropical rainforest is home not only to plants and animals but people including the indigenous Trio, Akuri, Wayarekule, Wyana and Warrau tribes. The Carib-speaking Trio live in the southern forests of Suriname in small villages headed by a grandman or chief. They use medicinal plants and shaman to treat illnesses, a practice common among other Amerindians in Suriname. Descendents of the original forest-dwelling Caribs and Arawaks now live on the coastal plain of Suriname.
Suriname's climate is tropical and characterized by high temperatures and high rainfall. The average temperature is 81 degrees Fahrenheit and the nightly temperature rarely drops below 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Trade winds provide a certain amount of relief from the heat. There are wet and dry seasons, December to March is the wet season, but the rainforest sees very little distinction; it's wet year-round.
Suriname showcases a varied cuisine derived from its multicultural population. Indonesian food such as Goedangan, Bakbana and vegetables in peanut sauce are popular, along with Hindustani dhal, roti flat bread and curries. Suriname dishes are often served with the country's staple food, rice, and cassava, plantain, sweet potato and red pepper.
Suriname, the self-proclaimed "beating heart of the Amazon," according to Lonely Planet, gives tourists the best of both worlds "a city [Paramaribo] that's chock-full of restaurants, shopping venues and night spots and an untamed jungle utterly away from the things of man." Tourist infrastructure is still largely undeveloped in Suriname's rainforest but visitors can take guided trips into the interior that begin in the capital, staying in eco-lodges, tents and wooden lodges. The Amerindian village of Palumeu has a rainforest lodge, reach it via a one-hour flight or a more extreme eight- to 12-day river journey from Albina.
