Category: The-Guianas

Together known as Corriverton, the towns of Springlands and Skeldon, on the west bank of the Corentyne River about 195km from George­town, are at the southeastern end of the coastal road from Georgetown. The town’s Main St is a long, lively strip with mosques, churches, a Hindu temple, cheap hotels, eateries and bars. Brahman (zebu) cattle roam round the market like the sacred cows of India. At the north end of town, the Skeldon Estate of Guysuco is the biggest local employer. If you need to stay a night on Main St, try clean Hotel Par Park (r US$10-12) or the recommended, antique Mahogany Hotel (339-2289; r US$13-33) which has some rooms offering good river views and a restaurant overlooking the main drag.

French Guiana is a little country of pristine rainforests that has both the luck and misfortune of being colonized by France (and is thus a member of the EU). It’s the wealthiest region of this corner, with France pouring in the funds to insure a stable base for its satellite launcher; everyone from Brazil to Suriname tries to cross the border in hopes of high-paying jobs and unemployment benefits. Yet the country lacks the smiling simplicity of its struggling neighbors. On the one hand it’s a fascinating destination of cleaned-up colonial architecture, eerie prison camp history (that involved the colorful characters of Papillon and Alfred Dreyfus) and some of the most diverse plant and animal life in the world; on the other hand, its heart seems buried beneath a cold European hand uninterested in seeing its people reach their full potential.

There’s something endearing about Georgetown, whose easy to navigate gridded streets, dilapidated colonial architecture and many unkempt parks give it a laid-back feel amidst real-life chaos. Around the congested market area the air is full of angry shouting, happy shouting, marijuana smoke, friendly faces and suspicious-looking thieves; in all, there is so much fiery turbulence that the whole town feels on the verge of an explosion. Just a few blocks away, traffic lessens, the streets are nearly empty and there is a palpable Caribbean calm. Despite the hard-boiled exterior, the city has a thriving intellectual scene, fabulous restaurants and a riotous night-life.

Described by its own tourism association as ‘Conradian’ and ‘raw,’ Guyana is a densely forested country with a dark reputation of political instability and interethnic tension. While politics aren’t making things brighter, underneath the headlines of corruption and economic mismanagement is a joyful and motivated mix of people who are trying to bring the spectacular natural attributes of this country to their full ecotourism potential. Georgetown, the country’s crumbling colonial capital, is distinctly Caribbean with a rocking nightlife, plenty of great places to eat and an edgy market; the interior of the country is more Amazonian with its struggling Amerindian communities and unparalleled wildlife-viewing opportunities that all feel safely away from the political hoopla. Wherever you go, Guyana promises to make the trip of a lifetime.

Kourou’s depressing, scattered sprawl of cheap ’70s and ’80s architecture can be blamed on the establishment of the Centre Spatial Guyanais which employs some 1350 people. For the seat of the country’s economic strong-force, there is surprisingly little culture and the most recommended activity after a visit to the Space Center is to hightail it out by boat to the Îles du Salut. The only area of the town worth visiting is Le Vieux Bourg which is a great strip for eating, drinking and wondering why the rest of the town isn’t this hip. Kourou is the fastest growing city in French Guiana and also one of the poorest; watch your back.

Amsterdam meets the Wild West in Paramaribo, the most vivacious and striking capital in the Guianas. Black and white colonial Dutch buildings line grassy squares, wafts of spices escape from Indian roti shops and mingle with car exhaust, Maroon artists sell colorful paintings outside somber Dutch forts. Locally known as ‘Parbo,’ the inhabitants are proud of their multi-ethnicity and the fact that they live in a city where mosques and synagogues play happy neighbors. In 2002 the historical inner city was listed as a Unesco World Heritage site.

St Laurent is a dozy place with some of the finest colonial architecture in the country and, even 60 years after the penitentiary’s closure, is dominated by penal buildings and the ghosts of its prisoners. Along the banks of the Fleuve Maroni (Marowijne River), bordering Suriname, St Laurent is also a place to take a river trip to Maroon and Amerindian settlements.

Suriname, the self-proclaimed ‘beating heart of the Amazon,’ is just that: a warm, dense convergence of rivers that thumps with the lively rhythm of ethnic diversity. From Paramaribo, the country’s effervescent Dutch-colonial capital, to the fathomless jungles of the interior, smiling descendants of escaped African slaves, Dutch and British colonialists, Indian, Indonesian and Chinese indentured laborers and Amerindians offer a genuine welcome to their tiny country. You get the best of both worlds here: a city that’s chock-full of restaurants, shopping venues and night spots and an untamed jungle utterly away from the things of man. It’s not easy to get around this river-heavy, forest-dense country and the mix of languages can make it hard to communicate, sometimes even for Dutch speakers. Don’t forget that a meeting of culinary traditions means the food here is as spicy and lush as the country itself.

The interior is dominated by Kaieteur National Park. You may have been to Angel or Iguazú Falls, seen Niagara or not even be particularly interested in waterfalls; it doesn’t matter, go to Kaieteur Falls (www.kaieteurpark.gov.gy). Watching 30, 000 gallons of water per second be shot out over a 250m cliff (allegedly making this the highest single-drop falls in the world) in the middle of a misty, ancient jungle without another tourist in sight is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The brave (or crazy) can actually stand at the top of the falls and gaze over the precipice. Depending on the season, the falls are from 76m to 122m wide. Swifts nest under the falls’ overhang and dart in and out of the waters around sunset each night. On the walk to the falls look for scarlet red cock-of-the-rock birds and miniscule golden frogs, an incredible, rare critter that can be used to produce a voodoo poison 160, 000 times more potent than cocaine.