Suriname > On the beach of French Guiana

In the morning, the high tide reaches almost up to the rooms. Combined with the full moon, it is spring tide. From the bed, it looks as if the water is right at the door, but in reality, there is still about ten meters in between. The mosquitoes must have bitten during the night—probably because I was lying against the mosquito net. After breakfast, we walk with Terence through the two indigenous villages, Christiaankondre and Langamankondre, which are part of Galibi. First, we go to the supermarket to stock up on water. Then we follow Terence into the forest. We walk along the path in a line, and in some places, we have to balance on logs to get over the mud. Terence pretends not to know the route well. Along the way, he shows us the antlions—funnel-shaped sand pits from which ants cannot escape. After about two hours of walking, we arrive in the village. Here, we visit the local school and then walk back along the beach to the resort.

Suriname - The beach at Galibi

In the afternoon, we relax on the beach. Unfortunately, it is low tide, and because of the stingrays, we cannot enter the water. At the end of the afternoon, we board the boat and cross the Marowijne River toward French Guiana. The river mouth is wide, and the boat rocks on the waves. It is now high tide again, and once more, it is spring tide. The crew wants to bring the boat to shore in the surf by dropping the anchor and letting the boat drift toward the coast. Considering the high waves, this doesn’t seem like a good idea to us. Eventually, they agree that it is better to land around the corner. As we enter the river mouth, waves come from two directions, reinforcing each other. A high wave forms just behind the boat. By accelerating quickly, the helmsman prevents the wave from hitting the boat full on. Only the aft deck gets splashed, and he himself gets wet. A little later, we step onto the beach of French Guiana. We walk along the shore to the turtle beach. In spring, turtles come here to lay their eggs, and a hundred days later, the eggs hatch.

Suriname - Sunset on the beach of French Guiana

Occasionally, we see unhatched eggs, but we do not witness the great migration to the sea—partly because it is not yet midnight. We stroll along the beach to the turtle museum. Unfortunately, the museum is closed early on Sundays, and we find the doors locked. This is due to a change in the jungle tour route. We walk back to the boat along the road and buy a soda on the way. It is amusing to place the order in French and pay with Dutch euros. The sun slowly sets on the beach, creating beautiful scenes with the high water of the spring tide. Around six o’clock, we return to the boat and sail back to Galibi in the twilight. The wind has eased, and the return trip is much calmer. After dinner, a cultural evening is organized near our resort. A singing and dancing group performs, and we get to join in for a few numbers. The performance is fun to watch and lasts about three-quarters of an hour—just long enough. Back at the resort, we have a beer and then go to bed.