The last few days of our visit to Suriname were spent visiting the plantations along the Commewijne River, just a few kilometers north of Paramaribo (the capital of Suriname). It was the most historical part of our trip, and in my opinion the most beautiful-- but also the most infested with mosquitos! (Click on photos to enlarge.)
We began at Fort Nieuw Amsterdam. Built in 1734 by the Dutch, it was meant to protect the 600 very prosperous and lucrative plantations of the area. Apparently, there were English and French pirates looting cargo ships...
The Dutch built a powder house in 1740 to store the gunpowder needed for all the cannons.
However, the powder house became quickly too small to handle the needs of Fort Nieuw Amsterdam. A second one was built in 1778.
We continued our journey along the Commewijne River and visited two plantations. The first was Frederiksdorp, a coffee plantation dating back to 1700.
A prison was built there just after slavery was abolished in 1863, and the prison has now been transformed into a lovely restaurant. Today, it's hard to imagine all the sinister moments of Frederiksdorp's past.
The restaurant had a remarkable garden area with all sorts of orchids and other tropical flowers. My favorites are these heliconias (bractée du balisier en français).
The second plantation we visited was called Rust en Werk. Unfortunately, I have no photos of it because we were literally eaten alive by swarms of blood-thirsty mosquitos. Even five seconds of standing still to take a picture was impossible.
As we left by boat to return to Parimaribo, I admired the countryside all along the way. Jack, however, preferred doing something else...
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