Frequently asked questions

Directly with the operator, by email or WhatsApp, the latter is the normal business channel in Suriname. You send your preferred date and group size, you get a confirmation, you pay a 20% deposit to reserve and the balance in cash on the day. That keeps the 20–30% platform commission out of the price.

With us a three-hour walking tour costs €35 per person and a four-hour food tour €45. Day trips run from €60 (Colakreek) to €95 (Brownsberg and the reservoir). On Viator a Paramaribo City Tour starts at $163 and a Brownsberg day trip costs $233.

A few days is enough for city tours. For day trips to Brownsberg or Commewijne we advise a week. In July, August, the week around 25 November and over Christmas: allow four to six weeks.

Yes, up to 48 hours before departure the deposit is refunded in full. After that the deposit is forfeited because the shopping and reservations have been made.

Prices are in euros. On the day you pay cash in Surinamese dollars, euros or US dollars.

Yes. Dutch is the official language of Suriname, so virtually every guide speaks it as a first language. Our tours run in Dutch by default and in English or Sranan Tongo on request.

2 to 8 people. Above 8 you no longer fit around one table in a warung, and it becomes a guided tour rather than a conversation.

The tour runs. Showers in Suriname rarely last more than an hour and we reorder the stops. Only extreme weather or an impassable road to Brownsberg causes a reschedule, at no cost to you.

Colakreek, Peperpot and the walking tour are. Brownsberg is not: eleven hours with a climb to a waterfall. Our four-day family plan is built specifically for travelling with children.

Vegetarian is straightforward. Javanese and Hindustani cooking have plenty of vegetarian dishes such as petjil, bara, phulauri and dhal. Vegan is possible with at least 48 hours notice. Always declare a peanut allergy: peanut appears in far more Surinamese food than peanut soup alone.

The long dry season runs from early August to early December and the short dry season from early February to late April. September and October are the driest months, averaging around 80 mm of rainfall.

Generally yes. Crime rates are lower than in most neighbouring countries and the incidents travellers experience are almost always pickpocketing or petty theft in busy parts of Paramaribo. In the evening a taxi is wiser than walking.

Roti, pom, saoto soup, moksi alesi, bara, bakabana, telo and bojo. Our four-hour food tour (€45 per person) covers six to eight of them.

Yes. The water is blackwater: translucent red-brown from tannins in fallen leaves, not cloudy and not polluted. Colakreek lies 50 kilometres south of Paramaribo and is shallow, cool and has been swum in for decades.

In hotels, larger supermarkets and some restaurants, yes. At markets, in warungs and in taxis, no. Assume cash in Surinamese dollars.

Suriname is four hours behind the Netherlands in European summer time and five in winter. Suriname does not observe daylight saving.