WHAT: A hike in the humid jungle on top of the famous Brownsberg WHERE: Brownsberg Nature Park, on the edge of the giant Brokopondo lake in Suriname HOW LONG: You'll need at least a full day to explore the mountain; the ride itself towards the area will already take 5 hours back and worth HOW MUCH: Most agencies will charge you $65,- USD for a full day trip, which includes two meals
Apart from Paramaribo, a dilapidated beaut of a capital, Suriname is basically just one big mighty jungle. The hinterland of the capital basically stretches all the way to the Amazon, or perhaps is even a part of it.
Therefore, once you’ve convinced yourself to visit Suriname, a visit to the humid jungle is an absolute must. Many agencies offer multiple day trips to the jungle, but unfortunately most of those excursions are quite expensive. If you prefer to explore some wildlife on a budget, a trip to Brownsberg Nature Park is a splendid idea. You need no more to a day to enjoy the jungle vibes.
Although you could rent a (4×4, which you really need it in here) car yourself to save on the trip, I would strongly recommend you to go with a guide. Not only is the road quite difficult and muddy, most importantly remember that this is the tropics. You never know what kind of creature you’ll run into. Snakes are abundant at Brownsberg. Much safer in my experience to explore unknown pieces of nature with a guide – and that piece of advice comes from someone who has lived in the tropics herself for quite a bit.
I personally opted for the tour of All Suriname Tours. Someone else recommended it to me and although I can’t really compare it to the same tour of other agencies, it was quite a decent one. In general, in my opinion, the quality of each tour basically depends on the guide. Although the guide of this tour was quite a cool and laid back guy, I’d hoped he would run the extra mile to show some funky stuff of the jungle. Nevertheless, he really took the time for us to chat about life in Suriname and the day was pretty splendid!
So, let’s go!
Together with the guide and the driver we took off very early in the morning in Paramaribo. They picked me up at a hotel in the center of the city and we drove south towards the jungle during the golden hours of the day.
After a little while we stopped to get a sandwich at Le Kasan Cafeteria, a bit of a rundown building right across the old aluminium factory. The area was of importance during WWII, when the Americans were in need of aluminium for their war produce. Nowadays most of the factory seemed to be in decay. But then again, that’s a quite a common condition of things in Suriname.
Upon jumping out of the car at the cafe our driver almost stepped on this venomous snake! Once he saw this fellow slithering near his feet, he basically jumped another two meter into the sky.
Wearing flipflops he could consider himself extremely lucky to have missed it by a only couple of inches! What a way to start the jungle day. The parking lot of the breakfast area was already full of adventure.
After the break we picked up my fellow companions – a Belgium couple – at the resort Berg en Dal along the Suriname river. As I was quite curious about this area I was pleased to make a second pitstop over here.
The resort of Berg en Dal seemed quite nice by the way, however the couple seemed quite eager to escape it for a little while and make the trip to the jungle. So I guess there wasn’t much to do.
Yes, Suriname is indeed a place of tranquility.
And dilapidated beauty.
From the resort it was only a small ride upon entering the notorious dirt road that leads to the headquarters of Brownsberg Nature Park. We crossed another small village, right before driving to the top of the mountain.
The road was just so muddy and slippery that for 13 km our van was trying hard to shake all of us out of the car into the jungle. We crossed a small car halfway up and I was impressed by how far it had gone up before it got stuck in the dirt.
From personal experience I know you should never underestimate average sized cars on tropical roads, but it was so muddy right then and there that this was quite the miracle.
Finally we reached the headquarters of the park and we were rewarded with a fine view on the enormous Brokopondo Lake. The lake itself had been created artificially and our guide told us stories about the many villagers that used to live in the area, and were forced to move.
Our entrance fee (35 SRD for the park itself and 10 SRD for parking) was paid and we were ready to do some hiking!
Before going on the expedition I thought we had to climb great heights, but fortunately the van had already done most of the work for us.
In Brownsberg there is basically one large trail that goes all the way across the mountain. The first part is flat and open, but soon we were led down into the forest.
See that third picture? ↑ It’s a poison dart frog, carrying all of its tadpoles on its back!
The trails leads along two waterfalls, Leo and Irene. Irene is the prettiest one, but she’s also the most remote. It will take something like 90 minutes to reach it and 2 hours to return to the headquarters (as you have to climb uphill while going back). Waterfall Leo is only a small, but slippery and steep, hike down from the main road after something like 45 minutes of walking.
We had in mind to do the large hike, all the way to the Irene waterfall. However, we just encountered so many animals that we basically lingered to long making pictures and ran out of time!
Look at that well disguised leaf frog (picture one)! ↑
Therefore we only made it to Leo waterfall. But no hard feelings, the sight of these bearded sakis was absolutely worth the long break. ↑
Next we speeded up to finally see one of those waterfalls. Waterfall Leo wasn’t spectacular, but the sight of the fall amidst the humidity was quite refreshing. Those who were wearing bathings suits were even able to go for a ‘shower’ under the fall!
Unfortunately the road back was a little more exhausting. However, at the end of the hike a very typical Surinamese meal was waiting for us at the park headquarters: rice and beans with knakworst ((sausage).
It’s also possible to stay a night at the ranger station if you’d like. That said, don’t expect any luxury in here. The dorms are as basic as they come. Bringing your own hammock – a common thing in Suriname – would probably be wisest.
For sure you’ll get the real jungle experience, plus you would be able to make a walk during sunrise or sunset, when the animals are most active. Note that there’s really very few things available on top of the mountain, so you’d better come prepared and bring some food yourself as well!
That’s all folks. Hereby I end the tale about my expedition to Brownsberg. Stay tuned for more Surinamese adventures!
