No spang - No rush

The first Surinamese words we learn, haha.

André and Eeuwe are off on a 3-day ‘school trip’. One day into the jungle, back to basics, and one day with a bit more luxury. Under the personal guidance of Rudi Wortel and one of his staff they’re getting a crash course in survival. We’re curious how it goes.

Last Saturday we were given a tour of the van der Veen family’s fish processing plant. Very interesting. Nobody was working that day, so the whole place was deserted. It’s lovely to step into the cool building out of the heat outside. The room where the fish are filleted is really pleasant. It’s currently the low season for processing. They handle about 30 species of fish here, and we see the most remarkable ones: barracudas, catfish, sharks, you name it. Next we see the room and machines where the fish are processed into surimi, and finally we end up in the storage area. The deep-freeze room is enormous and impressive. When we get back to the filleting room afterwards, it suddenly feels very warm. Funny what temperature does to your body.

After that we get a tour of a cutter they’ve converted into a pleasure vessel, where the engine room in particular makes a huge impression on the gentlemen.

In the evening there’s karaoke in the bar, but nobody dares to have a go. The cook is singing and he’s actually pretty good, so we decide not to venture onto that stage for now.

On Sunday there’s a sort of market, with various people selling meals to take away. We decide to queue at the busiest stall, as that’s bound to be the best one. After half an hour of waiting, exactly one customer has been served. No span, but we decide to get our food somewhere else after all. We have a delicious dinner.

In the afternoon André and Eeuwe go to a football match; the stadium is just across the street. This turns out to be quite an experience, and when a goal is scored they’re the only ones in the stadium clapping. The village idiot quickly notices there are strangers about, so they head back early to get rid of him.

Monday is clearing-in day. Nettie, the harbourmaster, has arranged transport, and ten minutes before the agreed time we climb into a compact Toyota bound for Paramaribo. There’s the usual traffic jam, but then again, the highway is only a single-lane road.

After the MAS, who only want to speak to the captain, we go to the visa authority. In front of the counter, the Christmas decorations that have fallen down are left dangling, but nobody bothers to either hang them back up or just take them down. All these offices do insist that you turn up properly dressed, by the way, so no shorts, bare shoulders or flip-flops – at least for the men. I’m of course allowed to wear a skirt or dress, as long as it’s neat.

To pay for the visas we have to go to the bank, so it’s back in the car to the bank and back again. Finally we have to go to the Military Police, yet another location in town. By now a great many forms have been filled in, photocopied and stamped. At the MP the gentleman takes out a notebook, opens a fresh page, neatly draws a margin with a ruler and starts copying out all the details from our passports one by one. No span, but after that everything is done.

We have the driver drop us off at the cathedral, a beautiful wooden building dating from the time of Peerke Donders, who is still widely revered here.

We then walk to Fort Zeelandia, but it’s closed on Mondays. We have lunch by the water and then walk on to the Central Market. Two enormous halls full of stalls selling all kinds of goods. Roughly every metre a new stall begins, often with exactly the same stuff as the neighbours. We wander through and then also walk through the hall with fresh meat and fish. Outside it carries on for a while, but fresh fish that has been lying in the heat all day seems a bit less appealing to us.

We stroll down the street towards an outdoor shop André has spotted that sells fishing gear and possibly some handy things for their jungle trip.

We call the driver, who is impressed by the distance we’ve walked – people here aren’t exactly walkers. In the evening we have a quiet dinner on board and in the dark we see the Synergie come in. André will have to save his curiosity about whether they caught any fish until after his trip. Kees and I met them in the bar last night and had a great evening, together with the crew of Pitou, who arrived at the same time as the Synergie.

Today I put up the Christmas decorations, with many thanks to Ien and Frank van der Woerdt – without them I wouldn’t have thought of it. It’s strange anyway to be doing Christmas things in this temperature. Els’s Christmas present is already under the tree.