Paramaribo Travel Forum

It seems to be very difficult to find information on Suriname. Can anyone give me a useful link on work/employment in Suriname? I wonder why I've never heard of anyone visiting there, or even really ever hearing of its existence? Why is it still so sparsely populated?

It's a good question. My own assessment of the situation is that it's not a very interesting place to visit, being part Amazon jungle and part swamp. It's pre-colonial history is largely unknown, and being a ex-colony of the Netherlands it is little known to non-Dutch Europeans. Furthermore, it's very hard to get to. As far as I know you basically can access it only from Amsterdam, Netherlands Antilles or Miami. Once you are there, it's difficult to access the rest of South America. Even the neighbouring countries are not easy to reach overland. I wanted to visit a few years ago while my brother was living and working there, but I found the airfare prohibitive.

For work, you could start looking at Dutch companies who operate there. My brother worked for Casinos Austria. There may be some aid agencies operating there, but I'm afraid I don't know the details. Hopefully some Surinam locals will see your post. Good luck.

Hi.
Im in Suriname at the moment and I must say its not the most interesting place.There's no beaches, quite a lot of rain, and the town of Paramaribo is not so interesting except for som great old wooden colonial houses, amomg them the biggest woden church in S.A. The people here are ok. The interior have a few atractions like rainforest and some mountains.
Its difficult to find a job here. Except if yuo are specialised in something. Mostly they get people from Guyana to work here if its needed.
You can fly here with KLM (from Holland) Suriname Airways, BWEE (north america and carrebian) and META (Brazil)
But its expensive comparing with what you wil find in europe or US.
Hope this helps

Suriname is a place to go to if you have time, its not too bad, there are some interesting places to visit depending on how into your history you are, obviously being an ex British and then Dutch colony it has a lot of history, including an abandoned Jewish village about 100km outside of Paramaribo.
There are no real beaches in any of the Guianas and depending on what time of year you go will depend on how much rain you see, if you make the trip to French Guiana (which is the most likely as its got the most to offer), then its definitely worth a visit to Suriname, also if you're into eco-tourism, its a definite attraction.
I hope it stays unpopulated, the Guianas are one of the last refuges for many animals and forest people on earth.

Surinam is now independent but was a Dutch colony. The population of Surinam is not large and the majority lives in the only town in Surinam, Paramaribo.

The population is mixed. Native indians, creoles used as slaves during the slavery time, descendents from Africa, Chinese and people from India and Pakistan where brought to Surinam after slavery was abolished as workers.
Every culture lives in harmony together so you will see a mosque right next to a christian church.

Surinam is besides Paramaribo not developped and has lots of rainforest.
Indeed Surinam has no beaches but the beach for the Surinam people is Cola Kreek a river with dark brown water (like coca cola..thats why its called Cola Kreek). And during rainy season it rains a lot.

So its a perfect holiday destination for people who want to get off the beaten track, just a few tourists and lots of rainforest etc.

In Holland lots of Surinam people live so thats why in Holland we know a lot of Surinam, the culture, the food and even the language (if óne is interested ofcourse). So people who actually visit Surinam are most of the time Dutch people for work or just eco tourism but the majority is Surinam people living in Holland going on holiday to visit their family and friends.

But because of this...KLM and SLM have a monopoly on the flights to Surinam so the tickets can be very expensive especially during the months that lots of Surinam people from Holland go to Surinam to visit their family. June, July and August and November to January the tickets are the most expensive (holiday time in Holland)

From Holland its not difficult to find a job in Surinam cause we have lots of adverts etc. here for jobs in Surinam. (in special magazines)

And Dutch is the main language besides Sranan Tongo the Surinam language.
But everybody can speak English too.

Except fot the Dutch people Surinam is quite an unknown country.

Terrible beaches (silt from the Amazon, so no one goes there for vacation. Civil war through the 1980s. Half of the population left for Holland, Belize and the US. 450,000 means it is a suburb of New York spread around a whole country.

Hi,

Recently i have got an employment offer in surinam and i am from india. Can i get indian vegeterian food at surinam? How safe is it living in surinam (paramaribo) as a foreigner? Is there good local transport system at paramaribo? Kindly give suggestions.

Cheers,

You can get all sorts of Indian food in Paramaribo, there is a big Indian community there. Can't comment on security though I believe that its fine as long as you stick to the rules that you would do in any city, travelling roads outside the city at night can be a bit dodgy though, especially the road to Albina.

Go for it, enjoy, Paramaribo is a really cool place!

and how easy is it to find them in holland?
any websites u'd recommend?
bye bye

'Indian' people in Suriname are locally called Hindustani. This is because the original inhabitants were South American Indians.
I've a bit of history on my Suriname page.