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Suriname's dry seasons, from early February to late April and from mid-August to early December, are the best times for a visit. From March to July, several species of sea turtles come ashore to nest at Wia Wia and Galibi reserves - truly a sight to behold. Most travelers visit July through August, when prices slightly inflate.
There are twice-weekly flights from Amsterdam to Paramaribo. Miami and Atlanta are the main departure points for flights from the US, and there are also flights from various Caribbean islands and Brazil. Surinam Airways offers flights to/from Miami and Amsterdam, and other carriers flying into Suriname include KLM, Air France and Caribbean Airlines. There's a rickety passenger ferry from Nieuw Nickerie across the Corantijn River to Springlands, Guyana; and another across the Marowijne River between Albina and St Laurent du Maroni (French Guiana).
Dangers & Annoyances
Suriname is a relatively safe travel destination, but pickpocketing and theft - sometimes violent - are becoming increasingly common, especially in the major shopping and business districts of the capital. The market area in Paramaribo is particularly bad for pickpockets. Seek local advice regarding unsafe areas and use common sense to avoid dangerous situations. A good way to avoid trouble while traveling at night is to use taxis, which are reliable and cheap.
Local Health Conditions
malaria
This serious and potentially fatal disease is spread by mosquito bites. If you are traveling in endemic areas it is extremely important to avoid mosquito bites and to take tablets to prevent this disease. Symptoms range from fever, chills and sweating, headache, diarrhea and abdominal pains to a vague feeling of ill-health. Seek medical help immediately if malaria is suspected. Without treatment malaria can rapidly become more serious and can be fatal.
If medical care is not available, malaria tablets can be used for treatment. You should seek medical advice, before you travel, on the right medication and dosage for you.
If you do contract malaria, be sure to be re-tested for malaria once you return home as you can harbor malaria parasites in your body even if you are symptom free.
Travelers are advised to prevent mosquito bites at all times. The main messages are: wear light-colored clothing; wear long trousers and long-sleeved shirts; use mosquito repellents containing the compound DEET on exposed areas (prolonged overuse of DEET may be harmful, especially to children, but its use is considered preferable to being bitten by disease-transmitting mosquitoes); avoid perfumes and aftershave. Use a mosquito net impregnated with mosquito repellent (permethrin) - it may be worth taking your own.
rabies
This is a fatal viral infection. Many animals can be infected (such as dogs, cats, bats and monkeys) and it's their saliva that is infectious. Any bite, scratch or even lick from a warm-blooded, furry animal should be cleaned immediately and thoroughly. Scrub with soap and running water, and then apply alcohol or iodine solution.
Medical help should be sought promptly to receive a course of injections to prevent the onset of symptoms and death.
typhoid
Also known as enteric fever, typhoid is transmitted via food and water, and symptomless carriers, especially when they're working as food handlers, are an important source of infection. Typhoid is caused by a type of salmonella bacteria, Salmonella typhi. Paratyphoid is a similar but milder disease.
The symptoms are variable, but you almost always get a fever and headache to start with, which initially feels very similar to flu, with aches and pains, loss of appetite and general malaise. Typhoid may be confused with malaria. The fever gradually rises during a week. Characteristically your pulse is relatively slow for someone with a fever. Other symptoms you may have are constipation or diarrhea and stomach pains.
You may feel worse in the second week, with a constant fever and sometimes a red skin rash. Other symptoms you may have are severe headache, sore throat and jaundice. Serious complications occur in about one in 10 cases, including, most commonly, damage to the gut wall with subsequent leakage of the gut contents into the abdominal cavity.
Seek medical help for any fever (38°C/100°F and higher) that does not improve after 48 hours. Typhoid is a serious disease and is not something you should consider self-treating.
Re-hydration therapy is important if diarrhea has been a feature of the illness, but antibiotics are the mainstay of treatment.
dengue fever
Unlike the malaria mosquito, the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which transmits the dengue virus, is most active during the day, and is found mainly in urban areas, in and around human dwellings.
Signs and symptoms of dengue fever include a sudden onset of high fever, headache, joint and muscle pains, nausea and vomiting. A rash of small red spots sometimes appears three to four days after the onset of fever. Severe complications do sometimes occur.
You should seek medical attention as soon as possible if you think you may be infected. A blood test can indicate the presence of the fever. There is no specific treatment, but aspirin should be avoided, as it increases the risk of hemorrhaging. There is no vaccine against dengue fever.
cholera
This diarrheal disease can cause rapid dehydration and death. Cholera is caused by a bacteria, Vibrio cholerae . It's transmitted from person to person by direct contact (often via healthy carriers of the disease) or via contaminated food and water. It can be spread by seafood, including crustaceans and shellfish, which get infected via sewage.
Cholera exists where standards of environmental and personal hygiene are low. Every so often there are massive epidemics, usually due to contaminated water in conditions where there is a breakdown of the normal infrastructure.
The time between becoming infected and symptoms appearing is usually short, between one and five days. The diarrhea starts suddenly, and pours out of you. It's characteristically described as 'rice water' diarrhea because it is watery and flecked with white mucus. Vomiting and muscle cramps are usual, but fever is rare. In its most serious form, it causes a massive outpouring of fluid (up to 20L a day). This is the worst case scenario - only about one in 10 sufferers get this severe form.
It's a self-limiting illness, meaning that if you don't succumb to dehydration, it will end in about a week without any treatment.
You should seek medical help urgently; in the meantime, start re-hydration therapy with oral re-hydration salts. You may need antibiotic treatment with tetracycline, but fluid replacement is the single most important treatment strategy in cholera.
Prevention is by taking basic food and water precautions, avoiding seafood and having scrupulous personal hygiene. The currently available vaccine is not thought worthwhile as it provides only limited protection for a short time.
Leishmaniasis
A group of parasitic diseases transmitted by sandfly bites, leishmaniasis is found in some parts of South America. Cutaneous leishmaniasis affects the skin tissue, causing ulceration and disfigurement. Visceral leishmaniasis affects the internal organs. Seek medical advice as laboratory testing is required for diagnosis and correct treatment. Avoiding sandfly bites is the best precaution. Bites are usually painless, itchy and are yet another reason to cover up and apply repellent.
schistosomiasis (bilharzia)
Also known as bilharzia, this disease is carried in freshwater by tiny worms that enter through the skin and attach themselves to the intestines or bladder. The first symptom may be tingling and sometimes a light rash around the area where the worm entered. Weeks later, a high fever may develop. A general unwell feeling may also be an early symptom. Once the disease is established, abdominal pain and blood in the urine are other signs. The infection often causes no symptoms until the disease is well established (several months to years after exposure), and damage to internal organs is irreversible.
Avoid swimming or bathing in fresh water where bilharzia is present. Even deep water can be infected. If you do get wet, dry off quickly and dry your clothes as well. A blood test is the most reliable form of diagnosis, but it will not show positive until a number of weeks after exposure.
yellow fever
Yellow fever is transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito. There is an effective vaccine against yellow fever, so if you have been immunized, you can basically rule this disease out. Symptoms of yellow fever range from a mild fever which resolves over a few days to more serious forms with fever, headache, muscle pains, abdominal pain and vomiting. This can progress to bleeding, shock, and liver and kidney failure. The liver failure causes jaundice, or yellowing of your skin and the whites of your eyes - hence the name. There's no specific treatment but you should seek medical help urgently if you think you have yellow fever.
hepatitis
Several different viruses cause hepatitis; they differ in the way that they are transmitted. The symptoms in all forms of the illness include fever, chills, headache, fatigue, feelings of weakness and aches and pains, followed by loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dark urine, light-colored feces, jaundiced (yellow) skin and yellowing of the whites of the eyes.
There are 6 known types of viral hepatitis: A, B, C, D, E and G. G is not dangerous. A and E are passed on by the fecal-oral route of transmission; there is a vaccine. Seek medical advice, but there is not much you can do apart from resting, drinking lots of fluids, eating lightly and avoiding fatty foods. A and E cause an acute illness, but you will recover fully from it.
B and D are passed on via blood, saliva, semen and vaginal fluids. They can be passed on by close contact, sexual contact, and blood-to-blood contact. The symptoms of hepatitis B may be more severe than type A and the disease can lead to long-term problems such as chronic liver damage, liver cancer or a long-term carrier state. There is a vaccine.
Hepatitis C is only passed on from blood-to-blood contact. There is no vaccine.
Visas Overview
Passports are obligatory, and those who don't need a visa are given a tourist card. Suriname is becoming somewhat liberal with its entry requirements; for example, Guyanese, Brazilian, Israeli, South Korean, Swiss and Japanese citizens don't require visas, but Australian, Canadian, French, German, Dutch, New Zealand, UK and US nationals still do. Suriname's overseas representation is very limited. There are embassies in the US, the Netherlands, Belgium, and the surrounding South American nations, but in few others. Contact the nearest embassy for an application form, but allow four weeks for a postal application. For a fee, consulates in Georgetown (Guyana) and Cayenne (French Guiana) issue two-month single-entry visitor visas within a couple of hours or days; prices rise for multiple-entry and longer-stay visas. Some travelers say that the process of obtaining a visa is easier in Cayenne than in Georgetown. Bring a passport-sized photo and your ticket out of South America.
Customs Overview
When arriving in Suriname, you must declare any currency you are carrying. You may not bring the following into the country: plants, coffee, pineapples, coconuts, bananas, fish, rice or cocoa. Meat and meat products are also prohibited unless a valid health certificate is presented.
Duty Free
Duty free allowances are 400 cigarettes or 100 cigars, 2L (2 qt) of liquor or 4L (4 qt) of wine.
People
37% East Indian or Hindustani, 31% Afro-Surinamese or Creole, 15% Indonesian or Javanese, 10% Maroons (descendants of ex-slaves who inhabit the upland forests), 2% Amerindians, 2% Chinese, 1% Caucasian
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