Pretty Poison & Watch out for the Slang!

Greetings All,

After our exciting expedition to Kasikasima, we returned to Palumeu.  We left early the following morning for a one-hour boat ride down the Tapanahony River to the trailhead for Poti Hill. Although not nearly as high as Kasikasima, the trek through primary forest was equally interesting.  We caught glimpses of Red Howler and Brown Capuchin monkeys and finally Marc was able to photograph a Screaming Piha!  They're not as impressive to look at as they are to listen to.

Screaming Piha

We reached the summit of Poti Hill and scanned the rainforest canopy below us for Crimson fruitcrows.  This scarlet-colored member of the Cotinga family has been sighted from Poti Hill but we were not fortunate to see it.  On the way back down, Henk spotted a tiny snake and we stopped to investigate.  It turned out to be a baby Fer-de-lance, one of the most venomous snakes in the neotropics!

Fer-de-lance

We photographed it from a safe distance before returning to our boat and Palumeu Jungle Lodge.  The following day we said goodbye to Henk, Michel and our expedition crew from Palumeu.  Without their hard work our climb up Kasikasima would not have been possible. A short 20-minute flight in the Caravan brought us to the Maroon Village of Kajana.  The Maroons are descendants from slaves that escaped from their cruel Dutch masters to the rainforest where they formed tribes and started a new life.  The Saramaccan Tribe lives in this area.  A 30-minute boat ride down the Gran Rio River brought us to Awarradam Jungle Lodge at the foot of Awarradam Rapids.

Capped Herons at Awarradam Rapids

 
The lodge employs Saramaccan Maroons and the wooden cabins with thatched roofs are built in the traditional Maroon style.  Our cooks were also Maroon and prepared our meals over a wood fire using mostly Surinamese ingredients.

One of the Cooks

The next morning we took a walk in the primary rainforest.  Much to my dismay it started to rain.  It's very difficult to find let alone photograph birds and animals in the forest when it's raining.  My mood brightened when we spotted many brilliantly colored Poison Dart Frogs on the jungle floor!  

Poison Dart Frog

Poison Dart Frog

The one good thing about the rain is that it does bring out these colorful frogs.  These amphibians are often called "dart frogs" due to the Amerindians' indigenous use of their toxic secretions to poison the tips of their blow-darts.  Many species are threatened and we were very happy to have finally encountered some.  We spent a relaxing afternoon at Peti Rapids just upriver from the lodge.

Peti Rapids

Another early morning walk in the rainforest yielded no birds or mammals but gave us the opportunity to observe some of the jungle's smaller inhabitants like this Brazilian Giant Tortoise

Tortoise

and this Bird-eating Spider!

Bird-eating Spider

Considered to be one of the largest spiders in the world, the Goliath Bird-eater rarely preys on birds. They are nocturnal and this one had retreated to his burrow for the day.  Back at our cabin we could hear Hummingbirds across the river.  We went out to investigate and found a pair of beautiful male Crimson Topaz engaged in a squabble.   They are the second largest hummingbird in the world and the males are spectacular with iridescent crimson plumage and a sparkling green throat.

Male Crimson Topaz Hummingbirds

That afternoon we passed on the village visit in order to do another walk in the forest.  We were joined by Sedney, the lodge manager and Kaja, from the nearby village.  We walked through agrifields and secondary forest before entering the primary rainforest.  Suddenly, Kaja became very excited.  He didn't speak but used gestures and guttural noises to indicate the presence of monkeys. At first I thought he did this so as not to scare away the monkeys with human voices but when I saw Sedney using a form of sign language, I realized that Kaja was deaf.  He amazingly spotted three species of monkeys for us, the Guianan Red Howler, Common Squirrel and Brown Capuchin.

Common Squirrel Monkey

 
We were told that most of the animals in this area had been hunted out so Sedney and Kaja were very excited to see them.  When Marc got a few good photos and showed them to Kaja he beamed with pride.  For us it was not about seeing the monkeys but in seeing Kaja and Sedney's reaction in finding them for us to photograph.  Maybe in some small way we were helping to convince the locals to spare a few animals for the tourists to enjoy.

Guianan Red Howler Monkey

The next day we flew back to Paramaribo before transferring by mini van to the border town of Albina the next day.  Here is the map of Suriname again so you can get your bearings.

 

Suriname Map

At Albina we waited around for a couple of hours for a boat to take us down the Maroni River to the village of Christaankondre.  We were joined by a Dutch couple who were taking great care to waterproof their day packs.  Since we were not returning to Paramaribo we had ALL our belongings with us.  We asked the guide if our bags would be OK on the boat he replied "Yes, they will be under a tarp".  We waited for the previous occupants of the boat to disembark and for the crew to load the boat with more supplies apparently for a large group of Swedes that were going to the same lodge as us on a later boat.  Finally we were ready to board when our guide says "Wait a minute, let the schoolchildren get on first."  Schoolchildren, no one mentioned schoolchildren to us.  They piled into the boat along with all the supplies and left a front row seat for us.  The Dutch woman looked at me uncertainly and asked if the boat was safe with so many passengers.

Schoolchildren Boarding Our boat

We shrugged our shoulders and piled in.  A stiff wind was blowing and we were going against the waves.  Soon it became apparent why the kids jumped in the back and pulled the tarp covering our bags over their heads!  After just a few minutes, we were getting doused with every wave that hit the boat and our passports were in pouches around our necks!  We shouted "Stop, we want to go back!" "Back to Albina?" our guide replied.  "No, back in the boat." we answered.  We crawled over supplies and school kids to a bench in the middle of the boat and slipped under the tarp with the giggling school girls.  It was going to be a long hour and a half ride!  We couldn't see a thing as the boat rocked and rolled down the Maroni River towards its mouth with the Atlantic Ocean.  Somehow we made it and all our stuff remained relatively dry!

That night after dinner, we braved another boat ride to reach Galibi Nature Reserve to look for nesting Green Sea Turtles.  This time it only took 15 minutes, there were no school kids and we stayed dry.  No sooner had we arrived on the beach when our guide starting talking about a slang,  "Watch out for the slang!" he said.  It was dark (lights scare off nesting sea turtles) and we had to avoid a slang.  Our guide switched on my headlamp which he had borrowed and a South American Pond Snake was lying on the beach.  "Oh, slang is Dutch for snake!" I exclaimed.  Out went the light and we quickly passed by the slang.

Watch out for the Slang!

Our boatman had found a Green Sea Turtle that was just covering up her eggs.  At this point in the nesting process, we could approach without disturbing her.

Nesting Green Sea Turtle

The second turtle we encountered was just coming ashore and unfortunately we did disturb her and she turned around and returned to the sea.  Tio, our guide said she would return in about 10 minutes. In the meantime, our boatman spotted a second snake.  This one looked like a baby anaconda to me.

Baby Anaconda

The Green Anaconda is the largest/heaviest and second longest snake in the world.  This baby has a lot of growing to do to reach up to 17 feet in length.  Our boatman had found a third Green Sea Turtle. She was still in the process of scooping out her nest chamber with her back flippers so we could not approach without disturbing her.  We waited about 20 minutes for her to start laying her eggs before going to the nest.  At this point the sea turtle goes into an "egg-laying trance" and you can approach her without interrupting the process.   She was in the process of laying around 85 ping-pong ball-sized eggs into a hole about 2 feet deep.  

Green Sea Turtle Laying Eggs

We watched in awe as she completed a process that has been going on for millions of years.  Today some species of sea turtles are threatened with extinction.  Poaching, getting trapped in fishing nets and loss of nesting beaches have taken a heavy toll.  It was good to see the villagers of Christaankondre protecting "their" sea turtles.  They realize there is money to be made from the tourists who come to see them nest.  What a fitting end to our fascinating visit to the tiny South American country of Suriname!

We hope all is well back home.

Peggy and Marc

Kasikasima, Biggest of the Big!

Greetings All,

On February 24 we flew from Managua, Nicaragua to Paramaribo, Suriname, a tiny country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America.  Here is a map showing the places we'll visit during our 2-week stay:

Map of Suriname Showing the Places We'll Visit

We arrived late at night and thankfully our transfer was waiting to take us to our hotel.  We were surprised to see the city streets crowded with traffic and pedestrians at this late hour.  "Is it always this way?" I asked our driver.  "No," he explained, "tomorrow is a national holiday, Liberation and Renewal Day."  President Desi Bouterse created this holiday 4 years ago to commemorate the coup he staged that brought him to power 31 years ago!  

Paramaribo is the capital and largest city in Suriname with 250,000 inhabitants.  The historic inner city has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2002.  Many of the city's privately-owned wooden buildings dating from Dutch colonial times (1667-1954) have been restored while government-owned buildings have not.  The government of Suriname has received a warning that Paramaribo may lose its World Heritage status so renovation of these buildings has begun.

Colonial Dutch Buildings in Paramaribo

Paramaribo is a multi-ethnic city comprised of East Indians, Maroons, Creoles, Javanese, Chinese and Europeans of Dutch and English descent.  The city has one of the oldest Muslim and Jewish communities in the Western Hemisphere and here a mosque and synagogue peacefully coexist side by side.

Mosque and Synagogue in Paramaribo

Our city tour concluded with a visit to Fort Zeelandia.  The fort was built in 1640 by the French and taken over by the British who called it Fort Willoughby.  In 1667 the Dutch captured the fort and renamed it Fort Zeelandia.

Fort Zeelandia

The next morning we left Paramaribo for the jungle interior of Suriname to climb the mysterious Kasikasima Mountain.   A 75-minute flight in a Caravan brought us to the tiny Amerindian village of Palumeu situated at the confluence of the Palumeu and Upper Tapanahony Rivers.  Around 300 members of the Trio and Wajana tribes eke out a living by fishing, hunting and growing a few crops in rainforest clearings.  We spent out first night at the Palumeu Jungle Lodge in preparation for our trip upriver the next day.

Palumeu Jungle Lodge

Our Kasikasima Expedition Team consisted of Henk, our Maroon trip leader, Roy, a local guide, Jakra, our boatman, Remy, a helper, Toewise, our cook, her son Arien (all from the village of Palumeu) Marc, Michel, a Dutch tourist, and myself.  We loaded all our provisions needed for the next 5 days including food, hammocks, a spare boat motor, fishing gear and even a weed whacker into a motorized dugout canoe.

Packed Up and Ready to Go!

We cruised up the Palumeu River whose banks were lined with rainforest.  At first there were clearings in the forest where the villages have tiny agricultural plots to grow manioc, corn, bananas, pineapple and peanuts.  The soil here isn't very fertile so every few years a new plot has to be cleared and the old one reverts to secondary rainforest.  We stopped at Jakra's farm to pick up a fishing net and continued up river to the Puliowima Rapids.  It's quite exciting motoring up rapids in a fully loaded dugout canoe.  I tried to capture the excitement in this video:

Motoring through the Puliowima Rapids on the Palumeu River 

We stopped for lunch at an abandoned fishing village just above the Wejo Rapids.  After lunch we continued our journey not seeing much in the way of wildlife.  Since hunting is prevalent in the area, you have to travel away from the village in order to see animals.  Suddenly Henk shouts "otters on the rock!"  I couldn't believe it there was a family of 5 Giant River Otters sunning themselves on a rock about 100 meters ahead.

Giant River Otters

They let us approach to within 40 meters while craning their necks trying to figure out what we were.  With shrill cries of protest over our intrusion, they slid off the rock and hid behind it.  Giant River Otters are one of the most endangered mammal species in the neotropics.  Habitat degradation and loss are the current greatest threats.  The Guianas are one of the last real stronghold for the species and we were very lucky to see this family.  We soon reached Camp Kamankabari named after the rapids just beyond.  Situated on a tiny island in the river, the camp was a pleasant surprise.  There was a dining/kitchen area with a thatched roof and a hammock house also with a thatched roof.  I was worried about camping in the jungle without any protection from the rain but we would stay quite dry in our hammocks and mosquito nets under a thatched roof.

Camp Kamankabari

Toewise prepared dinner of rice, pork and string beans over a wood fire.  It was a nice evening and we sat and watched a Black Caracara bathe in the river below.

Black Caracara Bathing in the Palumeu River

We turned in early and I struggled to get comfortable in my hammock.  I tried numerous positions but all hurt my back or neck.  After about an hour of frustrating tossing and turning I told Marc "This is ridiculous, I can't spend 12 hours in this contraption!".  So we got up and went to talk to Henk in the dining house.  We managed to stay up until 9:30 and gave the hammocks a second try.  This time I was more tired and actually slept reasonably well with the sounds of the jungle and river lulling me to sleep.

The next morning we repacked the boat and continued up river to the Tronbaka Rapids.  Tronbaka means turn back and for good reason.  There was no way we could motor through these Rapids.  We'd have to portage around.  We unloaded the boat and starting carrying our provisions up a steep slippery hill.  There was a wheelbarrow on top of the hill which we used for the heavier stuff.

Portage Around Tronbaka Rapids

We managed to get all our stuff above the rapids but what about the boat?  Would Jakra be able to get the empty boat through the rapids?  The answer came when Jakra arrived carrying the spare boat motor.  There were two rather decrepit boats on the other side both full of water and on the verge of sinking.

Are These Boats "River Worthy"?

We would use the white and green boat for the remainder of our trip up the river.  Jakra, bailed out the water, pulled off a loose board and attached the motor.  As we loaded our "new" boat it began to rain.  After some refreshing watermelon we were underway.  I spotted a Guianan Red Howler Monkey high up in the forest canopy.  When we stopped to investigate we could see that the Howlers were with some Guiana Spider Monkeys.  Now that we were nearly 75km from Palumeu we were beginning to see more wildlife.

Guianan Red Howler Monkey

Around the next bend the imposing granite knobs of Kasikasima loomed above the river.

First View of Kasikasima

"How on earth are we going to climb that?  I anxiously wondered.  Henk explained that Kasikasima means "biggest of the big" in the local language.  Even though it's only the 12th highest peak in Suriname, it is the highest mountain in this region.   Just beyond, Sawaniboto Camp came into view below a set of raging rapids with the same name.  There was no way around these rapids, this was our final stop on the river.  Sawaniboto Camp is larger than our previous Kamankabari Camp. There was a large hammock house with a wooden floor, a separate dining house, a cook hut and a second hammock house for our crew.

Sawaniboto Camp

Although the upper hammock house was large enough for everyone all the staff except for Jakra chose to sleep in the lower house.  We settled into camp, home for the next 3 nights.  The clouds rolled in early and it started to rain after dinner.  We sought refuge in our hammocks hoping the weather would clear tomorrow for our hike up Kasikasima.

Marc Next to his Mosquito Net Covered Hammock

We convinced Henk to start our hike later in the morning after the rain had cleared.  We set out about 9:45 leaving Toewise, Arien and Remy at camp.  There was a reasonably good trail through primary forest.  We could hear birds and monkeys high in the forest canopy but they were hard to spot.  We clambered over a series of 4 hills often times climbing over fallen trees and crossing tiny creeks on slippery logs. After about 2 hours we arrived at the base of Kasikasima.  We were hoping to get a glimpse of the Guianan Cock of the Rock, a bright orange bird with a half-moon crest but had to settle for hearing it only.  We climbed steeply for about 800 vertical feet reaching a rocky outcrop about 250 feet below the highest summit.

Us on Kasikasima

We could go no higher without doing a technical rock climb.  Henk said that he didn't know of anyone that had reached the actual summit.

Rock Summit of Kasikasima

The view from our vantage point was stunning.  We could see across hundreds of miles of unbroken rainforest to the Brazilian border.

View From Kasikasima

There were no roads, villages or any sign that humans had penetrated this virgin rainforest.  Yet, somehow Remy had crossed this expanse of jungle from Brazil all by himself to settle in Palumeu!  In the distance we could see rain showers but they dissipated before they reached us.  We hung out on the rocks enjoying the view and utter solitude before heading back down.  We reached camp before more rain began to fall.

The next morning Henk, Roy, Marc and I set off around 9:30 for the Koedebakoe Rapids further up river.   We could hear the iconic rainforest calls of the Screaming Piha, a bird more easily heard than seen.  Click on the link below to hear the Screaming Piha.

Calls of the Screaming Piha  

We reached the Koedebakoe Rapids in an hour and a half and sat on some rocks to take in their awesome power.

Koedebakoe Rapids

Henk led on the way back and stopped abruptly.  I could make out a large shape in the path ahead.  It was a Giant Anteater!  It slipped off into the forest before Marc could get a photo.  A little further down the trail Hank spotted 4 Collared Peccaries!  This time Marc was able to get a photo.

Collared Peccary

Not far from camp we spotted a small troop of Golden-handed Tamarins.  We saw one of these tiny monkeys in Guyana in 2007 but it was a pet.  This was our first sighting of wild Golden-handed Tamarins. " Why would a black monkey evolve to have golden hands?" I wondered.

Golden-handed Tamarin

What a great hike!  We were so lucky to see so many animals including the rarely encountered Giant Anteater.  Later that afternoon we visited the Sawaniboto Rapids just above camp.  The guys never missed an opportunity to fish and joined us with poles in hand.  The clouds held off and we were treated to the light of the full moon reflected in the river.

Moonlight Reflected in the Palumeu River

As I lay in my hammock that night gazing out at the trees bathed in moonlight, I thought about the unbroken rainforest that lay beyond and what creatures may be lurking there.  What a privilege to enter their realm and get a glimpse of some of these elusive inhabitants and to climb the mysterious mountain that reigns over this primeval land!

We hope all is well back home.

Peggy and Marc