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with certainty that Guyana will be changing a lot in the coming years. Watching wondrous manatees munching away in a pond in a Georgetown’ s downtown National Park, I met some locals which already called Guyana the“ Saudi Arabia of South America”.
Suriname would be the next country, and although having a large border with Brazil to the south, it can only be accessed by either Guyana or French Guiana, in both cases by ferry. It definitely does feel very remote and rural, the only exception being its capital Paramaribo featuring a spectacular bridge, colonial architecture, and wooden cathedral. I couldn’ t help smiling reading signs like“ Bushalte”, Dutch for bus stop and also used in German, colloquially.
Although the country was the same in terms of landscape, climate and ethnic mix including African, Indian, Indonesian, and Chinese descendants, it felt quite different again in terms of language and culture, making it obvious how big a mark a country would leave on a colony. A peculiarity in Suriname population are the Maroon cultural groups, African ethnicities that fled deep into the forest during times of slavery and formed independent populations there.
Entering French Guyana should prove a breeze since it is the only of the three countries that remained dependent on their European parent and is considered French territory, making it formally part of the EU. With my bike being EU-registered, this meant no paperwork for me upon entering. An interesting experience far away from Europe, and a strange sense of home where borders are open. One can dream!
My personal highlight was visiting the Space Centre of the European Space Agency and the launch pad of Ariane 6, which then was soon to be launched onto its inaugural flight. Apart from that, there were squirrel monkeys, leatherback turtles and sloths to be seen in the wild or climbing a friends balcony!
The final stretch and the road back to Brazil passes Cacao, a village with a population of former Vietnamese immigrants. After crossing the river back into Brazil’ s Amapa state, another good day trip’ s worth led to its capital city Macapá, including another stretch of some one hundred and ten kilometres of dirt road, whose condition varies greatly depending on the weather. Macapá did feel very Brazilian again, it is home to a tall equator monument and a harbour where ferry boats travel across or up the Amazon River.
I’ d rate this trip as worth it so long as one doesn’ t mind some border formalities and a higher daily spend than the South American average thanks to both logistics and living cost. MS
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