For the dolphin spotting we go to their feeding grounds in the mouth of the Suriname River estuary. These gentle animals live in small groups and during high tide they swim with the salt water upriver, sometimes as far as thirty kilometers upstream. These curious and playful dolphins can reach a length of 1.70 meter and have a gestation period of 12 months. Depending on the tide in the river the dolphin spotting will be done either at the beginning or end of the tour.
The area
The district Commewijne is situated in the east of Paramaribo across the Suriname river. During the trips we visit different villages which have had glorious times with their sugar, cacao, coffee and cotton plantations. To protect the plantations and the hinterland and to assist fort Zeelandia, some military posts and forts were build. In 1734 the first stone was laid for the building of the open air fort New Amsterdam. The fort was built on an earthen fund with a structure of five points and it has the same amount bastions. Since 1968 the fort is being used as an open-air museum and the buildings as an administrative center. The channels and picturesque sluices, the remains of the old plantation houses of which some are still in use, are silent witnesses from the once so dynamic district Commewijne.
Nowadays local fishery, cattle breed, and some little plantations are the head activities of the Javanese and Hindustani descendants of the contract laborers in Commewijne.
Marine Trap
Transportation: River cruiser “Mi Gudu”
We start from the Marine Trap and sail the Suriname River to the estuary of the Commewijne River. At the museum Fort Nw-Amsterdam we’ll have a guided walk. After this we set sail to the old plantations on the right side of the Commewijne River, e.g. Rust & Werk and Frederiksdorp.
Plantation Frederiksdorp is totally renovated, and of the old plantation houses are now used as apartments for tourists. Also the old prison is now a restaurant, where we will have our lunch. On our way back we will make a short stop for a swim in the refreshing Commewijne River.
