Rain in the Rainforest

There I was in the pouring rain with a cutlass in hand cutting away virgin bush with my guide making a fresh path within Brownsburg park to see the famed Leo and Irene vals (waterfalls). When we finally arrived scraped up and bruised from near death attacks by large animals along the way, it seemed like we had encountered the mythical El Dorado. Well in reality I was panting along a well cleared path, with a dozen other Dutch and Belgians all having a jolly good time with the guide speaking Dutch (I was the odd one out speaking only English) while I was dreaming of returning to the bus so I could get some water. But nonetheless I still had a nice time on a real "half day" tour to the interior of Suriname. 

The day before was also very nice. I began my day with some street food for breakfast, I had something that seemed like a bread pudding bar; It was delicious! Then I rented a bicycle and went to the rum factory/museum and had a small private tour of the museum (they only do a factory tour on Tuesdays) and a tasting of some rum. They were nice, but nothing to write home about, I still prefer the Guyanese El Dorado. Then after the tasting I biked out for 5 hours to the other side of the river to visit the old sugar plantation that the Distilery used to use. So in addition to a nice ride through the country side, it was a great experience seeing this particular plantation, marionburg, to see the full process of where the cane came from and to see where it went for processing and to taste the final product. A tiring but very worthwhile day. (I have however officially lost hope in sunscreen and think that it is a money making ploy to sell multiple skin products and nothing more. I don't want to hear any excuses, I had UVA/UVB protection AND I applied it multiple times throughout the day religiously. So I'm not sure why I would hav such a horrible burn? I feel like I burned more because of the cream I was using and may have been better off without it!). 

But alas I have moved on from Dutch Guiana (Suriname) and am now in French Guiana. I arrived yesterday and really had a nice relaxing time. It started pouring just as I left Parimaribo and really hasn't stopped since. My host in Saint Laurent-du-Maroni kindly picked me up at immigration after crossing the river from Suriname by speed boat (also through the pouring rain) and took me to his home. Since it was pouring all day I just relaxed and talked with him and his flatmates all day on their outdoor patio overlooking their gardens. Such a wonderful and relaxing time. 

Today I hitchhiked back to St. Laurent to walk around the town for the morning to see the Camp de la Transportation, an old penal colony in which the entire town was built around, and eating various fresh pastries as I strolled from shop to shop. 

I'm now in Kourou (actually staying at the home of the people that picked me up in st. Laurent while I wait for my couch surfing host to finish work) and tomorrow I'm hoping to visit the space center. 

Au revoir!