Central Suriname
Sixteen thousand square kilometres of rainforest and granite domes in the heart of Suriname, reached by bush plane to an island in the Coppename.
- Arrival
- Johan Adolf Pengel International · PBM
- To the reserve
- About 185 km from PBM in a straight line
- Private jets
- At PBM; small planes fly on from town
- Best time
- September to October
The city
Granite, rivers and high forest.
In 1998 Suriname and Conservation International joined three older reserves, Raleighvallen, Tafelberg and Eilerts de Haan, into one block of 1.6 million hectares. UNESCO inscribed it two years later. Inside are the country’s highest summit, Julianatop at 1,230 metres, and Tafelberg at 1,026.
Trips usually start at Raleigh Falls on the Coppename River, where a small airstrip is the way in and out for hikers. Hikes go on to the Voltzberg, the best-known of the granite domes, with a research station at its foot. Scientists have counted more than 5,000 plants here. Jaguars and giant armadillos live in the forest alongside eight kinds of primate, and birders come looking for the Guiana cock-of-the-rock.
- Raleigh Falls Falls on the Coppename River, with an airstrip on Fungu Tabiki island close by.
- Voltzberg A dome of black granite 245 metres high, reached on foot from the Raleigh airstrip.
- Tafelberg At 1,026 metres, the summit that gave one of the three founding reserves its name.
Arriving
Jet to Zanderij, bush plane to the Coppename.
Long-haul flights arrive at Zanderij, some 185 kilometres from the centre of the reserve. The way in is the Raleigh airstrip on Fungu Tabiki, an island in the Coppename, with 500 metres of grass.
- Barbados 1 h 45
- Antigua 2 h 25
- São Paulo 4 h 30
- Palm Beach 5 h 00
- Milan 10 h 20 long-range jet
When to go
September to October.
There are no published averages for the interior, so the figures are from Paramaribo on the coast; the forest is likely wetter. Coastal rainfall drops below 90 mm only in September and October, and May and June bring about 300 mm each.
- 30° J 197
- 30° F 144
- 30° M 140
- 31° A 213
- 30° M 302
- 30° J 302
- 31° J 224
- 32° A 171
- 33° S 87
- 33° O 86
- 32° N 107
- 30° D 181
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