Guesthouse Kolibrie is situated right in the centre of Paramaribo. This is ideal to make a town walk. Of course we have all kinds of brochures for you to make a town walk, to rent a bike or a car, to make a boat trip, etc.

We will also give you some general information and a number of website links that provide additional information about Surinam.

Town walk

When you walk through the town daily, you hardly notice. The historical value of the old centre of Paramaribo is invaluable. The centre of the town is now on the list of UNESCO World Heritage. You can buy several route descriptions or you might have a guide.

Bike tours

Althoug the traffic is not adjusted to bicycles you can see a lot of the town of Paramaribo and its surroundings by making different bike tours. Traffic is riding on the left side of the road. Take care, alongside the road you have a lot of uncovered drains!
We recommend a tour to one of the old plantations by boat or otherwise. Some hav been restored and offer sleeping accommodation.
Also a visit to Marienburg, an old sugar cane plantation annex factory is worth visiting.

General tips

Rate of Exchange - Surinam Dollar. € 1,- is equal to SR$ 3,40. SR$ 1,0 is equal to € 0,35.

Difference in Time - It is 4 to 5 hours earlier with regard to Westen Europe.

Climate - Mean temperature in januari is 27ēC.

Elektricity - electricity supply is standard 110 Volt / 60Hz. You can buy adapters in Paramaribo, but it is wise to take your own adapters.

Phone calls - In Paramaribo you can use either a 'regular' phone or your mobile phone. You can buy a card for the public phone or a prepaid card for your mobile. More inland your monile phone is of no use.

Public Transport

Public Transport in Paramaribo consists of busses and taxis. When you travel by bus you can exit at several stops along the route. There are also buslines going through all towns along the coast. Buses do not drive according to a regular timetable.

Days of Celebration and Fetivals

Like in Holland one celebrates in Surinam Easter, Christmas and the Turn of the Year.
And then we have the following holidays:

Carnival (6 weeks before Easter)

Holi Phagwa – Hindostan feast of liberation (no fixed date)

Day of Labour (1st of May)

Keti Koti – Day of Freedom (1st of July)

Independence Day (25th of November)

Id-Ul-Fitr – Islamic ceremonial offering (no fixed date)

Important adresses an phone numbers

Alarm numbers:
115 (Police)
112 (Ambulance)

Fire station Paramaribo:
(00597) 47 33 33 of (00597) 49 11 11

Dutch Embassy in Suriname
Van Roseveltkade 5
Paramaribo
(00597) 47 72 11

Surinam Embassy in the Netherlands
Alexander Gogelweg 2
2517 JH Den Haag
(0031) 70-3650844

Websites (mostly in Dutch)

General Country information (extra links)

General Paramaribo info-page

General Travel information

General Suriname Community online

General Surinam, its people and affairs

General Wikipedia: Surinam

General Surinam startpage

General Paramaribo startpage/

Politics Government of the President of Surinam

Politics The "Nationale Assemblee" of Surinam

Culture Daily newspaper

Culture Surinam cultural heritage

Culture Webradio Surinam

Culture Recipes (with downloadable Cook book)

Culture Surinam in kaart gebracht (maps and prints KB)

Culture National Archive Surinam

Culture National Institute "Nederlands Slavernijverleden en Erfenis"

Culture Old maps (1)

Culture Old maps (2)

Culture Atlas Mutual Heritage with maps

Culture Surinam mapped (KB)

Map of Paramaribo (centre)