Day Trips from Paramaribo

A cool highland plateau 500 m above sea level where mist wraps giant ceiba trees and two waterfalls tumble into the Brokopondo Reservoir. The park gives the simplest accessible rainforest hike near Paramaribo, finishing at Irene Falls for a brisk swim.

Pedal or drive past derelict sugar mills and the brick chimneys of Rust en Werk, finishing at Mariënburg where the 1880s sugar factory still reeks of burnt molasses. A river ferry adds the feeling of slipping out of the modern world.

A sandy peninsula where, from February to August, huge leatherback turtles lumber ashore at night to dig nests. Daytime is for spotting scarlet ibis and eating crab curry in the Carib village.

Crumbling 17th-century synagogue ruins ringed by rainforest, followed by a dip in the tea-coloured creek at Blaka Watra. The spot recalls Suriname's overlooked Jewish heritage and the scent of wild cacao pods.

Longboat ride through twisted mangroves to a Saramaccan Maroon village where women still grate cassava to the rhythm of apinti drums. The air carries woodsmoke and fermented cassareep.

Former coffee and cocoa plantation reborn as wildlife spot on the edge of Paramaribo, where capuchin monkeys swing above old rail tracks and you can almost taste the cocoa drying in the sun.