Brokopondo District, Suriname: The Reservoir and the Forest Above It
An inland sea full of dead trees, with Brownsberg on the ridge and Maroon villages on the shore.
Why Go
Brokopondo is the district south of the coastal belt where Suriname stops being farmland and becomes forest. Its defining feature is the reservoir — officially the Professor Doctor Ir. W. J. van Blommestein Meer, universally called the Brokopondo Reservoir — created in 1964 when the Afobaka Dam was built to power an aluminium smelter. It flooded an enormous area of forest and around forty Saramaccan Maroon villages, and the drowned trees still stand out of the water. It is the most striking and the most troubling landscape in the country.
The Experience
The district is a mix of water, forest and mining. The reservoir dominates: vast, still, and studded with grey trunks where the canopy used to be, with boats picking routes between them. Brownsberg Nature Park sits on the plateau above the western shore and is the district's and the country's most-visited piece of interior. Along the roads there is gold mining, some formal and much of it not, with the scars and mercury problems that go with it. Maroon communities are the district's population — Saramaccan on the upper river, and transmigration villages built for people displaced by the flooding, which is a live grievance rather than a historical footnote. Ston Eiland and other lodges on the water handle visitors. The district also shows what a single infrastructure decision does over sixty years. The dam produced power, the reservoir produced fisheries and a landscape, and the flooding produced a displaced population and a dispute that has outlasted the smelter it was built to serve. All three are in the same view from the Brownsberg lookout.
What to Try
Go up to Brownsberg for the plateau trails, the waterfalls and the lookout over the reservoir — it is the single best day in the district. Take a boat out on the water to see the drowned forest properly, ideally early when it is flat and mist sits between the trunks. Stay at one of the island lodges if you want the reservoir at dawn and dusk. Travel up the Suriname River above the dam toward the Saramaccan villages, which is where the interior really begins and where community-run stays are arranged through the villages themselves. Ask about the flooding and the resettlement, because it explains everything you are looking at. Go out on the water early rather than in the middle of the day. The reservoir goes flat at dawn, mist collects between the trunks, and the light does something no midday crossing will show you.
Insider Tip
Take the drowned trees as the story rather than the scenery. It photographs as an eerie landscape, and it is one, but it is also the record of a hydroelectric project built to run a foreign-owned smelter that displaced thousands of Saramaccan people whose descendants are still arguing about compensation and land rights. Ask a local guide about it directly — people talk about it plainly — and the visit becomes a great deal more interesting than a boat trip through dead wood. Book lodges ahead; the district's capacity is small and thinly spread.
The Practical Stuff
Brokopondo District lies south of Para and Wanica, roughly two to three hours from Paramaribo on a road that deteriorates as it goes. The reservoir is reached at several points, with boat trips and island lodges available; Brownsberg is a rough unpaved climb needing a high-clearance vehicle. Accommodation is lodges and community stays, basic and limited in number, and should be booked ahead. Bring cash in Surinamese dollars, insect repellent and a torch. Dutch is official, Sranan Tongo universal, with Saramaccan widely spoken. Yellow fever vaccination is commonly required and malaria precautions are advised in the interior. Rain is heaviest roughly April to August.
Common Questions
What is the Brokopondo Reservoir?
A vast artificial lake created in 1964 by the Afobaka Dam to power an aluminium smelter. It flooded a huge area of forest and around forty Saramaccan Maroon villages, and the drowned trees still stand.
Why are there dead trees in the water?
Because the forest was flooded rather than cleared. The trunks that broke the surface are still there sixty years on, and boats navigate between them.
What is there to do?
Brownsberg Nature Park on the plateau above the western shore, boat trips across the reservoir, island lodges, and river travel upstream toward the Saramaccan villages.
How far is it from Paramaribo?
Two to three hours by road, with the surface worsening as you go and the Brownsberg climb requiring a high-clearance vehicle.
Who lives in the district?
Mainly Maroon communities — Saramaccan on the upper river, along with transmigration villages built for people displaced by the flooding, which remains a live grievance.
Is there gold mining?
Yes, formal and informal, along the roads and rivers, with visible scarring and mercury contamination among its consequences.
Pair It With
- Brownsberg Nature Park — The forest plateau and the lookout.
- Brokopondo Reservoir — Dawn on the water among the trunks.
- Afobaka Dam — The reason the landscape looks like this.
