Easy Travel Suriname: Saramaccan-Led Journeys Into the Rainforest Interior
A family-run outfitter turning Suriname's vast, hard-to-reach interior into a relaxed, culturally rich adventure.
Why Go
Suriname is one of the least-visited countries in South America, and its jungle is not the kind of place you improvise. Easy Travel is the local fixer that unlocks it ΓÇö a Saramaccan family with roots in the Upper Suriname river villages, running unhurried custom trips that swap glossy brochures for hammocks, dugout canoes, and cooking fires. Their office on Kailanweg in Paramaribo is essentially a launching pad: you arrive in the capital, sit down with them, and by the next morning you're on a bus headed south toward Atjoni and the boats that take you deeper.
The Experience
Book anything and the tone is the same ΓÇö laid-back, family-warm, and pointedly local. Trips typically start with an early pickup in Paramaribo, then a road transfer to Atjoni or the Brokopondo reservoir, followed by a long, wind-in-your-face motorized dugout ride upriver. Accommodation is in stilted wooden lodges (Pingpe, Kajana, Gunsi, Kumalu Dream Island), meals are cooked communally, and days are spent swimming in the sopropo-brown river, visiting Saramaccan Maroon villages, hiking to waterfalls, and drifting off to the sound of howler monkeys. Guides speak Saramaccan, Sranan Tongo, Dutch, and enough English to translate the folklore. Because everything is bespoke, no two Easy Travel itineraries look identical ΓÇö some travelers add Brownsberg Nature Park or the leatherback turtles at Galibi, others push west to Raleighvallen and Voltzberg, or cross the Marowijne into Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni in French Guiana.
What to Try
The Upper Suriname (Boven-Suriname) multi-day trip is the signature ΓÇö three to five nights around Pingpe, Kumalu, or Kajana with village visits, waterfall hikes, and river swims. Ask about the Kumalu Dream Island stay for the quintessential 'hammock over the water' postcard. Birders should specifically request the specialized birding itinerary; Galibi (FebΓÇôAug) is unmissable if sea turtle nesting overlaps your dates. And don't skip the Easy Cooking add-on ΓÇö an in-home Surinamese cooking class in Paramaribo is one of the best ways to decode the country's Javanese-Creole-Hindustani-Maroon food mash-up before or after your jungle leg.
Insider Tip
Contact them well before you book flights, and do it via WhatsApp rather than the web form ΓÇö response times are dramatically faster, and because trips are custom-built, a short back-and-forth about your dates, fitness, and interests will shape a much better itinerary than a generic package. Ask directly whether your guide will be a family member from Upper Suriname; that's the version of the trip you actually want. Also bring cash euros or SRD for tips and village purchases ΓÇö ATMs disappear the moment you leave Paramaribo.
The Practical Stuff
Office is at Kailanweg 9 in Paramaribo, a residential side of town rather than the historic center ΓÇö grab a taxi (about SRD 150ΓÇô200 from downtown) rather than walking. Contact by WhatsApp, email, or their booking form; there are no fixed departures, everything is custom, and pricing is quoted per itinerary. Bring quick-dry clothes, a headlamp, reef-safe sunscreen, DEET-strength repellent, and a dry bag for boat transfers. Yellow fever vaccination is required for Suriname and often checked at neighboring borders. The dry seasons (FebΓÇôApr and AugΓÇôNov) give the smoothest river travel; heavy rains can shorten hikes but make waterfalls spectacular.
Pair It With
- Peperpot Nature Park Guide — An easy half-day birding and former-plantation walk just outside Paramaribo ΓÇö perfect for the day before or after your jungle leg while you're still based in the city.
- Fort Zeelandia & Paramaribo's UNESCO wooden center — Do a self-guided wander through the Dutch colonial old town so the cultural context ΓÇö Maroon history, slavery, independence ΓÇö is fresh before you head upriver with an Easy Travel guide.
- Warung dining in Blauwgrond — Cap the trip with a Javanese-Surinamese warung dinner (bami, saoto soup, petjil) ΓÇö the cuisine you'll have just learned to cook in the Easy Cooking class.
- Commewijne plantation bike tour — A relaxed cycling day across the river through old coffee and cacao estates pairs nicely with the more intense jungle portion of an Easy Travel itinerary.