New Year in Paramaribo

On the 28th December, at 4.30 am, Tessa (fellow VSO teacher, from the Netherlands) and I set off in Brian's minibus, starting the 348 km journey by road and ferry to Paramaribo, capital of neighbouring Suriname. The paired minibus service-with complementing vehicles in each country-, which collects and drops off each passenger at personal addresses, works efficiently and reasonably quickly, given that once out of the towns, the connecting route is one two-lane road, decently maintained.
Conversely, the ferry service adopts its own time frame taken from an earlier century. The half hour crossing of the River Correntyne, in a large boat carrying foot passengers and up to 20 vehicles, is sandwiched between hours of queuing, while officials check passports, prepare tickets, inspect luggage or simply wait until the clock reaches the next hour: all documentation is hand written- slowly- in between answering the phone, disappearing into a back office, breaking off to discuss with a colleague.

And so, 11 hours later, we reached our destination, quickly unpacked, and headed for town.

(photo-internet)

Boarding the ferry at Moleson Creek, Guyana.
The boat docks at the beautifully named Southdrain terminal, Suriname.