What better time of the day then doing the sightseeing in the morning when the city is still asleep, except the sun that starts to heat up after about 08:00. The historic center is small and you can do the tour easily in a day. I went to Fort Zeelandia first, including museum about the history of Fort Zeelandia itself as well as about the history of Surinam.

I paid the fee and contrary to the museums in Brazil, Fort Zeelandia actually was very well preserved, complete in the decoration and the exhibition, including a knowledgably tour guide and a fancy restaurant. Amazing to see and feel that coming from a French colony now I was in a Dutch colony and being European and knowing both countries very well, I really felt a bit in the Netherlands. Not only the street names, but the language of course, the architecture, the food, the bicycles, the church and the bank reminded me directly of the Dutch cities I only knew too well.

After Fort Zeelandia I combined the sightseeing with the need for money in order to fill up the car with gas, pay the ferry and some drinks and food. As well I wanted to visit the consulate of Guyana. I came by the mosque, which surprised me a bit to see Muslim religion in this part of the world. This was definitely new to me and I got even more surprised when I realized the immediate neighbor of the Mosque was actually the Jewish Synagogue. It was in a way unbelievable to see this reality of the two religions next to each other after endless years of war and tension, of assaults and terrorism in the Middle East.

I continued to the consulate of Guyana to understand that you needed long trousers to get in and that there was no Visa necessary for German nationality. That was positive but at the same time I still started to get a strange feeling about the following days of my route to and through Guyana which accompanied me the whole day and my stomach started to feel upset and tense which then affected my heartbeat and I could hear and feel the beats like internal blows to my chest. I needed some rest and went to the car and close my eyes for an hour or two.

The rest helped bit and I went for some drink and food before the night. The historical center got empty very quick after closure of the administration of the country’s official institutions. Basically all historical buildings are occupied by administration, banks, international institutions and consulates. I drove a bit around to get the drink and some snack and prepared myself for the night and unfortunately for the next days. My mind, my stomach and my heart left me with a very uncomfortable and awkward feeling which told me as well that I would not get a lot of sleep tonight.

Please click on “View Album” to see pictures in a Google+ Album.