Paramaribo is a large, sprawling city. I explored it on foot during my first day here in Suriname. As my guesthouse was located on the outskirts of town, I had to walk quite a bit in the constant dry heat. There are a lot of cars and buses on the roads, it all seemed relatively prosperous and lively. It took me about 40 minutes to reach the “Waterkant”, the stretch near the Suriname River where the area with the best quality colonial buildings starts. Along the way, in the commercial city center, there are some old wooden buildings too, but these are dilapidated and almost hidden among the gold jewellers, the casinos and the Chinese supermarkets.

The historic core zone is also blessed with quieter, leafy streets. The wooden mansions, all white, are of a size that could only have belonged to wealthy colonials or government buildings. Here also lies Fort Zeelandia – a very small fortress in the typical Dutch style. The surrounding officers' houses in my opinion are the greatest examples of the wooden architecture of Paramaribo. This whole area is in a brilliant state of conservation by the way.

I was the first to enter Fort Zeelandia that day. They had no change available yet to break my 50 Suri dollar bill, but the friendly man on guard waved me in and said I could pay later when I left. The inner court of the Fort looks unbelievably Dutch, thanks to the use of red brick I guess. The Fort now holds a museum, with a few simple but entertaining exhibition rooms.

North of Fort Zeelandia lies Independence Square. The central square itself was fenced off, maybe in preparation for the coming national holidays and festival, or because of restoration purposes, I don’t know. Fortunately, I could still walk on the surrounding road, and admire the grand Presidential Palace and the Ministry of Finance (a classical brick building with a clock tower, not unlike Independence Hall in Philadelphia). A bit further north lies the Cathedral, almost the only building in the historic area that isn’t white. Yellow and blue-grey are its colours, and it’s all made of wood. Together with the cathedral of Georgetown (Guyana), which I hope to visit in a few days, it’s the largest structure of its kind.

I really enjoyed my walk around Paramaribo – it’s a hassle-free and friendly city, with a large number of high-quality colonial buildings that is unique in the Caribbean world.