Dear Editor,
Needing to go to Suriname for some personal business, I decided to take the family for the trip. We packed a couple of bags, some snacks and a little cooler in the car and set out early in the morning for the three-day trip.
Everything was as usual: the roads were half blocked by the so-called markets; animals were on the loose; there were menacing policemen with radar guns expecting an ‘offence’ and the BBCI rip-off fare. Oh, well, and then again, more donkeys, more markets, more police – you name it. Luckily enough, we made it to the terminal approach road safely and without any bribe money short.
But it is there where you realize that the worst is far from over. The extremely narrow/broken bridges and a road half swallowed by jungle are a kind of indication of more unwanted adventures yet to come.
After going through the Guyana/Suriname ferry security and ticketing ‘system’ one comes to suspect that whoever is in charge hates travellers and hates his job. It is ridiculous that at one end of the river probably 80% of the travellers use the backtrack boats, with no passport or any other documents, and no safety whatsoever, while on the ferry they have the most inefficient, annoying, useless measures.
Here is the number of times you are asked to repeat the same futile information:
1- Police desk: Name, address, registration, etc
2- Ticketing window : Name, address, registration
3- Immigration office (form): Name, address, etc
4- Customs (2 forms): Name, address, registration, etc
5- Another customs officer: Name, address, etc.
Why so many procedures? At one end there is no control whatsoever, at the other they drive you nuts. This has been going on for years!
Oh well, then comes the eternal wait at the terminal, with stinking bathrooms, extreme heat and no benches under the two little trees.
But then again, the endurance/adventure is still far from over. People must walk among threatening giant wasps to make it to the boat, and then is when all really starts.
One has to wonder, who in his right mind designed the ferry? It is literally a giant fryng pan. What would it take for the operator to make the windows operable and put some tarps on the top deck for some shade? Probably they are waiting for all passengers to die of heatstroke or something.
Then, if you survive the Turkish bath, it is no better at the Suriname end. There is a snail-speed process in the extreme heat that sometimes takes up to two hours. The return from Suriname is no better either: same silly procedures, same silly systems.
The Guyana-Suriname ferry crossing is the most disgusting, fatiguing trip you could ever embark on. One has to wonder what the logic is in placing so much effort to attract a few tourists, and then making sure they will never recommend the trip, and never ever do it again unless it cannot be avoided.
We cannot wait for promises of a bridge to Suriname. The ferry must improve its treatment of passengers and become more efficient now.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)
