The Maroon River Villages

Along the rivers of Suriname's rainforest interior live the Maroons, the descendants of enslaved Africans who escaped the coastal plantations in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and fought for their freedom in the jungle, forming independent communities that endure to this day. Their villages along the Upper Suriname River preserve one of the most vibrant surviving African-rooted cultures in the Americas, rich in distinctive wood carving, drumming, dance and traditions. Visiting, reached by dugout canoe, offers a rare and moving encounter with this proud culture, staying in riverside eco-lodges amid the forest.

What you actually see

• The Maroon villages - the riverside communities and their culture.
• The wood carving - the distinctive Maroon art and craft.
• The drumming and dance - the vibrant African-rooted traditions.
• The river journey - the trip by dugout canoe through the jungle.

When to go

The drier periods, roughly February to April and August to November, are best for river travel; the villages are reached by road to a river port and then by dugout canoe, usually as part of an organised trip staying at riverside eco-lodges, which combines cultural encounters with rainforest activities.

Honest expectations

These are living communities, not a spectacle, so visits should be respectful, arranged through proper channels and eco-lodges that benefit the villages, and cultural performances, while genuine, are shared on the community's terms; access is by river and facilities are simple. As a rare, moving encounter with a proud culture forged in the struggle for freedom and one of the most intact African heritages in the Americas, though, it is deeply rewarding and unique.

Nearby

The rainforest interior, its rapids and the Brownsberg reserve are within reach.