Nieuw Nickerie

Nieuw Nickerie sits on the Corantijn river in Suriname's far west, the centre of the country's rice growing where flat polders run in every direction behind the sea dyke, and it is a largely Indo-Surinamese town with mosques, mandirs and a market that reflects that. The ferry to Guyana crosses from nearby. Bigi Pan, the coastal lagoon full of scarlet ibis, lies just north.

Background

Nieuw Nickerie ranks third among Suriname's cities by size, with an estimated 12,818 residents at the 2012 census, and it serves as capital of the Nickerie district. The town stands where the Nickerie river meets the Atlantic, across from the Guyanese town of Corriverton, and it marks the end of the East-West Link. It was built in 1879, after floods destroyed Nieuw Rotterdam, the earlier district centre. The plan first placed it on a polder laid out in 1869, but the site was moved further inland, and a sea dike followed in the 1940s. The harbour entrance is 3.7 metres deep and takes ships of up to 6,000 tonnes. Major Henk Fernandes Airport lies close to the town.

Source: Wikipedia, "Nieuw Nickerie"

The main sights

• The rice polders - flat fields running behind the sea dyke in every direction.
• The Corantijn - the wide river forming the western border.
• The Indo-Surinamese town - mosques, mandirs and market together.
• The dyke - the sea defence the whole district depends on.

When to go

The dry seasons, February to April and August to November, are best for the roads. Rice cropping runs through much of the year. Mosquitoes on the polders are severe.

Good to know

The town itself is workaday with little arranged for visitors. The drive from Paramaribo takes around four hours. It works mainly as the base for Bigi Pan.

Nearby

Bigi Pan is north, and Blanche Marie Falls are south.

Key facts