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.

What you actually see

• 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.

Honest expectations

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.