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 This description was written by one of the guests who traveled with two of his friends on an eight day tour to Peluwime( former name : Apetina) and the Roseveltpeak which is near the Tusukreek. Many of the same things appear in each trip, other happenings are however unique. Therefore it is an adventurous trip; because no one can see ahead what may take place. The water-level in the rivers and creeks were so high that it was not necessary to drag the boat through the rapids. This is an exception and not the rule. Further: If there is a shorter trip, then certain parts of the description of this trip is left out. For instance if the Apetina trip is deleted, it could also be Palumue. |
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First day Departure is from Zorg en Hoop, the airport in Paramaribo where flights to the interior originate.  We fly in a small aircraft over the Brokopondo hydro dam
and the vast forest area.
Here and there we see rectangular pieces of red ground; this is where the forest has been chopped open by gold seekers.
After the approximately eighty minutes
during flight, we reach Peluwime, the
Wayana Amer-Indian village in the South-East of
Suriname.
The landing is spectacular: with a large curve the Gum Air pilot turns the aircraft over the river to the airstrip. Once on the ground, we are met by a group of Indians who are waiting for us under a hut. Among them are: Ronnie, Kappie en Johan, de three guides who will take care of us during our time in the jungle. With Ronnie's korjaal (the only blue one in the village and carries the name Nike) we travel a short while to Apetina crossing large rapids. When we've reached Apetina, we walk around in the village. The chief of the village who has his accommodation (shelter) a little further from the village is greeted by us. Dyon, the guide translates the cares and problems of the Chief. On his farm the ants are very busy. Around his left eye his face is infected. He rubs the scar. The eye is still swollen. The children in the village receive sweets. We depart by korjaal to Tutu kampu. This camp is an hour upstream rowing. Luckily Tutu kampu is not a place specially built for tourists. We also greet the most important person. Only three families live here. They continue with their work: peeling and grating cassava, squeezing out the poisonous liquid with a long basket called a matapi. The cassava is then cooked on large, flat, metal plates which is baked to cassava bread. They hunt, fish and fetch wood from the forest. The camp looks like a paradise. Whoever looks down the river sees the Teboe-top, a hump of granite of 374 meters high which many people desire to climb. Brilliantly colored Ara -macaws- fly in pairs above the trees. At night we see beautiful fireflies light up in green and orange colors. By nightfall a tropical concert is heard of all the sounds of insects and animals who are active at night. There are two Indian shelters for us: a kitchen and a place where we can hang our hammocks. Ronnie can't stop laughing when he sees my special jungle hammock: the hammock and netting are together. He doesn't trust it much. However the green artificial material , a product of Canada, is willing to hold my weight and keeps the mosquitoes away. |
| Second day With the korjaal we row as close as possible to the Teboe-top, which we have planned to climb today.  First
there is
an hour walk through the jungle. Ronnie, Johan, Kappie and Dyon find there way in an inimitable way. It is enough for them to find the way by a broken branch, of a piece of cut tree bark. They also leave marks for others who may come after us to help them find the way. In the jungle we pass holy places where the bushnegroes have built altars with the permission of the Indians. The offers include alcohol and cloths. We cross the creeks by walking on chopped down tree trunks. Then: we climb the Teboe-top; if necessary Johan will throw out a rope for us to hold on to. At the top the view is absolutely fantastic; as far as the eye could see, we see green from the tops of trees, flying birds looking for prey, and in the distance other mountains and a rainbow. At the top there is a simple altar with empty soft drink cans and beer. We begin our descend at the back of the mountain, and after a longer trip back with find the korjaal . We bathe our tiredness away when we come to the large rapids. Rowing back is very wet; the rains come all the way back. With songs and jokes I keep up courage. Umbrella's and raincoats are very handy at this point. |
| Third day Dyon, what are we going to do if it rains as it did all yesterday afternoon and last night? We'll see. The weather is reasonable, we leave for the Tusukreek. Slowly but surely we enter deeper into the forest. Flying around are herons, weaverbirds, blue butterflies. Then: Kappie, Johan, Ronnie and  Dyon see an
iguana sitting in a tree. The rest, four Dutch people, not guests,
see only lots of leaves even though Kappie points out three or four times. I nearly began to believe that we were being fooled when Kappie from the korjaal points the gun at a slant in the air. A shot: a light green, not such an old
iguana falls straight into the river. Dyon jumps immediately out of the korjaal in order to get the animal by its tail.This meal we must not miss. In the evening I sit and chew the right front leg. We sleep in a former camp site along the creek. The Indians are building (with some help from us) a hut: chopped down trees are placed in the ground and stabilized. With more wood, the shell of our new sleeping place is strong enough to hang six hammocks. I lie in my Canadian hammock between two trees, the rain cover proves to be one hundred percent waterproof. |
| Fourth day IIn no time Johan and Kappie plait backpacks from the leaves of the palm. The plastic drums fit in them.  The
guides and one my friends tie them on their backs. The two others and myself
prefer to walk with our own backpack, For four hours we travel through the
forest to the next camp, and a creek, where we vigorously build another hut. At
night the Indians steadily leave their hammocks because they are on the trail of
an alligator. They don't catch him |
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Fifth day This is the most exciting day. We want to get to the Roseveltpeak. We rise early. But before we leave, two Powisies ( Black Curacao )which Johan and Kappie had shot, had to be plucked and cooked on a camp fire. We leave at ten thirty. We walk at least two hours until we reach the first hills. When we climb these, and seeing the Roseveltpeak at close range my friends and I begin to have doubts. It looks very steep. Are we going to make it? We arrive at a green ridge beneath the peak which turns into a granite steep incline which is in some places very smooth. Rainfall seems imminent. We don't need it because climbing and descending would be too dangerous. A Dutch friend and Ronnie wait here. The others take the risk.  With the help of Johan,
who uses his rope often, we climb to the next strip of green. It is late. The
rain still threatens to fall. Even though it is fifteen minutes to the top and
we have already done the most difficult part, we stop our efforts and return. Mixed feelings: disappointment, tiredness, (Johan and Kappie doesn't seem to have any problem with this) suspense (the risks were not to be thought of), but also the joy of a safe return from the steep area.
The way back to camp must be done in record time; in one and a half or two hours. A law of the jungle is that one never walks in the dark. The Indians speed ahead. Not long before dusk we lie soaped and soaking in the creek relaxing. |
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Sixth day Walking back to the camp near Tusukreek we get immediately into the korjaal for Tutu Kampu. We row a good way downstream. We spend the rest of the day relaxing. |
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Seventh day Bathing in the creek, lying in the hammock, playing cards and chess. At night the full moon lights up the camp site. At night Kappie shakes us awake from our hammocks. We are frightened: What is happening? Is there a jaguar in the camp? No, the moon, look it is getting dark. We are witness to a rare eclipse of the moon. We did not have or need a newspaper. Kappie felt this special occurrence would happen. |
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Eight day Early in the morning in Apetina, we try to get Ronnie's generator to work. He accidentally used oil instead of gasoline in the motor. We do our best trying to remove grease from the sparkplugs, carefully remove and clean parts, but when we pulled on the cord: nothing. The generator flies back with us to Zorg and Hoop. We fly through some heavy rain showers. We are a bit sad when we say goodbye to Johan, Kappie and Ronnie. |
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Cardy Adventures
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