Voltzberg dome
Granite above the forest.
Jan Willem Broekema from Leiden, The Netherlands, Hans Erren (cropped version) — CC BY-SA 4.0 · David Evers — CC BY 2.0 · Jan Willem Broekema from Leiden, The Netherlands — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Jan Willem Broekema from Leiden, The Netherlands — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Jan Willem Broekema from Leiden, The Netherlands — CC BY-SA 2.0
The Central Suriname Nature Reserve is a vast pristine rainforest in the heart of Suriname, covering about 16,000 square km. Rivers with rapids and rocks, and bare granite domes rising above a sea of trees, fill it, and it has been a World Heritage Site since 2000. The reserve was formed in 1998 by joining three existing reserves: Raleighvallen, Tafelberg and Eilerts de Haan mountains. It holds more than 5,000 plant species, large animals such as the jaguar and giant armadillo, eight kinds of primates and birds like the orange Guianan cock-of-the-rock. A research station stands at the foot of the Voltzberg dome. Visitors usually arrive at Fungu Island by the Raleigh Falls, where a simple lodge sits on the river. From there they hike for hours through the forest to the granite Voltzberg, 245 m high, whose top looks over forest to the horizon. On the way are wooden dugouts and bright birds. The reserve is about 170 km in a straight line south-west of Paramaribo, reached only by small plane or boat on an organised trip of several days. Hiking is hard and hot, so never go without a guide.
Granite above the forest.
A lodge on the river.
Monkeys and rare birds.
Central Suriname, reached by small plane or boat from Paramaribo
By small plane or boat on an organised trip.
Usually several days.