Paramaribo north is without a doubt my favorite part of the city. Being a resident for many years and having seen each and every inch of this city, there’s no other place, where I would rather be. Not to be misunderstood, of course, Paramaribo is a beautiful city and in all honesty I could live in every part, but my preference remains the north.

Generally speaking, when it comes to living locations in Suriname; I’m always torn between Paramaribo north and the district of Commewijne, but when it comes down to just Paramaribo, there’s no discussion, the northern part rules overall. There is just something about the vibe in this part; the neighborhoods, the streets, even the houses, its proximity to the river, the ocean; so many things, which make it worthwhile.

Now; in all honesty, I have always lived here, but like I previously mentioned, I’ve been all around town and seen all of the neighborhoods that Paramaribo has to offer, but the sentiment prevails. I feel it’s important to reiterate the fact that the north doesn’t stand supreme over all of the other parts of Paramaribo, it’s just the one that I feel the most connected to.

Because Paramaribo in itself is a beautiful city that has a lot to offer. The oldest part is the center of the city, where one can calmly stroll and gander at the colonial buildings left by the dutch. The oldest building would be the Fort, named ‘Fort Zeelandia’, built first by the French as a wooden structure, afterward strengthened by the British, who named it ‘Fort Willoughby’ and finally taken over by the Dutch who gave it its current name. A fun fact is that the Surinamese word for city stems from the Dutch and also English word Fort, the word being ‘foto’.

Eventually the city started to expand, mainly southwards, and neighborhoods such as ‘frimangron’ were established. This literally means ‘free man’s ground’, this due to the fact that the first group of freed men began to buy lots in this part of the city and also the ‘redi musus’ (red hats) were awarded lots in this area, for aiding the Dutch soldiers in the fight against the maroons. The city kept on expanding and one of the last parts to be developed was the north of Paramaribo.

Like all parts of Paramaribo, or rather Suriname, the northern part of Paramaribo is also divided into resorts. But let’s start from the beginning, Suriname has ten districts which have their own regional divisions and are further divided into resorts. The regional divisions of Paramaribo are; Paramaribo North-East, Paramaribo North-West, Paramaribo-South East and Paramaribo South-West. The resorts in Paramaribo by region are Blauwgrond, Rainville and Centrum in the North-East; Munder, Welgelegen and Weg naar Zee in the North-West; Beekhuizen, Livorno, Latour and Pontbuiten in the South-East and finally Tamenga and Flora in the South-West.

Now whenever people in Paramaribo speak of the northern part, they’re usually referring to the Northeastern region, and specifically the Blauwgrond and Rainville resorts. In my narrative I will be doing the same, for I’ve also spent my entire life in Suriname in this part. As I previously mentioned this part of the city is relatively new and it has basically become a city in a city. Yes, Paramaribo north is filled with everything one needs. The saying around here is that if you live in the north, you don’t really need to go downtown, which in essence is true. Everything that one can think of, is pretty much available in the North; you have the ‘Gomperstraat’ with its various clothing stores, the small strip on the ‘Wilhelminastraat’ where one can catch a bite at various restaurants offering diverse meals. Then you also have the ‘Blauwgrond’ neighborhood itself, not the resort, where one can go to the ‘J.S. Greenstraat’ and enjoy delicious Indonesian food, at reasonable prices. Let’s not forget the many chinese supermarkets that dominate the area, and the many cultural markets. The Saoena market or the ‘Sunday market’ as it is also known, is held every sunday and offers almost everything one can think of. Besides a diverse array of vegetables, fruits and whatnot, there is also entertainment, fully prepared meals, musical entertainment, things that one has to experience by themselves. The Sunday market itself is a typical Surinamese concept that repeats itself all over the country, so much that the north has two of them. The other one differs in the fact that it’s a mainly improvised market alongside the road, where you’re literally walking on the sidewalks, from vendor to vendor. The Ma-retraite Mall now in decay used to be one of the premier malls of Paramaribo, together with Hermitage Mall in the south, it offered and still does in a way many commercial and also entertainment options.

Now, I don’t only want to look at it from a commercial point of view, but also from the way it’s laid out or planned. Most neighborhoods are built in blocks that are separated by creeks and the neighborhood that I grew up in; Tourtonne is the typical example hereof. The neighborhood itself starts on the ‘Tourtonnelaan’, which becomes the ‘Anamoestraat’ at some point and runs through all of the six parts of Tourtonne; this is essentially the main street of the whole neighborhood. The creeks are strategically built, serving as borderlines and open sewers, they run from west to east into the Suriname river, and some also from north to west. Then you also have the ‘Bruynzeel’ houses in the neighborhood of ‘Rainville’ itself, not the resort, which are also built in blocks separated by creeks. ‘Bruynzeel’ was a wood company in Suriname that built these beautiful wooden houses, two level, with a balcony and sometimes colored zinc roofs that to me represent the quintessential Surinamese house. These houses are not only to be found in this neighborhood, they’re spread all over Suriname, but they abound here. Further north, one can find neighborhoods such as ‘Mon Plaisir’, known for its narrow streets and for being the unofficial running track of the north, and not to forget the Christmas show. The whole northern area borders the Suriname river on the east and the Atlantic Ocean in the north, making it relatively breezy and pleasant. One can always feel the wind coming from the riverside and when it rains, it is a hobby of mine to look up to the sky and see how the clouds form themselves in the north. It’s nearly impossible to talk about the north and not mention the ‘Leonsberg’ neighborhood. Lying deep in the north and right next to the river, it is known as the place where people board the small boats that take one to the Commewijne district. It is also notorious as the spot where couples go and ‘couple’. On late afternoons and evenings the pier is full of either fishers or couples and sometimes both.

The north feels like a city within a city and is also perceived as such by those who don’t live or at least work there. Being one of the last developed parts of Paramaribo, most people who live in the south or on the outskirts of the city center, rarely visit the north and see it as this mysterious part of Paramaribo; others see it as the upscale part of Paramaribo where only the ‘mega rich’ live. This is not true, for like every other part of Paramaribo or Suriname for that matter, it’s filled with people of different socio-economic backgrounds all living together.

Paramaribo North is and will remain my favorite part of the city, I’ve lived here on and off, since I was three. I’ve seen it grow and develop itself from an afterthought to the most wanted place to build in, it’s beautiful in more ways than just one, the vibe I feel whenever I’m here can sometimes even be hard to just express in words, but like I mentioned previously it has to do with the connection that I feel; in the walking through its narrow streets, are in the observing of the many ‘fishers’ who prostrate themselves at its creeks, just to relax, the joggers, the breeze that the river brings on certain times of the day. For me, it’s an experience, one completely worth having. Its ‘semi-isolated’ status has added more to its allure, and enshrouded it in a certain mystic, if you may, almost turning everybody from the north into its own kind of people. Telling people you’re from the north always enables a certain reaction, mostly of the distance, socio economic assumptions, and whatnot. But whatever it may be, Paramaribo North remains; I reiterate; my favorite part of the city, and if unable to build a house in Commewijne, I sure hope to build it in the Northern Part of Paramaribo. . .

Ollk Kuche © 2020