Guyana - Suriname - French Guiana

ajoknoblauch said:
I found the architecture in both Georgetown and Paramaribo very interesting, and found Suriname to be very safe and relaxed, but I was there nearly 20 years ago. Plenty of people in Suriname spoke comprehensible English.

Regarding the most prosperous country in South America, I think it's probably the Falklands (if indeed it is South America). I don't want to get into any irrendentist arguments here, just to note that the Islands are a very prosperous place.
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Yes, indeed, Surinam has changed a lot since the late 80s / early 90s - the country was devastated for several years after the civil war, and a large part of the "underdog" population now immigrated illegally and lives in Western French Guiana, especially in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni. However, they can't go to the Eastern side of French Guiana (where the Space Center, the capital, and the developed and prosperous cities are) as there's an internal border.
 
DerAchtundzwanzig said:
Yes, indeed, Surinam has changed a lot since the late 80s / early 90s - the country was devastated for several years after the civil war, and a large part of the "underdog" population now immigrated illegally and lives in Western French Guiana, especially in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni. However, they can't go to the Eastern side of French Guiana (where the Space Center, the capital, and the developed and prosperous cities are) as there's an internal border.
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I was there right after the civil war, and found very little overt evidence of it.
 
ajoknoblauch said:
I was there right after the civil war, and found very little overt evidence of it.
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Really? Did you stay in Paramaribo or did you go to the rest of the country? I'm only asking out of curiosity.

We used to live in Saint-Laurent-du-Maronii, right in the border with Suriname in the years after the civil war. My grandfather used to stay up at night pointing a shotgun out the window of our house, because of all the people who had crossed the border from Suriname that were mostly savages, rapists, and got into our neighbors' houses. It took some time for the French authorities to control the situation in our territory - therefore, I can only imagine what it must have been on the other side of the border, in Suriname, which was no man's land.
 
Hola
I spent one moth traveling around all three unique places
Possibly French guyana is the most interesting although it's difficult to get around with a very good knowledge of French. It is also the most expensive of all three.
Suriname is the most relaxed and the capital is a rather safe and pleasant place compared to the other 2 capitals.
Guyana is horrible. The capital, Georgetown, is so dangerous I was chased and almost attacked many times...during the day.
The country is fine for nature but to do anything with a travel company which is almost impossible on your own is very expensive!
I am glad to have gone but I would never return. Not South American at all! and expensive to get to.
Hope this helps
Bon voyage
Esteban
 
Getting to all three is expensive and timely unless coming from the islands (Aruba, Trinidad, etc).

I lived in Suriname for two years, 2010-2012. I can tell you that it is safe and relaxed and Paramaribo is worth seeing if you are that kind of traveler. The people are lovely and English is spoken by almost everyone in the capital. It is a rapidly developing country with a lively political culture (the former dictator is now the fairly elected president - I observed the elections in 2010). It is a unique place with a unique history, more Caribbean than S American, yet not quite, given the lack of cricket and the Dutch language. Unless you are going to the jungle you won't need more than a few days there. Eco tours are great but can be expensive. Plenty of decent food/restos and nightlife, movie theater, etc to entertain. Interesting architecture as well.

Guyana kind of sucks. There is a real lack of infrastructure, restaurants, hotels, etc, and it is relatively dangerous to get off of the beaten path at night in the G'town. I have not personally been there, which says a lot since I stood on the opposite shore and gazed across a few times, and I love to travel, but just wasn't worth the effort! It takes 10 hours to drive capital to capital mostly due to the horrible roads. OK, enough of that. If you do go take a charter flight to the waterfall which I hear is wonderful.

Fr Guyana is an overseas department of France, so as others have said the GDP is a bit higher, etc, but it is an illusion. The numbers are inflated due to high subsidies and sparse population. France and EU pump money in there because the European space station is there - b/c of proximity to the equator it is cheaper and easier to launch satellites into orbit. If you can get a tour there do it. One of the best side trips I have ever done was a all-day sail boat ride to the former Devil's Island prison colony where you can swim off the boat right to the islands and see where some famous people were failed - Papillon and Dreyfus. Really one of the most interesting things I have ever done and such a lovely trip out to the islands. Do it! Downside to Fr Guyana is it is unreasonably expensive, and Cayenne is the absolute most boring capital city I have ever been in on a Sat night in my entire life. After 45 mins we found one bar open and it was karaoke, so the night wasn't completely lost.
 
Glasgowjohn, really, there is no "best" way, as they are all lengthy and expensive (last I checked). A friend recently went and she had two layovers en route. You need to connect from here to any place that flies direct to Aruba/Curacao/Trinidad. From there you can get a direct flight. Other way is thru Belem in northern Brz, but last I saw they had 1-2 flights/wk.
 
I´ve never been to those countries, but I´ve met a lot of immigrants from Guyana. Those immigrants felt Guyana was dangerous and there were serious race issues and people from nearby countries speak ill of Guyana sometimes.
 
I appreciate all of the replies and private conversations I have enjoyed from this posting. Whether I have the opportunity of getting there or not is uncertain due to the complexities of getting around in that area. I am not one to take a packaged tour yet perhaps for this region one might just have to research this method of travel too. Many thanks to all of you. If anyone has any more updated data on the region please forward it along to me too. All my best. Walter
 
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