3guianas travel blog by Mark Berman -
April 2015
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The border crossing from Suriname to Guyana is an easy one but not without a potential problem if you do not do it correctly or legally. I had read about a method of
crossing the border called the 'backtrack'. This way is usually only done if there has been rain and the roads are in bad shape. False Information
While I sat eating lunch in the
restaurant in my hotel in
Nickerie I asked 2 different men in the restaurant how to do the border crossing to Guyana. They both gave me a nonsense story that I had no
option but to do the 'backtrack' which would take something like 10hrs. I reckon they were both corrupt policeman from Guyana trying to set me up so that I would
have to pay bribes the next day during the journey. The fact is that the '
backtrack' is illegal. The female receptionist at my hotel heard both these conversations
and said absolutely nothing. The same woman that I mention in my
hotel review that short changed me when I payed for my food a few minutes later. What's her problem?
I Knew the Truth
I knew after hearing what these men told me that this was not correct because I had also read about how to do it the normal and legal way. I asked the male staff
member in my hotel after he arrived for the nightshift about the border crossing for which he told me that the 2 men were telling lies and setting me up! He then
arranged for a taxi-van to come in the morning and pick me up at 7am.
Nickerie to South Drain
The journey from Nickerie to South Drain takes 30mins-45mins depending on how many people are
picked up after you. The countryside is nice with banana plantations and lots of greenery.
South Drain Ferry
At South Drain after buying a ticket for the ferry you go through passport
control and board the vessel. The ferry ride from South Drain to Moleson Creek takes 40mins. Then it is passport control and customs procedures. Then from outside the
ferry terminal are vans waiting to take people to
Georgetown, a 3hr trip.
Moleson Creek to Georgetown
I enjoyed the journey from Moleson Creek to Georgetown,
it's interesting. Every few hundred meters the names of the communities change with signs on the road saying names like Hope, Letter Kenney and Cotton Tree. The
landscape is not so clean with rubbish scattered around the place, unlike Suriname and French Guiana which were very clean countries. There's lots of palm trees,
waterways and wooden houses to see between the border and
Georgetown! Enjoy the ride.
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The ferry port and immigration buildings at Moleson Creek in Guyana.
Nice houses shaded by palm trees beside a waterway between New Amsterdam and Georgetown, Guyana.
The long straight road from Nickerie to South Drain takes 40mins, Suriname.
Open and green countryside between Nickerie and South Drain in Suriname.
