Travel Experiences

Dear Karel,

Susan and I are so glad that we went to the Travel Show and met you. Your enthusiasm for Suriname sold us on the trip and we weren’t disappointed. It is a beautiful country. The whole trip was wonderful and beyond our expectations. The itinerary that Sharon-Ann put together worked out beautifully and we were very pleased with the order of Bergendal, Awarradam and then Kabalebo. She was extremely helpful and flexible. The guides and staff in all places were excellent too.

We were fortunate to have an Amerindian guide at Awarradam and Terrell at Kabalebo, and we found both men very knowledgeable about their culture and uses of trees and plants.

Best regards,

Nancy and Susan Coffey

Too bad, we had only 2 nights! Our program did not allow us to stay longer, so we have to come back one day. Stayed in a ‘Cabana’ river cabin. It’s a beautiful place in the middle of the jungle. It’s a mix of being very remote and still a luxury stay.

We have seen lots off wildlife and enjoyed the hospitality of the personnel that has a great mix and feeling of when to be formal or informal. We stayed at a ‘Cabana’. It’s very private, but also remote. A walk to the lodge is more than 10 minutes.

We had a very good time in Kabalebo. If you are literally in the middle of nowhere organization has to be spotless and there it is!

We traveled with our daughter that is 7, and we always felt safe and relaxed. Only little minor point is decor…. Even in the middle of the jungle a little effort on style would be appreciated!

Stayed February 2013, traveled with friends

Picture flying over nothing but vegetation for kilometers and descending over the trees onto a grass patch. The resort adjoining it is incredible – particularly given its remoteness. The lodge is comfortable, the food is great and the swimming pool is just decadent! The wildlife viewing was solid – lizards, tortoise, red deer, toucans, macaws, caimans, capybara to name some highlights.

The facilities are quite spread out so you can enjoy a piece of nature to yourself. The staff are hugely friendly. This place is well worth a visit – I might even return. For English speakers, you’ll find that most of the conversation (of the guides and the other guests) is in Dutch. I don’t speak a lick of Dutch and still managed to have a great time – most of the guides spoke some English and made an effort to include me (as a solo traveler), which I really appreciated.

Room Tip: Inspiration point is great – there is no need for AC. It gets cool at night.

We had an amazing time at Kabalebo! This is a really really special place! It is so incredible to fly into such a remote wilderness area. The resort is a great mix of facilities for relaxation and opportunities to enjoy the surrounding jungle. The service around the lodge is excellent and the guides are tremendously experienced, which made me feel very comfortable in an environment that can be very hostile as well as beautiful. We saw and heard howler monkeys, saw many camen, a tapir, many many birds, a turtle, several frogs and crabs.

The plants are amazing too. It is incredible how aggressive the plants are here. The different strategies that the plants use to survive is amazing. Some specific plants that I remember are the walking tree, telephone tree, another tree that tiny roots to better anchor itself to the ground. I’d love to go back.

Two wishes: It would be great if the guides knew a bit more about scientific aspects of the plants and animals that they show you. It is understandable that the mist in the early morning prevents you from seeing wildlife in the forest, but early morning boat tours on the river, where mist is not present, may be a great way to see animals at the river before the heat sets in.

The tour agency only told us about 3 day trips, but there is no reason to limit yourself to 3 days. Find out the schedule for plane trips, and make you plans consider with that.

I was a little intrepid at being the most remote location of my life but everything was so well organized and planned that it was a charm. Went with 5 business colleagues to chill out for a couple days after spending time in the city Paramaribo. The plane ride from the local airport was with a company called Gum Air which was brilliant, one of our party got to sit next to the Captain, and it seems the whole family are involved in the airline. There is another local airline but some research quickly made us steer away from it. Sadly we only had two days and i would say in the future on a return visit i would add at least one more day. The resort spreads over quite an area and we all stayed in what was called Inspiration point (not sure why) but as you sit on the terrace you can gaze towards what they call misty mountain, maybe that’s the inspiration!? Anyhow meal times were fabulous, a mix of local foods from all cultures i especially liked the javanese soup, can’t remember the name but loved it. Also the super hot yellow pepper sauce.

It was hard to imagine that we were so remote a lot of the time since everything seemed to work like clockwork and the food was so good. The local manager Jerry was very laid back and super friendly and when he took us out fishing we understood why he was so relaxed. he helped us all catch giant fish after giant fish, my friends were catching huge catfish one of 13 pounds and then some big Wolf fish. I caught nothing until the last 5 minutes when Jerry helped me land the catch of the day a 28 pound Wolf fish yeah. The rooms are comfortable with a/c and lovely hot showers again a but of a surprise given the remote location and that everything is flown in as there are no roads and no navigable rivers to the resort. We went to moi moi falls and also upstream where we just sat in the clean fresh water on the first day. Saw lots of different birds and the river trip was like a living zoo – masses of colourful birds, a green tree boa swimming in the river, giant otters, the fish of course and even some iguanas and monkeys in the trees. I think the most nature I ever saw in a morning in all my travels. everything seemed relaxed and natural and Armedia the assistant manager was a wealth of knowledge pointing out the various birds to us (even when she did not see them she knew them by their calls.)

Had a quick dip in the pool very refreshing as well. Our little sojourn was over all too soon. Prices seem very reasonable given the flight is an expensive one. Definitely return here when back in Suriname and love to bring my family back. Can’t really think of anything i would improve or change, they seem to have worked hard at getting it right over a number of years. The rest of my friends loved the trip as well.

Go for the slightly more expensive rooms at Inspiration point or if you can afford the river front cabanas (3 of them) looked great and we got to see inside them, they are a way off from the resort but there is a golf cart to move guests around and they give you a radio apparently

After having explored Paramaribo for three days, we decided to go for the jungle experience and took a trip to Kabalebo. After an hour’s flight over the amazing jungle (or ‘broccoli’ as the Surinamese call it), you arrive at this remote and peaceful resort. It is one of the most special places we have ever visited and you will feel it the moment you get off that little plane. We stayed in one of the three river cabana’s, a 10 minute walk from the main lodge and situated along the stunning Kabalebo river. During our stay we went for hikes in the jungle, went on kayaking tours, conquered Misty Mountain and took refreshing plunges in the rivers and creeks.

Unfortunately we didn’t get to see the elusive jaguar but we did see many monkeys, snakes, tiny little colourful and poisonous frogs, caimans and even a massive tapir. But we always felt safe in the capable hands of our guide Giovanni, whose knowledge of the jungle and it’s animals was impressive. In between tours we relaxed at the pool or just enjoyed the sounds of the jungle from our cabana terrace. During the daytime we heard the chirping of the many birds while the cicada’s and howler monkeys took over at night.

The buffet at the lodge offered a variety of flavorsome Surinamese dishes. You could even come here exclusively for the food and have an amazing time!
The staff was very friendly and helpful and seemed to get along really well, which benefited the overall atmosphere.

We loved every minute of our time at Kabalebo and it turned out to be the perfect introduction to the Surinamese jungle.

Medewerkers van Kabalebo,

Nogmaals willen wij jullie hartelijk danken voor de perfecte verzorging. Voor ons is Kabalebo een onuitwisbare geweldige ervaring.

With our family of 4 (2 teenagers) we spent 4 days at the resort.

After a flight from Paramaribo we were warmly welcomed by the staff with a drink and a lunch; we stayed at the next door lodge Inspiration Point: good rooms with airco, loved it.

Daily trips were organized by the staff and 2 guides went along: hiking, boat trips on the Kabalebo river with “dugout canoe” (boats made out of one piece of wood/one tree). We saw lots of birds, monkeys, ajoeti’s, alligators, butterflies; it was amazing.

Thank you Vivianne for your great hospitality!