Car Rental
and Taxis
To rent
a small car costs about US$ 20 a day, including insurance. These
prices are a result of high import tax and difficulty in obtaining
spare parts.
If you get into an accident and it is your fault then the own
risk payment will be high. Before starting your journey checks
to see that you have tools and spare tires. Don't go with a rented
car into the interior as it is expensive and besides, you run
the risk that an unguarded stranded car, left for a few days,
will be totally stripped.
During the day, in Paramaribo, cheap pirate taxis wait at fixed
but unmarked places. These are: the service station on the Heiligenweg,
opposite Telesur/phone company, next to the jetty on the Waterkant,
on the corner of the Dr. Sophie Redmondstraat and the Waaldijkstraat
and in front of the Hotels Krasnapolsky and Torarica. Choose
a car that looks in good condition and agree a price before you
start your journey.
Bad times to call a taxi
On Sundays, holidays and especially early in the morning
it is difficult to find a taxi. Reserve one the day before making
your journey to be sure. Also after ten in the evening is a problem
outside Paramaribo. Ask people living in the neighbourhood, they
will surely have a telephone number of a taxistand that you can
call.
Wilde Busses (Wild Buses)
By far the greatest contributors to public transport are
the Wilde busses, minibuses where small time entrepreneurs (bus
operators) service regular routes. A bus, usually a Japanese
model, offers seats for 16 to 22 passengers. They are usually
brilliantly painted on the outside although sometimes the interior
has long since passed its best. Owners frequently keep their
buses riding by using all kinds of trickery. A journey with a
wild bus is a fun and cheap way to see something of the town,
but it is usually quite an effort to find a seat even outside
rush hour, besides that the seating is very narrow. Some men
see this apparently as an invitation to get quite intimate with
females passengers and nestle up very closely and just sit their
with an innocent look on their face. Keep such a person away
from you by using your elbow or your bag.
Many drivers entertain their passengers with loud thumping music
out of super loudspeakers, everybody has to suffer this. The
most comfortable seat is in the front next to the driver, the
most uncomfortable seats are the folding chairs that are situated
in the aisle. If somebody sitting behind wants to get out, the
person sitting in one of these seats has to move. Pay when you
enter the bus with the exact fare. Ask another passenger what
the fare is, at the most USD. 0.50 for in the town and USD. 1.00 to one of the districts.
The buses do not have a bell so when you want to get out you
have to shout 'halt Chef'! Along the route there are bus stops
but they are not placed everywhere. If you want to return with
the bus, see where there is a group waiting or ask a passer-by
where you have to step in the bus. Even when you are not at the
bus stop, if you raise your hand, most bus drivers will stop,
except when you are standing in a dangerous place or the bus
is full. There are few buses in the off peak hours and evenings,
so expect about a half an hour waiting time.
| General
info | Necessities |
Transportation | Health &
safety | Accommodation
| Getting there | Travel Organizations |
|