Apetina and Tebutop expedition

Programme of 5 days / 4 nights
Departure from 6 people, price on request

Day 1

Paramaribo – Drietabbetje – Suna Kampoe
From Zorg en Hoop airport in Paramaribo we take a domestic flight of about an hour to Drietabbetje.
After lunch we travel from here by korjaal to Suna Kampoe.
At Suna Kampoe, a beautiful island where a single Maroon family lives, you can fish or relax at your leisure.
You can also choose to take a forest walk,
and with a bit of luck you'll see beautiful birds.
The night is spent in hammocks.

Day 2

Suna Kampoe – Apetina
From Suna Kampoe we continue on the most adventurous part of the trip.
At several sulas (rapids) the current is too strong for the boat to get through, so we have to get out and guide the korjaal through the rapids together.
An experience you won't soon forget.
We stop in Granbori, the last Maroon village,
where people still live in a very traditional way.
By tradition we present the village captain with a bottle of rum,
and he gives us permission to travel on and blesses our journey.

After lunch, duly blessed, we continue towards Tutu Kampoe, where we meet the first group of indigenous people. These indigenous villages are hard to reach, and the inhabitants are almost entirely self-sufficient.
After this introduction we sail on towards Punsula, the biggest sula on our trip.
Here too we all have to pull the boat to the other side of the rapids.

After Punsula it's only a quarter of an hour by boat to Apetina.
On the way you'll see indigenous people catching fish with bow and arrow.
In Apetina we get a guided tour and a good insight into how the indigenous people traditionally live here.
Apetina lies in a nature reserve, and in this protected area there's a good chance of seeing monkeys and various other animals. The night is spent in an authentic hut on stilts.

Day 3

Apetina – Tebutop – Apetina
After breakfast we sail for about 75 minutes to a path that leads to the foot of the mountains.
Here the trek to the Tebutop begins.
From this summit, sacred to the indigenous people, you have a beautiful view over the green canopy of the ‘lungs of the world’.
The climb of this steep, 374-metre mountain takes about two and a half hours.
It's a tough climb, but once you're at the top you feel you could take on the whole world.
If you'd rather not do the climb, we can arrange an alternative. (In the rain we cannot climb to the summit for safety reasons.)

After the climb we sail on to Granda Futu,
where you can recover in the river.
Then we sail back to Apetina,
where we spend the night again.

Day 4

Apetina – Drietabbetje
After breakfast in Apetina you still have the chance to stroll around the village and buy souvenirs offered by the local people.
On the way back to Drietabbetje we have to drag the boat over the Punsula again and cross several more beautiful rapids.
On arrival in Drietabbetje, the residence of the paramount chief (Granman) of the Aucans, you get a tour of the village, and we meet the Granman if he is present.
In Drietabbetje we sleep in hammocks with mosquito nets in a hut with a beautiful view of the river.

Day 5

Drietabbetje – Paramaribo
After breakfast we wait for the small plane that takes us back to Zorg en Hoop airport in Paramaribo.

Highlights

• An expedition for true adventurers.
• A flight over the rainforest.
• Climbing the Tebutop.
• Getting to know indigenous and Maroon culture.
• Braving spectacular rapids.
• Sleeping in hammocks in simple camps.
• Remote areas.
• Traditional ways of life.

On request from 6 people, on Mondays.

You can find the scheduled departure dates in the tour overview.