Brownsberg & Brokopondo Day Trip.

The Brownsberg & Brokopondo Day Trip is a full day in the rainforest highlands south of Paramaribo — forest trails, waterfalls, and a sweeping viewpoint over the vast Brokopondo reservoir. It is the most adventurous of the day trips, and the one people describe for weeks afterwards.

Of all the day trips from Paramaribo, this is the one that feels most like an adventure. The drive alone is part of the pleasure — the road climbs, the forest thickens, and by the time you reach the nature reserve you are properly in the green, far from anything resembling a city. Brownsberg sits on a plateau, which is exactly why the views are so good.

This is real rainforest: dense, loud with insects and birds, cool under the canopy, and utterly unlike the coast. It’s the most active of the day trips and the most rewarding for it — a full day that takes you somewhere most visitors to Suriname never reach, and returns you to the city by evening.

How the day unfolds

You’ll start early — this is a long day, and the light and the wildlife both favour the morning. After the climb up to the reserve, you set out on foot along forest trails, your guide reading the bush as you go: birdsong overhead, the odd troop of monkeys, the tracks and traces of things you’ll never see.

The trails lead to two rewards. The first is water — waterfalls tucked into the forest, cool and clear, made for a pause and, if you’ve brought a swimsuit, a swim. The second is the view: walk to the plateau’s edge and the Brokopondo reservoir opens out below you, immense and still, dotted with the drowned tops of an old forest.

By late afternoon you’ll be tired in the good way, and the drive back down gives the day time to settle. It asks a little more of you than the gentler trips — and gives more back.

There’s a particular satisfaction to Brownsberg that the gentler trips don’t quite reach. You earn the views and the waterfalls with a little sweat, and that makes them land harder — the cool of the pool after the walk, the vast silence at the plateau’s edge, the sense of having gone somewhere that takes real effort to reach. It’s the day people are still describing weeks later.

What you’ll see

• Rainforest trails through a highland nature reserve
• Waterfalls to rest and cool off beside
• The sweeping viewpoint over the Brokopondo reservoir
• Birds, monkeys, and the wildlife of the deep forest
• The quiet that only real rainforest has

Who it’s for

Those with a bit of energy and a love of the wild. The walking is more demanding than the gentler trips — uneven trails, some up and down, a long day overall — so it suits reasonably fit travellers happy to be on their feet. The reward is proportionate: the most immersive nature within a day of the city.

Good to know

• A full day, with an early start and a fair amount of walking
• Sturdy shoes, plenty of water, insect repellent, and a swimsuit
• Much easier in the dry months, when the trails are firmer
• Light rain gear whatever the season — it’s rainforest, after all

How we arrange it

Tell the front desk your dates and we’ll arrange transport and a guide, check the season and the trail conditions, and confirm before you commit. Because it’s a full day into the interior, a little planning helps — but we’ll handle it, and all you need to do is set the alarm. Come rested and curious, and let the forest do the rest.

Tours are arranged for guests. Pick your dates and we’ll set the day up from the front desk — the old town, and everything beyond it, a short walk from your room.