Jules Wijdenbosch Bridge, Peperpot Nature Park and Meerzorg Guide

Looking southeast from Waterkant, the skyline of Paramaribo is framed by the concrete curve of the Jules Wijdenbosch Bridge arching across the Suriname River. Crossing that bridge, or taking a three-minute wooden passenger boat from the Waterkant stelling to Meerzorg, transports you in fifteen minutes from the UNESCO urban grid into the seventeenth-century coffee and cacao forests of Plantage Peperpot Nature Park.

The Jules Wijdenbosch Bridge (2000) and Meerzorg

For more than three centuries, crossing the 1.2-kilometre-wide Suriname River between Paramaribo and the plantation district of Commewijne required car ferries and wooden riverboats. On 20 May 2000, the two-lane box-girder Jules Wijdenbosch Bridge (locally called the Surinamebrug or Bosjebrug) opened to traffic, engineered by Dutch contractor Ballast Nedam. Stretching 1,504 metres (4,934 feet) and rising 52 metres above the high-tide channel so ocean-going cargo ships can pass underneath, the bridge links downtown Paramaribo directly with Meerzorg on the eastern bank.

If you are travelling by bicycle or on foot, head to the Waterkant Ferry Stelling beside Central Market, where roofed wooden passenger boats (korjalen) ferry pedestrians and bicycles across the river to the Meerzorg pier in three minutes from dawn until dusk.

Plantage Peperpot: One of Suriname's Oldest Coffee and Cacao Estates

Ten kilometres south of Meerzorg along a riverside road sits Plantage Peperpot, established at the end of the seventeenth century by Simon van Halewijn (named after Castle Peperpot in the Netherlands). Unlike most coastal estates that were abandoned in the nineteenth century, Peperpot operated continuously as a working Arabica and Liberica coffee and Criollo cacao plantation right up until 1998.

At the entrance along the Suriname River levee stand the plantation's preserved historic buildings: two early-nineteenth-century wooden Plantation Director's Houses (dated 1808 and 1840, one converted into a boutique heritage hotel and café), the historic Coffee and Cacao Factory and Drying Shed where beans were sun-dried on rolling trays, and the old kampong village where Javanese and Hindustani plantation workers lived.

Wildlife and Birdwatching in the 820-Hectare Peperpot Nature Park

• Monkeys, Sloths, and Giant Anteaters: In 2009, with support from WWF Guianas, 820 hectares of Peperpot's overgrown coffee and cacao groves, shade-tree canals (trenzen), and secondary rainforest were protected as Peperpot Nature Park. Cycling or walking the flat 3.2-kilometre main levee trail between 07:00 and 10:30 brings close sightings of troops of common squirrel monkeys (monki-monki), brown capuchin monkeys, golden-handed tamarins, three-toed sloths, and giant anteaters.
• Over 250 Bird Species: Peperpot is the premier morning birding hotspot near Paramaribo, home to the near-endemic arrowhead piculet (Picumnus minutissimus), blood-coloured woodpecker, crimson-hooded manakin, white-throated toucans, and black-necked aracaris; check the official park visitor centre site for bicycle rentals and guided morning walks.