Climate Suriname
Due to its latitude and exposure to the trade winds on the eastern side of South America, Suriname has an equatorial climate over most of the country, i.e. hot and humid, marked by heavy rainfall. With an average temperature of 28°C throughout the year in the lowlands and a very high humidity (between 80% and 90%), the average annual rainfall exceeds 2 meters in most regions. Although the distribution of rainfall over the year is not very contrasted, we can nevertheless identify a rainy season running from mid-December to mid-August, with May and June usually being the wettest. At this time, the south-central regions (Wilhelmina Mountains) and those along the Maroni River experience a true monsoon climate! The driest season - the humidity rarely drops below 80% - runs from mid-August to mid-November.
The Surinamese climate and its tourist seasonality
While we can roughly distinguish between the dry season from mid/late August to mid/late November and the rainy season from mid-December to mid-August, we need to be more precise here. The months of December and January actually correspond to a weak rainy season, when it can nevertheless rain continuously for the whole length of a day. In February-March (and sometimes as late as the end of April), Suriname experiences a mild dry season, during which it does rain, but not all day long. This is a good time to visit the country without getting wet all the time! Then comes a heavy rainy season from May to mid-August. May and June are usually the months with the heaviest rainfall, particularly in the east and high southern regions of the country. Visiting Suriname is still possible in these months, as long as you are aware of the condition of the tracks you wish to use. Sheltered in your hammock, you'll be able to relax and listen to the rain as it falls, waiting for a lull in the weather that will allow you to go out again. Finally, the strong dry season extends from mid-August to the end of November, the driest months traditionally being September and October. Despite the heat, this is certainly the ideal time to travel.
Before embarking on a trip to Suriname, it may be wise to take into account the country's tourist calendar. During the high season (of which there are two: July to mid-September and mid-December to mid-March), some prices tend to rise. However, all outings and excursions remain affordable. In the low season (of which there are two: mid-September to mid-December and mid-March to June), some operators will only agree to organize excursions if they have received a minimum number of reservations! To get the most out of Suriname, it's best to travel in the high, dry season, i.e. either February-March or August-September, not forgetting the exceptional Christmas and New Year period.
An ecosystem under threat despite carbon neutrality
Suriname, along with French Guiana, Guyana, Brazil and Venezuela, is part of the Guiana Plateau, also known as the "Guiana Shield", and is home to a number of rare and rich natural environments: the Amazon rainforest inland, the inselbergs overlooking the entire forest, and the mangrove swamps along the estuaries and coast. Almost 95% of its territory is covered by forest, and its deforestation rate is among the lowest in the world, thanks in particular to the government's decision to set up a system of nature reserves as early as 1970. At the end of June 2019, when the signatories to the Paris Agreement (2015) met in Bonn to take stock of their progress in reducing greenhouse gases, only two countries in the world had achieved carbon neutrality (carbon neutrality means that a country emits no more greenhouse gases than it can absorb via its forests and soils): Bhutan and Suriname. Despite these encouraging advances, biodiversity continues to be under threat in Suriname, due in particular to bauxite and diamond mining, as well as illegal gold-panning (also practised in the heart of protected reserves), involving deforestation and mercury pollution of waterways. The sheer size of the territory and the difficulty of accessing the forest represent a threat, due to the impossibility for the authorities to effectively control all of it.
