Though Suriname covers over 63,000 square miles, most of its half-million residents live between the edge of the Amazon and the ocean, a small sliver of land that’s led the population to become incredibly diverse.
The former Dutch territory has been independent for 45 years, but its infrastructure has not quite kept up. Which makes the smallest sovereign state in South America especially inviting to travel by boat.
There are plenty of other things to do in Suriname, too, of course. You can hike through Brownsberg National Park, where you’ll be joined by over 400 species of birds and red and black howler monkeys; or scale the top of Voltzberg Mountain in the Voltzberg Nature Reserve; the Senegalese capital of Paramaribo is full of colonial Dutch architecture and a wealth of other cultures as well. And as it’s far down on a lot of travelers’ lists, you’ll find much of the country mostly untouched.