A Spontaneous Trip in December 🚤 Visiting an Ancestral Place in Laarwijk Suriname
I've mentioned before how busy our December calendar was and between all the bustle and noise, there was one Saturday that was a rather welcoming relaxed outing. That was visiting my ancestral home on a plantation in the District Commewijne.
My ancestral home. The had just cleaned the ditches.
In a few other posts I've mentioned that as far as I can remember, my family from my mother's side is from a plantation named Laarwijk and I've spend many Holidays, weekends and vacations at my great grandmothers house. Then, her son - my great uncle - was already in charge of the maintenance of the plot of land.
Laarwijks dock coming in sight.
This particular Saturday was planned in no time, because it has been years since we've visited Laarwijk last. To some, Laarwijk may seem uninteresting, because there is not much to do, especially if you like the access and luxury city life has. But for us it's nostalgic and also a place to get back to basics.
Rural outside kitchen.
I realize how blessed I am and that as humans we actually don't need much to be happy. And with some creativity, one can enjoy him-/herself, like going swimming in the river or swamps, riding a moped or bicycle, going fishing or to the field to harvest. What I do nowadays though, is recharging in a hammock 😅.
My great uncle always sends the men to reap some fruits and whatever the land is providing though. This Saturday was no different and my great uncle had already gathered some leafy vegetables, but for the taro and cassava he needed some younger muscles. Luckily, another uncle and one of his sons were also visiting.
We stayed until late afternoon, took a boat back and shared some of the harvest with other family members. The cassava from yesterday's post was from Laarwijk by the way 😁. So that was me recharging at my ancestral place. How about you, any place reminding you of where you're from? Let me know in the comments below 🤓.
Sharing taro and cassava from Laarwijk.
Back to the roots...i like it!😉
I see y'all traveling a lot on the river in Suriname...
Is that always the same big river? What's the name of the river?
Greetings
Saw your comment and opted to share some facts in a post, which you'll find here:
https://peakd.com/hive-183952/@tanjakolader/introduction-to-surinames-rivers-necessity-and-functionality
I've traveled most on or over the Suriname river. The Suriname river does have a bridge connecting the capital (Paramaribo) with District Commewijne, but there are still motorized canoes (or ferry's) traveling between those cities, because some plantations in Commewijne - like Laarwijk - aren't accessible via roads.
!ENGAGE 10
Thanks for the Info!
Was my pleasure ☺️.
ENGAGEtoday.hi @tanjakolader aaah a restful escape from life, eh? Looks like you had a wonderful little visit there. For me living in the UK, having grown up in South Africa, there is one place here that I have visited that has reminded me of home: and that is the mountains in the Lake District of Northern England. When I was going through a particularly challenging time in my life, I knew that the only thing that would restore my soul and peace would be to go and climb a mountain... but I missed my mountains back home. The Drakensberg so I looked and looked online until I found a mountain that reminded me of my mountains hehe and I found Helvellyn. It was truly exhilarating, and scary. After that weekend away, I came back home, and would you believe, my life changed for the better! 💗 Do you find your spontaneous visits restorative too? !PIZZA
It definitely was! 😊
Ah... Suriname and South Africa have a little history in common: Dutch Colonization 🙈. I've been told Afrikaans sounds a little like our formal language here, which is Nederlands. Do you speak/understand Afrikaans?
Helvellyn looks like a mountain I would like to visit one day... Did you climb during a colder season or was it in summer? I'll have to know what works best and if I'll need to prepare mentally and physically 😅.
!ENGAGE 10
Oh wow I had no idea of the commonality between Suriname and South Africa... yes I do understand a fair bit of Afrikaans and can hold a basic conversation. I studied it at school but haven't used it conversationally properly for years lol. I was on a coach trip once and there were 4 of us South Africans and the rest were Dutch Students from Holland... they were speaking Dutch obviously but we could understand their jokes and I burst out laughing at one...which broke some ice between us and we then enjoyed a good chat...they could understand the Afrikaans enough and we could understand the Dutch enough lol and then some English in between...It is funny when I overhear some Afrikaans people in the shops in England and they don't think anyone else can understand them😱😹 (not all but I have heard some funny things hehe). As for Helvellyn... we hiked up in October 2012...so a long time ago... Autumn... it was lovely but the fog is very dangerous there and there are steep drop off one the one side so you need to go on a clear day and believe me if the fog rolls in...head home...don't keep going like we did...it was dangerous!!! we were on the edge without realising it. I don't know but maybe summer would be better. Glad you had a lovely break... it looked lovely and chilled. And the hammock....mmm nice❣️
Ah... thanks for sharing your (life's) story and experiences with me 😁. It's really remarkable how we're more connected than some would like to have us believe huh.
Yeah, I think if I'll ever climb Hevellyn, I'll go with a guide and check the weather beforehand, although weather in England can change in a pinch right?
It was... hahaha
I forgot to take my own with me and saw that of my folks in the car, but we weren't going to turn around only for a hammock. Happy my great uncle has several 😅.
Fab! Yes, weather can change quickly and especially in the mountains...a guide sounds like a great idea! I must always miss your posts in my feed...maybe the time I log on... I will definitely try to visit your posts more often. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed the posts and engagement with you❣️Probably because I connected with you so soon after I joined Hive and it was all so overwhelming lols... it was messy for a bit haha. take care and I'll be bumping you on the chain more often I hope 💗
Hahahaa, yeah the "feed" sometimes gets overwhelmed with all those re-blogs, which is why I tend to not miss some of the great content here on Hive. I realize that re-blogs have a function, to help others get seen/read, but we then get over saturated sometimes.
Yeah, hope to connect more 💙.
I will stick you onto Ginabot hehe
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I think I remember this place form an past post of yours. It reminds me of my grandparent's house on my Dad's side. And just like how you collected the provisions, we would do the same. Miss those days. always gppd to go back to the roots and hold a vibe!
Remarkable how cultures around the world have more in common than some would like to confess.
Hihi, yeah I've mentioned Laarwijk a few times already and think there are still some stories to tell 😅. If you're ever in Suriname we would like to take you with us, if you're interested.
!ENGAGE 10
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