Soon we reached the business district, with its tightly packed tiny stores. We noticed that in Paramaribo most stores sold necessities. Things like cooking utensils, food, tools, and basic clothing. The chief luxury goods seemed to be jewelry. Walking through the business district made me think of the old joke about how if you don't like my driving, you should stay off the sidewalk.
Cars park on the sidewalk, often leaving no room for pedestrian traffic.
We found several stores that specialized in selling hammocks. Maybe I should talk for a moment about the languages in Suriname. The official language is Dutch, and it is the primary language used along the coast. In the interior, the six Maroon tribes each have their own languages, as do the Amerindians. Spanish is often spoken by visitors from Latin American countries.