The Maroni River is part of the Amazonian river and rainforest system, and we could certainly not leave French Guiana without exploring the rainforest more closely.
On our way out the Maroni River, we ventured off to a few creeks, guided by a printed map, which David, the marina owner in St Laurent, had shared with us. According to our fancy digital map on the boat, some of the creeks were actually land, but local knowledge beats fancy systems any day!
It was really amazing to get so close to the rainforest, at some spots, we could literally touch the vegetation as we glided past. We had to keep our focus on some trees hanging over the river, so our mast did not get stuck. Noxoma and the captain (and crew) performed beautifully, and we had no issues maneuvering in the tightest areas.
We anchored for the night at a very tight spot, hoping that nobody else were planning on cruising through during the night. Our boat basically blocked the creek, and when the changing tide turned us 180 degrees, we were a little bit too close to the river bank for comfort. With a little help from our props, we kept our distance.
We had a great night’s sleep, and it was really magical to wake up with the day light the next morning. We had the jungle right there, with tons of animal sounds and the green lushness surrounding us. We did not see much animals, except for birds, even though we know there are plenty of monkeys, snakes like the Anaconda, panters and jaguars. Perhaps okay that we did not see these animals a couple of meters from the boat… We did see a manatee (sea cow) though, which we were not aware was in these waters.
This was an absolutely perfect ending to our river cruising – next stop is the Caribbean!