LAURENCE MACKINreviews Surinamby Andrew Westoll and The Dominican RepublicRough Guide
Surinam
Andrew Westoll
Old Street Publishing, £10.99
Suriname was traded by the Dutch in exchange for Manhattan, but while the jewel of the US east coast has become a global capital, Suriname remains stubbornly pre-modern, a thoroughly wild corner of South America that has the world’s largest tract of pristine rainforest. Andrew Westoll arrived here to study monkeys, but this book sees him trying to get to the heart of the country itself, which is no easy task. Suriname and its people refuse to give up their secrets simply; as industrial giants look to rip the heart of the jungle apart with mining operations, the government seems willing to toe the line, in exchange for easy money. There is also the country’s recent bloody past to contend with, about which few locals dare to speak. Westoll does his best to tread the thin line between diplomacy and inquiry. This book is beautifully written in parts, and Westoll has a good eye for the telling detail. For every answer this book provides, it raises a clutch of questions – oddly in keeping with Suriname itself.
The Dominican Republic
Rough Guides, £12.99
Another country with a proud stretch of wild countryside is the Dominican Republic. It has made its way on to many Irish travel agents’ books, and it’s easy to see why: a saltwater lake the size of Manhattan, Shangri-La-like valleys, lively beach towns and an untouched rural hinterland provide all the ingredients for adventure. There are good sections on parts of the country away from the package tours, from grappling your way up the Rio Damajagua waterfall to finding the world’s only larimar mine (take a right at the cockfighting arena in Arroyo, apparently).