Suriname

December 20, 2011

Last year we camped in a deserted coconut grove and snorkelled among colorful fish that played along the reef in azure water. We were going to spend the holidays by ourselves until, one afternoon, we met Ricardo Semler on the beach. He invited us to his beach house, at the far end of the grove, to spend the holidays with his wonderful family. Love is about sharing the moment and warmth with people around you; we all talk about it and often take it for granted. With a bit of luck we can experience it everyday.

A few weeks ago a man was ogling the Land Cruiser and approached me. "Hello Coen!" he voiced, like he was an acquaintance. Lloyd, as he introduced himself, told me he has lived in the Netherlands for years and has followed our adventure since the early beginnings. When he learned we were driving in Suriname, his place of birth, which he hadn't visited in 15 years, he planned a vacation with his wife and set out to meet us.
"I met an old man with a beard along the way and he want to give you these" Lloyd said as he handed us a Dutch chocolate letter each: a C and an M (Marijke). Some of you may not know our holy saint but we found the act of Lloyd tracking us to offer us traditional Sinterklaas treats incredibly touching.

We would like to thank all those people we have met in the last eight-plus years and who have given us love and warmth on the road, physically and emotionally. As our journey continues we look forward to many more meetings, equally or even more touching to all of us. Thanks also for your digital season's greetings and in return we wish you all a warm and loving 2012.

[please take note that due to our limited internet connection we are not keen on receiving cards and photo attachments bigger than 300kb]

Karin-Marijke with a sloth. [French Guiana]

In our logbook: Our latest story [90]. Nienke and Marlin give a ten-day workshop of woodblock printing on fabric. The women are incredibly driven to learn as much as they can. The joy on Nienke and Marlin's faces when yet another woman demonstrates a surprising result no doubt encourages the women to create something even more surprising and beautiful. Karin-Marijke and Coen update: December 20, 2011