Berbice River

Major river defining New Amsterdam's setting and history

The Berbice River meets the Atlantic at New Amsterdam, making the town both a port and the natural crossing point for travellers heading east along the coast toward Suriname. The river is broad and brown — coloured by tannins from the forest upstream — and the ferry crossing from Rosignol on the west bank to New Amsterdam is a reliable element of the journey east from Georgetown.

The riverfront at New Amsterdam has some basic stalls and a view over the wide water toward the Atlantic. Crab Island sits in the river mouth and can be reached by local fishing boat — it's used mainly by local fishermen and has no facilities, but the estuary birdlife is good. Upstream, the Berbice River runs deep into the rainforest interior; river tours can be arranged from Georgetown or Linden.

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A story

The Berbice River gave its name to one of the three Dutch colonies that became Guyana. In 1763, the Berbice Slave Uprising — one of the earliest and most significant slave rebellions in the Americas — took place along this river. The rebel leader Cuffy (also spelled Kofi) is now Guyana's national hero, and a statue of him stands in Georgetown. The uprising held much of the colony for nearly a year before Dutch reinforcements from the Caribbean suppressed it. New Amsterdam was founded as the colonial capital in the aftermath.

☰Berbice River

Berbice River