Notes on the herpetofauna of Surinam : I. Itinerary of a herpetological collecting trip in Surinam in 1968

Since a few years the present author has been engaged in a study of the herpetofauna of Surinam, which resulted in a few publications (Hoogmoed 1967, 1969a, b). In early 1968, a grant was obtained from WOTRO (Netherlands Foundation for the Advancement of Tropical Research, grant W956-2) which enabled me to undertake a seven months collecting trip in Surinam. From the start the purpose was to obtain specimens from several localities in the interior, as the coastal area was thought to be fairly well explored. Moreover, other important goals were to obtain information on the ecology and colours of the living animals and, in the case of the frogs and toads, to make sound records. As a well developed road system in Surinam only exists near the coast and between Paramaribo and the Brokopondo artificial lake, the localities in the interior have to be reached by boat or by air. Because of the short duration of my stay I had to make use of airtransportation to rapidly reach places in the interior, from there making short trips in the surroundings either on foot or by boat. Thus the assembling of a representative collection from various parts of the country could be attempted. ITINERARY 24 April 1968-20 November 1968 24-27 April: Paramaribo. 27-30 April: Bigisanti beach. 27: trip by motorboat ("piaka") from Paramaribo to Bigisanti by way of Suriname River, Commewijne River, Matapica Canal and Atlantic Ocean; 28: trip to the deserted post Brandwacht on Mot Creek, collecting on the beach, at night observation of egg laying sea turtles; 29: collecting on Bigisanti beach; 30: return journey from Bigisanti