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Every friday and sunday the SMS (Scheepvaart Maatschappij Suriname) organizes a trip over the Commewijne river along the old plantations of Paramaribo. This trip is sailed with the old SMS mail boat, which used to deliver the mail to those plantations. At exactly half past seven the boat would leave and that Friday we arrived in the early morning, exactly at half past seven, running on the quay so as not to miss the boat. But the boat did not leave yet. After half an hour of researching the boat and finding a nice seat, my mother became restless. She went looking for the captain to ask why they had not left. Coincidentally, the young man with whom she was sitting on the quay while she was smoking a cigarette, was the captain. He said that the boat was still waiting for a couple of elderly people. In the distance we saw an old Surinamese lady come onto the quay behind a walker. Very slow. That could take a while. Once this lady arrived on the boat, it turned out that she was not the only elderly person we had to wait for. A whole group of elderly people would have to go. Although we were asked to be patient, because there would still have to be a phone call whether or not to wait for the group, the passengers now became restless and there was laughing alongside grumble. No, we were leaving without the elderly group. When we just sailed on the Suriname River for 10 minutes, the engine stopped and we were told that the elderly group had just arrived and that the boat still wanted to take them. Back at the quay we saw a group of about 15 elderly people with their companions. The elderly ladies had put on their prettiest dresses, their hair nicely braided and their prettiest hats on. This was a nice trip for them and they were looking forward to it. Picnic baskets full of food were loaded on board and the old ones were hoisted on board. And finally, after waiting 2 hours, the boat was really complete and the unforgettable beautiful trip along the Alliance and Baki plantations could begin. Grapefruit could be eaten generously, but not every elderly person could leave the boat to take a walk on the plantations.