 Because every year, every year, every 31st is because of tradition and tradition. You know what? As the title of this video says, going back to Suriname for the new years. I mean, when I was in Suriname, everyone was saying that the best time to be in Suriname is during the new years. People were even saying that I need to stay for the new year before I leave. But you know what? I'm still within the Caribbean region and I was like, you know what? I have to experience the Suriname on the 31st and the 1st of January that everyone is talking about. So here I am, booked a new ticket just to go to Suriname. And I'm super excited to be going back because it's actually one of my favorite countries. It's one of the countries that I really enjoyed myself when I was there. One of the countries that almost everyone in the country loves and adores. What am I? Trust me, I feel so famous in Suriname, more than any country in the world man. I'm so happy to be going back to Suriname and I want you all to come along with me. If you're excited, like this video now and share this video to friends and family and happy new year to each and everyone watching this video. But don't forget to subscribe to this channel. Come along with me. But I'm not going alone. I'm not going alone. The first time I was in Suriname, I went alone with my team. But this time around, I'm going with my wife. And I know that we're definitely going to have the best time of our lives in Suriname. Where are you heading to? To the new place you go. You're going to Suriname. Why are you going to Suriname? Because Suriname is a nice place. A really nice place. Wow. You're not from Suriname? No, I'm from Trinidad, yeah. So you're going to spend a new year in Suriname? Correct. Everyone is saying it's the best time to be in Suriname. Yeah, actually, another year, you know, big celebrations and all that. So it's all good. Is this your first time going there? No. No, it's not my first time. You go every year? Yeah. This is going to be my first time. I guess I'm really going to have a great time there. Hello Suriname. Here I come. Let's party together. I can't believe that I'm back again in Suriname. Not alone. Excited to be here? Excited. You know, we've been talking a lot about this country. I can't wait to experience it. How long are you going to be here? Just three days. Not so long. Three days, you know. Suriname. I'm home, yeah. You're here waiting for me? How are you? I'm good. What's my wife? Okay, Miss Trudy. Oh, okay. So you couldn't convince her not to talk? Yeah. And with all the love that I received, any time I arrived in Suriname, I guess it's about time to make Suriname my second home. Good morning from Suriname. I can't believe that I'm finally back in this beautiful country. One thing that Suriname does to you as soon as you touch down, the whole country welcomes you and it welcomes you with peace. You know what? This is where I'll be staying for the next couple of days in Suriname. And believe me or not, it's a partnership with a hotel, which means that at the end of the day, we are staying here without paying anything. And I just want to let you all know if we ever make it to Suriname or my videos inspire you to visit Suriname, make sure you stay at Toraika. I mean, we've got three different chains of hotel along this stretch. And the one that I'm in is Roya Toraika. And believe me or not, it's one of the best places that I've ever stayed. We've got the pool right here, the greens, the whole environment. It's super clean. Workers are super nice. And one of the things that I love about them is the food that they have here. Good morning from Suriname. I am loving this place. Where do I start? The people are the friendliest people. This hotel we are staying in is grand. It is a group of hotels and it has been in existence for over 60 years. And they have been improving through the years. The food is finger-licking good. The rooms are so cozy. They have a gym. They have a sauna. They have a pool. What is so special about Toraika? Well, it's the only place in Suriname where you can have a variety of everything that Suriname has to offer. The culinary, the environment, just everything that Suriname has to offer is here at Toraika. You can see it in our personnel. We have people from different races, different colors. Everything is here. And so yeah, if you ever think about a place you want to go, win on vacation in Suriname, come to the best place that has the longest experience in hospitality in Suriname. Come to Toraika. Toraika. Where Suriname shines like never before. Now that you all know where I live, let the three days adventure begin. When I first visited Suriname, I thought the capital city was world most emptiest city because whenever I go to the street, I don't see many people on the street. But I guess I was wrong because I've never been to this city in December. Trust me, the entire city gets filled up and it's all filled up with party after party. You know what, grab a chill beer because this video is going to be super lit because the people of this city never sleep. But it was really interesting to see that the party is actually mobile. What do I mean by that? The people that are singing and performing are in a moving car. So in the next two hours, this car moves to another location where there's another party going on. Believe it or not, the people of Suriname really know how to party because what you see right now is actually rehearsal for what is going to happen tomorrow which is the main event and I believe that is the climbers for the entire three days adventure. To leave this party, to go and check out the setup, what people are doing, the preparation for tomorrow's event which is over the alley. Simply put, old year. So I guess this whole event is called the old year party or end of year party. It's 3am right here in Parabaribo and where I am, you can see that no one is here but the roads are blocked just for tomorrow because tomorrow is actually the big day where everybody is going to come out in their numbers to party. So they are setting up the stage and I believe that most of you don't see the behind the scenes and since I'm here, I have to bring you guys behind the scenes. In December, no one sleeps in this city and since I'm here, I guess I have to sleep for one hour and on the next day, the celebration continues. The festival just began and it's about time the people start with sweet water. It's more like a ritual to usher you into the main festival. So as you can hear right behind me, the people that are here are going to shower with this. You know, they shower you with blessings before you enter the new year and you can see they're singing the national anthem of Suriname. They'll use this water to wash everyone and cleanse them of every negative thing that they have maybe gone through or everything they want to get rid of for the next year. Wow! So they cleanse them right here? Yes, they cleanse them right here. Oh my goodness, that's beautiful. So they do this every year? Every year. Yes. It's really exciting to see that an African culture that was done behind the scene is done out on a national level and different ethnicities are embracing it. Even people are coming all the way from different countries to embrace it and I guess I got my brother from Zimbabwe right here. And this crowd is here. The brother from Zimbabwe is here. Yeah, indeed. You're coming for the sweet water? Yes, for sweet water and everything. Why sweet water? To get into 2024 and clean a new person. Oh wow! You heard that. So why are you not in Suriname yet? You're not going back to staying here? No, I just got here. You just got here? I'm coming every year. Five years ago, I was completely paralyzed. Wow! I couldn't walk, I couldn't move my hands or anything. Look at me now. That's beautiful. Yeah, look at me now. Wow, that's a test money. I know. Yo! I really want to know the motive behind sweet water. Now, in the old time, then it is so that every end of the years, we take a sweet water, that means water with flowers, leaves and oils and water scheme to remove all bad things away, to make space for good things, so that we can start the new year, not only new things, new good things. Wow! Who's culture is this? This is African culture. Suriname African culture. How long has this been going on? Well, I take it from a grandmother. My grandmother will be now maybe 130 years old. My mother, every year we all go and take a wash in the garden. When I come bigger, then my chairperson, one of the other chairperson, start to do it on the National Garden. National Garden. So it's from Bacchia to National Garden. National Garden. Thank you so much. It's very nice, it's good things, good progress, because our civilization is a bad time, especially in the Dutch colony. We don't, we can't speak, they don't want to speak, they want to speak the language and that's one of the things that, everything for us is bad. Everything is bad, as they said, especially the church is one of the organizations, the slavery time, they do very tough work, so that, yeah, we lose our civilization. What we try to do in that organization now, to build the town, to say that the United Nations said, every culture got its civilization. You have to start the beginning of the year, you have to start with the civilization. And so that you can start with that and go further, the whole year. That's how we change things. Culture is not a bad thing, it's still alive. People, who are you? It's crazy, because I have to... You have so much to do. Set a fireworks for the clock, it has to be 12 on the door. So you know why I was rushing, I was rushing because I need to light up the fireworks for us to begin the whole festival at 12 o'clock. It's hard to just keep moving, but it's exciting to see that I am going to do this today. But I've seen the legend right here, I don't know, I think the legend is also going to do it. Hey, my brother, how are you doing man? They're legend. This guy is a living legend. They're living legend. It's funny when legends call you a legend. You're a legend there, renowned all over the world, you know. Good to see you again. What was that? Oh, you had it first, with the Maya. Yeah, I'm going to light up the fireworks. Are you going to do it together? Yeah, we're going to do it together. Because I want to do it with a legend, man. Great honor, it's a great honor for us for you to do that. Thank you. Thank you, man. Haven't they crowned you Surinamese yet? I'm waiting for the passport. I'm waiting for the passport. I don't think I need myself to enter this country. No, no, no, no, no, no. He was talking about all the time, my wife, my wife, like he's the only one with a wife. Blessings, a blessing for us. Welcome, welcome to Surinam. I'm loving it. So you do know who is? Tell me. You know who he is? He's actually a legend, a living legend, you know. When you see Bob Marley, Lucky Dubay, that's how you compare him. Wow. Is he the one you've been talking about? You remember the fried rice that I ate? Oh, he told me that night, he made me go to home, he called me, he told me you won't believe who I met. The guy's like a legend in the country. He's only to have a say. Yeah, exactly. And you're meeting him for the first time. It's so nice to meet you. He's comparing me with people. When you go home, you have to explain. There is only, okay, for a few countries, and I'm trying my best, but the best part is trying to keep my people together and be as a, you know, yes. He's doing a good job. Can he be? Thank you very much, my sister. Sounds of the festival. Any people ready to have fun? It's actually a festival on its own, which is called the Pagada Festival. So the Pagada Festival is actually the longest fireworks that is being shot in the city. And it was such a great honor to be one of the people who will be doing this to the head. Surinama. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Surinam was so overwhelming to see the number of people that were coming to me to appreciate me. And yeah, I mean, for the first time in my whole life, I felt like a celebrity because everybody wanted a selfie with a village boy from Ghana. Look at the global impact, man. This is crazy. And I don't take this for granted to the people of Surinam. I love it. Like, I haven't seen any theft. I haven't seen people fighting. I haven't seen people pushing. Everyone is just having a good time. Food there in Paramaribo, a day full of joy, happiness, fun and the fact that everybody dropped their differences to come together to party as one family was super late to see. And I wish Paramaribo would be like this forever. Paramaribo is indeed the place to be in December 31st. Close out to party. What I have right now is more like young people coming together to have fun. But as I get closer, I get to see the old age also coming together to have fun, man. Never seen anything like this before. Literally, we just went to the room. 30 minutes later, we're asked to come out because there's another concert happening. It's singing along with the biggest musician from the country and it happens to be my friend. We have a wonderful, wonderful verse to get out of this. I wouldn't have it. No, no, I cannot do this by myself. So why I'm blessed? I cannot say that I achieve this because I work so hard because a lot of people work hard because you have to have the love to breathe somewhere. So I feel I'm lucky and I'm happy that I can take care of my people and I'm happy that I can talk about them with them about love, about peace, about unity, about one people. What does this day mean to the people of Solidarn? I think this is the ultimate day that we come together when we realize more than any other day that we are one. Because everything is the same as last. And you have no way, end of the year is no round. You see, everybody, all ethical groups, we are here to represent. And that's why we're happy to have you here so you can show the world. Thank you so much for playing with me because I hope to see you on the stage. I believe Lucky Dube came in two times in his life. We love, like we love you, we love Lucky Dube. So we still feel the pain. We love this music. So I'm happy to perform a song here for our audience to keep in my mind. If I had my way, I would have uploaded the raw footage for you to see how the people of Suriname really enjoyed to party. But because of copyright, we have our Facebook page. Please do well to follow us on Facebook to enjoy authentic stuff with no music. My name is Wadamaya. Don't forget to like this video. Please subscribe to this channel. Let's help us hit 1.5 million subscribers.