Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport, the main international gateway to Suriname, is nowhere near Paramaribo, the city it serves. This leads to expensive taxi fares: $50 USD one-way, or $20-$30 USD one-way for a shared ride (which is what I did on arrival). There is another option: public busses run between downtown Paramaribo and the airport, taking under two hours each way and costing the equivalent of around $1 USD. Here's what I wished I had known before making the trip:

Where is the bus stop at the airport?

Busses do not enter the airport itself. Instead, you must walk out to the main road (JFK Highway on Google Maps), where busses pass to and from Zanderij, the small town adjacent to the airport. It’s about a five-minute walk, about half of this along a sidewalk. There is no “stop” as such: you wait by the side of the road, fully exposed to the elements.

This is it. Just wait and hope.

What about in Paramaribo?

Busses leave from the main bus terminal between Heiligenweg and Knuffelsgracht. There will be dozens of busses there, each one displaying a sign in the windshield with their final destination: look for the one showing Zanderij. There is a small office manned by staff from Nationaal Vervoer Bedrijf, the government transportation agency, at the bus terminal: ask there when the next bus leaves (mine left promptly at 1 p.m.)

How do I get on?

From the airport, wave the driver down. From Paramaribo, just climb aboard once you’ve found the right bus.

How do I get off?

From Paramaribo, the terminus is not the airport and busses will not necessarily stop near there: you will need to let the driver know where you want to get off (just shout as you approach the airport). This also applies if you want to disembark before the bus terminal in Paramaribo: call out as the driver is approaching where you want to get off, and the bus will stop.

What is the fare?

$35 SRD, plus another $35 if you have a suitcase (if you have multiple large bags, you will pay for however many seats these occupy).

How long does it take?

Just under two hours. My bus took a meandering route through the outskirts of Paramaribo, then again through Republiek when we were barely a kilometre away from the airport.

It does a job. The breeze is nice and it's a stress-free way to take in the jungle between Paramaribo and the airport.

What’s it like?

Basic. It’s an old bus: seats are 1-2, with a fold-down middle seat to make four-across seating when the bus gets full. No air conditioning, no seatbelts, but the windows open and the drivers on this and my trip to and from Atjoni drove reasonably safely. People will get on and off throughout the route, playing music, chatting…as long as you’re not in a rush, it’s not unpleasant.