A ‣ Describing tourist destinations

DESTINATION: SURINAME

If you’re the type of traveller who wants to escape the crowds¹, get off the beaten track² and get back to nature³, take a closer look at Suriname. Suriname’s tourist sector⁴ is relatively modest and the emphasis is on what makes the country different for the discerning⁵ traveller. Other Caribbean nations may boast⁶ better sand, sea and sun, but because of that, you won’t find hordes⁷ of people in Suriname. What you will find is a wealth of⁸ wildlife with a huge range of flora and fauna⁹. More than 12% of the country is given over to national parks¹⁰ and nature reserves¹¹ and large tracts¹² of the country are covered by virgin¹³ rainforest. So, if you are seeking something out of the ordinary¹⁴, click here for more information.

¹ go where there are not many people
² go to places tourists don’t normally go, somewhere different/unusual
³ live a natural, rural style of life
⁴ tourist industry; formal
⁵ showing good judgement, especially about style and quality
⁶ this use of boast is for listing the good qualities of a place; formal
⁷ crowds, in a negative sense
⁸ large amount of; formal
⁹ plants and animals; a fixed phrase (Latin)
¹⁰ areas of a country that are protected by the government because of their natural beauty or because they have a special history
¹¹ areas of land protected in order to keep safe the animals and plants that live there, often because they are rare
¹² areas of land; collocates with large, vast, huge
¹³ original and natural
¹⁴ looking for something different (seek is rather formal)

B ‣ Travel advertisements

¹ /ʌnˈwaɪnd/ relax, reduce your general level of stress
² get back your energy (like recharging a battery)
³ wild, areas covered in grass, bushes or trees (especially in Africa and Australia)
⁴ pronounced four by four; vehicles with driving power on all four wheels
⁵ on the edge of the sea or of a river
⁶ extremely beautiful
⁷ no other company can off er cheaper ones for the same service
⁸ it fills you with a sense of the power and beauty of what you are looking at
⁹ these words represent a scale of length and difficulty: a ramble is a long, pleasant walk, not too demanding; a hike is more demanding, suggesting more difficult terrain; a trek is usually of several days over wild country
¹⁰ no other holiday programme can match this
¹¹ having views of the attractive, natural things in the countryside
¹² a perfect place or situation (often collocated with tropical when describing somewhere hot and sunny)
¹³ the business of organising holidays in a way which helps local people and does not damage the environment
¹⁴ enjoy or taste (often used in advertisements)
¹⁵ the inland areas furthest away from the sea or from borders with other countries