Henry in Guyana

In my time here my perception has varied in terms of the famous Caribbean laid-back stereotype. On the one hand, people in the street walk pretty slowly, sometimes to the extent of not really moving, but on the other hand the minibuses tear around town trying to get more fares. The bus park by Stabroek Market is also full of hustle and bustle - I have yet to walk past and not see a loud argument between a number of conductors over who stole who's customer. Unassertive individuals looking for a bus will be herded all over the place by men shouting and pointing at their respective buses.

In general though, things run slowly, and in my opinion a bit too slowly. I received a parcel the other day, and had to go to the post office to pick it up. It turned up pretty quickly, but then it had to be opened, looked at, shuffled around, looked at some more, taped up, put in a pile, then put in another pile before being given to me which took almost an hour. I appreciate that it had to be checked by a customs officer and handled correctly, but it seemed to me that the staff were wondering around aimlessly just picking up whatever parcel looked like it needed doing.

To be fair it was compounded a bit by a couple of Project Trust lads I bumped into in the queue (one of whom I knew already) who had about 10 parcels coming in between them. Their time sounds pretty adventurous - another village only accessible by boat with no power and contactable only by post that can take months to arrive.

Customer service is often a little shabby, with aloof or entirely uninterested shop assistants who volunteer one word answers when you try and buy things. Of course this is an extreme, and I've had my fair share of friendly shop assistants but this kind of thing makes you less likely to buy stuff! As always however, the bad things jump out at you whilst the good things are quietly ignored. There is something quite interesting about a place of small shops and businesses that largely hasn't been touched by the capitalist machine. Perhaps it doesn't dare.

The next adventure is a trip to Lethem and the Rupununi on the Brazilian border. I'm going down on Friday to stay over Christmas, which will include, I gather, a stay on a cattle ranch which will involve riding horses and herding cattle. I have been on two pony rides in my life so that will be interesting. I am also told we might try to kill and eat a deer. I have managed to get on a cheap flight down which will be my first trip on a small plane (I think a six-seater) as well as my first proper trip into the interior. The journey back will be a 15-hour bus trip which will be equally exciting I think. Hopefully lots of pictures etc. on my return...