Henry in Guyana

Rodeo was everything I expected - a fairly relaxed schedule of events followed by a big party. As I was staying at the Bushmasters house, we had a couple of vehicles whose roofs were perfect viewing points for the Rodeo ground which was a few minutes' drive out of Lethem. There were a number of events, including bull riding, saddleback bronco, bareback bronco, horseracing, melon eating, cassava eating, and tug of war. The eating competitions were particularly funny with some entertaining commentary (at one point the commentator decided to name one of the larger female competitors as "big, strong and voluptuous" and referred to her as that for the rest of the event). The tug of war was visitors vs home which was an entertaining way of watching a lot of white people get beaten by the Rupununi contingent. I was sadly on the men's visitors team which lost.


The bull riding got quite exciting, as a couple of times once the rider fell the bull decided to go for the crowd. Given that the fences were less than sturdy a couple got broken but fortunately no bulls actually made it into the packed crowd of sweaty people.


Naturally the evening activities were quite raucous, I think some people didn't even make it to bed for a few days. On the Friday night before Rodeo there was a pageant at the Takatu hotel in Lethem where I competed in the karaoke competition with a rendition of Elvis' Can't Help Falling in Love but sadly was not the victor, or even in the top three. The following two nights were at the Rodeo ground and with such a mix of people from abroad, the coast and the Rupununi was a particularly lively affair.

There was also food everywhere - a whole section of stalls selling meat on a stick - beef, chicken and pork, as well as paçoc which is farine (like cous-cous, made from from cassava) mixed with dried meat and onions - very tasty. Having said that, it's a bit like eating raw cous-cous, so if you eat too much and then drink a lot of water (or worse) you end up feeling extremely full.


Once good times were had by all, it was time to head home. Despite losing my ticket, and not having enough money to buy another one, we managed to get on a bus (as I still had a booking) and head back to Georgetown. The bus left at around 11 but the fun wasn't quite over as the bumps on the road meant a number of things fell on me from the luggage racks above, including a torch and deodorant can to the face and a constant shower of cassava bread crumbs from whichever person decided to stow those things up there. As well as this, we were travelling in convoy with another bus, which had some problem and broke down. Apparently we were legally obliged to stay together, so at one stop had to wait 3 hours for a part to arrive. Nevertheless, some travellers decided to buy some vodka and invite me in so we passed the time with some entertainment.

The road to Lethem isn't a very good one; only very hardy vehicles can make it and at one point apparently it is 8 hours between petrol stations. If you get stuck in the bush, you're really stuck; I don't think the AA will rescue you. Needless to say, we made it back home for 3am the following morning and had had a great final week experiencing Guyana's interior.

Probably the nicest place I have been to in Guyana is Saddle Mountain ranch in the South Rupununi. I went just before Christmas and had a great time, so as Rodeo was coming up just down the road in Lethem, a friend and I decided to go for 4 nights to the ranch before Rodeo. Both of us are leaving in the next couple of weeks so it was a good final holiday.

We began by getting on the Intraserv bus from Jerry's bar at around 9pm, for around a 13 hour trip overnight to Lethem. In fact it seemed to be a popular bus as I met 8 different people that I already knew travelling at the same time! A constant reminder of the small size of Guyana's population. The road to Linden, maybe an hour or two from Georgetown, is paved, followed by red dirt road which is maintained to some degree but pretty bumpy. Anyway on the road to Linden the windscreen broke and had a massive hole in it. It was already breezy in the bus but things really got going. I was wondering how the journey might turn out (could they really drive all that way with half a windscreen?) when we stopped alongside a bus coming back to Georgetown and swapped.

Suprisingly, everything went well, all our bags ended up in the right bus, and as far as I can gather all the people too. I felt a bit sorry for those who had probably been on a good working bus for 12 hours then having to change over, delay their journey, get in an extremely blowy bus and were very nearly home. As a little extra entertainment, the bus broke down at the final immigration point so we had to get a taxi into Lethem proper.


Onto the ranch; as with last time the house was fantastic, and it was quite refreshing not to have proper power or internet, but we had enough of the basics (beds, proper bathroom) to be comfortable. This time I had a horse called Thunder, who really loved to run fast. This was a little frightening for me as I never quite graduated beyond holding on for dear life but it was great fun. One afternoon we went off to round up cattle which was good, I did this last time but I got left behind so never managed to do much rounding up. This time however, with Thunder taking me around, it was really fun. There's something about herding cattle, particularly racing off after one that decided to break loose.

Later that day we had a go at calf roping - apparently an event at rodeo where a man and a woman team up, the man has to rope a calf and hold it still enough for the woman to take a ribbon off its tail. Whilst my lasso-ing wasn't so hot, I think we could have held our own, maybe. Fortunately the event didn't take place at Rodeo so I wasn't tested.

Three pigs (I believe) had given birth to 24 piglets in the past few days which were very cute. Despite not being a fan of cuteness sites I have gone so far as to post a video of some piglets nibbling my foot:



They were quite funny with their little oinks and ran away whenever they were chased. However if their mum was around they calmed down a bit which is why they got so close to me.

As always the food was excellent with three big meals a day which are absolutely what is needed when out riding and enjoying a little rum in the evening. I hope I will return someday.

Well, I'm back in Georgetown and am in one piece after spending two weeks in the jungle on a survival course, and it was an amazing experience. There were 6 of us on the trip; three Brits, a Dutchman, an Australian and an 18 year old American called Blaze, whose also happened to be good at building big fires. The trip was run by Bushmasters, a British company which runs trips in Guyana, and if you want an adventure I'd recommend having a look as it is extremely well run and you will have no shortage of adventure and Ian, who runs the company, will make sure that whatever happens you do a lot of cool stuff.

We began with a trip to Kaieteur, reputedly one of the world's largest single drop falls and amongst the most powerful, which is one of Guyana's must see attractions. After a flight lasting about an hour we got off and were guided around by a local Amerindian chap. I have never been to Niagara or any other similar attraction but I imagine there are hotels, shops and all kinds of things there - upon arrival we found a small airstrip with a few guys sitting around outside a lodge building that I don't think is quite finished! Of course Niagara must get many hundreds of thousands of visitors if not more in a year and I imagine Kaieteur probably doesn't have more than a few small group in during a week, but it was an entertaining snapshot of Guyana and one of its national treasures.

The falls themselves were magnificent as expected and we were taken to a number of viewing points and then to the top. One of the nice things is that there are no barriers - you can sit right on the edge, and I did. Also it was quite spectacular to crawl to the edge of a ledge and look right down into the waterfall. All in all it was a great experience; the only downside is that it is quite expensive and quite a lot travel to get to.

After this we headed back to Georgetown to get the bus down to Surama where the real fun was about to start. This time I took the Intraserv bus, a proper coach which is built like a tank to be able to handle the rough road down into the interior. We left at 9pm and had a bumpy and uncomfortable overnight trip, arriving in Surama at around 8am the following day. Surama is a small village of just under 250 people on the road to Lethem with a great Eco-Lodge which serves tourists and I imagine provides a significant income for the village. The Amerindian people seem to live a very good life - with good weather and beautiful landscape they farm cassava, hunt and fish in the forest and live apparently very peaceful lives. If you ever feel like starting a minimal rural life - go and live in an Amerindian village!

We spent one night at the lodge and having collected and prepared all our kit we donned rucksacks and went for about an hour's trek into the bush to the first camp. This consisted of three wooden buildings that were originally built for a TV show and was a good place to start. We stayed there for four days learning how to use a bow an arrow, fish, light fires and generally live in the jungle. We had four Amerindian guides to help us and show us how to do things. Bush related things to them are second nature - they don't seem to ever sweat, some walk around the jungle in flip flops or barefoot and generally find all the jungley stuff easy. Tourists are quite funny to them I think, as they are always chuckling at our inept machete use in our jungle boots and camelbacks. Following this we took a 30km trip by engine boat along the river to the second camp - Rain Camp, where it did in fact rain a great deal and we had to get used to being damp.


The main tool was the machete which we used to chop firewood, build shelters and generally always was at our side. The Kukrit nut contains a small grub which is good for eating and fishing bait but has to be cut out - a number of us (including me) sliced bits of our fingers opening them as they were quite tough. Some of our group were definitely camping outdoors people - sadly I am not really. As a result I tended to take longer than everyone else and be last at most things as I was not so good at the practical stuff - fires, cutting, setting up hammocks and so on.

All of this was gearing up for the final event - two days and two nights in isolation where we are dropped off with only a few things to survive with: bow and arrow, fishing kit, fire kit (cotton wool and striker), iodine (for wounds and water purification) and machete. We also could take in a medkit, emergency radio and camera for those all important self-portraits. Anyway I was dropped off at my area by boat at about 9am (although I had to leave my watch) and set to building my shelter. This was quite a good shelter, I thought, and it took me perhaps about 5 hours to get finished. After this I spent a number of hours getting a fire going as the wood around was generally a bit damp and it took a lot of effort. As we are near the equator it essentially gets dark at 6pm and stays dark until 6am consistently, so as it got dark I settled down in my shelter to sleep for the night. After a while my fire went out and it got a bit chilly, and I could hear a few mosquitos buzzing at my ear. It turned out to be a very cold and uncomfortable night and I didn't get much sleep - but there wasn't anything else to do as it was pitch black outside and I imagine there were a few scurrying creatures I didn't want to meet.


Finally daylight came so I got up but felt pretty bad - 20 hours with no food and poor sleep made life a bit more difficult. I did some fishing and caught some small fish, and tried using them to catch bigger fish but with no luck.As the day got on I started a fire again and thought about getting some food in. I chopped down a heart of palm tree which has a core at the top which is good to eat, and I roasted 9 Kukrit grubs on my fire, which was very tasty. After this I started gearing up for the night ahead and collecting firewood. I popped into the river for a wash which is when I realised I was covered in bites - it turns out the mosquitos must have found me quite tasty and bit me through my clothes. I later counted over 300 bites on my body! I was already quite miserable and didn't want to face another night of being eaten alive so I got on the radio and got picked up. I then had a glorious night's sleep in my hammock and mozzie net which seemed like a palace in comparison!

I was quite disappointed not to make the second night, but isolation was much more of a challenge than I thought, and I believe in the past people have come out for all sorts of reasons - some just because they didn't like it. It was quite an interesting personal experience and perhaps showed me that I am, in fact, not indestructible. Handy to know!

The next morning we picked up the other survivors and headed back to the lodge for a hearty meal, real (cold water) shower and to pack up all the kit. We also took a trip into Surama and saw some village animals including a very friendly tapir, followed by some drinks at the lodge and much needed sleep in a real bed. The next day, back on the bus and back to civilization!


It was a truly amazing experience - just to be so deep in the jungle and living in a hammock, washing in the creek and watching the Amerindians at work. Although isolation was miserable, it also made the trip and I am glad I did it - I think everyone got a lot from it. A shame to come out, but at least now the bites are healing! For now, back to Saints for me, and back to their home countries for the others. Needless to say, I hope to return to the jungle again sometime...

A whole bunch more photos here.

Since I returned from Lethem things have been quite busy on the social front; the three Canadians I went to the ranch with were in Georgetown so we spent most evenings socialising with various bits of the volunteer community and sampling Guyanese nightlife. On New Year's Eve - called Old Year's Night here, we went to a party at a diplomat's house along with 150 other people which was great fun. I ended up wandering into a new group of people and later we went to another party which was still going strong when we arrived at 4am. Finally we headed to someone else's house and watched the sun rise on their balcony before heading home for 8am and a good sleep. Naturally it's warm enough to be outside all night - from the news it looks like it's a very different story in the UK!

Life is returning somewhat to normal now and term has just started. However I'm about to head off on another adventure - this time a survival course in the jungle where I will learn to build a shelter, light a fire, kill my own food and do other cool stuff. After spending around 10 days learning what to do, you are then placed in isolation with a machete and some flint to fend for yourself for three days, finding your own food and water etc. I'm pretty excited about it - since I arrived I have wanted to see what the jungle is really like, I'm about to find out! I'm also heading to Kaieteur falls as part of the package which everyone says is a must-see so I'm looking forward to that also.

Bushmasters, the company running the trip, provides all the equipment but suggest that you bring a headtorch for night time (I don't think there are any streetlights out there.) I've hunted around Georgetown for a while with no luck so I'll just have to manage with a standard torch unless someone lends me one. The reason I mention it is that despite my normal experience of indifferent customer service here, I was pleasantly surprised that upon asking in a store the person I asked a) made the effort to call someone to ask if they had it in stock and b) gave me a number of suggestions as to where I could find some (without me even asking). It turns out if you go to the right places people know how to get their customers to come back. This store, Giftland Officemax, has a good reputation  among other things stocks a huge selection of DVDs which I have spent a reasonable amount of time perusing. They didn't have any headtorches though.

I'll be heading into the bush during term time, which on the one hand is not so convenient (but the only time I could go) on the other hand it will be a chance to see if everything will work without me there to keep an eye on it. I've spent this last week preparing proper documentation for the systems we have in place and ensuring the technician I work with has everything in hand. I'm treating it as a bit of a dry run for when I leave; a standard problem for volunteer types I think is to come and set up some whizz-bang system and then leave without anyone knowing how to maintain it (or even what it does...) Anyway I hope not to do that, so we shall see how the next few weeks go.

Provided I am not eaten by a Jaguar, Anaconda, Cayman, bitten by a venomous snake or die of starvation I'll be back in a couple of weeks with plenty of pictures and stories to tell. Until next time...

A couple of days ago I got back from spending about a week in Lethem and the South Rupununi which is on the Guyana-Brazil border. Someone told me it would be like a different continent down there - and it is. I travelled down on a plane - my first small plane trip on a 10 seater. It was nice to see Georgetown from the air, after which we flew over dense bush for a while, which breaks out into Savannah and endless plains.

Once we arrived in Lethem we checked into the hotel and took a look around. It has a lot of Brazilian influence - most signs are in English and Portuguese; there are lots of shops selling shoes and t-shirts which are pretty quiet during the week but are flooded with Brazilians at the weekend! After an evening eating Brazilian kebabs and drinking plenty of beer we headed to bed. The hotel had air conditioning and hot water - I had my first hot shower since I left Barbados. Lethem is primarily an Amerindian town and has a very different feel to Georgetown; as an outsider you feel very safe walking around, even at night, and there is plenty of space and very little mess. It's also a lot cooler as there is always a breeze accross the Savannah.

Our party consisted of myself, a Canadian VSO, two of his friends and one chap in his 50s from the UK who goes travelling in South America every year. This chap was a stereotypical colonial complete with bushy handlebar moustache and was never not in his explorer gear - outdoor trousers, shirt and full brimmed hat. On our first full day in Lethem we got someone to drive us to Moco Moco falls, a derelict hydroelectric power station originally put in by the Chinese government which fell into disrepair after a landslide. There were 975 steps to the top, although many of the steps were broken or simply washed away so a fair amount of scrambling was required. It took about 90 minutes to get up with a few stops and time taken to scramble up rocks, but it was worth it and we spent a while enjoying swimming in the rock pools and waterfalls at the top before heading back down. On the way home our driver Wayne took us to see his allegedly 110 year old Grandfather on a small farm and we were given some Kari (phonetically spelt) which is an alcoholic drink made from Cassava. It had lumps in it and was a bit like a very sharp-tasting cider and potato soup.

The following day we drove to Saddle Mountain Ranch which was the focus of our trip. There we spend four days riding horses, rounding up cattle, eating, sleeping and drinking. The first day we visited a little creek there which was a beatiful place to swim and wash clothes, followed by a big meal (our hostess cooked us three big meals a day which were all excellent) and settled in with some beer and rum. There isn't any electricity, phone or mobile coverage there so things were quite basic, although a small solar-charged battery provided lights in the evening and there was a water pump in a well so we had running water in the house. It was quite nice to be so remote - and you can see all the stars at night. Having said that, getting home has been nice as I'm not so good at hand-washing clothes to the extent of them not looking any cleaner than when they went in.

As someone who has only done a couple of pony rides before, riding took a little while to get a hand on but was pretty easy to get the hang of. Saddle sores were a bit of an issue for everyone but we just had to man up and get on with it. My horse was called Lightning and he was quite good natured. He wasn't so keen on galloping though, and to get him to go fast he needed a little go with the riding crop. The thing is, none of us were confident enough to ride hands-free, so one hand is used holding onto the saddle for dear life, the other to the riding crop. This is fine unless you need to steer; and horses aren't so smart so they'll happily dash under a low branch without any regard to the fact that you will fall off. As a result I had to do a bit of shuffling of hand whilst running but fortunately managed not to fall off despite a few near misses.

One morning we got up early (after a lot of rum the night before and having to carry our moustached friend to bed!) and rode out to find some of the ranch's cattle. They are let out to graze most of the time but have to be brought in to be branded, castrated and so on. This was a great outing for about 4 hours and we travelled a long way over the Savannah herding cattle all the way home. The other interesting session was castrating about 8 young bulls - there were maybe 50 cows in the corral by the Ranch so we had to lassoo, then pull in, then knock over and hold on the floor every eligible bull whilst Tommy the ranch owner came over with his knife and things got a bit gruesome. Watching the first was pretty nasty but after a few it was ok, and I was involved in holding the head so the bull didn't struggle, and in one case had to pull its tail to turn it over.


On Christmas Eve we headed back to Lethem and spent Christmas day at someone's house playing monopoly, drinking and having Christmas dinner. That night we went to the local nightclub which is essentially someone's garden but was quite fun. I got a bit lost on the way home unfortunately but someone gave me a lift on the back of their scooter which was pretty fun. There aren't many street lights so naturally things look very different at night!

We travelled back to Georgetown on a minibus which was not too bad, except the bus we started on kept stopping as the engine kept overheating. We were then transferred onto another which was ok except they guy drove very fast. This was good for getting home (the trip still took 11 hours) but bad for getting back alive. Much of the road was through the jungle - and was in surprisingly good condition, although there was the occasional tree fallen which had to be navigated around.

My little camera served me well on the trip and I took loads of photos - you can see some of them here. All in all, it was a great trip - riding on the Savannah is a truly wonderful experience. I hope to go to Lethem for the Easter Rodeo which is apparently the place to be in Guyana which I will look forward to.


Until next time...