Category: Guyana

well, we’re into our last few hours of our time in Guyana.

the past week has been great. we officially finished work last thursday, and have had a week to hang around and say our goodbyes. friday robO went camping with most of our close friends here (i was minorly sick and so didn’t want to risk the travelling), so i’ll let him share pics and stories about that.
monday we went to a world cup cricket game! though the score was pretty lopsided (we saw the cinderella team ireland vs. the powerhouse new zealand), it was a great day and an exciting atmosphere. i didn’t realize before coming here how long cricket matches are – we were there ALL DAY!


tuesday night we had a going away dessert and coffee with another Canadian couple who are leaving on sunday (Mick and Jacky from Kelowna). it was a nice chance to say goodbye to the other volunteers and give away all of the extra stuff that we’ve accummulated over the past 6 months.

tonight we’re saying our final goodbyes to our closest friends here. i’ve been avoiding accepting that we are actually leaving, so tonight it might hit hard.

as a farewell to Guyana, i thought it would be appropriate to write a list of some of the things we’re really going to miss:

1. the weather. we love the heat.
2. the food. nothing beats the fresh fruits and veggies from the market, the indian food is amazing, and cassava has been a gluten free dream.
3. our amazing VSO friends. they’ve been inspiring, supportive, and a lot of fun.
4. weekend getaways to black water creeks, the rainforest, smaller towns
5. boat rides – i had to take a boat to get to work sometimes!
6. the residents at Uncle Eddie’s Geriatric Home
7. cool new animals, plants, birds
8. suddenly being a morning person, and loving it!
9. permanent bronze skin (rob always looks like he’s wearing a white t-shirt, even when he’s topless!)
10. problem solving our way through a new culture
11. dvds for ridiculously cheap. we even watch movies that are still in theatre at home.
12. picking fruit off the trees in our backyard (bananas and mangoes)
13. cows, goats, chickens just walking down the streets
14. learning how to relax and chill out in caribbean south america
15. being able to cycle or walk essentially everywhere we need to go in Georgetown
i’m sure i’ll come up with many more, but i’ll start with this for now…

the next time you hear from us we’ll be in part two of our big adventure so stay tuned!

We don’t have much else to say about our trip to Kaieteur Falls, but we do have a pant-load of pictures and video that we’d like to share with everyone. Consider this the ‘Special Features’ blog. Enjoy…

This bird is called ‘The Cock-of-the-rock’. It is only found in Kaieteur National Park and wasn’t too keen on getting his picture taken. The other shot is of me taking the picture of the COTR with DawnO acting as my tripod.

This frog was living in a bromelaid plant. I consider this picture to be one of the best from our trip.

Our tour guide called this an ‘American Spider’ because of the red, white, and blue stripes it has on it’s body. We caught him in the middle of his lunch.

This tree frog called ‘The Golden Frog’ is a poisonous frog that lives in the bromeliad plant.

We took a series of pictures of DawnO doing yoga poses. They will look great on a brochure when she opens her own Yoga studio.

This was the most frightening shower I have ever taken. DawnO wasn’t there and says she’s glad she wasn’t. Sorry mom, but I couldn’t resist. Click on the image of the waterfall to get a better perspective.

Here’s a video of Dave and I taking a bath at the top of the falls. We call it ‘Brokeback Fountain’. Hi | Lo

On day 3 we encountered the most difficult part of our journey. Because of all the rain, the creeks swelled into rivers, and the amount of hiking that we were able to do was cut short. At first we were disappointed but we soon realized that the rise in water levels would lead to the biggest adrenaline rush we would encounter. Tony, our guide, cautioned us to not bring our cameras or even our raincoats for the hike. We were skeptical, but complied. Am I ever glad. (Moms – if you choose to read further, remember that we are now safe and sound!)

Watch RobO’s creek crossing Hi | Lo

We got down to bare feet for better grip as we pulled ourselves along a rope to cross a creek. After a brief hike on the other side, we were rewarded with a great waterfall. Just at that moment, it was like the heavens opened up, and we were standing in the heaviest rain shower I have ever been in. Our journey continued, through waist deep creeks, slippery rocks, muddy ground, until we arrived at camp – tired and hungry.

The next morning we awoke with great anticipation. After a hike up the mountain we would be at Kaieteur Falls!

There are numerous viewpoints from which to see the falls (watch one here Hi | Lo). We spent a full day exploring, bathing in the river above the falls, watching thousands of swifts fly into their nests behind the falls, and getting the full experience of the beauty of Guyana and the power of nature. One of the most amazing things was the natural environment – there are no guard rails, ropes, fences, and our group were the only people there for the majority of the time (we met the english world cup cricket team for a few minutes!).
The next day, we reluctantly boarded the 9 seater plane for the one hour flight back to Georgetown. From the air, we had an amazing glimpse of Guyana from above, including the immense rivers, flat top ‘tepuis’ mountains, miles of unexplored rainforest, and the brand new cricket stadium.

DawnO and I have just returned from our five day ‘trek’ through the rainforest. It was the best thing we have done in Guyana and will probably make the short list of my all-time best trips. It was that good.

Our journey began on Saturday morning when DawnO, myself, and seven of our friends boarded a minibus that drove us into the interior of Guyana. After a 6 hour journey, we transferred to two 4X4 trucks which took us along a pretty rough road to the edge of the Potaro River. Once at the river, we travelled by motor boat for 3 more hours until we reached Amatuk Falls, our first camp.

The next two days were quite similar. We would wake from our travel hammocks, usually around 6:30 or 7:00, then pack them up. Breakfast would be ready at around 8:00 and then we would wait for the rain to stop. It rained quite a lot on those 2 days, but it occured to me that if it didn’t rain all the time, it wouldn’t be called ‘the rainforest’. At noon we would either start hiking or travelling up the river by boat. The cloud cover helped us stay cool and allowed for some pretty beautiful scenery. Once we reached the next camp, we would hang our hammocks up and settle down to a nice meal that was prepared by our guides.

We saw a lot of cool things in those two days, including wild spider monkeys, various insects and diamond miners. We also got our first glimpse of Kaieteur Falls from a distance.

Watch the walking stick video Hi | Lo

i had mentioned before that I wanted to post some pictures of the seawall and the Dutch architecture here, so i spent some time riding around taking shots yesterday.

i know that it sounds very exciting and exotic to be living along the coast, especially for us land-locked albertans, but in actuality most people avoid the seawall ‘beach’ area. At the right angle, I could fool you into thinking that it’s kind of a nice area, but the reality is that it’s not. it tends to be a bit of a dodgy place to be (we often read sensational stories in the paper about people being chopped or hacked up at the seawall) and it’s filled with garbage, dead animals, and homeless people.

the sea is a really muddy brown, which they say is from all of the sediment that is stirred up from the mouth of the amazon river. at the beginning of our time here i had difficulty believing that a river so far away would affect our waters here, but since seeing how massive the rivers are here, i have a new appreciation for the power of south american rivers.

prior to being a british colony, guyana was run by the dutch so there is a lot of dutch influence in the architecture. around the countryside there are dutch style dams and dutch named towns. here in georgetown, the stabroek market is one of the famous landmarks.

side note: i made my first (and likely only) guyanese television debut on the weekend! i was interviewed by the local news about the renovation project that i did at the palms geriatric home. check out the clip here! Hi | Lo

I thought I’d write a little update on my placement since the last posting was about how I left GTU. Currently I have a couple of projects on the go. I’ve turned into a bit of a freelance volunteer, if there is such a thing. Basically I have asked fellow volunteers if they can use my help at the places they work and the general response has been, “when can you start?”

I’m working with CBR (Community Based Rehabilitation) to help them recover and update their website. It’s already quite a different atmosphere than what I’m used to. People here are eager to work with me and have been quite welcoming. It also helps that I’m working with other VSO volunteers (Meg, Rachel, Miranda and Sarah) instead of locked away in a room somewhere. I’m also putting my newly acquired sign-language skills to use working with staff members who are hearing impaired.

I’m also hoping to help out at NCERD (National Centre for Educational Resource Development and VSO Guyana. I know I don’t have a lot of time left, but I’m trying to do small things that will help me end my placement on a positive note.

This weekend we’re going to kick it Irish style on St. Patrick’s Day. I understand our fellow Irish volunteers have quite a party in store for us. There will be an abundance of singing, dancing and green liquids to be had on Saturday night.

On Sunday, we’re hosting a movie marathon. We’ve rented a projector and are going to be showing movies all day on our big white wall. Lazing around on a couch will be just what the doctor ordered after St. Patty’s night.

Hello everyone,
It has been a hectic last couple of days with my placement and as a result I am no longer working at the GTU.

My placement’s main objective was to build the GTU a website, on Wednesday i found out the website was already created by another organization.

After talking to VSO Guyana about what my course of action should be, we decided that my efforts would be better used elsewhere. So on Friday afternoon I said so long to the GTU and will begin working with other volunteers on Monday.

I have mixed feelings about this recent turn of events, but I believe that I will be much happier doing whatever comes next.
Enough of that, let’s get to some pictures of our trip to Bartica last weekend.

Last weekend we took a couple of days off and headed to a small town called Bartica to stay with a fellow volunteer. It was the second holiday weekend in a row. This time the occasion was a Hindu spring festival called Phagwah. On Sunday Guyanese we throwing water and coloured powder at anyone who dared show their face in public. Even DawnO couldn’t get up early enough for her morning jog to avoid the festivities.

Most of our time in Bartica was spent relaxing and creating great meals with our friend Christine. It doesn’t sound too exciting but it was a much needed break from Georgetown.

On Monday we found a beach on the river and spent the day soaking up the sun. I spent a lot of my time there taking pictures. Take a look.

Finally, the Mash (pronounced ‘Mosh’ – as in mosh pit) blog. As I stated in a previous blog, Mashramani is Guyana’s Independence Day. I think. There seems to be a bit of confusion on this point because there’s an Independence Day and a Republic Day. Which one Mash is, I’m not too certain. Regardless, it’s always a huge party.

The day begins with people finding a prime spot on the parade route. Vendors line the streets as well, selling local food including cook-up rice, curry, and my favorite, eggball. One by one the floats slowly make their way along the parade route and finally end up at the grand stand in the National Park where they are greeted by over a thousand people and the float judges. This process takes the entire day. Sometimes there is quite a waiting time between floats as they are coming ‘just now’.

No one seemed to mind as they waited for the next display to drift by. There was plenty of visiting, eating and dancing to be had. Every city block had it’s own wall of speakers that belted out the soca and dance hits.

For the most part, Dawn and I hung out with our friends. We watched the parade for a bit and then sought out shelter from the rain and loud music. We had another BBQ dinner and went to the grandstand to watch the final float make it’s entrance.

Hello everyone. I am sorry we have been neglecting you for a week now. I am finding it hard to motivate myself to write blogs lately. I’m sure that will change once we’re on the home stretch. Hang on a second… we are on the home stretch.

Dawn has 15 working days left, which means I have 18 (apparently I require 3 more days to get things done). So the question is, how’s the GTU website coming along? It’s coming, not completed as of yet, but coming. There are still barriers in my way but I will leave them with a working site. It just might not be on the internet. Hmmmm.

We have our tickets to Canada booked. So we are coming home. First, we’re going to see the sites of Tobago, Trinidad, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador and Chicago. We have a stop over in the windy city so we decided to stay a couple of days and visit with Nick and Meg, who will be done their placement as well.

That’s all I’ve got for now. I was supposed to write about Mashramani, but I forgot the pictures at home. Blogs look so bland without pictures… here’s a few random ones. Try pretending they’re of Dawn and I.