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Ibike: Guyana (Guiana) |
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Georgetown to Rupununi savannah (by air.) Home of the Makushi
people. |
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Taking off from Ogle Field (the airport for domestic flights) confirms how small Georgetown is. But, like urban areas around the world, Georgetown is growing. In the new suburbs on this side of the city the lots and buildings are relatively large. | |
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The built environment of Georgetown quickly gives way to vast areas of sugar cane fields, which stretch to the horizon, or as far as the humid air will let you see, along the coast, but only extend a few miles inland. Much of Guyana's modern history is tied to sugar cane, including the arrival of the two dominate ethnic groups; people of African descent ancestors came as slaves and people of Asian descent, many of whose ancestors came as indentured servants. | |
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Most of the interior is covered by tropical rain forest, called "broccoli forest" because of its texture from above which looks like a broccoli flowerlettes. Occasionally you can get a glimpse of a dirt road but it is impossible to follow their route under the forest canopy. It is heartening and marvelous to see how much forest there is. This warm fuzzy feeling is interrupted by the occasional scare of eroded red earth slashed across the forest and the tailing washing into and discoloring the rivers. These come from logging and gold and diamond mining operations. The lack of apparent effort to control erosion or restore the land is saddening, but fortunately these camps and operations are still pretty widely scattered in Guyana and they might have time to react. It begs the questions: Are there any effective government controls and regulation for these operations? What will the forest and rivers look like in 10 and 20 years? | |
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Kaieteur Falls has single drop 225m and a total height of 251m, about five times higher than the more well known Niagara Falls. In terms of volume, it is 19th largest in the world. The combination of height and volume makes it one of the most powerful in the world. And, according to the World Waterfalls Database, in their estimation, Kaieteur is the 26th most scenic waterfall in the world. It is located on the Guyana Shield, one of the world's oldest geological formations. The river flows out of the Pakaraima Mountains, the home of the Patamona people, one of nine indigenous groups in Guyana, each with its own language, culture and customs. | |
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Tourist being tourist at Kaieteur Falls. Needless to say it is very photogenic. Legend has it the "Kaie", one of the great Patamona chiefs sacrificed himself by paddling his canoe over the falls to appease Makonaima, the great spirit, and to bring peace between his people and the aggressive Caribs. "Teur" translates as "falls", hence the name Kaieteur. | |
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One of the highlights of a visit to Kaieteur Falls is the natural history tour conducted by Lawrence Gibson. With thorough knowledge and a humorous delivery, he makes a visit to the falls much more enriching than just a quick snap of the falls. | |
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  A
few of the beautiful, unusual and exotic flowers that can be found in the unique
micro-climates around Kaieteur Falls. |
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"Bird-of-the-rock" (Not the common name, but if we print the real name the bird the internet censorship industry will blacklist our website. To get the common name for the bird replace the word "bird" with the the alternative name for a rooster (male chicken), that rhymes with "rock", i.e. "rock" starting with the letter "c". It is a brilliant bird. | |
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The endemic Kaieteur Golden frog, also known as the "poison dart frog", spends its entire life in giant bromeliads (many are five to ten feet tall.) The frog benefit from the good hiding places among the leaves and the pools of water that collect at the base of the leaves. Like other poisonous South American dart frogs these are brilliant colored. The poison comes via eating insects which have, in turn, eaten certain plants containing the toxins. Indigenous people collected poison from slime that oozes from the skin. The poison is used on blowgun darts and arrows. The poison is like curare and affects the heart and may kill even large animals quickly. | |
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The gorge below Kaieteur Falls. | |
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Rupununi Savannah: What is now an all-weather road, used to be a cattle trail which stretch from the Rupununi, 400 miles, through Surama, Kurupukari, and Linden to the coast. Through the first half of the 1900's the Rupununi had the world's largest cattle farm, but the only way to get the cattle to market was to walk them. The market for beef has changed so the herd are now a shadow of their former selves. The ranches and indigenous communities along the old cattle trail have now turned to nature tourism. | |
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 With
the assistance of Shandell, our guide, as required by local protocol, we visited a
Makushi community (the local indigenous people.). For contrast, the
pictures at the left show the village in the dry season (top) and rainy season
(bottom). As villages in Guyana go, this is one of the more compact.
Incidentally, the Makushi are famous for the potency of their curare poison, the
active ingredients of which paralyze the central nervous system, killing the
prey without rendering it dangerous for human consumption. |
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 While the bigger boys played soccer on the field, some younger
boys and girls played basketball on a nearby court. A sign board in town
listed the environmental rules for the community. |
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Where there is a television in the area, the favorite pastime seems to be watching television. The universal content seems to be sports and dramas (soap operas). Both seem to draw a crowd any place. | |
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 If
you are around during the cashew harvest you can learn how it is
processed: The first step is to pick the cashew nut, with its thick shell.
The shelled nut is then "roasted" but there is so much oil in the shell that
flames leap high as the nuts are stirred. |
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 The
charred nuts are then shelled one-by-one. The shells are so tough that is
takes a hammer to break them. An expert can break the shell without
breaking the nut. The novice pulverizes everything. |
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The second to the last step is toasting cashew nuts. The last step is to eat them. | |
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Being so close to Brazil the cuisine here often has a Brazilian taste. Besides good food, one of the characteristics of Rockview Lodge that can be very enriching if you take advantage of it, and adds value to a visit, is the availability of the staff. The owner, Colin, joins clients at many meals and his staff is generally available to answer questions, and to lead informative excursions and nature / bird walks -- at no extra cost. | |
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Guyana
Cultural Tour: Rupununi
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