River, Mabaruma
Over the canal to get to the houseOn the river, Mabaruma
Mabaruma view
House with boat beside
Wet sports day, Mabaruma
Rainforest birds waiting for export .. sad
Downtown, Mabaruma
The Rupununi
November 11, 2011 — anneandandyinnamibia
Night heron waiting for beetles!
Steps to our place, Lethem
Monkeys in the palms
Victoria amazonica
Victoria amazonica in a Rupununi pond
Into the jungle
Cowboy and anteater
anteater on the savanna
On the Rupununi by Cayman House
Our guides grandfather lives here, Cayman House
The Rupanuni is a gorgeous interior savanna surrounded by rain-forested mountains. It is home to the giant river otter, the black cayman and to the giant anteater. Slowly but surely the Guyanese government is declaring large parts of it protected and village owned ecolodges are being built. We visited Cayman House, a research station where black cayman studies are carried out and Karanambu Ranch where Diane McTurc began protecting the giant river otters. We watched the gorgeous Victoria Amazonica waterlily unfold; this is one of the few places where it is wild
Spinning cotton at Cayman House
Later we flew to Mabaruma, near the Venezuelan border
Bartica and Sloth Island
October 11, 2011 — anneandandyinnamibia
Sunset at Parrot Island
Tide's out
Toucan
In the village
Boat building
Under the house
Helens house
Amerindian village
Rainforest hike!
By the Essequibo River, Bartica
Old style house, Bartica
Third Ave, Bartica
Bartica is a town which exists mostly to serve the mining areas of the Essequibo and Mazaruni Rivers. We took a bus and a high speed boat to get there and then another boat to Sloth Island. We saw no sloths but there were plenty of parrots, aracari and toucans. And howler monkeys which we didn’t see but heard each night. We walked in the rain forest and visited Parrot Island where parrots from miles around come to spend each night only to leave each morning with much clatter.
Machines in Bartica
More on Georgetown, Guyana
September 25, 2011 — anneandandyinnamibiaI have just posted the photos, now here are the words to go with them. I am still mastering getting them all in one post! I think by next time I will have got it right!
The wooden buildings of Georgetown are quite magnificent. Some are well kept up or restored but others are pretty dilapidated. But then we have been in places that are beautiful inside but are purposefully kept looking run down on the outside to discourage thieves.
A hobby here is betting on your songbird. Wild birds of certain species are kept in cages. The owners meet and put their cages near each other and bet on which bird will chirp a predecided number of times first. We often see men walking around with bird cages but have yet to get close to the chirping match! As far as I know this is a Guyana original.
I couldn’t resist a photo of the plastic palms which are floodlit at night! I am sure anyone from Georgetown can tell you where they are, 3v of them outside a very popular Chinese restaurant. They are quite a landmark!
Georgetown
September 25, 2011 — anneandandyinnamibia
As if we needed plastic palms!
- Lots of horses and carts about
Townhall
Biggest wooden structure, St Georges Church
Men with their competitive birds in cages
Canal, students by our place
Two houses from home!
View from the VSO offices towards the sea
Curry and roti lessons
September 18, 2011 — anneandandyinnamibia
The curry and roti gang!Grating cocoanut for the curry
Roti of various kinds
Half of our gang were invited to a neighbours to learn to make curry and roti. It all looks a bit easier than it is! The photos show the gang and the roti balls waiting to be rolled out. There is also one our teacher grating cocoanut in the traditional way.
On to Guyana
September 5, 2011 — anneandandyinnamibia
Neighbours laundry from inside our grill
- Note the rain water tank, washing and dish
Back verandah with hammock, chairs and washing!
We are now in Guyana spending the next 3 months talking to organizations which work with youth. The weather is very hot and very humid. In fact I cannot imagine being hotter! I guess we will have to get used to sweating all the time! We live in a middle class neighbourhood in a back house, that is the second house on a lot, one row back from the street. The security is good and the neighbours are friendly and welcoming. Last weekend, we did a trip with a group of people we met through a friend of my sister to the southern border of the country and that gave us a chance to see the undeveloped coastline in that area. Like Namibia the population is small, less than a million and the diaspora is much larger than the population of the country .
Beach 63, With Suriname in the background
Beach 63 with Surinam in the background
