So Guyana...

millejj1 · August 2012

A few of you asked for pictures and to hear about how Guyana was, and well, I'm going to procrastinate tonight and tell you!

The short version: It was rough, I'm glad I went but I am also glad to be home. Definitely an incredibly valuable experience and I'm so blessed to have had the opportunity.

Long version:

Wow, where to even begin. I have done a pretty decent amount of wilderness area camping and even lived in the back-country of Costa Rica for several months so when I saw where we were staying and heard we'd have running water for showers, I was like oh, I got this....and I did. Kinda. I'm either getting old or that's some rough country...I'm going with the latter option.

My flight into Georgetown got delayed and I ended up spending 9 hours in the Miami airport. Landing in Guyana around 1 am, by the time my classmates got their bags it was closer to 2, and then we found the taxi and made our way to the hotel. The 20 minute drive was actually 45 and we rolled in at 3:30am...and had a 6:00am flight that morning to the interior. That set the tone for the trip. LONG and exhausting days for sure! 14 hour days was the norm!

The first stop was the Iwokrama Research Center. https://www.iwokrama.org/wp/ It was gorgeous!!! I felt so spoiled, we even had internet.

We spent the first couple days doing "inquiries" which basically consisted of the first few steps of study design. We did some river sampling and then climbed Turtle Mountain. It was super cool to see how much intact rainforest there was! I knew it was the largest remaining section of intact rainforest left in the world, but couldn't really wrap my head around it until I saw it overhead by bush plane and from the top of the mountain.

We met our team of Makushi (the indigenous tribe) guides at Iwokrama. They literally were our lifeline the rest of the trip. They took care of meals, transportation, safety the whole thing. Thank God for them. I quickly realized how dangerous of a place we were in when a few of us wanted to take a picture with a giant Mara tree and one of them said he'd have to clear the area and make sure there weren't any venomous snakes. The tree was literally only 10 feet of the trail. Those critters are darn good at camouflage!

After Iwokrama we loaded up in Bedford truck

and made the drive to the village of Surama. We stopped and did a canopy walk https://iwokramacanopywalkway.com on the way which was cool. It was the middle of the day so most of the critters were laying low, but it was still a great time. The Makushi that ran the canopy walk was teaching us all about medicinal plants. These people literally never go to the hospital, everything they need for anything is right there in the forest. I wish I had a tenth of the knowledge they had. We walked up to one tree and he said does anyone know anyone that has had heart surgery? A few of us raised our hands and he said, well this is the tree that they make the drug from to stop their hearts during surgery. It was just amazing to think about it.

Once we got into Surama (https://www.suramaecolodge.com/) most of the course was based on learning their culture and traditions.

That was cool in it's own way. There is SOOO much history and tradition in that country. Their language is still only a spoken language and it's slowly disappearing so it was cool to get to see it and learn some of it. They have so many traditions, it is hard to articulate them all. If you think about what you see on National Geographic shows about indigenous tribes, that's what it was like. They'd sting themselves with bullet ants to make themselves better hunters, they believe in spirits in the forest both good and bad, and they have so many customs around protection and hunting it's unreal.

We went to a cassava factory one day and made our own cassava bread from start to Those are some hard working women! I felt so spoiled!

We spent some time working with the wildlife club kids and did traditional archery which was cool.

We weren't able to do much adventuring or wandering because of safety reasons. Right outside the main fenced area of the lodge there had been a jaguar attack not to long before we got there so it made sense. Kind of a bummer, but I'd much rather have been safe than sorry!

There was a cultural group there that does traditionally singing and dancing for eco-toursists and cultural presentations/preservation. Several of them were our guides so it was really cool to be able to meet their families too and see their presentation practice. They were headed to Georgetown in September.

There is literally only one road that runs through Guyana, and there were riots at the city of Lethem, which is right near the Brazilian border, so the road was basically shut down, which meant it was nearly impossible for us to get fuel or fruit unless it was trucked in from Georgetown (at least 2 days to do) so we didn't have much in terms of fruits and veggies, but we definitely got to experience how the tribes lived because of it. The road closure and lack of fuel also meant we had to fly out of Surama instead of driving to where we were going to fly out. That was alright though because when we did fly out, the whole village came and lined the side of the runway when we were leaving. It was super cool to know that we had formed that kind of bond in such a short time.

One the flight back to Georgetown we stopped at Kaieteur Falls National Park https://www.kaieteurpark.gov.gy/. That was amazing!! We were able to get literally right next to the falls at the top, there were no guide rails. We were lucky enough to see the Golden Frog while we were there. So tiny and so cute!

After we went to the falls, it was back to Georgetown. We had one last class dinner and then some of the folks flew out. I stuck around one extra day and did some sightseeing. I went to the zoo, the manatee ponds, St. George's Cathedral (the largest wooden structure in the world https://www.stgeorges.org.gy/)

and then was headed back home the next morning. The travel chaos continued...I was up at 4 to head to the airport by 5, got into Miami, then got stuck at customs, my bag got lost and then just as I was finally getting to ticketing my flight got cancelled. They told me they wouldn't be able to get me on a flight for two days! So...I cried in the bathroom because I hadn't slept in over a day and had been traveling for over 12 hours, and then rented a car and drove the 7 hours from Miami to Jacksonville! M met me there, dropped off the rental and home we came! Talk about a LOOONG day!!

In a way I wish there was a bit more science and a bit less sociology to the course (sounds jerkish, but I bet Petra will get it if she's still reading Stick out tongue ) but I do recognize that the sociology is probably the most important part of what we experienced. I mean, there is definitely a chance that their entire culture could disappear in just a few generations which is just so sad to think about. The longer I'm home, the more I'm beginning to value it and realize just how much we had crammed into that trip!

I have 700+ photos, but put a smattering of the best ones together on a Facebook album. So here is the link!

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.604446902160.2057883.75900264&type=3&l=d76b50021e

Gregermis · August 2012

Wow, that's a pretty amazing trip!

KGS2003 · August 2012

I'm am so envious of your trip. What an awesome experience thanks so much for sharing. I love seeing the world through the eyes of those who have traveled to places I have never been.

hungryhippo · August 2012

Thanks for taking the time to put that summary together. It sounds like an awe inspiring place! You took some beautiful photos. What an experience!!

jen629 · August 2012

ticker warning

that looks AMAZING!

jenn0021 · August 2012

Wow, what an amazing experience! Thank you so much for taking the time to share your adventures and pictures. You are so lucky to have been able to do this. But the travelling seemed to be quite hard. I would have cried right there in the bathroom too if my flight had been cancelled and I was stuck there for 2 more days! Glad you made it home safe and sound.