We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Guyana. The people were friendly, helpful and the Rally had lots of activities arranged for us to and an official welcome for us in which John was asked to speak on behalf of all the yachties which he was pleased to do as it seemed that for a short while we had become local celebrities! We were taken to see some of the local sights on a very fast water taxi which hit speeds of around 34 knots!
One of the spots we were taken to was Marshall Falls, which involved a short walk though the jungle then a dip in the Falls. Before reaching then the water taxi pounded its way though Marshall Rapids ....the only time we were advised to wear life jackets! They were not particularly large Falls but the water was very fast flowing....enough to give you a significant massage. As John and I sat under the Falls enjoying the water pounding away on our backs he said ' hope there are no floating logs up river!' It had never even crossed my mind and on closer inspection we noticed that there was a large log close to us that had obviously been making its way down river when it went over the Falls!
Along the Essequibo there are large dredgers that sweep the bottom of the river in search of Gold. Gold is a significant part of Guyana's economy and looking at the size of these Dredgers it's easy to see how the guys live on the dredger and just ply up and down parts of the river going ashore in Bartica for R&R!
We decided that we would treat ourselves to a trip to the Kaitieur Falls which involved a fifty minute plane ride which was fun. Alot more fun than the bus ride to get to the plane...I thought the roads in Bartica were bad but the roads out of Bartica were almost non existent and all of us got out the bus with bruises on our heads from bouncing up and down the Sandy tracks. The Kaitieur Falls were beautiful and unspoilt. One of the nicest things was being able to wander around and take in the scene without someone on your back warning you of the Health and Safety Regulations. It was such a pleasant change.We looked for the Golden frogs that are tiny fogs that live in one particular plant that line the path ways to the Falls...but no luck!
The plane ran into a bit of bad weather on the way back and we smiled as we saw water drip down the insides of the small nine seater plane!However, we landed with no problems at Baganara a really nice anchorage which I think we will re visit on our way back to Trinidad.
One of the spots we were taken to was Marshall Falls, which involved a short walk though the jungle then a dip in the Falls. Before reaching then the water taxi pounded its way though Marshall Rapids ....the only time we were advised to wear life jackets! They were not particularly large Falls but the water was very fast flowing....enough to give you a significant massage. As John and I sat under the Falls enjoying the water pounding away on our backs he said ' hope there are no floating logs up river!' It had never even crossed my mind and on closer inspection we noticed that there was a large log close to us that had obviously been making its way down river when it went over the Falls!
Along the Essequibo there are large dredgers that sweep the bottom of the river in search of Gold. Gold is a significant part of Guyana's economy and looking at the size of these Dredgers it's easy to see how the guys live on the dredger and just ply up and down parts of the river going ashore in Bartica for R&R!
We decided that we would treat ourselves to a trip to the Kaitieur Falls which involved a fifty minute plane ride which was fun. Alot more fun than the bus ride to get to the plane...I thought the roads in Bartica were bad but the roads out of Bartica were almost non existent and all of us got out the bus with bruises on our heads from bouncing up and down the Sandy tracks. The Kaitieur Falls were beautiful and unspoilt. One of the nicest things was being able to wander around and take in the scene without someone on your back warning you of the Health and Safety Regulations. It was such a pleasant change.We looked for the Golden frogs that are tiny fogs that live in one particular plant that line the path ways to the Falls...but no luck!
The plane ran into a bit of bad weather on the way back and we smiled as we saw water drip down the insides of the small nine seater plane!However, we landed with no problems at Baganara a really nice anchorage which I think we will re visit on our way back to Trinidad.
John and Deb,
ReplyDeleteIt always amazes me that when I read blogs someone else comes up with a new destination I have never heard of which makes me want to visit it. You do the same here with your writing and pictures. Thank you for letting me know about Guyana.
I must admit I had never thought about logs floating down the river. I would have been strait in that waterfall.