A 5-island tour
Please note that the title of this post is to be sung in the tune of the Gilligan’s Island theme song… If you know you know…
Today was super-fun and began with an earlyyyy morning waking up at 3:30 AM to leave at 4AM. Why you might ask? Well we are staying in New Amsterdam, which is about 2 hours drive from town. (Georgetown, the capital city of Guyana). To ensure we got to our tour meeting point in time (6:45 AM) we’re playing it safe and leaving at 4. So as a result I wake up at about 1:45AM in anticipation even though my alarm is definitely set to 3:30. Anticipation can make you do crazy things!
I knew we’d be driving down that east coast road past all the Dutch, French & English named villages in the middle of the night. Though less traffic, it would be dark and there are always lots of distractions kind of like a video game. Imagine a racing video game, set in Guyana with diversions like:
- goats, cows,
- bicyclers, motorbikes,
- occasional horse-riders,
- head-on traffic with cars with multicolored lights and high beams on,
- cars parked haphazardly,
- lots of overtaking (passing) ,
- motorcycles,
- construction,
- road blocks,
- police check points,
- limited or confusing signage like “Road Close” (meaning road closed not nearby),
- with trenches or canals everywhere instead of shoulders on the roads,
- AND all right-hand drive on the left side of the road!
I think this could make a great concept for a new video game and the goal could be getting to town or better yet the airport! I would love to drive in Guyana, but not a trip like that to start! I think I reversed once in my grandfather’s yard years ago… but that was it! That said, I guess there was a little anticipation about making this drive lol.
Turns out all was well except when we arrived to pick up our cousins for our excursion. My cousin’s husband pointed out the left back tire was basically flat!?! Did that happen on the ride? Or was something missed in the late night walk-through? Note: my father had to get the car super late around 9PM because it was the only one available and it had just been dropped off. They hadn’t even cleaned out the car. In fact, the cupholder had pepper sauce or ketchup or something in it… I can only hope the previous renters were not dipping fries or puhlourie into a cup holder with ketchup. 🤦🏾♀️
The real meat of my day happened after 7 AM though, really after 9 AM. It’s just that so much had already happened between 3:30 AM and 6 AM that I would be remiss not to mention!
Our tour started at 7 AM. And it was at that time. I turned on my tourist vibes! “Hiiii 👋🏾 good morning! Where are you from? What was that Dutch word again? And oh this reminds me of Costa Rica!… All the while listening intently to our guide.” It’s definitely the vacation vibes many of us feel whether you’re in your country or outside of it. There’s definitely a sense of freedom on a guided tour because you can be totally free from thinking. Sure you have to stay on the bus and with the 15 to 20 other people that you don’t know for 5 to 10 hours, but it’s so worth it to not have to think for yourself lol. I love being driven around by strangers with an itinerary lol. And boy did we drive! First over the Demerara Harbor Bridge… Then all the way up to Parika! I had never been there before!
At Parika we made a pitstop for some food. If looked like the outdoor stand was owned or sponsored by Caribbean Airlines (owned by Trinidad and Jamaica)… who ever it belonged to, it was the ideal spot and a lucrative venture for sure; the whole bus joined that line! We picked up eggball, more dahl pourie and some chana. Then we waited in a long line of women to use the toilet before getting on our wooden speed boat. I would’ve taken some more pictures of the boat, but I decided not to risk losing my phone. We were warned by our guide and my cousin had just shown me why I wasn’t getting service and I wanted to be able to send some photos real-time during the outing! (Side note: Basically I learned that I should toggle the carrier switch on and off for it to properly connect to a local carrier even if it shows as connected to a carrier!)
Our stops were all along the Essiquibo river which is the largest in Guyana. When you are landing, you can see it super clearly. It also has islands in the middle of it in certain parts. We stopped in:
- Dutch ruins of Fort Island and
- Fort Kyk-Over-Al
- Mining town of Bartica
- Aruwai Resort for lunch
- Baracara Falls
Here are some highlights. In the 1600s Guyana did not exist nor did British Guiana. What we had was three different countries, Demerara, Essiquibo and Berbice. Our guide explained that the Dutch were the first settle in Guyana. This is why many of the village names are Dutch. Eventually, the French came along to get their piece of the pie and finally the British, who were the last colonists. They all had enslaved Africans build the infrastructure for these sugar cane, rice or other plantations. The Dutch were experts at irrigation and designed the complex system of cokers and canals to regulate the flow of water in Guyana which is below sea level and requires strict water management in order to be viable. Read more about this system and it’s important as we face increased climate change. I believe both New Orleans and Houston are cities with a similar constraint.
We were told that the Dutch bartered mostly with Amerindians (the term used for the indigenous people) by exchanging the tools they had for produce the Amerindians grew. Fort Island, and Kyk-Over-Al are forts set up by the Dutch to protect against any potential encroaching European nations. We headed to Bartica where my grandparents actually met and walk from the mini boardwalk area and the charming village along the river. It’s pretty far out, but also relatively developed compared to the many abandoned homes ships surrounded by lots of trees, mangroves and other “bush” as Guyanese would call it! We did not get to go into Kyk-Over-Al because the tide was too low due to this year’s semi-drought during rainy season. Fort Kyk-Over-Al is at the confluence or trifurcation of 3 rivers: Essiquibo, Cuyuni, and Mazaruni.
By noon, we were headed to lunch at Aruwai Resort. Though everyone who preordered fish and chips, waited a long time for our food —Our whole family fell into this category), it was a nice break and chance to talk all together. It was icing on the cake to reunite with my cousins in Guyana and enjoy this entire experience together!
After a couple hours at the resort, we quickly headed to Baracara Falls, which unfortunately were not doing much “falling“. Again, due to the lack of rainfall this season, we were at more of a babbling, brook… Still peaceful, but nothing to swim in, literally. By then the mosquitoes started tearing up my ankles and lower legs as we walked through the trail to get to the area.
In the evening, we were equipped by our guide with several bottles of water and a Guyana-produced juice boxes with cherry and passionfruit flavors. We took the same wooden speedboat back directly to Parika navigating along those choppy waters full speed ahead! From Paprika, we headed back to the east bank of the Demora, and upon crossing the river, faced some serious traffic and had to be split by a police officer into multiple lanes that would cross about 10-20 at a time. Not uncommon at all, but I wasn’t expecting it on a Sunday evening!
By the time we got back to our meeting point in Georgetown… Our tire was completely flat! Definitely a leak… Are we going to make it back to New Amsterdam? I decided to keep my thoughts to myself, Daddy checked the air, my cousin’s husband checked for nails, etc in the tire.
As we dropped them off, I was told to use the bathroom quickly so we can get back on the road! So that’s what I did. I said a couple prayers in the car that we would make it safely and stayed awake and alert the whole way back. I planned to do that anyway, but was extra conscientious this time. I even found an oldies radio station to listen to… Guyana is famous for that. We were listening to a song about a “mistake” by someone named John Reeves… Lol never heard that song ever in my life, but Daddy was singing along lol (Here it is: This time it’s over.) We had all the exciting diversions we had on the way except this time a little more traffic!
We arrived in about two hours back at my uncle’s house safe and sound! 🙌🏾 It’s great to be home. I can’t wait to bathe and sleep after I post this!
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