We decided to head up to where the museums were as well as the US embassy. We knew we were currently in a more depressed area of the city and might find a more well-groomed city north on the gulf coast near the landmarks, political buildings and “tourists” if they existed..

We started with St Georges Cathedral, which is billed as one of the tallest all wooden churches in the world. Unfortunately, it was under renovation when we visited and it was not as grand as we expected. We did see some of the first white faces since we had been here as we moved toward the coast.

As we continued uptown, we visited the national anthropology museum. It was a tiny house next to the presidential mansion. It had various artifacts of aboriginal peoples but nothing we had not seen in the museums we have visited in the past. I think we are spoiled by our US national museums and the funding they receive. You can see the presidential mansion behind Nathan below.
 

 As we continued uptown we stopped by the lighthouse. It was pretty cool. As I told Nathan, most lighthouses I have visited have been closed to the public. This was a treat, if not a little scary climbing the steps and standing on the platform outside at the top. The view really gave you a good perspective of the third world nature of Guyana. There were no buildings higher than a few stories.

As is every day in Guyana, it was really hot. So we stopped by the Marriot for a drink. This was a beautiful building inside but somewhat plain-looking as shown above. Clearly, this is the place foreigners stayed. After the Marriot, we decided to walk along the seawall. Unfortunately, we were wrong about the cleanliness further uptown. The entire city is filthy. People throw their trash in the gutters, in the ocean, out their windows, everywhere ad anywhere.

The next day, our last day, we decided to visit the zoo. It was in rough shape and it was very sad to see these wild animals in these small cages: birds that had nowhere to fly, large cats with nowhere to run. They did look well taken care of but it still didn’t seem just.

The harpy eagle was magnificent.

After the zoo, we went back to the hotel. There wasn’t much left to do in Georgetown. So, although our flight wasn’t until a little after midnight we decided to hang out there for the rest of the day. For the next dozen or so hours, we waiting in the AC on benches in site the airport. The flight was on time and uneventful. Thus so ended our trip to Guyana.

Just beyond the falls, we stopped to load up more people and supplies going to Pamela Landing. This is when Godfrey arrived. We swapped boats and we were on our way, or so we thought. Godfrey had to drop some fuel at Amatuk. So back we went and unloaded the fuel. Swapping boats and enduring the 15-minute detour was worth it as we passed the other boat on our way to Pamela Landing. Godfrey was proud to tell us that he had the fastest boat on the Potaro River.

At the landing, we pitched our gear in Godfrey’s truck and headed to Mahdia. In Mahdia, we inquired if there were any charter planes to Georgetown. Alas, not today. So, Godfrey drove us to the block with the mini-busses. Upon arrival there was a frenzy of shouting, shoving and pleading amongst us and between the drivers as they vied for our business: all of them stating that they would be leaving now. One driver and his cohort grabbed our bags out of Godfrey’s truck and put them on their bus. The other drivers were very angry.

Within a couple of minutes, we were on our way, or so we thought. Amilcar was on the same bus as us but would get off at Mabura (~3 hours) to catch another bus to Lethem. With three of us on the bus, it wasn’t enough for the driver. He continued driving around the tiny town honking his horn trying to drum up passengers and parcels. After what seemed like 30 minutes and a loaded van we were on our way.

The trip to Mabura, subsequently Georgetown, was the worst I have ever endured. The driver was driving really fast and the radio was blasting at what I measured to be around 100 decibels…the whole way. The pit stops along the way were a welcome respite.

After multiple stops along the way for passengers and parcels we eventually we were back at the ferry over the Essequibo River. It was hot and the boat was loud, but it was better than sitting in the van.

 After the tongue lashing by the angry traveler, the driver decided he would take full advantage of the “paved” roads. I guess he figured that he wasn’t driving fast enough. I clocked him going 90 MPH at one point.

We hit rush hour traffic in Georgetown. It was really bad. The sun was just setting as we approached Georgetown but by the time we got off the bus, it was dark. Our intended destination was the Millennium Manor Hotel only a couple of blocks from the bus stop. We had not booked in advance as we did not know when we would be back. As we walked down the dimly lit street we passed another hotel that I noted as an option if the manor was full. When we approached it was nice to see a friendly face. Ali smiled as we approached and reached out and shook our hands. “Your back?” he said. “Yes, we were hoping you had rooms.” We went to the front desk and we were in luck…one room left. We were glad because not only were we tired from a very long day of travel but we liked the Millennium Manor and Ali.

After check-in, Nathan and I quickly unloaded and decompressed, and then went to investigate dining options. There were not a lot of choices, but chicken wings with plantain fries were at the top of our list. We ordered at the front desk and then went up to the rooftop to enjoy them. Ali showed us the way, up the stairs (no elevator) and helped orient us in the open-air rooftop lounge. We were the only ones there. He turned on fans, got us glasses and ice and turned on the TVs setting them to CNN. It was very pleasant. After a short wait, our meals arrived and we hungrily devoured them. After the meal, we went back to our room to retire for the night. Tomorrow we would look for day tours…without the need for a long bus ride.

So, after that, we packed our bags and filtered our boiled water to remove the particulates. While chatting with Amilcar, Ranger Max stopped by. We recognized his name because mid trail from Kaiteur to Tukiet he had chainsawed his name into a giant log on the side of the trail. Max is a young Amerindian..his people are indigenous to the area. He was obviously bored having served nearly his entire 3 month tour at Kaiteur in isolation. He said it sounded great when he took the job but didn’t realize how remote and isolated they were. I asked him about his life and he told of his various jobs including mining for gold and diamonds. This was another let down for Max. The workers work in unstable holes that collapse into themselves from time to time and get 30% of the findings vs the boss getting 70%. Apparently not a way to get rich quick. Max was slight in stature, but his translated Amerindians name was Mountain/Jungle Man. The carving in the log certainly reflected that.

Not long after, around 11:30, we began our hike. It was extremely wet and humid at the top making for a slow treacherous descent. We made it
to the bottom in great time though with a few falls but no injuries.

 

Hot and dripping with sweat we decided to take a dip in the river and wash our sweaty clothes as we had ample time for them to dry. The river temperature was perfect. After washing the sweat off, we sat by the river with our feet dangling in the water. There were thousands of little fish swimming everywhere and didn’t scurry away as we moved in the water. At one point I sluffed off some dry sunburned skin and the little fish went wild, gobbling it up. So, I decided to rub some skin off around my feet that in the water next to the fish. This helped them identify the source and they began to nibble the dead skin on my feet. Wow, people pay a lot of money for this. After a bit Nathan decided it was time to relax.

We walked back to hammocks that we had previously set up along the river to wait for our ride. Amilcar was going to leave a little after us and should arrive soon. Jeff is supposed to arrive at 4.

Around 3:30 Amilcar arrived. He took advantage of the river too while we lay in our hammocks until a little before 4. Then we packed up in anticipation of Jeff’s arrival. Amilcar and I briefly discussed Jeff’s
trustworthiness. I said he seemed genuine. Is a father of three grown
sons and it is unlikely that he would abandon him. I also knew about
Socks. Any cat person is cat person is ok in my book.

A little after 4 Jeff arrived with 2 passengers: Mikey and Gerald. Mikey is a retired miner that looks to be in his late 40s or early 50s that now lives on the river in a mining rig. He is a close friend of Jeff’s and they often watch satellite TV together and drink beer on the rig. The rig is the pink houseboat we spied on the way in and is between Amatuk and Waratuk and is the last visible settlement before Tukiet. Gerald appears to live in Jeff’s camp too. He is a kind and concerned older gentleman at 69 years with relatives in the Bronx.

 I snapped a couple phots along the way. One photo was of a triple waterfall called “Old Mans Beard” as it resembles an old mans beard as the flow increases. Nathan is clearly relieved that we are back on the boat!

 Jeff was clearly surprised to see us, extra passengers on this small aluminum boat, but he was welcoming and accommodating. We all squeezed on the boat and lumbered to Waratuk. At Waratuk we all got off except
Jeff and Gerald, yes Gerald. They were going to maneuver the boat past the falls. Did I mention that the two oldest guys there were taking the boat over the falls? The 4 of us trotted down the path to wait at the landing below Waratuk.

In around 20 minutes we were once again on our way. About midway between Waratuk and Amatuk, we came across a boat with 8
people. Two people were paddling and the engine was raised out of the water. We pulled alongside, where Jeff handed them a machete and a gas line. Obviously, they had nothing to do with each other and it was clear
Jeff knew them and was prepared to help. After hooking the gas line up and fiddling with a cord. They started up and we’re on their way. So were we.

But, not without a quick stop at Mikey’s to drop him. It was a great opportunity as I wondered what it looked like close up.

Mikey immediately started the diesel generator as we walked around on the first deck marveling at the giant spiders that also lived here. As wet as it is here I shouldn’t have been surprised by the rust but I was. Floor panels were barely weight-bearing and the stairs had little more than the frame to navigate. Mikey cautioned us about where we should and should not step lest we fall through.

After a few minutes of Mikey displaying his big-screen satellite TV, we were on our way back to Jeff’s camp. By now it was almost dark and we had not eaten in a number of hours. Jeff and Gerald offered us some dinner, and we gratefully accepted. In about half an hour, Nathan, Amilcar, Gerald, another gentleman and I sat inside a small dimly lit hut on old automobile seats and enjoyed the fresh river caught butterfish with spicy tomato sauce. It was wonderfully paired with the unlimited bread they encouraged us to eat. I think I ate 1/2 of the loaf. We refrained from the lemongrass tea that was offered as we weren’t sure if the water had been boiled. They were very kind to us.

Amilcar had planned to get back to Mahdia tonight so he could catch a bus in the early morning on his way back to Brazil. However, the river was treacherous at night with driftwood and rocks hiding beneath the surface. No one would make the trip in the dark.

In the administration building next to the airstrip, I also found the trail map for the area. I don’t think this is posted anywhere online. Also, there are more trails, shortcuts, than are actually shown on this map.

 

The three must-see things at Kaieteur are the Cock-of-the-rock, the Giant Tank Bromilades, and the Golden Frog as they are unique to the area. We had already seen the bird so we went on a quest to find the frog. These frogs are tiny and live their entire lives inside the Giant Tank Bomiliades. We found one but he was too fast for a picture. He was more light yellow than gold as well. We did snap some photos of some other cool flora and fauna though.

Along the way, we saw some tour groups. It seems Kaieteur National Park gets around 7,300 visitors a year with less than 250 hikers. The overland hikers that are not on a tour are even fewer and are not tracked exclusively. I know there were at least 2 this month. The non-tour hikers have their food, belongings, etc flown in so they typically only hike with a day pack. Once to the top, they will overnight in KNP and then will fly back.

We were lucky to meet a solo hiker, Amilcar, from Brazil that came up the trail today that intends to hike down tomorrow. That makes 3 for this month! If we cannot get a flight tomorrow we will go with him. He has booked Jeff and Godfrey for a return trip so they will be meeting him below.

That night Simon offered us some food. There is no canteen, restaurant or any other kind of food facilities here. Nathan had grown tired of our staple of Cliff Bars and PB&J sandwiches and we were now very suspicious of the peanut butter. We accepted his offer and he dropped off five chicken bullion cubes, two onions, a carrot, two peppers and a bag of dry lo-mein noodles. We made some really tasty soup and went to bed with happy tummies.

We awoke at 6:30 the next morning to find out gear nice and dry. Well, as dry as expected in this crazy humid climate. We packed our bags and we’re on the river with Jeff by 7:30. In about 50 min we reached Waratuk falls. Amatuk and Waratuk falls are pretty minor falls. The total drop might be 10 to 20 feet cascading over rocks. Both areas are desolate…with perhaps a dozen settlers at Amatuk and none at Waratuk.

However, on the way to Waratuk, we saw what appeared to be a pinkish houseboat. It was very interesting to see, nestled there along the river in the middle of nowhere.

At 9:10 we reached Tukiet. For the record, Waratuk and Tukiet are not settlements and it is highly unlikely you will meet up with anyone there. At Tukiet there was an empty guest house/ranger station.

We thanked Jeff for his hospitality and the ride, and started our hike. I was not feeling very well today: my stomach was upset and I felt drained. Nathan was feeling good. We had bought supplies for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in Georgetown and I was tasting that peanut butter over and over as we started our ascent. We had brought 1 large backpack, 1 medium backpack, 1 small backpack, and a string bag. Until now I had been carrying the large and small. This proved to be too much for me and Nathan loaded up with medium and small. He has always been a strong kid

While not the most difficult hike from a terrain standpoint, the slipperiness and humidity made it challenging. The path had about a dozen detours as fallen trees had covered the main path. Otherwise, the trail was very similar to the trails I have hiked in New England. Unfortunately, the humidity and the peanut butter sapped what little strength I had. What might have been a 2 to 3 hour hike turned into almost 4 hours. We arrived at 1.

We knew there were rangers, a guesthouse and an airstrip at the top. There was also one sign that pointed one way for the guesthouse and another way for the airstrip. Naturally, we followed the guest house sign when we should have gone to the airstrip where the administration building is. Without any additional signage, we started walking the paths looking for the guest house. At one point Nathan exclaimed, “this place is like a labyrinth.”

  Twinning…

Luckily we did find a tour group in our wandering that oriented us. A ranger with the group called for another ranger to meet us. This is where we met Ranger Carl Simon aka Simon. Simon took us to the guest house where we dropped our bags. He then took us to the administration building where we met Wenceslas Washington…Washington. We paid Washington the park entry fee and the overnight fee amounting to 20,000 GYD. It seems that prices have gone up a lot since anyone last blogged about this trek.

On our way back to the guesthouse Simon showed us the Cock of the rock, a very rare and pretty bright red bird. Back in the guesthouse, Nathan opted for his hammock on the porch while I chose a bed with bug netting and some walls. As Nathan set up, Simon cleaned the room (they were not prepared for us) and I boiled water to purify for drinking.

So I should probably tell you more about the guesthouse. It is a two-bedroom house on stilts built in the 1970s. Canadian Prime minister Pierre Trudeau is said to have spent his honeymoon here in 1974. It looks extremely worn from the outside and inside. The running water is from a tank slightly uphill that is pumped full of Potaro River water. It is not potable and must be boiled. There are two solar panels on top of the house that are connected to batteries that have lost their usefulness. The gray water empties just outside the building and it appears that the blackwater makes its way to the Potaro. I am not confident about this but the exiting pipe suggests it. In the kitchen is a small 4 burner propane stove a mini-refrigerator an a counter and sink seemingly from the 1940s. All of that said, it was perfect for us. The bed and hammock were very comfortable, the roof kept us dry during the evening storms, which seem the norm…in a rain forest. The stove worked great, and when the power was on, the fridge was cold, the lights were bright and the outlets charged our phones.

We ventured out a little before dark but went to bed shortly after sundown around 6:30pm with pitch dark around 7. It was a dehydrating, strength-sapping, and tiring day.

Guyana is a small South American country about 5 degrees north of the equator on the north coast. It is a little smaller than the state of Idaho with 1/2 the people (~800,000) and is mostly dense rainforest. It is a former British territory achieving independence in 1966 and forming a Republic (constitutional government) in 1970. It is the second poorest country in South America but has recently found oil deposits off-shore that could catapult it to be the richest with $5 billion in oil revenue annually by 2025.

I picked Guyana because it is relatively untouched by tourism. It has almost non-existent and failing infrastructure and has jungles that have never seen humans. It has the highest single drop (741 foot high) waterfall in the world. This would be the focal point of the trip. A benefit was also to experience Guyana before the influx of billions of dollars and see a pristine Kaieteur Falls via an overland hike, expedition upriver through the jungle and a ~5-mile hike up Kaituer mountain through the jungle. Other factors included a cheap, ~$500, non-stop flight from JFK. I wanted to ensure that all our vacation wasn’t spent in airports and airplanes.

So on Friday, Feb 14, Nathan and I drove to New York to catch our flight. The flights from Boston had excessive layovers at JFK so that driving down afforded us more time in Massachusetts allowing Nathan to go tho school for a half-day. Unfortunately, that didn’t quite work out since Nathan wasn’t feeling well on Thursday and we scheduled a doctor’s appointment Friday morning, just in case he needed antibiotics.

We arrived at JFK around 4 p.m., had an uneventful flight and landed in Georgetown around 12:30 a.m. We caught a taxi to our hotel from there, an hour trip north, from the remotely located airport. The taxi driver sped towards the city on a dimly lit two-lane road, passing cars every chance he got. This main road in Guyana is around 20 feet wide and paved. Fringing the roads are sand shoulders peppered with refuse, small houses and parked cars. along the way, there were various people on dimly lit streets in bars or walking. It was surprising to see. There were many warnings about not going out after dark (7 p.m.). By 2:30 a.m. we were at our hotel. It was locked but our hotel porter, Ali (Hamid Ali), was there to greet us. He was expecting us and quickly got us settled in our room.

After a seemingly short siesta, Nathan and I woke and hit the city. The city of Georgetown consists of dusty paved streets with mostly wooden decayed buildings. The sides of the streets are bordered with concrete ditches filled with putrid-smelling water filled with plants, fish, tadpoles, and garbage. The garbage is everywhere. I have never been to a city as dirty as Georgetown. Over the next few hours, Nathan and I walked the streets. There was a parade of school children in honor of Republic Day, celebrating 50 years of Guyana’s independence. Everyone was costumed. It was quite elaborate.

We continued to the Parks Commission in the National Park to register our visit to Kaieteur Falls. As we walked we could feel the sun beating down on us. It was hot. We reached the office only to find they were closed. I should have anticipated this. On the walk back we snapped photos of these little birds walking on top of the lilypads. See if you can find them.

There was an interesting Hindu temple we snapped a photo of as well.

When we got back to the hotel after a few hours of walking around it was clear that we forgot the sunscreen and we were severely burned. Nathan’s neck was on fire and my face as red as the devil. However, our next order of business was to figure out how to catch a bus to Mahdia, the waypoint before Pamela Landing the “port” to the jungle falls.

We picked our hotel based on its location to Stabroek Market. This is the largest outdoor market in Guyana. It was a few blocks away. After liberally applying sunscreen, we made our way to the market. At the market, there were buses everywhere. Bus 44, bus 42, bus 94, etc. These “mini-busses” as they were called are actually mini-vans with manual transmissions and enhanced suspensions, likely for no other reason than the driving conditions of the roads. We were looking for bus 72. Next to each bus was a “bus barker” that tried to generate business for that particular bus. BTW, bus barker is my term, not the Guyanese. As well navigated the buses we were told by a bus barker at the market that bus 72 left at 5:30 a.m. on a street a couple of blocks away.

We verified the location of the bus stop and headed back to the hotel to get out of the sun. That evening we went to a Brazilian barbeque restaurant. Nathan loved it!

We walked back to our hotel, a few blocks away, in the dark around 7 p.m. Being close to the equator sun up/sundown is almost exactly 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. It was kind of scary as it really did not seem to be safe being out at dark. Tomorrow’s walk to the bus stop in the wee hours of the morning should be interesting.