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| Hanging on for dear life.... |
As today is Earth Day (April 22), we have planted two ‘neem
trees’ and one ‘cherry tree’ in the CI office grounds. The ‘trees’ are probably just a foot high
now, but given that the rains will be
with us soon, chances are that they will be strong saplings before we depart
South American shores. The ‘cherry’
trees here are not quite the conventional cherry with which most of us are
familiar. The small fruit – more orange
than deep red – is used to make a fresh fruit drink and without added sugar has
a tart flavor. Like many fruit trees, it
has two seasons and is hugely popular with kids, who snack on the fruit like
its candy. I always believed the neem
was indigenous to India, but now I’m not that sure. Mangoes, cashews, tamarind, coconut,
carambola, jamun, papaya, pineapple, custard apple, golden apple (aamra),
guava, and so much more are ubiquitous all over Guyana. It’s a challenge to find out what was
introduced and what originated here.
It’s been raining quite a bit here. January saw the ‘cashew rains’. We’re told that what we are experiencing are
the ‘caterpillar rains’ so yours truly is burying herself deep until this
‘rain’ season has well and truly moved on, together with its namesakes. I AM PETRIFIED OF ALL THINGS THAT CRAWL and
wriggle with no backbone or carapace to support the movement. I’m 100% sure this is an inherited phobia and
utterly irrational. Anyway, enough of
that!! Our sunflowers seeds have sprouted
and we have set the seedlings. We are SO
looking forward to the shock of yellow that will mark our ‘garden. The serious rain season is predicted to start
some time in mid-May and build to a crescendo by July/August. The rivers are already rising and soon some
of the dirt roads to the villages we visit will be impassable by road. So we will travel by boats. Also, with the rains and the wet, come the
hoards of irritating, biting insects.
Because these past months have been so dry, we have been ‘bite-free’ for
the longest while, apart from the ant bites, and the occasional wasp sting.
That is. The unusual dry weather also
resulted in forest fires in the mountains; not the type of forest fires one
finds in Austalia or the USA. These
forest fires, grumble away, in a threatening way, without becoming a full-blown
conflagration. In this part of the
world, there is a tradition of burning the savannah before the rains to ensure
good, healthy grassland for grazing.
Happily, the caterpillar rains put an end to the ‘grumbles’.
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| Manaus Opera. Brought to you by the rubber/robber barons.... |
Fast Forward to early July!
So much has happened since we first started this post… apologies to our
readers for the long silence. So, the
caterpillar rains really did translate into caterpillars. Apparently, because of the forest fires, the
butterflies were unable to use their normal (forest) nesting ground, so took to
the plains in their millions. The end
result – billions of caterpillars. They
were everywhere, busy crossing dirt tracks, which must have been like 50-mile
marathons for them. They were very
purposeful in their travels, almost like “these plants don’t do it for me; I’m
going to check out what the food is like elsewhere”. But the rains came and washed them all
away. Those that managed to survive, did
so because they clung to the tips of the grasses until the waters receded. Then they chomped their ways through all our
grass (no need for a strimmer) and our other plants.
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| Nicely filled stores in Manaus |
We, in the meantime, made our great escape to Manaus for a
much needed break and R n R. All in all,
Manaus was a huge disappointment. The
fact that this urban jungle has materialized out of the mists of the Amazon
rainforest is a miracle in itself. But
there’s far too much concrete and urbanization for our tastes. We mooched around, had some really super
meals, visited an old movie set of a rubber plantation, met some really
interesting characters, got blown away by the
Opera House and hot-footed it (by coach – 12 hour drive) back to our
Oasis – Boa Vista. There are many tours
of the rainforest available and they range from two nights through a full
week. But apparently, although extremely
well organized, the potential to see wildlife is greater in the forests of the
Rupununi, and having experienced that, we chose not to end up on a boat with a
large group of tourists. Spoil-sports,
us!
The Opera House is another miracle. Almost everything was literally shipped in
from Europe – marble from Italy, iron railings from England, furnishings from
France. Every European country appears
to have played its part in producing a spectacular Opera House that in recent
years has been returned to its former glory.
It is well worth a visit, especially as there are regular performances
which the locals take pride in supporting.
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| On the movie set of an old rubber plantation; the bathing water was imported from Paris (we kid you not). Better than the muddy Amazonian waters they thought (and who can argue against that...) |
When we were in Manaus, we also visited a Science park,
(Bosco de Scienza) where research into indigenous plants and animals is
conducted. This, little park, too, is
worth a visit – a few hours is what you will need.
Meanwhile, back in Boa Vista, we decided to rent a car and
explore the state of Roraima. We ended
up in the small village of Tepequen where we spent a couple of nights, visiting
the local waterfall (spectacular location for a day of bathing in the falls and
picnicking) and hiking the surrounding plateau (part of the Guiana Shield, one
of the three cratons of the South American Plate, that is 1.7 billion year old
Precambrian geological formation segways).
There are quite a few posadas in the area, some run by indigenous
Amerindians who are a wealth of knowledge and superb guides. As with pretty much all of Northern South
America, the place is a birders paradise, with easy viewing of macaws, parrots
of every description, humming birds, raptors, storks, ibis, and much more. If we were staying on in Guyana, we would be
returning regularly, which nicely transitions into the next chapter of our
adventure.
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| Another waterfall, this one in Tepequen |
We got back to Lethem to find that much awaited contract was
still not finalized. So, reluctantly, we
decided that we really could not put our lives on hold any longer and set our
date for return home. Tickets are now booked
for the 1st September, when we will be back in California!! No more getting teary-eyed over all those
golden oldies about the Ventura Highway, California,etc.,etc.
June has been busy with preparations for a new colleague who
will be responsible for delivering a support service to tourism entities in the
Rupununi. She has a huge job on her
hands but we are sure she is well up to the challenge. Also, we continued with our tourism trainings
of local communites, and graduating secondary school students. This is the part of our work in the Rupununi
that really fulfils us and we will truly miss the contacts and friends we have
made.
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| Nature's calling; all the time |
Undoubtedly though, others volunteers or professionals will take our place. The
development road is long, full of obstacles to trip over and an endless
trajectory of good intentions mixed with hard to erase habits and deadlines
never met. Have we become cynical, no….. Skeptical, a little bit. Change will happen,
in remote places like the Guyanese Rupununi as well but on its own terms, at
its own speed.
So, we look forward going back West; what the future will
hold is anybody’s guess. Right now, we think about revitalizing the company and
get going again from San Pedro, our chosen place of residence but that’s only a
first plan. Being free agents, the sky is the limit so we’ll see where we’ll eventually
end up….
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| Village life, two more months.. |
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