Wow I've have such a great past week having one of my best friends coming to visit me. One of my friends who met Mary said to me I must really have a true friend if they come all the way here to see me. Guyana isn't exactly paradise! (Although I think it is!)
Mary arrived early Saturday morning. Audrey and I left the house together around six to go and collect Mary and Audrey's family. Our friend Alex drove us and I was very anxious because there had been so many problems for Mary getting to New York. Unfortunately Mary's bags had been lost! :( They told her they would be into Guyana by Saturday night but we knew that the next flight wasn't going to be til Sunday morning. This posed a problem because we were leaving for the rainforest VERY early on Sunday morning. Luckily Mary had packed the most essentials in her carry on bag - but she still needed more clothes! We made the drive from the airport to town and made it to my house. After cleaning up a bit and eating some quick snacks Mary and I adventured to town to find the stuff she needed for the jungle. Now in Guyana there is no target or walmart where you can go and find everything that you need. This always makes things a lot more adventurous.We went to a couple of different stores and then ended up adventuring through the market. We found everything she needed but it was exhausting. I am proud to say that Mary did very well in the chaos and she was impressed at how adapted I've become to living in an environment with no personal space whatsoever! After that we went and got some lunch and took a nap at home! We went to Mass that night since we knew we would be leaving early the next morning. After Mass Mary and I went with Audrey's family to New Thriving Chinese resturant to eat dinner. After dinner we packed up her new stuff and got ready for bed! It was great to catch up and chat yet at the same time it felt surreal that Mary was actually in Guyana!!
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| Audrey sleeping on the way to the airport |
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| Mary's Plane!!! |
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| The linen pants we had to search everywhere to find!! |
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| Soo... we ended up with a t-shirt a little too small!! Opps. |
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| Me with Mary's new bright white shoes to go into the Jungle with.... |
Iwokrama is a forest research and conservation centre at the beginning of rainforest wilderness preserve. It has an eco-tourism department which has about 8 cabins where guests can come and stay and adventure around the preserve. We had a guide, Alex, with us for our full four days their and he had a junior guide, Onika, with him as well. After we reached Iwokrama we ate lunch right away. After lunch we had a brief introduction the the lodge and we learned about all the different types of things that Iwokrama does. We were given some time to rest before we took a small adventure through a trail near the lodge. The trail was about 2 km long. On the adventure we learned about the Screaming Piha which is a bird that is only found in Primary Rainforests. We learned how to recognize their call and were also told that Screaming Piha's only appear in rainforests that are healthy! On the journey we saw tons of different types of trees and vines. One of my favorite vines is called Monkey Ladder because it literally looks like a ladder. We heard many different types of birds but the biggest find of all was a Labaria! Labaria are very dangerous as it is considered one of the deadlist snakes in the world. To survive a bite from a Labaria would mean you are very lucky!! I was lucky to be able to see a HUGE fish in the river because I was standing next to the guide as one of them surfaced! I think my Uncles Bosh and Warren need to come down here to do some fishing because these fish are ENORMOUS! I enjoyed the walk because it was so peaceful to be out of the chaos of Georgetown and finally in some nature.
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| Ready to Go! |
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| 6 am photo! |
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| Bumpy red dirt road! |
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| Ferry which looked kinda sketchy! |
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| Our 4x4 |
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| Lunch at the lodge! |
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| Monkey Ladder |
After the walk we had some more time just to hang around the beautiful lodge before dinner. After a nice dinner we got ready to go and look for Caimen and other nocturnal animals. We spotted two Caymen, an Amazonian tree boa and a very large rat. Caimen are like alligators and can get up to 13 ft long. The ones we saw were quite small maybe 2 ft. We did however see the eyes of a Caimen that our guide told us was probably quite large. The Amazonian tree boa was in a tree and our guides brought us right up to it. Mary was being quite adventurous and volunteered to hold the snake. This snake unlike the last one was not poisonous and rather a constrictor. She wasn't able to hold the snake because it kept "messing" as the Guyanese would say. It was not a pleasant smell at all!
After all these adventures we went to bed because we were all exhausted from the long drive! The next morning we had it easy and hung around the lodge til 10 am. At 10 am we made our way down the river to a camp called Turtle Mountain. At the base of the camp there were some open buildings that looked like large gazebos in which we would hammock camp for the night. There was also a small open air kitchen and dinning area with tables and benches. We hung around the camp and ate lunch. After lunch we began the hike up turtle mountain. The hike took about two hours to get to the top and the top was about 900 ft up. It was quite the climb. After all Georgetown is VERY flat so by the time I reached the top my "hill climbers" were quite sore! The view from the top of the mountain was breath taking. We were able to sit up there for about an hour and look for different animals below. We saw a ton of different birds including a few different types of parrots. Our guide spotted some monkeys but they moved before we were able to see them. This was probably my favorite part of the entire trip. I loved being up and overlooking the rainforest. We made our journey back down to the bottom and there was dinner waiting for us! After dinner we took showers and sat around talking. There was no electricity so we had to entertain ourselves in candlelight. We took showers in the dark and got into our hammocks to sleep. I had an okay nights rest but I did get really cold throughout the night. I even had two sheets with me and a sweatshirt! It was really damp in the night! Audrey's dad was making bets about who was going to fall our of their hammock first but luckily none of us did!!
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| Audrey on top of Turtle Mountain |
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| We made it down!! |
The next morning we quickly ate breakfast and headed back to camp. Sarah had been sick the day before and didn't leave the lodge. Luckily when we came back she was sitting out on the porch of her cabin waiting for us. I was so glad to see her! We had a little bit of time to relax and to shower. Around ten am we went to Fairview which is an Amerindian village that is near Iwokrama's lodge. It was just a short boat ride and a small walk. The village was pretty quite but it was still nice to see. After the walk to the village we took a boat ride up the river to see some petroglyphs. This was Sarah's favourite part of the journey because we had to climb up on some rocks to see them. I really enjoyed walking around on the rocks to although I am kind of a clutz so I was worried about falling down. After that we took a boat back to camp where we ate lunch.
After lunch we left for the Canopy walkway which was about a two hour drive from the main lodge. Once again we were in the 4x4's and on the bumpy windy road. The walkway was at a camp called Camp Atta. The walk to the Canopy walkway was about 1 km and then 153 stairs. The stairs weren't exactly standard stairs but rather stairs made out of the earth and rocks. It was an adventure to reach the top. The top was definitely worth the climb. The canopy walkway is made up for 4 large platforms and 5 walkways connecting the platforms. The highest platform was about 90 feet off the ground. I don't think my mother would have survived being so high off the ground! :) We were right in the mid to top level of the canopy and it was great to get a different perspective. We didn't see any animals on our adventure but it was still worth it. We were able to be up in the trees and see some really beautiful sights. Sarah and I even had a spitting contest to see who's spit could make it to the ground first. You know that it's quite in the rainforest when you can hear your spit hit the ground. I didn't want to come down from the walk way but we had to. When we were on our way down it started to rain. This was my second favourite part of my trip because the rain came down slowly because it got caught in the trees on the way down. It made for a really beautiful view because it was like small trickle but it sounded like a heavy rain. It's really hard to describe but I wish I could because it was amazing. Also the sun was still shinning so it made everything glisten.
We had our drive back to the camp after the walkway which was quite as it was dark by the time we reached back. We were able to eat dinner and then chill out for the rest of the night. Sadly our time was coming to an end and it was our last night.
Our last morning we woke up early and went for an hour long bird watching expedition. On this journey we ended up seeing some really cute spider monkeys. One of them had a baby on it's back and it was an adorable site. We were close enough to them that we could see them clearly without any binoculars. On the trip we also saw some toucans, more parrots and I spotted a huge black winged hark eagle. I might not have the name completely correct but I was the one who spotted him. He was right before the camp and our boat driver was able to get us really close to him. I may have found a profession in life finally!!!! Professional Birder!
It was sad to leave the camp especially because we would have such a long drive back but we had to get back to Georgetown eventually. Our journey went smoothly other than slight motion sickness. When we got back home we all took the time to clean up and relax. After we got all clean Mary and I took a nice stroll along the sea wall. After that we went to dinner at a local Middle Eastern restaurant. This was one of my favourite parts of the trip because it was a great time for us to have some good discussions. Mary and I always have conversations that make us think and evaluate things in life and the world around us. I am very thankful to have such a good friend. It was weird how natural it was to be with her like we hadn't skipped a beat. Once we got home we talked with my room mate Meg and just relaxed. We were going to go out and join my room mate Sarah but even after trying to take a nap both of us were just so exhausted we decided to go to sleep.
Thursday was Phagwah which is of course my favorite holiday in Guyana. I was so glad that Mary was with me this year. Phagwah is the celebration of spring and colors. It is also the celebration of the triumph of good over evil. We slept in a little bit in the morning and then we up to the orphanage around 10 am to play Phagwah with the boys. To play Phagwah you take colored dye and rub it on others around you. At the orphange we kept handing the dye out to the boys but instead of rubbing it on each other many of them just kept putting it on themselves especially the little boys. It was super funny to watch. It was also great to see the boys interact with Mary - they really love new visitors.
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| After being Phagwah'd in the market |
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| Mary at the end of the day!! |
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| Yup... we were veryyyyy colorful! |
After that we took a bus down towards the market where we took a long walk to find food. Not much was open and we made quite a loop of our neighborhood before we found one place that was open. Luckily it wasn't far from where we needed to buy the dye for playing Phagwah later in the day. We went to buy the dye and people at the market started to play with us. We bought our dye and walked home. After we got home we called a taxi and went down to the national stadium where there was about 10,000 people playing Phagwah. We met up with Audrey's family and had a great time. We were COVERED in dye by the time that the day had finished. My friend Asiyih joined us for the afternoon and we all had a great time. When the day was finished Mary Asiyih and I took a bus back to town. We had to take a second bus from the big market to our house and it was really funny because we were the only people in the market covered in dye. We got quite a bit of attention! :) After we got home we decided we went by my friend Andrew's house to clean up because his shower had 100x more water pressure than my shower. We cleaned up and spent the night relaxing and watching a movie. My face had a big purple stain from the dye and I was very thankful that it came out by the next morning.
The next morning I was woken up by my friend texting me and telling me that we were in the papers!! Yes my friends, I have made international news! There was a nice picture of us with Audrey's family and my friend Asiyih. Mary and I went back to my house and got ready for the day. I took Mary into the school with me and all the students were very excited to see my new friend. They all wanted to take their picture with her and it made me laugh. They kept talking really fast and laughing which made Mary a little confused but she just went with the flow. After that I took her on a bus back to town and then we walked over to catch another bus to go to the hospital. While we were in the bus it was circling the block to collect passengers Mary asked me if we were ever going to get to the hospital. I laughed because I sometimes forget how inefficient the bus loading can be. Eventually we did make it to the hospital and I was able to introduce her to my co-workers. I was glad that she got to see where I worked because both the school and hospital are such an important part of my experience here. I showed her to my partner in crime Terese and all my other favorite people at the hospital. My boss told her how I wasn't going to be able to go home because I loved Guyana too much. Some of the clients were asking me why I wasn't working and I said that I was on vacation. One of them gave me a jokingly hard time! :) They make me smile even when I'm just there for a few minutes!
After all the work adventures we went to eat lunch and look for some souvenirs. We then walked to meet Audrey's family so we could all travel together down to the rum factory. The rum tour was one of my favorite parts of my family's trip here and it was once again a great experience. I learned even more about rum and exactly what happens to the rum that is made here. Did you know that the rum in Malibu rum is made at that same factory. Any rum that is called Demerara rum is made at the factory where I was at. Many different company's will buy the rum fresh and age it themselves or make it into their own product. I never realized this I just thought it was simply made into El Dorado rum. Always learning.
After the rum tour Mary and I went for another walk on the sea wall and then went to join some of my friends at a local fish shop for fish and chips for dinner. It was a great time for Mary to hang out and meet some of my friends. We ate and talked for quite a while. After that we ended up going to sing Karaoke at a local bar and ended the night at a different fish shop where we sat outside and talked with a different set of my friends. There were also people dancing at this fish shop so Mary got to see a little bit of how Guyanese people whine. :)
Sadly after that Mary had to leave at 5:30 am. From what I understand they had some problems with the car on the way to the airport but eventually they made it. I spend the day Saturday relaxing and catching up on life. I was sad to see Mary go because it was so nice to have someone from back home with me.
Life is always best with friends close by! I am so thankful to have Mary in my life and even more thankful to have her be able to visit me. We had many talks about how being in the rainforest reminded us of being back home. We were lucky to grow up so close to the wilderness. I mean as I was on the boat I thought to myself if I just close my eyes I can pretend i'm on a boat back home on farm like. Some things no matter where you are in the world give you the same at home feeling.
Until next week!
<3
Ashley Ann
Also I hope to get more pictures up of our trip but I am running out of time today! Be on the look out for them! Also I will try and post some on my facebook page!!!
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