My travels in Guyana.

Lost in the Jungle

December 9, 2006
Day 437

Kaieteur Trek Day 2

This morning we waited until about 9:30 before one of the miners could paddle us in his canoe to the other side of the river where Craig, Diego, Sally, and I started walking again. It was even more of a full-on jungle adventure than yesterday… Read More »

Saved in the Nick of Time

December 8, 2006
Day 436
Kaieteur Trek Day 1

The route to Kaieteur seemed pretty simple: Drive down a road to Pamela on the Potaro River, take a boat upstream to a settlement called Amatok, walk along the river to another settlement called Wartok, then walk the rest of the way to the… Read More »

Preparing for Kaieteur

December 7, 2006
Day 435

I spent most of the day today washing my clothes and showering. I think the fuel smell is finally off of me, more or less. Craig ran into a local man named Sally who has been porkknocking in the area for many years. The route to Kaieteur is on… Read More »

A Long Ride to Mahdia

December 6, 2006
Day 434

Shortly before dawn, Craig got out of the tent and tried to figure out when the truck we had heard about last night would be leaving. Suddenly, I heard him running toward me yelling "Let's go!" I quickly packed everything up and jumped into the Bedford just before it… Read More »

Seeing the Mine

December 5, 2006
Day 433

The main order of business for today was seeing the mine in operation. Craig and I made the short ten-minute walk from the camp to the mine, which once again went through the jungle. Along the way, we noticed that white mud seemed to be taking… Read More »

A Bad Day for My Gear

December 4, 2006
Day 432

This morning a 4-wheeler came to the river from the "back dam," which is Guyanese for "middle of nowhere," and started loading up fuel to take back to camp. After the driver loaded 18 jugs of fuel, he offered to load up our backpacks as well, and Craig and… Read More »

Almost to the Back Dam

December 3, 2006
Day 431

Today started out with the long process of portaging everything over the rapids via a path on the side of the river. The big wooden boot couldn't make it up the rapids, so we carried a smaller aluminum boat over and had to make separate trips up the river.… Read More »

Boating up Rapids for a Change

December 2, 2006
Day 430

I woke up to a lot of commotion today. Chris was putting the new wooden boat into the water and filling it with the fuel that had been transferred in his Bedford. However, last night's rain had caused such a muddy situation that the Bedford got Read More »

Hitching Through Guyana

December 1, 2006
Day 429

The house had its generator running all night, so it was was tough to sleep over the noise. On top of that, the thought of waking up in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere in hopes that a bus would magically emerge from the darkness… Read More »

A Makushi Cultural Festival

November 30, 2006
Day 428

Today there was a celebration in Surama for World AIDS Day. I've learned from hanging out with the Peace Corps workers that a ton of foreign aid money comes into Guyana, but the only way to get any of it for your particular project is to tie it to… Read More »