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Oct. 1-6, 2008
Guyana:
After spending more than 7 weeks in Venezuela, far longer than ever anticipated, it was time to get a move on. From the Venezuelan border town of Santa Elena de Uairen we got our visas for Brazil. It worked out that we paid $100 USD for both, thanks to a very favorable exchange rate on the black market. We drove to Boa Vista Brazil and then straight on to Bonfim. Bonfim lies on the western shore of the Takatu River, the Guyanese town of Lethem on the east. A brand new bridge links the two countries now, but has yet to be opened. The only way across is on a tiny barge driven by two small outboard motor boats. The ferry was cheap and ran our Westy across the river where we drove into the town of Lethem. The Customs and Trade Bureau office was located in a small wooden house on the main road in town. The ranking officer, Mustafa, sent us over to the Takatu Guesthouse to camp for the night. We would be processed in the morning. According to Corporal Fraser, we are only 17th foreign vehicle to cross this border. We are really off the beaten track now.
Right away we noticed that everyone in Guyana is super friendly and eager to chat and help in any way they can. The people in this area, the Rupununi Savanna, have a reputation for being very honest and kind. In the morning things moved slowly, but eventually we were processed and formally entered Guyana. We were quite weary of the condition of the Lethem to Linden highway and how our van would handle the tough road. It was only a 4x4 only mining road not long ago, and even after being upgraded to an all weather road it was closed for most of August and September due to damage from heavy rains. The road was open now and we were on our way. The going was very slow. Potholes, mud and deep sand meant we rarely reached speeds over 40kph. The Rupununi Savanna is a splendid place; the Kanuku Mountains could be seen for much of the day to our right as we drove north. We had to stop at several police check points near the Iwokrama rain forest before reaching the Essequibo River and catching another barge ferry at the town of Kurupukari. On the eastern bank of the Essequibo we stopped for the night at an East Indian run guesthouse and restaurant. The roti were the first we have had since leaving Canada and not a crumb was spared.
We woke up just after 3:00AM to get an early start. Georgetown, the capitol of Guyana, was at least 8 hours away and we wanted to reach the Suriname Consulate in time to get our visa before they closed for the weekend. The road got better in parts and worse in others. Several times we almost got stuck in soft sand and deep ruts in the road caused by the huge Bedford lorries. The Bedfords are just about the only traffic you'll see on this road and even they are scarce. Along the way we stopped many times with the engine turned off to listen to the sounds of the jungle. From Kurupukari to Linden its mostly dense Amazon rain forest. The jungle here makes many interesting sounds. We heard monkeys, parrots and insects all compete to be the loudest. Ashley spotted a small caiman from a bridge over a river, one of more than 30 rickety bridges we would cross in the more than 17 hours it took to drive 440kms. We also stopped to admire a spider's web larger than any we'd ever seen. It was at least 4m tall and a meter wide. I don’t know what kind of monster makes a web so huge, but we didn’t stay long enough to find out.
Once we reached Linden it was a good paved road all the way to Georgetown. In the capitol we found the Consul's building and convinced them to issue us a visa right away. $84 USD to enter Suriname is pretty steep, but what can you do. We could not find a safe place to camp so we checked into the Cara Lodge after a good deal was negotiated. The hotel is in a fabulous colonial building and our dirt covered van must have been an eyesore in their parking lot.
Saturday we spent the whole day in the Starbroek Market and among the many street vendors selling everything from pirated DVDs to silk to exotic fruit. Walking in Georgetown was a great experience, made even better by the sounds. There is a lot of shouting, some angry, some happy, some singing, some making loud smooching noises and most asking in their Caribbean accent "shappin?" Georgetown doesn’t seem to get much tourism, we were the only whites, and seemingly the only visitors in town. Most people were interested in our eyes, Ashley’s are light blue and mine are blue/green. White skin and light eyes are a rarity in Guyana which is almost entirely populated by English speaking Blacks and East Indians. We've never been to Africa, but I suspect Guyana has a lot in common with former British colonies there.
Sunday morning I decided to change the front brakes, they had been noisy since we entered Guyana. I found out quickly that Henri, the mechanic that worked on the front suspension in Colombia had stripped the key to my front wheel lug nut locks. It was impossible to get the front wheels off. I couldn’t be too mad when I felt this lucky. Lucky that we didn’t get a flat on the rough Lethem/Linden road. What would have happened then? I could not chisel them off, but I found a very friendly mechanic right behind the hotel who agreed to have a look. This was very nice indeed, Georgetown is a ghost town on Sundays. Ash and I drove over and he made it his mission to get our wheels off. Dane De Nobrega spent almost 2 hours welding nuts onto my locks and finally he got them off. He let me change my brakes in his lot and then we all went for Chinese food before leaving Georgetown for the Suriname border.
Just out of Georgetown we were pulled over for going 62kph in a 48kph zone! Seriously, who decided on 48? He told us "you look like you can’t afford to pay this ticket so just go away". And that we did, at precisely 48kph, that is until we reached the 62kph zone. At Rosignol we had to board yet another ferry to cross the huge Berbice River to New Amsterdam. From there it was a few more hours along a highway studded with a multitude of christian churches, hindu temples and mosques before we reached Corriverton.
Corriverton, we would learn, is anything but safe. We were made quite uncomfortable by a scary man wearing a bizarre outfit and goggles brandishing a machete. He was taking a particular interest in the two of us as we ate at a cheap restaurant in town. Soon there were three characters keeping their eyes on us. We made a break for the van and drove to a gated hotel and paid the guard to let us spend the night there. But, soon we were evicted and for no real reason. I got our money back and the sweets Ashley gave him. Next we asked a guard at a bank, but we were turned down. Finally we went to the police station. This was a last resort as we have been warned that the police can be very corrupt in Guyana. I walked into the office, into what seemed to be a tense situation. Uniformed officers were on one side of a counter while a group in civilian clothes was on the other. As soon as I came in, all attention turned to me. A barrage of questions in pidgin English came my way. I thought the men on my side of the counter were in there to be booked, so I paid little attention to them and ignored their questions. Soon I found out they were in fact plain clothes officers. Within seconds one hopped into the Westy with Ash and I and pointed the way to go. We were both unsure of what was going on, he was in plain clothes and carrying a sawed off shotgun. Corporal Phangoo Salik, a 17 year veteran in the Guyana police force showed us to a house owned by a sergeant Mike. We were followed by several pickups filled with armed officers. They were very concerned with our wellbeing, we were told Corriverton is a dangerous place to be at night. Sergeant Mike’s house was not lived in but furnished and we were told to spend the night. They would send patrols by regularly, they also left us a cel phone and some numbers to call if we needed anything. They also insisted we not pay a cent. We spent the night, but got no sleep, there were hundreds of DEET resistant biting insects in the house.
First thing in the morning Corporal Salik came to get us and his wife had breakfast waiting for us in their home. The generosity of these people is incredible. Salik invited us back to Guyana to spend time on his river boat, we might have to take him up on that offer. Soon we were stamping out of Guyana and waiting for the ferry across the Corantijn River, the ferry only leaves once a day for Suriname and 11:00AM. It was sad to spend so little time in Guyana, but we have made friends now in Lethem, Georgetown and Corriverton, we will surely come back some day.
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Next, read about our travels in Suriname.
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