Mom and Stephen came for a visit
I live in another country. I haven’t seen my family in over a year and a half. I’ve been living sans electricity, cheese, and makeup. I wash my clothes in a creek and ride the 70 miles/6-10 hour journey to Aishalton in the open back of Bedford trucks. I live further away from Georgetown, the capital and only major city in Guyana than any other volunteers. When mom said she wanted to come for a visit, I was so excited. But, also quite terrified. “Visiting” Aishalton would not be easy, and especially not in a two week time frame.
So, in my newly acquired desire to be organized, I began meticulously planning our trip. After landing in Georgetown, stay in a decent hotel with a pool, so they can enjoy ‘the tropics’. Come down to region 9 slowly, with a few nights stay in a lovely eco-jungle lodge, Iwokrama. Once reaching Lethem, take a hired vehicle to Aishalton for a few days. Then, leave in another vehicle – back to Lethem, back to Georgetown. It seemed like the best plan of action. I had spreadsheets, calendars, and documents with all the information written down – phone numbers, addresses, transportation times, hotel bookings.
Then they arrived! Seeing mom and Stephen in Guyana made my heart just soar.
My family!
Experiencing the travel I adore, the areas of the world I love to see and live in. Ahhhhh… and after so much time. Well, they were a bit less than thrilled; they were getting off a long overnight flight and a couple of layovers. So, to the nice hotel with a pool we went. We talked and ate and slept and swim. We talked about what I was missing back home, what their first impressions were of Guyana, what we would do with the suitcases full of stuff for us that my mom brought.
Soon it was time to leave cushy Georgetown hotel with its hot water and A/C. Plans dissolved – transformed from organized to haphazard. Of course, I expected this. I knew plenty things would go wrong. I knew they were visiting a Peace Corps Volunteer in a country with hardly any tourism or infrastructure to support travelling. I knew a few things wouldn’t turn out as I had planned.
So, after our flight to Iwokrama, in Guyana’s interior, didn’t work out, and the bus didn’t run on the dates we needed, we finally worked out a plan B, plan C, and plan D. We went to Iwokrama on an overnight bus – left Georgetown at 8pm, arrived and 6am the next morning. And first on our itinerary? A ‘robust’ hike to the top of Turtle Mountain at 8am. Which, we all somehow managed to complete like troopers. It was a beautiful view – many, many miles of untouched rainforest. (Which, Guyana just might have the largest stretch of unspoiled rainforest in the world!) Here we are looking a bit more chipper than we really were. After some night time caimen (crocodile) spotting and some good meals, we crashed into bed for a long night.
On the Essequibo in the rainforest:
Mom on top of Turtle Mountain with the forest behind:
Stephen on Turtle Mountain:
I cannot really explain all the things that went wrong next. Suffice it to say, transportation has been our biggest challenge in Guyana; much more so than the lack of vegetables, cultural awkwardness, or no electricity. So, a number of arranged transportation options fell through, leaving us stranded here and there in Guyana’s interior. Finally we reached Lethem and had to stay a night longer than planned in a hotel. The next day, we set off for Aishalton.
Now, rainy season is supposed to end in August, but we’ve still been having storms every few days and the roads and rivers are still wet and high. So, what should’ve been a 5-6 hour trip in a comfortable hired vehicle, was actually a 10 hour trip complete with crossing the river on the pontoon. Stephen and Chris helped push it across the water!
We left Lethem and noon and reached Aishalton at 10pm. 70 miles. 10 hours. Stuck in the water, vehicle breaking down, no dinner. 
No comments:
Post a Comment