Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad

Well, we decided that over the two plus years that Mike lived in Guyana, he developed several biases that might sway the “tourist's view” of the country. With that in mind, he's given me the reigns on this blog entry.

In the 3 years Mike has been away from Guyana, he was pleasantly surprised with a few convenient additions that significantly expedited some of our travel experiences. It started as soon as we crossed the border from Brazil, where last time Mike crossed, he waded through the river. Fortunately, they have since built a lovely bridge where we crossed in a taxi to our first Guyana destination...Lethem!
A very small cowboy town, Lethem was actually relatively nice, with a beautiful sweeping landscape of green luscious mountain ranges and palm trees. The town itself was what you would expect of someplace in the middle of nowhere, but did the trick for our overnight stay until we could catch a plane up to the coast. I enjoyed my first Guyanese chicken stew dinner and Banks beer.
And yes, I'm drinking a beer out of a straw. I learned that evening that ladies always get straws, because drinking straight out of a bottle is deemed unladylike. It didn't last long for me...

Once we arrived at the “airport” the next morning, I started realizing what I had gotten myself into...
That was our gate. It was literally a 4 foot gate that a dog can easily get through, where you can walk onto the runway. And yes, half of it was unpaved.

In our little 12 seater plane, we took a 1.5 hour plane ride from one of the southern most areas, all the way up to the north. It was like a tour! And for the most part....there is NOTHING in the middle of the country until you get to the coast.

Once we arrived in Georgetown, the capital of Guyana, we had to get to New Amsterdam where Mikey used to live. We took a taxi from the airport to the car park, where you can catch a shared car or bus to New Amsterdam. It was my first introduction to the real Guyana. The city itself was less than impressive, full of garbage, sketchy dudes and lots of rundown houses. When the taxi pulled up to the hoards of cars and buses and guys were swarming around the car before we even stopped, I was already on guard. As we got out, several men were pulling our arms, grabbing our bags and in general, creating chaos. As I started wrestling with one of the guys with his arms all over my bags, all I heard were multiple voices screaming in excitement...."wha, white boi...mike!!!!” I felt like I was traveling with a freaking celebrity. Once Mike noticed his friends there, things went much more smoothly and we hopped in a car.

Adding to the new improvements, the drive was significantly shorter than Mike remembered as they finally finished the bridge that connects the two cities! After a long journey to New Amsterdam, we finally arrived to Tucber Park...
And then we accidentally passed the house...
We stayed with Mike's Guyana family, Venus and Sherry. Since Mike's departure, they added a veranda and painted it...and Mike didn't even recognize the house.

Venus and Sherry were incredible hostesses and truly made our Guyana experience. Ensuring we always had what we needed and cooking us all the authentic Guyanese dishes, we had a well-rounded week. I even learned how to clap roti (though I need a bit more practice).

We did a lot of that picture. We ate and we chilled on the veranda, people watching and chatting. I was told that I was living the true Guyana life and did what Mike did for 2 years, drank rum and stared!

He was also sure to give me his tour of New Amsterdam. I got to see where he worked...in a clinic adjacent to the old hospital that looks like it is going to fall down. Regardless, it gave us the chance to meet the nurses he used to work with and hear them squeal and scream because the “white boi” was actually back.
And we hit all the hot spots. Where Mike could get beers closest to his house and his staple...chicken and chips...
Meeting the cows, goats, chickens, and more that meander down Mike's street...
Sherry was actually mad we took this picture because she said we picked the most run down house on the block. We thought it was fitting, run down house, next to cow, next to nice house. All in one photo.

We even ventured out for a Saturday night on the town with Mike's Guyanese friend, Andre.
He informed us that the new spot on Saturday night was dragging a table from inside and sitting out on the street in front of the Chesterfried Chicken drinking beers and watching people pass. Unfortunately I was too busy staring at the hoochie mamas struttin their stuff and plugging my ears from the 4 cars competing for who had the loudest speakers to take any photos.

The next morning, it turned out that randomly one of Mike's peace corp friends from the States, Phillip, was also returning to Guyana for a visit (his visit was intended to something generous and selfless...ours indulgent and letting Sherry cook for us all week...we felt a tad guilty). We thought we'd head into Georgetown so I could properly see the “sights” and we could enjoy a banks beer with Phillip.
That was the Cathedral. They claim it is the tallest wooden building in the world. Not sure how we would test that, so we'll just go with it.
That was the town hall. It's just an attraction because apparently it looks like Disneyland. Not so much in the photo...I think it's just the lighting...and the fact that people who live there for 2 years have clearly forgotten what Disneyland looks like...
And THAT was the Stabroek Market. The facial expression reflects the fact that the 2 blocks we were standing were as close as Mike was willing to go. It apparently had a big market inside...but everyone gets jacked there...so we just took a picture and moved on.

And that was us failing at finding Phillip. We stopped by his hotel 3 times and searched...but no Chinee Boi had been spotted anywhere. We learned the next day that his flight was delayed all day. So we drank a beer at a “beachside” bar without him. The quotations aren't exactly used properly as the bar really was on the beach...that overlooked the beautiful murky brown water that is the Caribbean all along the Guyanese coast.
Ensuring we made the most out of our week to Guyana, we woke up the next morning and decided to head in the opposite direction where you can backtrack (illegally cross) into Surinam (we again, didn't want to pay for a visa). After a few times of driving back and forth from Georgetown, I was finally getting used to the way these crazy cars drove. Seriously, that was the most dangerous part of the trip into the country. They pass like crazies, and between avoiding the kid on a bike, the other car trying to pass and the countless cows, goats and sheep that aimlessly wander on the streets, it's no wonder there are so many accidents. At this point, we hadn't dared to take a minibus, knowing that an accident in one of those, squished next to 30 people without proper seats was just asking for it. And it was a good thing I was getting used to it because the only way out to Surinam was on one of those crazy minibuses.

We made it in one piece and headed for the dock to take a little speedboat across a huge river into Surinam.
The boat ride was all good...until we reached the other end.
It may be hard to tell, but there were only 8 people on our boat. The hoards of other people were the 20 drunk Surinam dudes trying to grab you and carry you to shore so you would give them money. The water didn't even reach your knees. They tried to tell me there were crabs in the water. I didn't have time to argue because I thought Mike was going to punch one of them in the face for being drunk and continuing to grab. We jumped out and fled the scene...
...all the way to the bar 200 meters away where we bought 2 large Parbo beers and hung out on the sea wall enjoying our Surinam beverages and the lovely view that was more murky brown water.
A couple hours later and we were back on the docks in Guyana!
The next day was Sherry's birthday and we were lucky to have been there to celebrate with her! Also gave me an opportunity to meet some locals and learn all about the house party scene in Guyana...
Got a bit roudy...we'll leave it at that...

After an incredibly interesting and great week in Guyana, it was time to say goodbye to Venus and Sherry...
If you are reading this, thanks again for everything. It was great meeting you both and thanks for sharing your home, your culture and wonderful selves with us for the week!

Given that the border between Venezuela and Guyana is closed, we could either go back into Brazil (and travel ALL the way back to the south)...or take the opportunity to head to Trinidad and Tobago, where we could catch a ferry to Venezuela!
Shocker, we chose option #2. And it turned out that the ferry to Venezuela only left once a week. Darn! Given that we had a few days to kill, we hopped over to the island of Tobago to check out that beautiful Caribbean island.
It was amazing. Quite a bit less developed than other Caribbean islands either of us had visited, but the beaches and water, just as nice. We found a great studio apartment, where we could practice our curry cooking skills, while still a short 2 minute walk to a pristine white sand beach that maybe had 5 people on it any given day.
On our last day, we took a glass bottom boat tour to check out some of the coral reefs in the area and do some snorkeling.
But the real highlight for most, though not as much of a worry for us yet, was the Nylon pool. Legend has it that at this sandbar in the middle of the Carribean, where the water is crystal clear and only 1 meter in depth, if you rub the coral sand on your skin it makes you 10 years younger. I kid you not, there were older women, caking sand on their faces like it was a mud mask. Mike threw some on me for effect.
All in all, a very relaxing few days before we hit the last month of our travels at lightning speed. We have 2 countries to see in only a month!

Stay tuned...

Much Love,
Mikey&Marisa