Saturday, September 24, 2022

Day 47 - Guyana Is Real

We got up and rode the 30km to the port. Lots of people already there. People came at night to camp as soon as the news broke that the boat was going to get in line to ensure they got on board. The boat only takes 20 cars and only sails once a day.

We sorted through the typical immigration and customs bureaucracy and then started loading the boat … we were all smiling and so happy to be able to cross ... saw a lot of our stranded friends again ... kind of like a reunion after 4 days.  

Apparently, they were not able to completely fix the boat ramps (only one worked) because everybody how to go down this rickety one lane bridge, in reverse, to be able to get out on the other end.  And, we had to have a barge push the boat because the forward engine was still busted. Whatever works!

Beautiful ride across the Courantyne River.  A nice, hot, muggy ride out in the open. With people from all over and with very interesting backgrounds. 

Long process on the Guyana side … needed insurance but nobody was selling it and it was Saturday so we had to get a taxi, go to town in the nick of time before they closed to get it ... 3 hours later, we left and rushed to be able to get over the New Amsterdam river bridge before 2pm which gets lifted for about 2 hours every afternoon.

Guyana is an interesting country and different than Suriname.  The whole 200 kms to Georgetown the capital were populated houses facing the road but nothing but agriculture fields behind them. I think they decided to define towns by distance, like every 5 kms.  Most of these segments were named only by number (e.g., Village #56, Village #55, etc.)

The houses followed a strange style ... two floors ... facing the road at an angle ... candy colored and colorful ... highly ornamented balconies on the second floors ... all I could think about was that it was like a modified Indian look ... then I heard that 50% of Guyana's population have Indian roots ... but then, there are canals everywhere just like in Dutch Suriname and streets names in Dutch ...  remnants of the 200 years Guyana was a Dutch colony (1600-1800).

We finally made it to Georgetown, our stop for the night ... a chaotic, and generally ugly and dirty city. But it is nice that everybody speaks English.

Tomorrow, we have one of the biggest challenges of the trip.  A 425 kms run with 300+ kms of tough dirt riding.  It will take the whole day to reach our destination close to the Brasilian border. Time to rest.

Our ride to the boat ... very low visibility through the rice fields

The Suriname side of the border - the process begins

Yes, she is still riding with her broken ankle

Waiting for instructions to move forward on the Suriname side

Some found a place to pass the time at the border

What is this?

Boarding is though this bridge ... in reverse ... even the big trucks

Our friend Randy from Guyana on a father-son trip

Have to squeeze the motorcycles in the middle of the trucks

We are on the boat!

Our landing site on the Guyana side

Welcome to Guyana mural

Kids and motorcycles ... is it in our DNA?


The road to Georgetown was lined by these colorful houses ... 200 kms!

The road to Georgetown was like a vide game ... carts, dogs, bicycles, people, chicken, cows

Water everywhere ... land varies from -5m to +25m above sea level

No comments:

Post a Comment