Dom, Amerindian at 30 knots.
Jim, Aussie at 30 knots!
The lovely resort where we had lunch. See how brown the water is? But you can swim in it!We left Charlotteville, Tobago last Tuesday, heading around the north end of the island before striking out more or less southwards against the wind and current towards Guyana. Nearly four days later after a hard sail to windward and a lot of motoring, we ended up at the mouth of this enormous river, Essequibo, Guyana. We knew we were there because the water had turned a lovely shade of pale brown although it would be several more hours before we spotted land. We are almost pioneers in sailing here as so few yachts manage the long windward passage from the Caribbean and it’s off the beaten track for Transatlantic crossings.
We anchored for the night at a suitable spot where I was immediately attacked by millions of vicious biting things who had no doubt not tasted fresh “meat” for some time…but enough of my tales of woe!
We set off at the best time for the tide to take us upriver next morning, closely following Troutbridge whose chart plotter was still working (Moonshiner’s wasn’t: more tales of woe), to Bartica where we eventually anchored just before dusk. The trip upriver was a little hairy as the sandy bottom continually shifts leaving some parts of the channel extremely shallow. We did actually touch the bottom a couple of times…luckily, it’s very soft sand and mud.
So here we are now in Bartica, a sort of frontier goldmining town….it really does have that kind of atmosphere. There are cows wandering about the streets. It’s a wonderful mix of people, Amerindians, Portuguese, Afro-Caribbean etc. Some people charge around in high powered colourful riverboats, many used as water taxis…no pictures yet… I can’t recharge my camera…yet another tale of woe! Other tiny wooden boats carry whole families squeezed in, anyone big enough to, wielding a paddle. They cross the river, which must be over three miles wide here, and also have fierce currents to overcome. No helpful navigation lights or buoys anywhere.
The locals are incredibly helpful and friendly and we are managing to get things fixed by degrees thank goodness. The father and son electrician team and the local computer man have been wonderful even coming out to the boat and hardly wanting to be paid either. We had a visit from Kit Nascimento and his delightful jack of all trades righthand man, Dom who have both been brilliant. Kit, born locally, is well known throughout the country and has been an MP among other things. His wife Gem is also local and arranges tours into the interior, the rainforest and waterfalls etc. We hope to charter an aircraft (cheaper as a group!)and fly up to the Kaiteur Falls next week. These are the longest straight drop falls in the world at over 700feet….much more spectacular than the dribbly Angel Falls in Venezuela so I’m told. We also hope to see jaguars, sloths, caymen and possibly a manatee in the jungle and swamps en route.
Kit and Gem invited us all to lunch at their little holiday resort across the river. Dom picked us up in the boat which must have done over 30knots. We all really enjoyed zipping across the water like this…..a change from pounding into lumpy seas at 2knots max! We had an interesting lunch, local dishes included…think we ate something like capybara…it was described to me as a large rodent! Tasted “a bit like chicken” (well, pork actually) and was perfectly acceptable, quite a delicacy I suppose.
We had gone ashore our first night in Bartica and met some real prospectors who spend the week in the mines digging or panning for gold. I have the phone number of Pierre, a New Yorker who has made it big out here in the goldmining business. He said he is more than happy to drive us out to the mining areas. I’d love to find a small piece of native gold, not interested in jewellery, just a nugget will do!!
So I like Guyana. My bites are even starting to heal a little as I write!
We anchored for the night at a suitable spot where I was immediately attacked by millions of vicious biting things who had no doubt not tasted fresh “meat” for some time…but enough of my tales of woe!
We set off at the best time for the tide to take us upriver next morning, closely following Troutbridge whose chart plotter was still working (Moonshiner’s wasn’t: more tales of woe), to Bartica where we eventually anchored just before dusk. The trip upriver was a little hairy as the sandy bottom continually shifts leaving some parts of the channel extremely shallow. We did actually touch the bottom a couple of times…luckily, it’s very soft sand and mud.
So here we are now in Bartica, a sort of frontier goldmining town….it really does have that kind of atmosphere. There are cows wandering about the streets. It’s a wonderful mix of people, Amerindians, Portuguese, Afro-Caribbean etc. Some people charge around in high powered colourful riverboats, many used as water taxis…no pictures yet… I can’t recharge my camera…yet another tale of woe! Other tiny wooden boats carry whole families squeezed in, anyone big enough to, wielding a paddle. They cross the river, which must be over three miles wide here, and also have fierce currents to overcome. No helpful navigation lights or buoys anywhere.
The locals are incredibly helpful and friendly and we are managing to get things fixed by degrees thank goodness. The father and son electrician team and the local computer man have been wonderful even coming out to the boat and hardly wanting to be paid either. We had a visit from Kit Nascimento and his delightful jack of all trades righthand man, Dom who have both been brilliant. Kit, born locally, is well known throughout the country and has been an MP among other things. His wife Gem is also local and arranges tours into the interior, the rainforest and waterfalls etc. We hope to charter an aircraft (cheaper as a group!)and fly up to the Kaiteur Falls next week. These are the longest straight drop falls in the world at over 700feet….much more spectacular than the dribbly Angel Falls in Venezuela so I’m told. We also hope to see jaguars, sloths, caymen and possibly a manatee in the jungle and swamps en route.
Kit and Gem invited us all to lunch at their little holiday resort across the river. Dom picked us up in the boat which must have done over 30knots. We all really enjoyed zipping across the water like this…..a change from pounding into lumpy seas at 2knots max! We had an interesting lunch, local dishes included…think we ate something like capybara…it was described to me as a large rodent! Tasted “a bit like chicken” (well, pork actually) and was perfectly acceptable, quite a delicacy I suppose.
We had gone ashore our first night in Bartica and met some real prospectors who spend the week in the mines digging or panning for gold. I have the phone number of Pierre, a New Yorker who has made it big out here in the goldmining business. He said he is more than happy to drive us out to the mining areas. I’d love to find a small piece of native gold, not interested in jewellery, just a nugget will do!!
So I like Guyana. My bites are even starting to heal a little as I write!
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