Guyana

Continuing from our last post, we made it safely to Guyana, made our way into the Essequibo River and anchored just south of Parika at Roed-en-rust. I had read a lot about, and was looking forward to meeting Mr DeSilva, the owner of Roeden Rust Marina.

Tanya, first to make landfall in South America!

Almost There and Dea Latis at anchor in the Essequibo:

Shore party in search of Mr DeSilva:

This is Wesley, or Wesley’s back. He dropped what he was doing to help us out, which has been a common theme here. Guyanese people are the nicest people we have met in our travels.

Marina:

 The DeSilva residence. Sadly we were told Mr DeSilva passed away in June. I did get to speak with his son Amir who was very helpful:

Bedford Lorry:

We called a cab to get to Parika and check in. Bluc By, our driver:

Tanya and Shena:

Pearly gates:

We went to Scotia Bank to change some money and this car was for sale out in front. Toyota Corolla, used. How ’bout those payments:

This is from the police station looking at the head of the Parika stelling, ferry terminal and ticket office:

Looking from the main intersection looking down at the stelling, ferry terminal, and ticket office:

Street vendors:

We bought our fresh food from these nice folks:

Number 32 bus from Parika to Georgetown:

You think your food is expensive. Bag of potatoes $4200:

There are Chinese and Brazilian restaurants everywhere. So our first meal in Guyana was Chinese. We had chicken fried rice, which is fried rice with four huge pieces of chicken on top, it was delicious:

“Oh lets get egg rolls” Well this is an egg <pause> roll. It’s a huge omelet filled with veggies, not what we were expecting but it was delicious:

We checked in with a delightful lady at the immigration office, walked around town, picked up a few things, ate and headed back to the boat. Later we took some fuel jugs down to the fuel dock:

Zamir, at the Big Kiss, was very friendly and helpful. His coworker Rocky was a great help also:

Fuel is a tad expensive, we paid $818 a gallon for diesel:

They were more than happy to let us tie up and walk to town:

Boats along the river:

After walking around town again we went back to Big Kiss, dropped off a couple of Cokes and some Oreos with Zamir and Rocky, and headed back to the boat:

Bauxite, I think:

More ships along the river:

From Roeden Rust we jumped a few miles up river to Fort Island. Main stelling on the island:

We were met by Elijiah, son of the school teacher, who took us on a tour of the island, fort, museum and school:

Medical clinic:

Fort Zeelandia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Zeelandia_(Guyana)

Nice flower:

Then onto The Court of Policy Hall. This link will take you to the National Trust of Guyana website, which gives a brief history of Fort Zeelandia and Court of Policy:

http://www.nationaltrust.gov.gy/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=57&Itemid=150

Then onto the school:

Some of the 15 students that attend:

We dropped off notebooks, pens, pencils and boxes of colored chalk, met the students, and had a wonderful talk with the teacher Ms Ward. We had a fantastic visit! The next day we picked up anchor and headed up river:

It’s a little humid six degrees north of the equator. Bad for the hair:

More river traffic. Everyone waves!

Navigation:

The Essequibo can get deep, in places about 80 feet. At times we have been 50 feet from shore in 20 feet of water. Here we are about 100 feet from the river edge in 46 feet of water:

We passed this barge, they all came out to wave. Everyone is very friendly here.

Eddy Grant’s island home:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddy_Grant

http://www.eddygrant.com/site/main.html

We anchored just south of Eddie Grant’s house for the night. The next morning we pulled up anchor and headed for the city of Bartica. We are having a great time here and we have lots of pictures, which we will post when we can.