The land of many rivers

The majority of the Guyanese people live in the capital Georgetown and its immediate outlying villages.

Last weekend fellow VSO volunteer Carol and I left the capital and made our way to one of the less populated areas in the north. 

In this area, one of the original tribes of Guyana, the Arawak amerindians live.

The region is remote, sparsely populated, has little infrastructure and is much poorer than Georgetown.

As we journeyed away from the capital, the signs of bustling life decreased and the scenery became rural.

We passes coconut plantations and rice fields.

After leaving the bus in Parika, we then  boarded the first ferry to cross the estuary of the Essiquibo river. Here the wide river is dotted with small islands, and it took our speed boat 25 minutes to make the crossing.

The sky was cloudy, the river choppy and as the small boat bounced along we had to cover ourselves with the tarpaulins provided.

Glamour had long been abandoned - as the second photograph testifies.

Charity- small port on the Pomeroon river- passengers disembarking from a speed boat.
On the left, a lorry loads up with coconuts to take to Georgetown.
From here, people rely on the boats to deliver goods.

First boat crossing-the woman sitting next to me is covering her 6 month old son to keep him dry!

We arrived at Supernaam, where the next challenge was to negotiate a shared taxi to take us to Charity, one hour's drive away.

(The names of the settlements reflect the history of Guyana's colonial occupations and hopes after emancipation)

As intrepid explorers of the world will know, when such arrangements operate, travellers have to trust to instinct. After being passed like parcels between a total of three taxis, we reached our next staging, where we were to meet Troy, the boatman, who had reserved our places on the boat to Maruca.