03/11/10
Matapica - a beach where sea turtles come to lay their eggsSea turtles can be huge and the four types of sea turtles laying their eggs here in Suriname are definitely big. We had the luck to be here at the right time to see the green turtle lay its eggs into the sand.
It looks like a lot of work that leaves the turtle exhausted in the end. The whole process goes like this:
- The turtle comes to land at night and clambers up the beach in search for a suitable (safe) location higher up in the sand.
- The animal starts to dig itself in and then starts to dig a small hole (approx. 20 - 30 cm in diameter) where the eggs are to be deposited.
- Finally the laying of up to 150 eggs at a rate of about 2 eggs every 10-15 seconds
- Covering of the eggs and disguising the location while still leaving a small passage (approx. 5 cm in diameter) for the young ones to get out.
- Making its way back to the sea, only to come back two weeks later to repeat the process (up to 7 times a year)
All this is done to ensure the survival of the species. This is quite an effort. According to our guide only one in a thousand survives.
On our way to the beach by boat. Passing through man made channels that cut the swamp in little pieces
Walking along the beach there was this fish there about to give his last breath. After throwing him back into the water he did not return to the beach.
03/09/10
A visit to the ZooGetting there was easy, just a little walk. A lot of local animals to see there. For this educational reason I would recommend a visit. As in many Zoos the cages are mostly too small and the animals are not well looked after; e.g. the giant otter likes company and to swim but his pond is waterless and there is no playmate anywhere in sight in his rather small cage.
03/09/10
Thinking different
Eating at a roti place I noticed this poster on the wall. Funny to encounter this here in this really Apple deprived country :-)
03/07/10
A two day adventure tour to see more of SurinameGetting up at 5:30 was harder than I thought. What can I say we are on vacation. One should not have to get up this early. Out we drove in a halfway functioning Nissan Terrano towards the inside of the country. By halfway functioning I mean that all the necessary things to do this trip worked but not too much more. Our driver was competent and careful so I felt quite comfortable. Passing the Suralco Bauxite processing plant we finally reached the "Bergendal" Adventure center. It is located on a former coffee (among other things) plantation. First we went on a very easy hike where the guide told us a lot about the history of the place and its inhabitants. Annelie tired to translate so I got to know a portion of what was told. It is really a bummer not to understand more, despite the similarity of the german to the dutch language.
After the hike "canopying" was on the program. Canopying is going from tree to tree as with a cablecar. It is fun and can be quite fast. The fastest was about 75 km/h over the river. Sadly there were many people and so the wait was long, since one depended totally on the technical expertise of the center's guides. I compared this to the experience I got last year by going to the "Pilatus Seilpark" where we could do everything ourselves after a initial instruction.
Last we went kayaking which was great. I had never done this before but it was nice to travel even a short distance by kayak. We even saw a monkey in the trees. Sadly no Caiman.
Packing up, we left for "Stone Island". This name is quite misleading. I expected a boat ride to get there but alas what a disappointment when the guide told us that it was only a bungalow settlement at the edge of the reservoir lake of Brokopondo. It was nice there though. Some torrential rain broke loose increasing the humidity even more. The room we stayed had the last sun of the day and refused to really cool down in the absence of a fan. I guess to have lost at least two kilogram in water before I finally fell to slumber.
Next day a trip up the Brownsberg, a hill and national park with two waterfalls of which we then hiked to one. The trip up to the entrance at the top by car was quite adventurous, I would say that this was even the most interesting part. Waterfilled mudholes in the middle of the street where nearly as frequent as good parts. An "Agouti", cross between hamster and rabbit or so, crossed the road in front of us, too fast for me to shoot with my camera. The frogs where easier prey for me especially when they crossed the path in front of me, showing again the sensitivity of movement to the human eye.
03/04/10
Fietsen in SurinameFietsen stands for riding a bicycle in dutch. Yesterday we booked this tour and so today we got onto these velocipede and pedaled first through the old town and after a short boat ride across the river we set off towards "Pepperpot" a shut down coffee and cacao plantation. On the boat ride we passed the wreck of a german cargo vessel that its captain had sunk during the second world war to blockade the river.
The weather was perfect, from time to time it rained and it cooled nicely. Our guide John told us many interesting details about Suriname and its history.
Since the plantation is closed down the whole farming ground has grown over with the years. Monkeys, birds and butterflies we have seen passing through there.
A good way to experience the area and spend your time.
Check out their (dutch only) web-site.
03/02/10
New country new language - Welcome to SurinamA Mini-bus, ferry and taxi ride took us from New Amsterdam across the Corentyne river, which at the same time represents the border to Paramaribo, the capital of Surinam. The change between Guyana and Surinam is significant, more nicer cars, many big supermarkets, bigger houses and less visible garbage.
After arriving here in this Guest House the question arises on what to do next. The Ariane 5 launch is still 22 days away, so we still got some time "to kill"...
03/01/10
Holi Phagwah - the festival of colorsIn Georgetown we had the luck of staying at Navin's place and since he took us everywhere we were introduced to the east-indian way and food. There we also met Cyril and his wife. They left Navins place earlier to visit some friends near New Amsterdam. Since this was on our itinerary we gave them a call as we got near and paid them a visit. The relatives they were staying with immediately invited us to stay with them too in their now crowded house. So we got even more insights into the east-indian way and the hindi religion.
The day came to celebrate Holi Phagwah, a Hindi celebration starting on sunday night with a a procession and bonfire. On monday then in the morning water was sprayed on you to cleanse you (I think) and then in the afternoon colors from spray guns and powder boxes were brought to bear on your much to clean clothes.
It was a lot of fun for everyone involved, especially the kids with their spray guns, reminding me of hot summers long time past.
02/28/10
A lot of attentionIf you are in a place where a computer is not a common sight, especially showing pictures on it, the interest is very high. This was the case at Jaime's place in the Gran Sabana in Venezuela as it was in Guyana when we stayed in East Canje with Sandra and Charles. I asked if anyone wanted to see some pictures and quickly they gathered around to look on the screen.
02/26/10
The Rum of GuyanaRiding in the Bus 42 we arrived at the Demarara Distillery in East Diamond. This is the only distillery left in Guyana. It produces one of the finest rum in the world according to the prices it has won so far.
We met Mr. Kanto at the gate and he showed us around the factory after talking a bit about the history of rum production in Guyana and explaining the process of making rum.
The factory itself was like any other factory where work is been done and something is produced, there is this kind of dirt and stains on the stairs, machines and then there is this smell, not totally unpleasant. I like factories like that and prefer them to the shiny, shiny outfit because it shows that there are men at work and some history behind it.
So we walked through the whole process from the impregnation of the sugar molasses with yeast to the huge fermenting containers over to the distillery and how the separation of the final rum from the rubbish (methanol,...) is taken place.
The whole tour was finished by testing two different rum, a 12 year old with a strong taste and a 15 year old with a lighter taste.
It was really interesting to see and so we sit back contently in the bus back to Georgetown.
02/26/10
HIV a big problem here
Judging from all the posters, stickers and so forth HIV seems to be a big worry here. Posters and stickers everywhere call out to the population to get tested, use condoms, be faithful and get help in case of infection.
This campaign seems to be quite old now, estimating from the bleaching of some of the signs. The main aim is to prevent contraction of the HIV through sexual intercourse. There is nothing about using drugs (syringes) or transmission by blood transfusions. You can just hope that you do not need one here.
02/25/10
Visit to Kaieteur fallThe Kaieteur waterfalls are THE highlight of Guyana. The other magnificent thing might be to visit the Jungle to see some animals in real life. I decided to skip the jungle but go to this waterfall.
My expectations were increased by the amount of money it cost. 44000 G$ for this daylong trip. I later found out that for the locals it is only 30000 G$, which is still a lot of money. The price nearly kept me from going but since I am here and it probably will be the only time I went for it.
The waterfall lies in the Kaieteur National Park to the southwest of Georgetown about 45 Minutes by plane. When we got near the waterfall the pilot maneuvered to pass the fall twice. It was luck to sit on the left side of the plane and have a clear view. Down on the ground a guide brought us to several different viewpoints to see the 741 ft high waterfall that is named after a ancient tribe chief who threw himself down there to stop a war between his and the neighboring tribe.
Just sitting in a plane like this and looking out the window on our way back, I really got the feeling to go skydiving again soon. Maybe near Cape Canaveral, where there is a dropzone.
Anyway the trip was good and once again I took loads and loads of pictures, nearly filling my second 16GB chip. This means I now took over 3000 pictures during my trip so far of which I posted appoximately 500 on the website.
Tomorrow we will be going to visit the "Diamond Distillery" where they make the best rum in the world ("Eldorado") or so they say.
02/23/10
Republic of Guyana 40th AnniversaryToday is the 40th anniversary of the Republic of Guyana. Everybody seems to be on the streets watching or participating in the parade.
Breaking news: Georgetown during Mashramani (that is the name of the celebration) is not so safe for white people as another couchsurfer also staying at the same place as we do had to find out. A pickpocket took her cigarettes, money and camera (including a memory chip full of pictures). When she tried to fight back she got hit in the face and needed stitches. When that happened we were back home. Navin got a phonecall and so we rushed to the hospital. She is now OK, sitting opposite of me writing emails. Later we might find another digital camera for her.
02/23/10
Rain water collectionWhen we were visiting Toco and met Steve he told us about their project to get people to start collecting the rain water for the daily use especially in the dry season.
When you think about it the water that comes down onto your roof, it makes perfect sense to collect it because otherwise it just runs down the drain. This could be done anywhere, also in countries like Switzerland (although there other technical problems have to be overcome like temperatures below the freezing point.
Even if you do not use this water for drinking then you could still use it to shower or flush the toilet.
Here in Georgetown this rain water collection is practiced at many houses I have seen.
02/22/10
An east indian lunchNavin, our couchsurfing host here in Georgetown, took us with him when he went to visit relatives for lunch. They were cooking in the garden in huge bowls original east indian food. Looking closer at two of the fire places they turned out to be truck wheel rims that had been given a second purpose.
A lot of family members and friends were there and the mood was relaxed and joking and teasing was almost mandatory.
Rice, curry, kalalu, chutney among other things were served. The food was placed huge leaves and you ate it with your bare hands. Naturally there was also something very spicy among the mild dishes. Unknowingly I ate it too quickly. For drink there was this delicious, fresh mango juice of which I could barely get enough, especially after my mouth was on fire.
What a great experience this was, meeting people so friendly and nice that welcome stranger you as their guest without reservation. The food was definitely within the top three I ate in the time since I left home. And guess what, in the evening Navin took us to the next relatives where we were invited to enjoy more company, food and drink.
Well-fed I sit here typing this, wondering if I need to eat tomorrow at all...
02/21/10
The long road from Lethem to GeorgetownIt's was two o'clock and the brazilian officer asked us to enter the immigration office to get our passports stamped as we leave for Guyana. This we do by crossing this brand new bridge (opened 14.09.2009) spanning over the river separating the two countries at this point.
After concluding all the immigration business on the Guyana side we jumped into a the taxi of a rasta man. He could be directly out of a reggae music video. He helped us to change our brazilian Reais into Guyana $ (1 Euro = 277 G$). With this new money we were able to procure a Mini-Bus Ticket to Georgetown.
When we finally left town at 7 o'clock in the evening it was already dark and the road looming before us changed from paved to dirt road as soon as we left the town limits. The driver, a youngish black with a baseball cap, accelerated mercilessly towards Georgetown ignoring the onetime plea from a passenger to drive more slowly.
I was clinging for dear life as we sped on. The road and the surrounding forest was illuminated by the strong headlights. At the straights we went full on and when a turn or a small bridge was announced by the yellow signposts the breaks were applied hard only to be replaced once again by the accelerator at the end of obstacle. You felt like in a rally car at night on the seat in the back.
After a short stop-over for a 6 hour nap in a hammock the race continued, this time in a convoy of three other minivans.
With time you got the feeling of a never ending story where you tried to position yourself in a way not to bump your head anywhere or slide around and to be able to doze (deep sleep was an impossibility).
Finally we arrived after about 18 hours in total and I was sincerely happy to leave this vehicle. All the other buses taken before felt so comfortable compared to this.
Well, it's an adventure and I am alive and well to tell the tale :-)
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