A Morning Jungle Walk at Hurakabra

From our anchorage, we can hear the morning chatter of birds and monkeys ashore at Hurakabra. Mike offered to take us on a morning jungle walk and we were only too happy to take advantage of his offer. Along with the Crazy Diamond crew, we clamored ashore at 0630 where Mike, armed with a machete and a shotgun was waiting for us. There might be jaguars!  

mike of hurakabra

We walked through a grove of bamboo, then thick, jungle foliage took over. Mike was very knowledgeable about flora, but had little opportunity to show off his fauna expertise. He pointed out monkey vines and monkey ladders, but we saw nary a monkey (spider monkeys and capuchins inhabit the area).

monkey ladder

Some of the vines looked very much like snakes and I worried that the opposite was also true.

vines look like snakes in guyana

Though Hurakabra touts 178 known species of birds on its 22 acres, we saw few. We heard lots of them, but the only ones we saw flitted high above in the canopy, unrecognizable. The high humidity and heavy morning dew made the thick layer of leaves on the path a bit slippery. The trail is well marked and Mike hacked at new growth as he lead the way. Mike assured us not to worry ... just sitting on the veranda, we'd spot lots of birds.

hacking through the jungle in guyana

We trekked along and trekked along at a leisurely, enjoyable pace. Despite the lack of fauna, it was pleasant to be out and about so early in the day walking in the rain forest. Brightly colored butterflies fluttered past including several gorgeous, iridescent blue morphos. Barry stopped for moment to look at at a plant and a butterfly (or is it a moth?) landed on his boot. We made him keep perfectly still, so we could photograph it.

orange butterfly in guyana jungle

Then Ryan, another accompanying guide, spotted a bright red spider. Despite the fact I hate spiders, this spider was particularly beautiful and quite industrious. It's easier to be brave on the end of a telephoto lens.

spider on his web in guyana

Mike pointed out an acushi ant hill … huge!

acushi ant hill

Brightly colored lizards crossed our path, but thankfully, no snakes.

lizard in guyana jungle

Mountain roses provided bright contrast to the green of the forest.

mountain rose in guyana jungle

Mushrooms and fungi, lots of different varieties we didn't recognize, grew profusely in the rich soil and humid conditions.

mushrooms in guyana jungle

We walked for two hours, then retraced our steps in an hour, covering about 10km (6 miles) total … not a bad morning walk. On our return to Cups, it appeared there's also a bit of jungle going on aboard … beyond the errant frog that David found in the saloon and the bat that whizzed through a couple of weeks ago. The welcome swallows (aka white-winged swallows) have overstayed their welcome and become a nuisance. They flit and dart around over the aft deck regularly now and sometimes through the cockpit. They're always on the bow or the lifelines or sunning themselves on the solar panels leaving a tiny trail of bird poop in their wake.

swallow on nine of cups

They're cute, delightful little creatures, but they've become a bit too cheeky. I watched one land on the solar panels the other day with a twig in its mouth. Oh-oh …

swallow with twig on nine of cups

David suggested checking the end of the boom and sure enough, there was the start of a nest. I removed the detritus … twigs and leave parts ... and we stuffed a rag into the end of the boom. After having egrets, bats, and frogs aboard, we've determined that visiting is one thing...moving in is quite another.

We'll keep that in mind when we visit with our relatives in the States!

checking the boom

Heading to Hurakabra on the Essequibo

Via an introduction from an old cruising friend (thanks, Jack!), Kit and Gem Nascimento had e-mailed us and invited us to anchor off their Hurakabra (Her-rah-KAH-bra) River Resort and avail ourselves of the amenities … showers, internet, a place to hang out on land and more. We planned to take advantage of their generous offer. We departed the Grass Islands at first light near the end of the rising tide affording us lots of water for the transit back to Bartica and then downriver a few miles. Mist rose off the river and mingled with the smoke of morning cook fires ashore. misty morning on essequibo river

By the time we'd wended our way across the river, the sun was up and Bartica was coming alive. We'd met some of the Close family on the American yacht, Daystar, and wished we could spend more time with them, but they were heading out. They're a family of four in their third year of sailing on a 43' Mason ketch with a website cleverly entitled Close Quarters. We hailed on the VHF to say goodbye, chatted for a moment, then signed off.

daystar anchored off bartica

Another boat was anchored off Bartica as well, but we hadn't seen the name. The radio crackled again, hailing us. One of the miracles of cruising, it was Barry and Sue on Crazy Diamond, cruising friends whom we hadn't seen since New Zealand. They'd just arrived from Brazil and needed to clear in. We made plans to get together at Hurakabra in the coming days. Big world … small world.

There were two routes to Hurakabra shown in the cruising guide. One was about 13 nm and required us to go downriver a few miles, cross the river via a channel, then come back upriver again. The second route was a bit more sketchy. It was only 3 miles from Bartica, but mentioned that the route passed over a shoal area that provided about 7' at mean high. Since we draw 7'2”, we were a bit leery about this route. David mulled it over a bit and using the known offset on the chartplotter, plotted us a different route past Calf Island, then connecting with the deeper, more northern route a bit further downstream. A total distance of 6 nm with much more water under the keel. Though it worked like a charm, the many unknowns and unplotted hazards of this river along with missing navigational aids had us motoring slowly and carefully.

route to hurakabra

Motoring along the west side of the Essequibo now, we passed houses on stilts ashore with colorful boats moored in front.

rover houses on the essequibo river

The distinctive green roof of Hurakabra came into view and the place looked positively inviting. A long pier extends out into the river with a floating dinghy dock. Tall palms and bamboo are interspersed with tall deciduous trees. We could hear birds singing and someone waved from the shore.

approaching hurakabra on the essequibo river

The river really rages during peak tides here. The anchor dug in well and we let out extra scope. After a couple of hours, feeling confident that we were holding, we headed into shore. Mike, the caretaker, greeted us warmly and provided information about Hurakabra as we walked. He took us to the main house for a cool glass of lemonade and a warm welcome from the rest of the staff. The “plantation house” is spacious with shuttered, screened windows and a large overhang covering the veranda which kept us dry from the intermittent rainy season downpours while we did internet.

internet on the veranda at hurakabra

We plan to spend a few days here. There's a jungle walk to take in the early mornings with Mike as our guide. Kit and Gem, our hosts, live and work in Georgetown, but will arrive for the weekend and we're looking forward to meeting them. Crazy Diamond arrived during the afternoon and we're keen to connect and catch up with them...and we still have some inland touring to plan. Stay tuned. We only have a week more here, but it'll be action-packed.

anchored of hurakabra

Find out what others had to say about this beautiful river resort.

Grass Islands and Roosting Parrots

grass islands graphic While reading Doyle's Cruising Guide to Guyana, I noted a Noonsite comment about things to do near Bartica … “Some nights must also be spent at Grass Islands, where hundreds of parrots go every night to roost, a sight you will be unlikely to see anywhere else in the world, not to mention the sounds.” We decided to get away from the big city for a night or two and check out the Grass Islands, just a mile or two on the other side of the Essequibo.

chart for the grasslands

We had more than one motive for moving the boat. It gets pretty loud near the Bartica shore at night with music, traffic noise and the comings and goings of small riverboats, fast ferries, and ships on the wharf. We were hoping for a more tranquil setting. We left Bartica in late afternoon and picked our way carefully across the river. The distance isn't far, but with uncharted shoals and rocks, we played it safe and headed there slowly on a rising tide. We saw a least depth of 9.8' (2.8m) during the transit and anchored in the lee of the largest island in about 20' (6m). The setting was quiet and calm, out of the ship channel between the Grass Islands to the west and a few houses and a little river ferry stop on the mainland shore to the east.

grass islands in guyana

 

ferry station guyana

As we waited for dusk and the parrot migration, we busied ourselves with little chores … polishing stainless, wiping down the cockpit, general tidying up. As a side note, we've been quite disappointed in the new stainless rigging which seems to show rust much more than any previous rigging we've had. This, in spite of the fact that the highly recommended South African rigger made a point of telling us and emphasizing that he only used top quality European wire and nothing imported from China. I gave David a much needed haircut on the aft deck. At slack tide, we took a refreshing dip in the river.

wiping down the stainless in guyana

It was dusky by 5:15 and still no parrots. We thought we'd been misled when we suddenly heard a faraway squawk, then another, then another. Flapping their wings in the awkward, comical way that parrots do, and squawking loudly all the while, they came in pairs, then five pairs, then flocks of 20 and 30 pairs. They came from the south mostly, from upriver where it's less inhabited and more densely forested. The sound volume was incredible … chaotic, frenzied “Honey, I'm home” squawks … a 45 minute concert of disharmony.

parrots returning in guyana

They landed in the treetops, then seemed to delve deep into the foliage. They must have occupied every tree and branch on the island. We wondered if they return to the same reserved roosting branch every night or if it's first come-first served. The sound had intensified and then at 6pm, when the last vestiges of day had disappeared, it was as if the 'lights out' signal was given. We heard a couple of “Good night, John Boys”, and then all went silent. Unfortunately, the light was so dim and we were so far away, the photos taken from Nine of Cups' deck were pretty poor quality. Despite that, can you pick out all four parrots in this picture?

parrots in guyana

We had our dinner, enjoyed the evening calm and resolved to be up at dawn to see the parrots return to their day jobs. At first light, just about 12 hours after their previous night's return, we heard the first squawks of the early birds heading out. Then the sky was full of squawking parrots and by 5:45am, all was quiet again. Again, too dim for photos, but we certainly enjoyed the entertainment. It was reminiscent of the corellas on Bribie Island on Australia's east coast. The squawking was so loud there that a fellow finally stomped out of his house and began thwacking the trees with his cricket bat in a maniacal way, yelling “Shut up … shut up!”. It worked ...kind of. The corellas, startled by the thwacks, flew off to other trees just down the road.

We stayed another night, snuggling in closer to the nesting island, in hopes of getting better photos, but overcast skies dampened our chances. In the morning, it was pouring which didn't deter our parrot friends in the least. They headed off to work just like mailmen. The rain cleared and we ventured in the dinghy to the far side of the roosting island to see what we could see. Spider lilies bloomed profusely and trees boasted large orange blossoms.

spider lillies

During low water, we could see why these were called the grass islands. We drifted in the dinghy with the tide for awhile, then David paddled through shallow channels lined with tall grass.

shallow canals on grass island guyana

The parrots were gone, but a pair of egrets surveyed the muddy low-tide shore for snacks.

egrets in guyana

At dusk, it was raining again, so no chance of a closer encounter or photos. We did, however, enjoy a repeat of the parrots' discordant sonata.

We have marginal internet capabilities here and haven't purchased a bird book for the Caribbean. Any chance someone can help us to identify this medium-sized, lime green parrot with yellow cheeks and a blue head?