Georgetown, Guyana's Capital - Pt. 2

Despite the fact that this is the rainy season in Guyana, the day dawned sunny, hot and dry … an auspicious start to our exploration of Guyana's capital and largest city, Georgetown. The French originally colonized it and called it Longchamps back in 1782. The Dutch took over in 1784 and renamed it Stabroek. The Brits took over in 1812 and renamed it once again … Georgetown, in honor of King George III (known for two things … losing the American colonies and going mad). Located between the banks of the Demarara River and the shores of the Atlantic, this small city is below sea level and protected by the Georgetown Sea Wall.

Guyana is only beginning to establish a tourism infrastructure and not much information is readily available. Our friend, Gem Madhoo-Nacimento, gave us a 2016 Guyana tourism magazine and had also just published a “Where and What” booklet which provided us with lots of good information ... from maps to major sightseeing spots to Guyanese proverbs.

We started out early from the hotel, on foot headed down Laluni Street. We were bound for the Botanical Gardens, but right off the bat, I spotted something of interest … several houses with traditional Demarara shutters. The shutters push out and small boxes beneath them used to hold blocks of ice which cooled the house as the breeze blew through. There always seems to be a breeze in Georgetown.

Then I spotted an interesting looking fruit stand in an old house ...

...and a horse-drawn cart delivering lumber.

It obviously took us awhile to get to the gardens, but we finally arrived. Located next door to the zoo, we weren't sure what to expect. It certainly wasn't the Kew Gardens, but it was a pleasant area in which to stroll around in the early morning.

Guyana's national flower, the Victoria Regia, a stupendous Amazon waterlily, was in bloom in a small pond.

We wandered around for awhile and then sat on the steps of the Kissing Bridge to watch monkeys play in the trees.

To my delight, a toucan landed on a nearby tree, followed by another. They had our attention.

Since the zoo was adjacent and cost $1/entry for both of us, we decided to give it a look. Once again, we were pleasantly surprised.

There are big plans for upgrading and renovating the zoo, but in general, the animals looked pretty well cared for. Though small, the zoo held a good variety of South American animals, from kinkajous to jaguarundis. We pretty much had the place to ourselves other than the animals. There were several big cats, lots of birds, very large snakes, evil-looking caimans and blue-eyed monkeys. Manatees gobbled up greenery in a large, open pond.

From the zoo, we walked another couple of blocks specifically to see an impressive sculpture by Philip Moore commemorating Cuffy, a national hero and the leader of the 1763 slave rebellion against plantation owners.

We've done lots and lots of walking, but there's more to see and do. Relax, kick up your feet and rest for a bit. We'll continue our tour tomorrow morning.

Georgetown, Guyana's Capital - Pt. 1

Getting there

Lonely Planet describes Guyana's capital city, Georgetown, as “dirty, expensive and dangerous.” With such an appealing reputation, we felt obligated to visit... if only to compare it to Colon, Panama, currently at the top of our “dirty, dangerous, least-liked” city list. We were up for some adventure and decided to spend a couple of days in Guyana's Big Smoke.

Getting to Georgetown from Hurakabra is usually a challenge, but we lucked out. We left Cups on the hook under the watchful eyes of Mike, the Hurakabra caretaker, and hitched a ride to Georgetown with Kit and Gem.

They have a “fast boat” which ate up the miles downriver pretty quickly … 35 miles at 35mph...jarring a few fillings loose along the way. Kit's boat was being hauled out at the Roeden Rust Marina in less than an hour.

Once the boat was hauled and stowed, we offloaded gear and Gem's “jungle Christmas tree” and made tracks for Georgetown. You have to look hard in this pic for Gem's leafless, needle-less tree that David is tying on the roof of the truck. She plans to paint it white and put fairy lights on it. Scotch pines are pretty rare in Guyana.

Kit and Gem are both native Guyanese and there are no better tourist guides than locals. We passed through Parika, a port town along the Essequibo that we'd seen on our way upriver. Things always look different from the land side versus the sea side. There was a steady commentary from our hosts along the way which added color to the trip. The city and the entire coastal area is land reclaimed from the sea. It is all below sea level and a massive sea wall and canal system, originally constructed by the Dutch, protect the city from the sea. A large part of the national budget is spent maintaining the wall and pumping excess water out of the city and back into the sea.

We crossed over the Demerara Harbour Bridge, an 1.15mi (1851m), floating toll bridge which Kit referred to as a pontoon bridge. It's not high enough for most commercial vessels, and therefore, two of its 61 spans retract to allow larger vessels to pass … causing, of course, major traffic jams since it's the only land connection between the east and west banks of the Demarara River other than ferries.

As we entered Georgetown, we were greeted by a tall Christmas tree wishing us a happy holiday season. With temps in the 90s (30s), it was a shock to remember that it's Christmas time.

We passed several landmarks … City Hall, Stabroek Market, St. George's Cathedral, the High Court with Queen Victoria's statue presiding over the premises … all places we planned to visit during the next couple of days.

We had reserved a room at the Signature Inn … US$50/night with breakfast. Gem had assured us it was a reasonable place to stay. We were surprised to find the bright orange and lime green hotel in the middle of a Queenstown district neighborhood. It was, indeed, most acceptable. Air-conditioning, shower, high-speed internet and clean … we couldn't have asked for much more.

We basked in the cool, took showers, did some internet, found a little Creole restaurant nearby for dinner and cold beers, then returned to the cool and took second showers. Life is good in Georgetown at the moment.

Put on your walking shoes and come exploring Georgetown with us tomorrow.

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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!  

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).

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

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.

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.

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.

Mike pointed out an acushi ant hill … huge!

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

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

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

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.

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 …

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!