Kaieteur Falls and Georgetown

            After our restless night of trying to sleep in the heat, we were really glad to get up and out of bed and outside where it was marginally cooler and up to the main house where it was definitely cooler with a bit of breeze off the water.  Breakfast is some more of local specialties.  Our food throughout the entire trip was really good and tasty and both of us returned with about 5 extra pounds.  That doesn’t happen very often with us because usually we go a cheaper route on food and then spend more money on sights and entertainment and souvenirs and such.  But most of the food was included for this trip.  That said, Baganara probably had the least tasty food.  Some of the local dishes were ok and some were just so so and there wasn’t that much of it either.  Usually there were three dishes and a dessert but they really tried to calculate how much food to make for the number of people.  While that’s admirable to keep waste down and such, by the time I was ready to go for a second helping, maybe, the food would be gone.  As I don’t take very much on the first go-round, I found myself being a bit hungry.   And I was taking a lot less the first time around because it definitely looked like it would be questionable if all the food lasted through the end of the line.  Some of our other group members were not so thoughtful of the rest of the group and had plates piled high.  Oh well.  Still came back with an extra 5 pounds which has yet to disappear.

            Anyway, today is our last day here.  We will be flying out to Kaieteur and then back to Georgetown for another night at Cara Lodge and then off to Suriname tomorrow.  I’m ready for a new country.  We are not being picked up by the airplanes until around noon and they are small planes so Chris is busy organizing everyone’s luggage by weight.  He had asked for our weights the first night here and was very diplomatic about it by having every person write it down on a piece of paper and then slip it into an envelope.  This guy knows how to handle people! 

            There was a set of  scales and Chris was busy putting the luggage on it and writing it down so I offered to help.  He gave me the paper to write down the weight of the bags.  Two people didn’t have any small bags to pack in so they brought their whole suitcase.  This was the one thing that Adventures Abroad screwed up on in their pre-trip briefing.  They didn’t tell us to bring a small bag to pack for two nights in the jungles.   You’d think the people that didn’t have a bag could have gotten one from somewhere but they didn’t so two whole suitcases were with us.  Chris was busy trying to read them from the scales which was impossible to do so I suggested he hold them and get the weight and then subtract his weight.  He’d never done that before.  Wow, they just don’t teach “youngsters” how to be logical and practical anymore!

            Took a while for some of the members to get out of their rooms and get their bags up to the lodge so I kept a watch out for new bags to weigh as Chris wandered off to do other things.  The owner opened his small gift shop and I went down there to look.  He had a few nice items including some animal type products which I am sure would not be allowed so I just bought a nice polo shirt with the Baganara logo.  And we paid for our drinks that we’d had the two nights which just consisted of cocktails the first night and then a beer.  They were asking way too much for the cocktails plus it took him so long to make them that we were through our dinner before the cocktails arrived.

            The planes finally arrived.  We have two but both are rather small.  One is going to haul just three people and Chris drew names for the people who will ride in that plane.  My husband was not interested in the small plane so I didn’t put my name in either.  Also Chris had said that the pilots could totally change the order of everything and turns out they did put a couple of people in the small planes that had not been chosen by draw.  

            We all walked out to the planes and hubby and I got there rather quickly because I wanted to make sure we had a good seat to view the falls from the planes.  It was not as I expected but both planes had wings over the body so at least no one would be staring at the wings as we were flying.  I had rather expected a plane with one aisle and a seat on each side.  What we got was a plane with 5 doors and a two person seat that stretched from one side of the plane to the other so everyone could access a bench seat from one of the doors but no aisle.   I plopped our bag onto one of the seats near the front as soon as I saw that another couple had put their bags on a primo seat.   Then the pilot got out a scales and told everyone he would weight them.  What the hey!  Bummer. Hubby and someone were first in line and he was calling out their weights.  I’m third in line and I tell him if he calls out my weight that I will hit him.  Don’t know why I said that but I was embarrassed.    Chris caught on about the same time and came and told him to be discreet so he didn’t call out my weight but wrote it down quietly.   Everyone finally gets weighed and for some reason, some of the weights hadn’t gotten accounted for so I had to get on again.

            Original plan was to go to the falls and then back to Baganara for lunch which seemed a bit silly so we had lunch before the planes got there.  Pilot is satisfied so he now starts putting people in the plane according to his way of weighting the plane.  Hubby and I end up behind one of the other married couples but they are in the one seat that doesn’t have a window directly next to them so I am thankful that we do at least.    Finally we are all in the plane, our small bags are in the nose cone including my purse, and we are ready to take off.  The small plane has already left.   We rumble down the runway and are off into the sky.  Don’t circle Baganara so really didn’t get to see it from the air.  

            In the air a bit, not too long, and we get the word that we are about to go over the falls.  Not sure which side it will be on and then we see that it’s on my side.  Chris had said that the pilot will circle so that both sides will see the falls but he didn’t.  He circled and I saw the falls but his circle was lining up for a landing so hubby didn’t get a good look from his side.   The small plane was already there.   As the pilot got out and opened the doors for us, we had to wait for the stool to be brought around and it was hard getting in and out of those seats but the falls were pretty fantastic from the air.   I got my purse from the nose cone but we were assured that everything would be fine if we wanted to leave it as the pilot would lock it.  Not sure he did but everything was ok.

            We had to wait for another plane to come from Georgetown before the ranger could take us to the falls.  Another two planes landed but one had their own private guide/ranger.  Our ranger gathers us up finally.  We’d had time to read the two signs that were in the station and go to the bathroom.  Gave us the naming of the falls.  According to the sign, the name is after a chief.  This is from Wikipedia:  “According to a Patamona Indian legend, Kaieteur Falls was named for Kai, a chief, or Toshao who acted to save his people by paddling over the falls in an act of self-sacrifice to Makonaima, the great spirit.

Another legend though was told to Brown by Amerindians in the night of discovery of falls: Kaieteur has been named after an unpleasant old man who was placed in a boat and shoved in the fall by his relatives. Thus the fall was named "Kaieteur" what means - "old-man-fall".””

And also from Wikipedia is this information about the falls:  “”   Kaieteur Falls is a waterfall on the Potaro River in Kaieteur National Park, central Essequibo Territory, Guyana. It is 226 metres (741 ft.) high when measured from its plunge over a sandstone and conglomerate cliff to the first break. It then flows over a series of steep cascades that, when included in the measurements, bring the total height to 251 metres (822 ft.). While many falls have greater height, few have the combination of height and water volume, and Kaieteur is among the most powerful waterfalls in the world with an average flow rate of 663 cubic metres per second (23,400 cubic feet per second).[1]

Kaieteur Falls is about four times higher than the Niagara Falls, on the border between Canada and the United States and about twice the height of the Victoria Falls on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe in Africa. It is a single drop waterfall.[2]

Upriver from the falls, the Potaro Plateau stretches out to the distant escarpment of the Pakaraima Mountains. The Potaro River empties into the Essequibo River which is one of the longest and widest rivers in South America.””

            We got an Amerindian descendent for our ranger guide.  He took us to three overlooks.   We passed several interesting plants that he told us about as we walked through the forest.  There were some bromeliads that were taller than my 5'10" husband.  These are some of the biggest ones anywhere.  There were also some tiny carnivorous plants on the ground.  If you got close enough, you could see the tiny spikes on each one of the plants.  The ranger also spent some time looking in the collected water that was in the bromeliads.  Tree frogs gather in there but he couldn’t find one unfortunately.

            He warned us that there are no railings and no boundaries on any of the lookouts so we must all be careful on where we are standing and where we are looking so no one falls over.   We come to the first lookout and the falls are magnificent!  Truly remarkable.  They pour over the rocks and creates towering mists that rise from each side of the bottom where the water hits.  There are rapids in the valley running away from the falls.  There is churning and a maelstrom of activity at the bottom of the falls.  I am snapping photo after photo, just loving the look of the thing.  But it is a bit scary to see how close some of the people walk to the edge.  You have no way of knowing what is underneath you and if you are on an overhang or not.  I tried not to get too close but it is so temping to try and get that perfect shot to move every closer.

            After it seems that everyone has taken the shots they want, we move to the next viewpoint which is closer.  Again, magnificent all over again and beautiful in its power and force.   Many, many shots later, we go to the last viewpoint.  Our guide continues to look for frogs in the bromeliads but it is not to be.  He tells us about a few more of the plants but none of us are really interested at this point.  We just want to get close to the falls.

            The last viewpoint is right at the top of the falls.  We can see the Potaro river coming down to the drop off.  Surprisingly, there aren’t really any rapids before reaching the falls.  But the river is pouring off rapidly so the current is probably rather strong.   And it is not the high rainy season.  The river expands many feet during the rainy season and where we are standing right next to the river would be underwater.   Several of our group step into the river and one sits down on the rocks so that it looks like he is in the middle of the falls.  This was the guy who had been here 42 years before.  At that time, he had to come upriver by boat to reach the falls and they had to climb to the top of the waterfall.  A lot of work.  He also walked into the river and sat on the rock last time too and showed us a photo from 42 years before.  Wowzer.  I would have probably tipped over or slipped when trying to stand so there was no way we were venturing out to the rocks.

            Finally we are ready to head back to the station and the planes.  We did a group shot at the falls without Chris as he took the photo and then sent it to us all.   There are Cock of the Walk birds in this forest.  It is a rather brilliant orange bird with a crest and has rather wonderful mating habits.  The two strongest birders in our group had been told they would see them here.  As we are walking back, our guide takes a right turn into the trees and the group sort of follows him.  There’s no way we are going to see a bird with this group nosily stomping through the trees but several of us stand there in the woods and stare at the trees in the direction he has pointed.  He said he saw one but none of the rest of us did.  Another lady and I saw a small brilliant red flash through the trees but the Cock of the Walk is definitely orange so wasn’t him.

            Back to the plane.  We are loaded back into it in the same fashion so it takes a bit to get us all into the plane.  The other two planes that aren’t part of our group leave and then our small plane leaves and then we finally take off.  The pilot circles the waterfall sort of as he leaves but again it’s on my side so hubby never does get a good look at the falls from above.  What a wonderful sight.  It is Guyana’s pride to see this in the jungle.

            On the way back we get the views of the jungle from overhead.  You can see the river but sometimes it’s hard to tell what the gashes are in the rainforest.  Most of the gashes are mining operations.  A few are the result of mining where rocks and slurry have been piled in the river -  it seemed.  Was rather disconcerting to see beautiful forest and then a big open gash where there is equipment and trash and people and piles of slurry. 

            Made it into Georgetown and were picked up by our bus and on to Cara Lodge where we all got new rooms for the one night.  It was a tour night for eating food and since we have a fairly early start in the morning, Chris decided to have us eat at the hotel and turn in our orders now.  Chris seemed to think this always helped to turn in an order ahead of time so when we showed up, we’d have our food ready.   In theory, might have been a good idea but never worked quite as well in practice.  

            We got a different room and were right next to a conference room which said there was a Danish Embassy Reception tonight and people were busy getting the room ready.  Didn’t look like it would be a night to get much sleep if the room next to us was possibly going to be full of people drinking and partying.   I went off to find our left bags.  We couldn’t find them in the large closet where most everyone else’s bags had been put.  He led me upstairs to another hidden closet and the bags were in there.  Oddly enough, when I described one bag as having the Eiffel Tower on it, he didn’t know what I meant.  Never assume that everyone knows the most common world sights.  He had to drag out all the bags to get to mine.  The good part of that is, they were pretty safe being in the back. 

            I wanted to walk over to the Hindu Temple that had a big cobra curled around one of its domes and get a photo.  It was a bit further than I thought and we had to skirt around trash and garbage in the road.  I wanted to go on to the market but that made hubby            a bit nervous so after a few photos of the temple, I just wanted to find some kind of grocery to get a few supplies for the road tomorrow.  All we found was a sweet shop.  Got a few sweets but wasn’t at all what a wanted.  Had also wanted to walk to the Red House (president’s house) but it was further away so we didn’t get any photos of it either.  Back to the hotel then and some repacking to get ready for moving countries.

            Dinner time and the whole process of having our order turned in early might have helped a tiny bit.  We had gotten the news that we would be leaving around 4 a.m. and Chris had ordered a breakfast box for everyone.  The staff was totally confused by this as it is not done often apparently.  So the whole dinnertime, Chris is trying hard to get the breakfast boxes organized so we can all take them to our room with us to have for the morning.  Really didn’t work and even though having placed an early order might have gotten us out of there a bit faster, by 8 p.m. the breakfast boxes still weren’t ready to go so Chris got the chore of trying to deliver them to the various rooms later which he did.

            We’re getting ready for bed and Chris comes with our breakfast boxes.  We are packed and ready to go.  The reception next door to us broke up promptly at 9 p.m. and disbursed so no drunken revilers anywhere.  How great is that?!  We never heard them and not sure we would have.  Once our door was shut, we pretty much didn’t hear anything.  So to bed after a really amazing day with fantastic sights.

Heading out for new adventure - new countries - new friends

          Begin at the beginning so that involves arising at a very early hour to be driven to the airport to catch a plane for the good ole USA.  We're off for a trip to Guyana, Suriname, and Trinidad.  Why?  Cuz we've not been to any of those countries before and seems like a good idea and time to go.   So, at the airport and that involves not much of anything these days because if you think about it and what travel used to be like, you'll be steaming and furious that flying is so much of a hassle.  Just go through the motions as quickly as you can and go chill once through security.   I do my usual ritual before flying - find the best face cream sample and moisturize.  Then go sit in the business class lounge and complain about the number of people in there with small children!  How do they afford it???  Oh well.  Maybe they won't be close to us in the plane (Yea, right, we never happen to be that lucky!)

 

          Finally on the flight which isn't too bad and into Miami in the afternoon.  It takes our hotel a long time to get a bus around to pick us up from the curb.  We see every other hotel bus pass by us three or four times or more.  Luckily we are close to the beginning of the terminal.  When the bus finally gets us, by the time it reaches the end of the terminal, people waiting are not picked up and must wait for the next bus from this hotel.  Good luck to them and I hope they finally made it to the hotel.   We had no plans for the day as we are still close to the airport, without transportation, and sometimes I just fall down on the job in micromanaging everything.    So around about 6, we walk down the street to the Latin Cafe for dinner.  It's quite tasty but somehow upsets my stomach anyway.  Hate starting a new trip with a bad tummy but I am fine the next morning.

          Our flight to Georgetown, Guyana the next day is not until 2:20 p.m.  Try as hard as we can, we cannot manage to sleep into the morning so up for breakfast and then nothing much to do until time to go to the airport.   Travel days are always the hardest because you are anticipating your trip and getting excited about being there and having a holiday or you are tired and can't wait to get home but it takes soooo long in either direction even if the trip to get there and back is only a few hours!.

          Finally we are on the plane headed for Georgetown.  We are flying Caribbean Airlines which is not a bad way to go except it seems to be a Trinidad and Tobago company so we have to stop in Port of Spain, Trinidad on the way.  As a result, we don't get into Georgetown until 9;35 at night.  I had made arrangements for a transfer from the airport to the hotel with Adventures Abroad, the company that is doing our tour.  We get into the airport, get our bags, get out and find our transport.  He tells us to try the ATM machine for local currency.  it is broken.   We go to the van and climb in and are ready to go.  it is 10 p.m.  Our transfer guide tells us we are waiting for another couple.  So we sit.  and sit.  and sit.  and sit.  We can't even see him inside the terminal as there are so many people greeting arrivals and waiting for people but as we sit and sit and sit, the airport empties.  I think we must have been the last flight in for the day.  Finally there are only a few people left inside the terminal.  The very last people out of the terminal is the other couple!  Oh my gosh.  The woman is in a wheelchair so I feel bad about being irritated that they took so very long to leave the terminal.  They also have 5 large suitcases to fit into the van.  Our transfer guide is climbing into the back of the van to move our bags around and stuff in their suitcases.  (we have one large suitcase, one medium, and two small carry-ons).  The lady in the wheelchair is seated outside the van next to my husband.  We are sitting in the front row of the van and trying to figure out if we have to be gracious and move to a back row for her when suddenly the woman gets up out of the wheelchair and walks to the back of the van to yell at her husband!  What the hey!?  OK, we don't have to be gracious.

          It is now 11 p.m  We have been waiting for one hour for them to exit the airport and get to the van to leave.  Now we drive into Georgetown which is over a half hour.  I am thinking it is going to be a very interesting trip - in a bad way - because this man and woman are arguing with each other - bitterly - for the entire trip into Georgetown.   They appear to be about 20 years older than my husband and I so my husband and i make a pact not to become that way - or at least not to argue so vehemently in public.

  

          Luckily when we get to our hotel, we are the only ones getting out!  This couple is moving on to a different hotel and therefore probably NOT on the tour with us.  What is irritating now is that we had to wait an hour for them to ride with us when it was a different hotel and different tour.  Oh well.  It only takes the transfer guide about 10 minutes to pull out our suitcases from the pile in the back of the van.

          Our tour leader is waiting for us.  Didn't expect that.  Usually when someone gets in so late, you just get a note on what to expect for the next day.  But Chris, our tour leader, comes out to greet us and welcome us and let us know what is happening.  Unfortunately, we can't hie off to bed right away.  Tomorrow we will have a morning tour and then boat ride up the river to the Baganera Resort.  As we fly back from there, we have to pull out what we will need for two nights and possible rain, and meds, and bathroom stuff, and sunscreen, and insect repellent and so forth.  Wow, the one thing forgotten in the literature was to bring a small bag for the over-nights at the jungle resorts.  Again, luckily for us, we have an expandable small bag so can pack it up with what we will need.  The rest will stay at the hotel until we return.   We also have to turn in our passports and passport photos so we can get the group Suriname visa.   Finally about 1 a.m., we are climbing into our bed and turning out the lights.  YEA, we are here!