Kaieteur Falls

Yes, it's been a long while since I've blogged. Whoopsy. I've been posting more pictures on Facebook recently, so I guess I feel like that fills my "posting" need. However, I can't elaborate about things on Facebook like I can here, so here I am! 

For our recent wedding anniversary, Sevak and I went to Kaieteur Falls. It was an amazing experience. Incidentally, on the actual day of our anniversary (May 20th), Sevak was in Brazil, where he had just run a marathon with his friend Rafa. He also had an amazing experience there. Perhaps he can recount it in a blog of his own. :) 

So…Kaieteur. Tourism is still a developing industry in Guyana. Getting to the interior can be challenging, and rather pricey. However, because it's so undeveloped and inaccessible, it feels very authentic. We took a 12-seater plane and stayed at the only lodge there (which has two rooms with open ceilings…so you hear everything your neighbor is doing). 

 

Leaving Georgetown…if you're able to enlarge the pic and see the little red arrow, it's pointing to our house. 

Overlooking the Harbour Bridge going over the Demerara River.

Beautiful clouds

View of the falls shortly before landing

Another one

The Potaro River

 

This is what the plane looked like…I was quite happy to get off it because I was becoming slightly nauseous.

It was really interesting to see quite a few white people on the plane. Since this is a pricey trip, it's probably more common for foreigners to visit Kaieteur than actual Guyanese. Also, most tourists just stay for a few hours and then fly back. Sevak and I were the only people that parted from the group to do our own thing and spend the night. The first evening we watched the white-collared swifts fly to their nests behind the falls and ate the sandwiches we had packed…no stores or restaurants in the middle of the jungle! The next morning our guide took us on a hike through the forest to the river down below…we didn't make it to the actual foot of the falls, but we could see it a little ways off. For some reason I wasn't expecting the hike to be so intense. Maybe looking at the guide threw me off…he was wearing old, worn-out basketball shoes and carrying nothing but a machete. No water or gear of any kind. At the beginning of the hike I had my camera around my neck, thinking I could snap some casual photos along the way. I quickly found out that I had to pay more attention to not breaking my neck as we descended the slippery slopes of the jungle. :) It was very hot and humid, and my legs were COVERED with mosquito bites when I got home. It was all worth it though. 

"Amerindian toilet paper," according to the guide. It was very fuzzy.

Golden frog…endemic to Kaieteur

White-collared swifts

Some kind of rotting fruit they use for fish bait

Carnivorous plant: one of the reasons I got so many bites. Many people told me I wouldn't have to worry about the mosquitos because of the "carnivorous plants." However, these people did not spend the night and hike through the forest. Duh, Chrissie! 

Our little buddies in the lodge

Tadpoles

Blue morpho butterfly

Representing Danville, CA at Kaieteur, Guyana 

Maybe an old water pump or gauge from British times

Not venomous, according to guide

Venomous, according to guide (labaria snake)

Little crab in the forest…interesting sight 

"Nature's water fountain"

Gathering water from the slow trickle at "nature's water fountain." Sevak and I were so thirsty because we ran out of all of our water during the hike and didn't trust the water at the lodge. This pure (albeit slightly brownish) water was delicious!

With the guide: Bob. He didn't seem like a "Bob" to me.

 

On the way home I got to sit in the cockpit! Didn't have a lick of nausea that time. 

 
All the instruments and gauges 

At the airstrip in Kaieteur there were a few souvenir items on sale, so we brought the kids back some animal figurines made from a latex-like substance called balata, which is harvested from a certain tree in the region. They (the kids) were all safe and happy upon return, thanks to our great helper Edna. We're looking forward to taking them along next time to explore more of what Guyana has to offer!