Friday, January 30. Moraira to Amsterdam.
We left home at 6 pm for a 9:20 pm flight to Amsterdam. This was on the cheap sister airline of KLM. The flight had been somewhat marred by a group of Spanish ladies who were drunk and were sitting almost right next to us. On the way off the plane David remarked to the Steward that they should have training in dealing with drunks and the steward claimed that the police were going to arrest them once they left the plane. However I doubted this as I think one of them was already off the plane!
Once landed in Amsterdam, we walked to the Citizen M hotel which was not too far away. At the hotel we encountered our first ever self-service check-in which was remarkably efficient and there was actually an assistant around to help, if we wanted help. Our room was on the fifth floor and there were 80 rooms there all about 7 feet wide, with a large bed by the window, a basin in the corridor area formed by the shower and toilet cubicle, and one armchair and one stool. Plus of course a large television on the wall one side of the bed. The room was actually quite cozy and there was a tablet to control the curtains, main lights, night lighting, etc. We had a good sleep between about 12:30 am and 7:30 am, leaving the hotel by 8 a.m. to walk the short distance back to the airport.
There we found a half hour queue to get through security, very well roped to get the maximum number of people in a small space. This was followed by another half hour queue to get through passport control, but this could have been shortened considerably if the Dutch had had more than three immigration agents on duty. There were 12 or more checkpoints available to be manned. So in the end we arrived at the take-off gate for our KLM flight with just 10 minutes to spare, but at least we were saved queuing to board that as most people were already on!
I was very pleasantly surprised to find that we were in premium economy which was very civilised. And we had a good meal on it with some Negroni and Baileys to finish off with. Also a good snack before landing in Barbados where we had an hours wait whilst people disembarked, the aircraft was cleaned and more passengers boarded. We had two slightly unpleasant or worrying periods whilst Chris lost her phone and David lost the bag with the charging leads in but both were eventually discovered hidden in the chair backs.
So we landed at Georgetown, Guyana, around 5 pm local time, this being five hours later than European time. There was a man to pick us up and drive us the 90 minutes into Georgetown. He did not seem to be a guide as such and presented us with some printed papers which did not tell us much about the plans. He also gave us some cold water to drink He did tell us about a few sites along the road. but that was quite difficult to understand. The one impressive site was a new bridge that had been built very recently over the river Demerara with their new oil money.
We were on the second floor in the Cara Hotel. And sorted ourselves out with Wi-Fi and suitcases whilst waiting for a lady to come round to the hotel presumably to discuss our stay here in Guyana between seven and 7:30 pm.
Sunday, February 1
We had a good night sleep and went down to breakfast around 8 am. It was an agreeable breakfast area, but we had problems with not being able to obtain an espresso coffee without extra payment and we’re not sure what if we could order any eggs. On the way out of breakfast we discovered breakfast menus which had not been given to us and we went and asked reception what we could have ordered and about coffee. The receptionist was very pleasant but seemed to have no idea of what breakfast might include and the general sense was if we had paid for breakfast, then everything was included: we will see tomorrow morning how far that it’s true. We also remarked to the receptionist that we were unable to open the shutters in our room and the response by a senior member was that that was how the hotel was designed, punto com.
We went and sat in the garden below us soon after nine, as there was so little light in the room. Unfortunately they were setting up for a Sunday brunch and this was somewhat noisy, but the Australian manager did try reduce this noise to a minimum and he probably ordered our shutters to be put out on a pole,which did indeed give more light to the room.
At 10:30 am we were picked up by the same clueless driver and driven to the nearby local airport . There was already one person in his van when he arrived and we picked up another man, an Australian called James en route. We arrived at the airport by 11 am and were told that our flight took off at 12. But after 12, we were told that it was delayed till 1215 and in fact it was delayed until 12.50 so we were not too happy about this.
The plane was tiny, just seating 12 maximum. It was only about fout feet high inside, so we had to crouch to get to our seats. The flight took one hour to go to Kaieteur Falls. It is one of the most powerful single-drop waterfalls in the world. It is located on the Potaro River in the central Essequibo Territory of Guyana. It is 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, brings the total height to 822 ft. While many falls have greater height or greater flow, 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 meters per second. Kaieteur Falls is about four and a half times the height of Niagara Falls and about twice the height of Victoria Falls . Apparently the Angel Falls is considered as two falls and not a single drop.
Once at the falls airstrip we were surprised to be given a plastic box of chicken and rice which was quite tasteful and a Fanta drink for lunch which Shanette had not told us about. After this we set off with a quiet spoken guide who we could not really understand and she stopped several times to talk about the plants en route to the falls.
There were three viewing areas for the falls, all quite impressive but one which contained a vivid rainbow made by the sun shining through the spray from the falls and was most impressive. The walk to the falls was quite wet at times and also quite rocky and full of tree roots so was not as simple as Shanette had promised me.
We got back to the main building by 4 pm and took off almost immediately for the return trip which was quite uneventful. The pilot of the plane was a man of few words! He did refuse to do a two minute detour to see the falls from the air. So far our view of the Guyanese people is one that considers them somewhat surly and completely unable to provide service.
Back of the hotel just before six we went down to enjoy the happy hour only to encounter a very surly barman, who certainly did not want to provide us with the Happy Hour advertised package of two drinks for the price of one. Anyway, we enjoyed during the next hour a Caipirinha and a Margarita each and came back to the room to do this diary and then to eat some snacks that we had in the room. Then early to bed as we had an early morning pick up.
Monday February 2
We left the Cara hotel at 7:30 for our 10 o’clock flight into the jungle. We got to the airport soon after eight and we checked in quite efficiently. This involved getting ourselves weighed, as well as our suitcases . It was quite revealing seeing the quantity of goods that were being checked in for transportation to various places. Things like multiple cartons of 30 eggs and large quantities of vegetable produce.
We were then shown into an executive lounge and the plane took off just after 10 am landing at Fair View Airstrip soon after 11 and then just a quick drive to the Iwokrama Lodge which has a magnificent central building with views over the river. We were given a good welcome and taken upstairs in this building and through to sit on a sofa to await lunch at noon. It was a buffet that I quite enjoyed and it was reasonably warm.
At 1 pm, we took off in a motor boat For a two hour trip on the lake with a pleasant guide. We were in search of wildlife but only saw several kingfishers, and a turtle, We both enjoyed it all the same. At one stage we had to put our anoraks on against the rain, but most of the time the weather was quite good.
Once back at the lodge we were driven on to the Atta Lodge about one hour distant. We were travelling on the main highway from Georgetown to Brazil but this did not mean a decent surface. The dirt road was a deep rutted mud road, but the driver managed it very well. Our pleasant guide came in the car too, and we thought she would stay in at Atta Lodge at least for the night, but having shown us into our room, she said goodbye and she and the driver departed and we were left with a lady who we could not understand very well.
The room was quite small and very basic, taken up almost entirely by a huge mosquito net over the bed. And the bathroom was even more basic and outdoors. Our guide for tomorrow introduced himself. He also was difficult to understand and really hadn’t got anything to say anyway, if it did not concern a bird. I got some ice and we had an Negroni out on the lawn with a small snack and then went back to the room for an hour or so. David had read that there was no free Wi-Fi other than between 11 pm and 6 am: this reduced our opinion of the hotel even more.
At 19.00 we went up to the bar for a drink that were horrified that there was no price list they just told us the prices verbally. They said the beer cost $5, so we decided skip the drinks. At 7:30 we sat down for dinner which, can you believe it, was a buffet for just the two of us. But actually not just us two, as the guide also joined us for dinner, we certainly did not want this. There was a decent soup and decent fruit while the buffet itself was pretty awful. But we just learned from the guide that in fact there was now free Wi-Fi available at all times. We had to rid ourselves of the guide and we returned to the room as quickly as possible and settled down in the darkness with our iPads.
Tomorrow will tell how we get on with the guide for the rest of our time here and whether we learn to understand him a little better.
Tuesday, February 3. Atta Lodge
We presented ourselves in the communal building at 6 am for our trip along the canopy trail. Vento said we should wait until the rain stopped. So it was about 15 minutes later when we set off . It was really dark along the trail and halfway along it started to rain and rain and rain. We put our anoraks on but we were soon soaked through and then we had 180 steps to climb up to the canopy platforms. Most of these were quite routine but there were one or two rocky bits which were a bit more difficult for me. Before this we had seen absolutely nothing. And the guide just pointed out some trees to us, before David told him that this was rather useless.
We arrived at the platform where the first canopy bridge was situated and we had to cross this one by one. It was much less bouncy and more secure than any other ones I have been on. Then onto the second canopy bridge and this was the end of the trail as the other two bridges had fallen down in the last few years and obviously were not going to be replaced. Then back the same way, to dry off a little bit. Into breakfast at 7:30 am. This was hardly a feast just some pineapple and cheese and an over fried egg and sausage slices.
We told Vento that we did not want a 10 am walk with him, so had four hours in the room which was much more livable in, once we got the four poster curtains removed back to the wall. These were on a rail which folded back and we also found an extra window we could open to get much more light into the room and with the front door and the bathroom door opened a room was quite habitable, particularly with a bright bedspread on the bed. We sat outside for some of the morning but mainly in the room reading our iPads and having a little siesta.
Lunch was at 12:30 and unsurprisingly was chicken again, but there was also some fish which was very good apart from the myriad of bones it contained. I asked for pudding but was told this was not provided at lunchtime and neither were there any cookies available because they had run out of flour! On the way out of lunch I spoke to Anthony, the manager who had just arrived new on the job the evening beforehand. I told him a few of our problems and he said he could find us a new guide and indeed half an hour later one turned up it our door, Dylan, and he said he could take us out to a nearby creek in the van in the next 10 minutes so this we did and had a pleasant hour with him along the road, seeing kingfishers, a caiman, some toucans and several other birds. Then we had about two hours back in the camp before we were taken out again at 4:30 pm to a different creek with some dead trees along the road. Here we saw monkeys, as well as a vulture and several other birds so we were quite happy with this experience. Dinner at 7:30 pm with a non-event with guess what chicken and beef again and we also had to decline the company of our guide for the third or fourth time running: the establishment seem to find it very difficult to accept our wishes.
During the morning David had WhatsApped Shanette with our problems but she replied that it was all a bit too complicated to change things, but she would try.
Wednesday Feb 4. Atta to Karanambu
We left the lodge by 08.30 in the van with Eric, an American, who arrived last night and will now be doing the same travelling as us until the end. Unfortunately, we managed to leave behind a pair of sunglasses and the adapter for the charging leads must be more careful in future. It was an hour and a half drive to Gonip Landing where we picked up a boat after a 15 minute wait to take us to our next lodge there was a boat for us and another for Eric. It was a pleasant ride along a wide river with practically no other traffic on it. We saw many herons, cormorants and a turtle.
Once at the new lodge landing there was a 10 minute walk to the lodge which had buildings spread out over a large area. We were given a very warm welcome by the owner, Melanie, whose husband‘s family had possessed the area for 120 years or so, and she had run the lodge for the last 10 years, mainly by herself , as her husband Eduardo was in Georgetown with their children where they were being educated.
Lunch was provided soon after 1 pm, in the open air near our chalet and was very pleasant. The chalet itself, ironically called David, was most agreeable, partly open to the elements with a little veranda and a pleasant, almost to forceful, wind running through it when the shuttered windows, no glass, were opened. After lunch we sat in the main house Veranda area and read iPads as there was no Wi-Fi in our chalet.
Then at 4:30, we set out to visit the Lily Ponds: this involved a 30 minute track through the forest. to a large pond and then a three minute paddle in a boat to the area where there were many, many giant lily pads and probably at least 20 lily flowers in various stages of growth. The lilies house a beetle and this needs protection during the day and it’s one of the reasons why the lilies only open up at nightfall. There are probably many other reasons for this occurrence which we will research once we get home. We did indeed see the lilies open up and enjoyed an hour there watching birds hopping around on the pads as well. We enjoyed a rum punch and some cookies whilst watching the lilies.
Then back in pitched darkness through the woods for thirty minutes which gave me a frisson of excitement.
We got freshened up quickly and ventured out to find that dinner was in another building other than the main building, but we were guided there by its bright lights. There was a circle of chairs and rum punch and tapas were served. These was a family of four there as well as an American girl and Eric. They called it a barbecue, but in fact there was no sign of the actual barbecue. Outside on a long table for 12 of us, Melanie and her husband Edward joining us. Then back in the pitch darkness to find our chalet, a very interesting day
Thursday, February 5. Karanambu
An early morning start at the ungodly hour of 05.15 but this in fact was just to sit down and not take coffee with the rest of them. We set off in two vehicles about 5:45 am and drove to the airstrip we were in an open back jeep with a seat for three, us and Zoe, in the fresh air, quite cold in fact that exhilarating nonetheless. We eventually found the anteater we were searching for and he moved quite quickly across the savanna. We then stopped at a pond to observe any wildlife there, but there were seemingly none, so we were back at the camp in time for breakfast at 7:30 am.
After breakfast we set off again at 9:30 am for a walk with Oswin down to the river and along to a seat overlooking the river. Here we hoped to spot giant otters, but in fact there were none. However it was a pleasant outing nevertheless. We then read and had a siesta until lunch at 1pm. We stayed up at the main house after this in order to read our iPads and send photos to friends, but in fact Melanie was there for well over an hour of it and we had a very pleasant chat to her about her and her ancestors, the Rollick Kirkpatricks from Scotland who sounded really really interesting. Also Eduardos (her husbands) ancestors the McTurks.
At 4 pm, we went for another boat ride along the river, starting off with watching Melanie and Joe with the pet otter, who had been rejected by his mother and they were intending training in all the arts of being an otter and would release it back into the river when he was sexually mature. But somehow we doubted the success rate for this, but their intentions were certainly noble. We were out on the river for almost 3 hours until it was pitch dark, seeing many caymans, kingfishers and other birds but no monkeys and no wild otters. We were served a rum punch on the boat as we have been the previous night.
A very pleasant supper and then listened to the news on my iPhone before coming back to the chalet to write this diary and prepare for yet another early start in the morning.
Friday, February 6, Karanambu To Georgetown.
An early morning ride along the river starting before six and back at the camp about 07.45. There was just the three of us in the boat and we spotted several caiman, storks, herons and kingfishers, before alighting upon a family of three or four otters. We stayed looking at them for 15 minutes at least. Chris just seeing one of them, who was in the nearby bank looking suspiciously out at us.
Then another delicious breakfast and a quick final pack. Departed by 9 am for Letham, roughly 2 hours drive away, by car. David felt we were hassled as people kept turning up at our bungalow for a suitcase that was not yet ready! The drive was uneventful passing just one tiny village and not a head of cattle the whole way. The airport in Letham was on the main road and the check-in area and the waiting room very small. We were there before the check in deadline of 11 am and we did not feel they were right in saying they would refuse us after 11 am. The plane was due at 12:30 but was almost 30 minutes late taking off. It slightly larger plane than the previous two and resembled a rocket inside, having single seats each side of the corridor, probably about 16 in total. The overriding memory of the flight will be the coldness of it as there was no heating at all and we rose to quite a height where temperatures were obviously chilly. Even with my anorak I felt very cold.
A man was waiting with his van to take us back to the hotel Cara Lodge and here we were shown into a room where the receptionist, a tall thin man called Travis seemed unable to provide us with the means for the shutters to be opened to let in more light. As a result David contacted Shanette and soon we were found a new room the equivalent of the original one we had and two of the shutters were indeed pushed well out. We showered and washed our hair and then went down to the courtyard to read our iPads. Then at 5:30 we joined in the happy hour, Chris having a strawberry daiquiri and David a rum punch. We also shared a tasty crêpe with duck and crab. I got finally back to the room to do a little bit of packing as we were going very early, once again in the morning
Saturday, February 7. Georgetown to Paramaribo
We started the day at 6:45 am and were taken to a street market where we had breakfast on stools as a little counter. The best part of this was a passion fruit and ginger drink which we had in a bottle, so could continue it for the rest of the morning. David and I shared just one breakfast but only at a fraction of it and all the food was mixed up and I really did not know what I was eating so not worth getting up at the crack of dawn. We then continued through the market, everyone being extremely friendly with Delvin, who had been with us at the breakfast. He was a local chef who had set up his own business in the Back Yard café. His specialty was accompanying clients through the market buyers and then going back to his café to prepare a lunch with these ingredients. Our guide, Carlos, was an extremely affable chatty man who helped make a very pleasant day of it. As we went through the market, and for the first time ever, we really appreciated it and we tried various spices and fruit which the store holders were happy to provide Delvin with. He also purchased a snook, a local fish, for our lunch.
After this we got back in the car and did a tour of the town, passing along the seawall and the cathedral and the bandstand and various memorials. This was followed by a visit to the local museum which was full of stuffed animals and birds: but this was made really informative by Carlos who had a story to tell about everything. We were probably in the museum for up to an hour before another short tour and then the Backyard café. Here we were greeted by Christian, one of the two assistants that Delvin had working for him. We watched them preparing the food in the kitchen which was somewhat hot due to a power outage. Delvin was delighted by the fact that I was a chef, he thought! Four of us sat down for the lunch outside in a pleasant area and were later joined by Shanette. My lunch was the snook, casanova beans. and breadfruit crisps which were delightful.
Near the end Shanette joined us and was in a somewhat sulky mood, but she did offer us a dinner at the hotel which we had to finish before 6:30 pm, as an apology for the fact that the previous night at 9 pm, she had informed us that today’s flight to Surinam was now going to be at 10:30 pm from the large International Airport at some distance from Georgetown and we were not happy with this arrangement. Shanette did apologise several times but somehow her apologies did not come over as very sincere.
After this we continued touring around Georgetown driving along the seawall and seeing two red Ibis. And two mongoose on the rocks by the sea. We returned to the hotel around four very happy with our day out with Carlos.
But David then found he had to fill in forms for leaving Guyana and entering into Surinam, that Shanette had sent the night before, but we had not picked up due to the start time being so early. He then struggled for over 90 minutes to do these forms which included so much detail , all of which had to be looked up and also he had to take selfies of us which also had to be done on a mobile phone and transferred to the form. I went downstairs about 17.20 and ordered two Club sandwiches for takeaway as our dinner and two strawberry Daiquaris on the happy hour basis. David came down soon afterwards and we stored some of the strawberry daiquiri in our flask to take to the airport. We were picked up at 6:30 with Eric already in the car and driven to the International Airport where we arrived well before 8 pm. Check-in was relatively smooth though there were other people there who had not filled in the necessary forms and were struggling with their mobile phones to do so
We realised that we could not take the strawberry daiquiri through security and so sat down for 10 minutes or so enjoying these before going through very busy security, who had not one ounce of humanity in them. Then a 40 minute wait or so before boarding the plane around 9:40 pm which had come through from Miami, and then a 45 minute flight to Surinam, landed in there around 11:30 pm, they’re being a one hour time difference between the two countries. Then a long wait for the suitcases and a ride of an hour into Paramaribo
David had an altercation with the receptionist at the Eco Lodge where the hotel wanted $100 deposit in case we broke up the room. It was 02.15 before lights out and we had to set the alarm for 7:30, not good
Sunday, 8th of February, Paramaribo
An adequate breakfast, in somewhat cafeteria surrounds, and then we were picked up at 9 am by Randy. It was just the two of us in the car as Eric decided he needed a rest. Randy was a bit on edge because a motorcyclist had just run into the back of his car and he was unable to lock his vehicle. We drove down to the fort . The fort contained a museum comprising an old pharmacy plus many other rooms recording the history of the town but all the information was in Dutch. We had a walk around the fort, including seeing the spot where they executed 15 people during their post independence Civil War. Then through the surrounding area with many splendid wood houses. Then a drive past the cathedral and we stopped for a few minutes and looked into the Catholic Cathedral where a service was in process.
After this we drove over the bridge and out towards another fort, New Amsterdam. The walls no longer exist as they were built of mud, but drone shots do show where they were. There was a World War II Otter tank and interesting barns were work had been carried out. Also the buildings of the prison that remained operational until the 1980s with solitary confinement cells and many interesting vehicles, like fire engines and hearses.
Around this time Randy had purchased some snacks, misinterpreting our remarks that we did not eat very much for lunch, which was meant to be included on our tour. So we ended up with very unhealthy spring rolls, with very thick exterior of deep-fried carbs, and fried plantain as our lunch. We did not realise that it was indeed our lunch until an hour later when we had reached the plantation house which have been converted into a boutique hotel where there was indeed a very nice restaurant. But we were just invited to walk around the place so this was a bit of a disappointment, we then drove back over the bridge, constructed in 2000, and back to town arriving at the hotel by 2:30 pm. Hardly a full day tour that warranted the seemingly early start of 9 am after such a late night.
We then found that our room had not been made up and on requesting a chambermaid that it should be so done we were informed that they only did service every three days. Chris got changed and went for a swim and then tried to have a brief siesta without success. At 5 pm we returned the towels to the desk 200 yards or so from the swimming pool, what bad organisation, and had a chat to reception about the extraordinary fact of service just every three days. We pointed out the fact that we had not been informed about this and there was nothing to say so in the room: but got little satisfaction just a constant repeating that this was a hotel policy.
We then went down to the bar beside the swimming pool and thoroughly enjoyed a Caipirinha and a margarita and then a mango smoothie and another Caipirinha. Meanwhile eating some bananas and some cheese rolls. Back to the room at dusk, which is around 7 pm here in Surinam, to read some more, to record this diary and enjoy the second club sandwich obtained the previous day.
And so for a very early night for a 5:30 am rise breakfast at 6 am and to pick up at 6:20.
Monday Feb 9. Paramaribo to Danpatti River Lodge.
We left our room at 5 to 6 for a quick breakfast before being picked up, supposedly at 6:20. But at this time no transport arrived and we contacted Shanette at 06.30. Eventually at 06.45 a man appeared and told us to follow him around the corner of the building. There was a huge bus, not a car. In the bus we found Eric and we’re told that we were stopping to pick up another 13 customers. Not a good start for a day.
We eventually stopped at another hotel and picked up these people, all of them Dutch. The guide who had overslept, spoke limited English and attempted to give a talk to all the bus alternating in Dutch and English but we soon stopped him and told him not to bother with all his patter and just to tell us the important things relating to our journey. Sometimes he did this and other times not. After about 30 minutes on the road we stopped at a petrol station and we’re told that a lady had been left waiting at the Marriott hotel who was not on his list and that he had not found and that she was now in a taxi and we were to wait for her for up to half an hour. But we think the Dutch objected to this and eventually we moved on and we’re told that she would continue in the taxi.
After two hours we stopped for a restroom break which with somewhat prolonged and turned out the reason for this turned out to be that the lady was approaching and when she reached the bus there were in fact, three people in her party somehow they managed to squeeze themselves and their luggage onto the already crowded bus.
So we arrived at the village, where we were to board a dugout canoe just before 11 and we then transferred to 2 large canoes rather than a canoe for just two or three people. We boarded the slightly smaller one and sat at the front as I did not think I could climb over all the other seats backwards. Then all the luggage was put in the space in front of us and covered with a tarpaulin. The other six passengers reached the canoe by transferring from the canoe adjacent to us, so I’m glad I was spared that. We were then given a roll to eat and proceeded on our way down a river which was very peaceful apart from two or three sets of rapids which somehow our canoe managed to cross without problems. We also stop briefly at our village to download some cargo for them.
We arrived at Danpatti at 1 pm and were given a welcome and some cold water, then shown to our cabin which was very simple but very agreeable, situated right on the river edge.
A simple but good lunch at 1:30 was followed, eventually by being shown around the lodge by happy Harry. He preceded this by showing the schedule for the next two days on a blackboard, very sketchy. After this we tried their swimming pool. I did not find it very satisfactory, but then I showered and we went on to the deck on the river which was empty and very peaceful and agreeable having about six chairs on it.
At 4:30 pm we joined a tour in a canoe. 13 of us in it to go up river for a swim. I thought I would be able to get off the canoe as we have been told it would be onto terra firma. Because the canoe stopped in such a way that it involved getting into the water as above knee level and proceeding onto rocks, we decided to stay in the canoe. The rest of them all disembarked most of them having proper water shoes and proceeded to frolic and lie in the rapids.
We came back within an hour and then went to the bar and had two cocktails. This was very pleasant and we took one of them back to the room and continued drinking it there until supper at 7:30 which again was edible but not memorable and was eaten in record time. Then a very early sleep after so many early mornings. During dinner the head lady of the lodge had come and offered us different tours for the morrow, so we hope that this will be more to our liking away from the group and happy Harry.
Tuesday, February 10. Danpaati River Lodge.
We enjoyed a cup of tea out on our Veranda between 07.00 and 08.30 and then we went into breakfast to discover that most people had already finished breakfast, such is the confusion of times that exists here. A fairly non-committal breakfast was followed by an outing at 9:30 am with a guide just for ourselves. It involved a 20 minute cruise down the river and then ashore at a village through which we walked for another 20 minutes or so to their Maroon museum which was founded and run by five local craftsmen. Our guide gave a good description of most of the things in the museum and this was followed by visiting outside exhibits - sugarcane pressing houses and a wondrous wood factory which turned out beautiful products as well as building boats and furniture. But nobody was working the day we were here. The wood was extremely heavy and a lot of of the chairs and motors were just about unmovable. Then a walk back through the village to the boat and the return cruise which then went round the island as well it was gone 12:30 pm by the time we got back to base.
A so-so lunch, just one course at 1 pm followed by a leisurely afternoon sitting on our veranda reading with a respite at the swimming pool and the river deck. The rest of the 14 in our group had gone out to the museum at 4:30 pm having done a hike in the morning. We were very grateful for our trip that was just us and the guide, but that was all we were allocated for the next 24 hours that was just relaxation. I had a quick swim in the pool and also walked and paddle along the sandy beach by the river deck.
Then at 6 pm two Strawberry daiquiris which were very strong and very full glasses. This would followed at 9 pm via a cultural show of local ladies doing African dancers: we left when it degenerated into audience participation. We managed not to go to sleep before 10 pm for the first time in a while.
Wednesday, 11th of February Danpaati to Paramaribo
A day so peaceful in the morning and so noisy in the afternoon.
We enjoyed our tea on our veranda around 7:30 am and ate at breakfast . We sat on the veranda then for the next couple of hours. We did not need to vacate the room until 11:30 am. So we went for a short walk down to the end of the island. At 11:30 am we took our suitcases along to the jetty and went to the River Terrace past the pool and sat there for half an hour before an early lunch.
The next group arrived by one p.m. and eventually we all took off in the same boat this time, 13 of us plus our luggage, at 1:15 . The journey was with strong sunshine and sharp showers and we had to put our anoraks over us. The boat hit some rocks at full speed at one stage, the boatman must have lost concentration completely. Marcel walked along the rim of our boat to push it off. But we think the Boatman had actually managed to get it off by himself. By then we arrived at the intermediate village and transferred to a coach. Here the group of the Dutch at apparently bought some rum and gave some to Marcel the guide as well. The result was a very raucous busload behind us and also Marcel yelling in creole across the bus to the bus driver who seemed equally noisy. Really gave me a headache trapped between the two sources of noise. Occasionally it would go silent and this was pure bliss.
As before we stopped for a toilet break and I think they bought more rum there. It rained considerably and the roads were very muddy. Once in the capital, the Dutch got Marcel to stop at a KFC and then we continued to their hotel, and then to ours. We offloaded the 10 of them at their hotel which in fact it’s not that far from ours.
Once back in a new room in the Eco Lodge, we sorted ourselves out quickly and went down to the scenic bar for two Caipirinha's and also we had a snack of prawns and carpaccio very enjoyable then back to the room for another early start. This time 6 am depart with a packed breakfast.
Thursday, the 12th of February. Surinam to French Guiana.
We had a 6 am start and a 2 1/2 hour journey to the border with French Guiana sharing a car with Eric. Once at the border David had a battle to fill in exit forms on his iPad which Shanette had not informed us to be necessary. It delayed the group 20 minutes or so, but the taxi driver was extremely helpful. We then got aboard a dugout canoe with about four other clients and crossed the 2 to 3 km wide river between the two countries.
It was a breeze to enter enter French Guiana although a security dog did bark at me with my picnic breakfast which we had not eaten. We were met by Irving and told that there will be two Danes with us for the day who had decided to extend their stay by one night in the country so that they could see the launch of the Ariane 6 rocket. We proceeded in a van that took six, with just the five of us, to the nearby transportation camp where convicts from France were received in the country between the late 18th century and 1950s. This reminded us slightly of Auschwitz – same sort of entry gate and same sort of barrack blocks. We saw where the unfortunate convicts were guillotined, as apparently no guillotining took place in France so they were sent all this way to be guillotined. There were on average 13 to 14 people guillotined a year.
After this we drove to Kourou where the launch was due to take place at 13:45. We got there about 13.15 and were ushered into a café for lunch which left me disappointed as it was full of buffet hot plates and I had visions of a sophisticated French patisserie. Anyway once we put the food on our plate, we took the plate to some scales where it was weighed for charging - a novel occurrence for us
We were then driven to the beach where we sat down on the rocks to await the launch. This was quite spectacular against a bright blue sky and when the rocket seemed far above us the noise then reached this. It rose high into the sky, pouring our a very impressive white vapour trail behind it.
After this we were taken to the Atlantis Hotel where we stayed for the night. This was no luxury hotel but was quite adequate although somewhat ugly in appearance especially the swimming pool which was surrounded by concrete walls and was concrete itself – health & safety gone mad. We unpacked a little and then went down and sat in the lounge overlooking the pool. After awhile I had a swim and then came back and had an espresso coffee in the lounge overlooking the pool. Soon after five, we went out for a walk to the beach and this took about an hour and the beach was very pleasant. We walked back and we went down to the lounge and had two caipirinhas and a plate of charcuterie between us.
We chatted to Eric for awhile on our way back to the room, to be ready for our 7 am start in the morning.
Friday, February 13 Kourou to Devils Island
We had a very rushed breakfast at 6:30 am. In order to get to our boat, we had to leave the hotel at 7 am for our trip to Devils Island. It was only a 10 minutes drive to the quay where the catamaran was situated and the catamaran did not depart till 8 am so we felt somewhat cheated. We had had to book out of the hotel as our itinerary told us that the next night would be in Cayenne. But talking to Eric we found that he was booked for two nights at the Atlantis Hotel and that we not only would have an hours extra drive after the Devils Island to get to Cayenne, but we would have to get up an hour earlier and leave Cayenne at 6:30 am, this probably meaning no breakfast, in order to get back to Kourou to pick Eric up at 7:30 am: it all seemed somewhat crazy so we asked our driver if he could contact the agency to see if we could change our booking to another night at the Atlantis.
About 25 of us boarded the catamaran with Skipper Tony being in charge. He was a very large man who looked a bit like a pirate. Then followed a 90 minute crossing to the Royal Isle, the last 40 minutes of this being quite rough and at least 10 of the passengers succumbed to seasickness so there was this somewhat stomach churning scene of buckets being proffered and then changed by the two crew members of the ship. A coloured passenger actually turned white as he was continually sick.
Once at Isle Royale we disembarked with our guide, and Eric, and had a walk round the island seeing where the convicts were locked up and many beautiful sandy beaches but with very rough seas. Also a couple of turtles. There were far more buildings on the island than I had envisaged and there was a large hotel of some 50 rooms. We eventually stopped at this and had a beer by about 10.30 but for some reason our guide did not give our lunch order till 12.15, which resulted in us missing out on the pudding, a fresh fruit salad, which I was really looking forward to. The starter, crudités, was excellent, but the pork chop was so tough to be almost inedible.
So at 1:10 pm we had to abandon the restaurant area and beat our way back to the boat. We were the last to board it. Then a short traverse to Saint Joseph's Island where the catamaran anchored and we were then transferred to shore by a very small zodiac which only took four passengers and two crew. It therefore took 6 trips to get us all ashore. Once ashore we did a 45 minute tour round 3/4 of the island and up to the top where the main prison was located. Very few of the convicts sent here ever managed to make it back to France.
At 3:30 pm we were transferred back to the catamaran and all aboard by 4 pm but it then took over 100 minutes to get back to Kourou. We had initially been told that we could change our booking back to the Atlantis for the night if we paid the cost of cancellation of the Cayenne hotel. We told Irwin to tell Shanette that we were very angry and declined to pay for their error. And by about 2 pm we heard that we could indeed return to Atlantis without paying. Just before landing back in Kourou, David had a phone call from Shanette who tried to dig herself further into her hole and tell us that we were being unreasonable and did not seem to realise that the fact that they had changed Eric‘s booking for two nights to the Atlantis, but that they had not realised that they should have changed us too
Once back at the hotel where we were assigned the same room as the previous night, one of the only few that did not have a balcony, we sorted ourselves out and then went down to the bar lounge area and had two Caipirinha's and a plate of smoked salmon.
Saturday, February 14. Cayenne to Paris and Valencia
We had breakfast before eight and packed up for hour trip home. We were picked up at 9am by Mike and taken 10 minutes to the Space Centre where we met up with our guide. We saw full size exhibits of the rockets they have launched from here. We then went inside and saw an exhibition and various films and had our photo taken against the background of a rocket launching.
All this took less than an hour and we were on our way to Cayenne. An hour later we met our guide and had an hours walk round the town: there was not really that much to see. Eric decided he did not want to tour the city. Then to a very, very nice restaurant with loads of charm and ordered their meal for the day which was duck with the pepper sauce. A salad for me, chips for David (who did not eat too many of them at all). Neither of us could eat a huge duck breast and so we brought the rest of it back in aluminium foil. I then had a coffee and David had a crème brûlée which was very good complete with real vanilla seeds. We were picked up at 2 pm by Mike, to be driven to the airport. Here we had to go first through extra security to enter as apparently there’s a lot of drugs traffic here. A local tourist board researcher did a survey with us on tourist habits. We have never had such a senseless survey before but she was very sweet and we had time to kill.
We were sitting on the designated old peoples chairs, when we were told that we could not be here unless we needed assistance. I pointed out the sign but the man insisted we were only entitled to be here if we needed assistance . So we said right we’ll have some assistance. They let us stay in those seats but the assistance never arrived
Roughly a 10 hour flight to Paris and then only a couple of hours to wait before going onward to Valencia and hopefully being home before 2 pm. We did manage to get a row of three seats to ourselves, by gaming the seat selection on check in. Air France seats are way to close together, but having the spare seat made it almost bearable.
A really interesting holiday, although somewhat itchy, holiday. And we had struggled almost daily with innumerable problems about the schedule.