I am now currently STUCK IN LETHEM!! The cause again is the heavier than expected rains during this most recent rainy season that has washed the dirt road to Aishalton away. It is currently possible to get to Aishalton (usually a 6-7 hour truck ride from Lethem) yet the locals reckon that it will take over a day to get there by tractor. As a result, on arriving last Friday (10th) the Ministry of Education office in Lethem decided; against Dave and my wishes I must add; that we should stay in Lethem until Wednesday (tomorrow) at the earliest as the Regional Educational District Officer (REDO) returns from Georgetown.
Oh this blog was meant to include photo's but the internet's being useless atm... ill try upload them later :)
5th- 9th September (last few days in Georgetown)
As the Project Trust Volunteers (PTV’s) gradually got taken to their projects, the size of our group (of white people) in Georgetown dwindled, making us; in the eyes of our host Kala; less obvious target for muggers ect.. With this came more freedom to do what we liked in town. We took a couple of trips in to see Christine, a lovely travel agent at Worldwide Travel, who sorted out our flights and accommodation in Tobago where all the PTV’s are now spending our Christmas and New Year! I’m starting to get used to the laid back attitude of the Guyanese. I find their attitude refreshing, yet at times very frustrating. Most evenings, before it got dark, we would go play some basketball with the locals at the courts a few blocks from where we were staying. They were all much better than us, but we normally mixed up the teams to make it fair. We left Georgetown first thing on Friday 10th September.
10th – 14th September (Stuck in Lethem)
The airport we went to in order to fly to Lethem was actually in Georgetown (as opposed to the international airport which is 30 mins south of the capital which is the one where I arrived in Guyana from.) All the strict restrictions/ regulations that I’ve always associated with airports back home don’t really exist out here. Security checks are almost nonexistent. There was a sign that made me laugh on the check in desk that read something like:
For persons carrying a firearm in your hand-baggage
Please notify an Airport Personnel, Thank You.
I got chatting to the guy in charge of loading luggage for our flight and he kindly put Dave and I’s extra suitcases on the flight with us for no extra cost. In Guyana I’m quickly learning, that you can get passed a lot of regulations if you get befriend the people who are enforcing those regulations.
The flight to Lethem from Georgetown got delayed as our plane had no seats in it and it was a bit disconcerting whilst waiting as we watched them being installed! The flight was 1 hour 45 and I got a good cross section of all the types of terrain in Guyana: The coastal settlements, untouched rainforest, mountains and then the savannah where I will be. The views were amazing, but you can see for yourself rather than me explaining:
Lethem is a small but spread out town that gets a rustic look from reddy-brown dust that blows off the dirt tracks to cover almost everything. The back drop to Lethem is the Kanuku Mountains, which provide a vista I don’t think I could ever get sick of. The balcony of the Regional Guest House where Dave and I are staying whilst in Lethem gives us a nice view of most of the Lethem and we lime up there with a few beers most evenings. After having had breakfast with the REDO, the Guyana Education Minister and a guy in charge of the whole of the Rupunnini (what of it!?...) on our first morning, we were informed that we would be in Lethem for about a week or so before going down to Aishalton. This set back was annoying as we really want to get teaching. In light of this news Dave and I went to the Head Mistress of the local Secondary School, St. Ignatious offering our services for the next week or so. She was very grateful for our offer but I think she thought that having to organise work for us to do for a week would be more hassle than the help we would bring... which is fair enough.
Since then we have been exploring round Lethem and Bonfim (across the Brazilian border, a small town were not much is going on) and looking to buy bikes to take down to our project. Tomorrow we are planning of going to Moco Moco Falls, were there are meant to be cool blue water creeks in which we can swim... still need to find a ride though.
As I said before, I’m not sure when I’m off to Aishalton, but I will try and keep you all informed as much as possible. It may be tough as I don’t know if the internet in Aishalton will be working.
Hope you’re all well
Sam
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