Part Three: Shore Trips
 

by Jack Cooley

This is titled a "preliminary cruising guide" because I believe it is the first attempt at a cruising guide to Guyana. [See Parts One and Two, "Basics" and "Navigation", in the June and July 2004 issues of Compass.] It is based on a single sailing trip aboard S/V Mystic Adventure, from Trinidad to Guyana and return, in a flotilla with three other sailboats. We spent most of the month of March 2004 anchored off the Baganara Resort, on the Essequibo River, some 35 nautical miles upriver from the Atlantic.

It is my sincere hope that someone will carry this project forward by adding additional information and detail.
Although all of the information that follows is believed to be accurate, no warranty is made, expressed or implied. There may be errors and omissions, so undue credence should not be placed in this guide.

Baganara Resort
Once anchored at Baganara Resort, we were welcomed and introduced to the staff and facilities. This is probably considered a five-star resort. For an anchoring fee of US$10 per day, all of the Baganara facilities were available to us. This included dinghy parking on the beach, ice, showers, toilets, garbage disposal and 24-hour security (although there was never any indication that there might be a security problem here). Also available to us were swimming (in the river), a nice white sand beach, beach chairs, towels, club house, library, games, TV area, table tennis, pool, cricket, etcetera. The club house was spacious and open, with comfortable areas for visiting, and a well-stocked bar and dining room were in the same area. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were all served buffet style. Meals were rather expensive, but there were indications that prices may be modified in the future.
Fuel was available at Baganara at a premium price to cover delivery costs (transported in 45-gallon drums from Bartica by pirogue).

Bartica
From Baganara, we could take a speedboat (water taxi) to Bartica, about four miles downstream. The speedboats are open pirogue-types, typically with a 50-horsepower outboard, which traveled at about 35 mph. The trip to Bartica took about 15 minutes and cost US$20 for the boat, so we tended to go as a group, which reduced the cost per person.

To me, Bartica had the appearance and feel of a frontier town, reminding me of Nome, Alaska, when I lived there in the mid-1950s. Nevertheless, it has grocery stores, markets, banks, cambios, internet cafés, public phones, restaurants, and most of the goods and services we needed. The grocery and hardware stores were well stocked, although the hardware stores did not carry much of the marine hardware that we normally expect in a chandlery. On the other hand, outboard engine repairs should be readily available because of the plethora of pirogues with outboards. Bartica also boasts a Perkins engine dealer!

Georgetown
To get to Georgetown (the capitol) from Baganara, first take the speedboat to Bartica. Then transfer to a public water taxi that will take you to Parika. There is no fixed time schedule for the water taxi: it leaves whenever it is full (16 to 20 persons), usually about every half hour. It takes approximately an hour to get to Parika and the fare is about US$7. It may also be possible to get a jet boat from Bartica to Parika. The jet boat has a roof and side curtains, the ride will be smoother, and the cost will be considerably greater.

Upon your arrival at Parika, there will be a cluster of mini-buses (a.k.a. maxi-taxis), and "for hire" cars (regular taxis) vying for your patronage, ready to whisk you off to Georgetown. The mini-buses cost a dollar or two US, and will arrive in Georgetown about an hour after departure. The taxis provide a similar service, with less crowding, and less interaction with the locals, at a proportionally higher cost.

Once in Georgetown, taxis are readily available at a very reasonable cost. Car rentals were US$30 to 35 per day, but the agents seemed to assume you would drive only in the populated areas. For trips to the interior, everyone seemed to think you needed a 4x4 vehicle and a driver, at US$100 to 150 per day. A good road map of Guyana (much better than anything I was able to locate while there) titled "Guyana and the Guianas", scale 1:850,000/1:1,200,000, is published by International Travel Maps (www.maps2anywhere.com).

Restaurant prices in Georgetown were also very reasonable - Chinese dinners ranged around two to three US - but lodging seemed expensive for the facilities provided. We stayed at the eight-room Ariantze Hotel, Sidewalk Café & Jazz Club, 176 Middle St., Cummingsburg, Georgetown, at US$65 per night (592-226-5363, ariantze@networksgy.com). The clean rooms were furnished in what I considered 1940s American style. It was centrally located, being only a short walk downtown to Stabroek Market and other historic buildings. We enjoyed a city tour of the historic buildings, monuments, market, zoo and botanical gardens.

There are a number of other lodging facilities in Georgetown. Particulars could be furnished by the Tourism & Hospitality Association of Guyana (592-225-0807, thag@networksgy.com). Tourist packets and other information can also be obtained from the Guyanese Consulate in Trinidad, located at 16 Gray St., St. Clair (868-622-2913).

The Interior
Georgetown is reminiscent of many of the larger Caribbean towns but once you leave the coastal zone, Guyana resembles Alaska in its vastness, seclusion and rustic nature. From Baganara, we took a flight about 150 miles to the southwest, to Kaieteur Falls, the world's tallest single-drop waterfall at 741 feet. This was a low altitude flight over nearly unbroken forest. There were only one or two roads visible, and only one or two homes along our flight path. Gold and diamond mining operations were visible in a couple of locations.

In addition to the falls and the breathtaking scenery, we saw giant bromeliads, the Golden Frog, and the Cock-of-the-Rock bird.
From Kaieteur, we flew another 75 miles to the southwest over a virgin forest canopy to Orinduik Falls, on the Ireng River which forms the border between Guyana and Brazil. Just before landing at Orinduik, we flew over a nearly treeless savannah, which extended across the river into Brazil. There was no sign that the savannah was being used for grazing or any form of agriculture.

Orinduik is a series of falls cascading over large outcroppings of rock. Many of the rock slabs were fractured along straight lines which formed a series of parallelograms. The locals do some free-diving in the pools below the falls, in search of gold nuggets. Our trip to the waterfalls was provided by Evergreen Adventures, 159 Charlotte St. Georgetown, Guyana, (592-226-0605, evergreen.adventures@webworksgy.com, or www.evergreen-adventures.com) at a cost of US$210 per person. The aircraft was a nine passenger, twin engine "bush plane". Additional tour operators are listed by the Tourism & Hospitality Association of Guyana (see above).

Another day we took a trip from Baganara by jet boat to Bartica, then up the Mazaruni River, and over a series of rapids. The jet boats utilize the same water propulsion principle as a jet-ski. They are built in Colorado, specifically to shoot white water rapids. They are powered by twin 420-horsepower engines and typically cruise at about 35 mph, and are operated by Baganara/Evergreen Tours, or a branch of their conglomerate. The cost of the trip was about US$50 each.
The jet boat pilot beached the boat on the riverbank and we walked about a mile back to Marshall Falls. Our guide was Bhagwandas Balkarran ("Baloo" for short). We picked him up in Bartica, his home base (592-621-0469). If you do this trip, make sure Baloo is your guide, and make sure you have a small group (six people or fewer), to get the full benefit of his personal service.

There are many other places to go and things to see in Guyana. I wanted to drive to the interior savannah, where there are extensive cattle ranches, but I was unable to rent a 4x4 vehicle for a reasonable price. We also wanted to visit one of the gold or diamond mines. This did not come to fruition, however I believe Evergreen Adventures is now ready to offer this tour at a reasonable price. The facilities will probably be spartan, but I would find it most enjoyable.
We'll just have to go back.
 
 

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