a day in Suriname

I couldn't resist the chance to add another country to my list, although it was a 12-hour trip by bus and ferry to get from Georgetown to the capital of neighbouring Suriname, not to mention some stress in trying to organise transport there, as there is no fixed bus route but rather a number of private operators who collect you from your address in Georgetown and deliver you to your address in Paramaribo.  However one such operator was finally tracked down by my Georgetown hotel, and although they turned up 20 minutes earlier than arranged and had already driven away in the five minutes it took me to zip up my bag and run down the stairs, they did come back 30 minutes later and I was on my way to see a new country!

Driving in from the border the place seemed almost deserted (indeed the population is less than 500,000).  The road was in place a little pot-holed, and I felt that I must be in a much less developed place than Guyana.  So it was a shock to fimally reach the beautiful capital with its really well-preserved Dutch colonial-style architecture.  Apparently (as I have since discovered) the capital is a UNESCO World Heritage site.  I admit to having done no research for this trip besides the practicalities (visa and transport), so had not seen any pictures of the place to prepare me.  I think it can be a good thing sometimes to arrive somewhere with no pre-conceived ideas or expectations, as in this case where I was astonished by what I found.

I spent the morning visiting Fort Zeelandia and the Suriname Museum, and the early afternoon walking the streets, failing to find vantage points from which to photograph the beautiful buildings without their being half obscured by cars.  Clearly the colonial legacy from the Dutch did not include a love of bicycles.  As with Guyana, the population was really mixed, although here I was told that there was a level playing field for all races to invest and to start businesses, which seems not to be the case in the Indian-dominated Guyana.

Having seen all there seems to be I returned to my guesthouse to get an early night in preparation for my 4am bus back to Georgetown.  It was a great place to visit but a day trip was easily enough.

Karanambu Ranch

Our guide had forewarned us about the difficulties of our final stop in Guyana, a remote and rustic place where the rooms were rather open to the elements thus allowing a plethora of wildlife to come in. Getting there involved four hours travelling by boat, although that did include stops to look at wildlife on the way.  On one such stop, the guide asked if we wanted something to drink - juice?  rum punch? With a snack of home-baked cookies?  Bemused, I asked for the rum punch and a cookie and no, he wasn't joking.  & this was to set the tone for our three days there, with rum punch freely available before and during every lunch and dinner (and at a few other times too) and generally excellent food.  The kind of 'remote and rustic' which isn't too difficult to deal with!

He was right about the wildlife in the rooms though.  I walked in to mine to find several cockroaches and a lot of ants, and a gecko fell onto my hand as I put my rucksack down.  Later I realised there was a large and occupied hornet's nest in the rafters as well as quite a few bats, and some of the spiders were worryingly large.  I had to get the owner in to move one for me as it sat in the middle of the doorway into the bathroom and I could not see a way around it without getting too close for comfort.  Another couple in my group found a scorpion in their room, and we were warned that snakes sometimes came in too.  It was the kind of place where you checked beneath the toilet seat before sitting down, kept all your bags zipped up tight and tucked the mosquito net in very carefully at night!  But the beds were comfortable, there was a hammock in the porch - and did I mention the rum punches?

There were a wealth of activities too.  Of course our main focus was birds and wildlife (which included pinnated bittern, pearl kite, jabiru stork, capuchinbird, giant anteater, savanna fox and squirrel monkeys) but the three of us who were interested also got to play with a rescued giant river otter that was being brought up before its release back into the wild.  Its fur was so incredibly soft but unfortunately the muddy bank where we played was full of sand flies so I paid the price for the next few days.

There was also a small lake near the ranch full of water lilies, and we all took the opportunity to go and watch these open one evening.  As the sun goes down the big buds gradually unfold - within an hour all the flowers were wide open although the process was too slow to be visible (mind you, after a couple of rum punches I thought I saw movement in one...).

But too soon, I really could have spent another day or two at Karanambu, our stay came to an end and we had to head back to civilisation.  We flew back from the airstrip behind the ranch; here are three of the others at the departure gate.

there's a small bird in a distant tree

The 'birds and wildlife' part of my Guyana trip began with a visit to the botanical gardens (where a great horned owl was a nice sight) and to a narrow coastal strip of forest, where two great local birds - blood-coloured woodpecker and rufous crab hawk - put in appearances within five minutes of our arrival.  If only the birds had been so cooperative through the rest of our trip.

Then we flew to Kaieteur Falls.  Five times the height of Niagara Falls, with the water falling 227m (741 ft) in a single drop, they are spectacular but attract few visitors, our group of eight having the place to ourselves on our visit.  On the bird front, the resident Guianan cock-of-the-rock (the orange one above) showed themselves well.

From there we visited three different eco-lodges around the one million acres of primary rainforest that makes up the Iwokrama Protected Area.

Two of my target species for the trip, the jaguar and the harpy eagle, were nowhere to be seen (an old harpy eagle nest was no compensation), but I had not had particularly high hopes for these two.  Some other desired birds were absent too, largely due to a lack of rain this year.  Rivers and ponds were low or in some cases dry, and even up on the 30m high forest canopy walkway there were times when the forest was eerily quiet.  Several times our desperate guide was reduced to pointing out small birds on distant trees that were barely identifiable even through his telescope.

Even then, however, it was actually full of life, you just had to look hard to spot it.  Frogs and toads blended perfectly with the leaf litter, as did the butterflies when they perched.  Our guide found a snake and I could not see it even when he shone his laser pointer directly at a vine and said "it's there!" - it was only when the head appeared on the path that I realised that the vine was not a vine at all, but a superbly camouflaged vine snake!  Some birds, too, were well camouflaged, like this roosting blackish nightjar:

Generally though, when they appeared, the birds were highly colourful, like the toucans and macaws, for example.  Many of the best-looking birds followed a consistent colour theme, from scarlet ibis and crimson fruitcrow through Guianan red cotinga and red-and-black grosbeak, to the amazing red-necked woodpecker and red-fan parrot.  Even the mammals we saw the most often were the red howler monkey and the red-rumped agouti.

Accommodation was fairly comfortable and the food was okay although as ever when I travel I found myself missing a good cup of tea with milk in.  The final place we stayed in, however, deserves a post all of its own.

a few days in Georgetown, Guyana

Guyana has been on my wish-list of countries to visit since I first set foot in South America in 1992.  Not that Guyanans consider themselves to be part of South America, looking instead to their Caribbean neighbours with whom they share the English language, a love of cricket and that beautiful lilting accent.

The country is nearly the size of Britain, but with a population of only around 800,000, made up primarily of people of Indian/Pakistani origin (>40%), of African origin (30%) and Amerindians (10%).  The latter live mostly in the interior and culturally align themselves more with Brazil than with the Caribbean, but the other 90% of the population live mainly in the narrow coastal belt.  This area is mostly below sea level, protected by a sea wall and drained by a large number of canals with sluice gates opening into the sea - developed, I presume, by the Dutch who were early colonisers before the British took over.  British influence remains in terms of the language, imports of agricultural machinery and the requirement to drive on the left, but otherwise is not really noticeable.  The dominant group is clearly the Indian population - and I was lucky to be visiting during the diwali festival, so was able to see their illuminated floats pass by.

I had organised a trip to see 'birds and wildlife' but added on a few days before and after to see the capital, Georgetown.  It is a surprisingly pretty town, with some wide, tree-lined avenues that follow the layout of the old sugar estates, with drainage ditches kept reasonably free of mosquitoes by regular treatment.  A good proportion of the old colonial wooden buildings still survive, including the City Hall pictured here and the 44 metre high Anglican cathedral.

As well as familiarising myself with the commoner birds in the botanical gardens, I visited a couple of museums and an art gallery, and went to look for the Umana Yana, a traditional meeting hall built by indigenous Indians in 1972 for a conference, but found it had burnt to the ground about six weeks ago.  Very sad, but apparently there are plans to rebuild it.  In compensation, however, I got to go up to the top of the Georgetown lighthouse, which I discovered later is only supposed to be open to those with special permission from the government.  Unaware of this, I asked the security guard at the entrance to the Ministry of Works car park if I could get to the lighthouse by going through their car park and he said yes.  Reaching the lighthouse, I was asked if I had permission to enter, and I pointed to the (car park of) the Ministry and said the guy there had told me to come through this way ... the two staff in the office three quarters of the way up looked surprised to see me but didn't stop me ... and I was in!!  So for those who will not be able to secure the necessary permission from the authorities, this is what you will not get to see:

a floating market and biting fish

My three weeks in Bangkok were busy with work but I took a Sunday morning off to visit the floating market at Damnoen Saduak.  I had read mixed reviews of the place, the negative ones describing it as just a tourist trap, others saying it was good fun despite being set up for tourists.  If there had been more time available I would probably have visited this plus one of the more 'authentic' floating markets too, but with limited time I decided that Damnoen Saduak with its easily arranged tours would be good enough.

& the critics are right that it is highly geared towards the tourist trade.  But many, probably the majority, of those tourists are Thai, and whether the vendors are selling vegetables to 'authentic' Thais or hats to tourist Thais doesn't change the fundamental (and photogenic) nature of the floating market.

It also has the bonus of a few attractions that would not be there without the presence of tourists (or at least I very much doubt that your average Thai includes a photo opportunity with a boa constrictor as part of their regular market day)!  I've long been fascinated by snakes, not only are they beautiful but they are also lovely to touch and they feel amazing when they move; I always take any chance I get to handle a snake and this is one of many photos of me over the years with one draped around me.

Later during my three week stay I got the chance to interact with different creatures - the little fish that nibble dead skin cells off your body!  I had long wanted to try this, and seeing a stall with the little tanks of fish, $5 for 30 minutes with your feet and lower legs in a tank I was straight in.  & I have to say that it was one of the strangest sensations I have ever experienced.  Around the more tender parts of my feet I could actually feel the fish biting, although it wasn't painful, just extremely odd.

a day in transit in Tokyo

No sooner was I back from Nicaragua than I had to fly to Bangkok - not an easy trip to do from Panama on an NGO budget.  Going via Europe was too expensive, and routes going the other way, over the Pacific, all involved a couple of nights in different cities or airports on the way there.  To my great good fortune, however, the cheapest of these flights was the Panama-Atlanta-Seattle-Tokyo-Bangkok route - with two nights in Tokyo!!  Having never been to Japan before I was very excited.

I tried to make the most of my day by getting up very early (not difficult given the jetlag) and starting off at the fish market.  Unfortunately it seems neither the tuna auctions nor the general fish wholesale market are now open to tourists, but I was able to get a very tasty bowl of various types of super fresh sashimi in one of the little local cafes surrounding the market.

From there I went to the Hama-rikyu Gardens, a very peaceful park with skyscrapers on one side and the river on the other.  I took a boat from there to the old district of Asakusa, where I discovered matcha green tea (mmm!) before making my way through the old shopping streets to Sensoji Temple, the oldest temple in Tokyo said to have been built in 628.  It was full of people, Japanese visitors (or were some of them Chinese tourists?) taking photos of the shrine as well as praying to Buddha, but it still somehow had a calm and peaceful air.

In the afternoon I moved on to the National Museum, which had an excellent collection from all around Asia as well as from Japan itself.  I ended up spending three hours in there - after which exhaustion kicked in and plans to catch some kind of evening entertainment were shelved.  The next morning's plans were also shelved, or at least thwarted, as I arrived at Yoyogi Park only to be told that the authorities had decided the previous evening to close it because of an infestation of dengue-carrying mosquitoes.

I hadn't known what to expect of Tokyo but really enjoyed my stay there.  It was an intriguing mix of very modern and very traditional.

saying goodbye to Nicaragua

After the Papaturro I travelled along a different river, this time the four-hour boat trip along the Rio San Juan, to El Castillo.  This village, of 1,500 people, lies beside a set of rapids, at the foot of the 17th century castle that gives the place its name.

The town was home to a great Nicaraguan heroine, the 19-year-old Rafaela Herrera who inspired the defenders to victory against a British raiding party after her father, the commander, died.  They could not defy the British for ever, however, and in 1780 another British party, this time led by a 22-year-old Horatio Nelson, captured the fortress.  Most of the conquerors died of dysentery over the next few months, finally abandoning the fortress in 1781.

I spent a couple of hours around the castle as the museum is excellent and there were a few nice birds hanging out in a big fruiting tree.  Then after a long lazy lunch in a restaurant beside the river I took the boat back to San Carlos.

In the evening I went to the little lakeside park to check my emails - the Sandinista government having made it a legal requirement that every town provide free wifi in its main square or park.  There were people around with cameras, and I soon discovered that the president - Comandante Daniel himself - had been expected for the formal opening of a nearby bridge, but that all such events had been cancelled earlier that day as it was felt to be bad form to be celebrating something while a dozen miners were trapped in a mine in the north of the country.  I was very sad to have missed him.  I gave money to the Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign in the early 1980s, to support the Sandinistas, and to see one of their main men in person (at that time a leader of the revolutionaries and now president) would have been very nice.

But I went back to my little hostel - $4 for a comfortable little wooden room of my own (with shared, but very clean, toilets and showers) - for my last night in Nicaragua.  The country said goodbye to me in its own style, with a small earthquake (four point something) at 4:30 in the morning...

The nest day I took another boat, to the border crossing into Costa Rica, and then a couple of buses to San Jose where I stopped for the night.  I just had enough time to visit the gold museum the next morning, which I must say was very good, with typical gold objects from pre-Colombian times but also with extensive information, mostly in English.

Then I took the bus back to Panama City.  I'd chosen to take the midday bus and arrive at 4 in the morning (rather than the midnight one) because I was keen to see the scenery of Costa Rica, but I was distracted by the conversation of the man sitting next to me.  He had fought in Nicaragua with the contras, part of an elite unit whose task was to kill Eden Pastora and Daniel Ortega.  Clearly they'd had no success with Comandante Daniel!  I was keen to get information from him about the grenade attack on Eden Pastora, as I don't think it was ever officially confirmed that the US (the contras) were behind it, but he wouldn't talk - claimed that his years there had been stressful and he'd needed psychiatric treatment afterwards for PTSD, so I couldn't push him as much as I'd have liked to.  He wasn't overly impressed to find out I had donated to the Sandinistas but we certainly had an interesting conversation and the journey back home passed very quickly.