Dont Forget Siesta!

Cars loaded on the pontoon

Although I had been in South America for more than two weeks, by the time we reached Brazil, I  had totally forgotten that thing called siesta aka don't expect any form of service between 12 noon and 2pm daily. And guess where it caught us twice? At immigration! Boy what a hassle and while they close promptly at noon but no way do they open promptly at 2pm. That's life in Brazil and I guess, most of the latin side of south America. 

 Apart from siesta though, the trip to Brazil was absolutely wonderful, at least for those who don't look to travel for every day comforts. For to travel to Lethem, the last Guyanese town before you cross the bridge to Bon Fim in Brazil, we had to travel 540 kilometers of which over 300 was through Iwokramaa rain forest (and rain it did!) so the road was really nothing but a forest pass so it took forever to get through. Not only did we encounter some of the largest potholes on that  known to man (and woman) in that forest pass,  but also, many  were full of water. (The government plans to pave it for the world cup 2014 in Brazil which is a bad idea for it will destroy the forest. )

This forest starts just after you pass  Linden, the bauxite centre of Guyana and to  make the journey even slower, environmentalist with the permission and support of the government, close that road for hours at a time to give the wild animals time to sleep undisturbed.

 I did not mind the trip at all though it was slow and at times uncomfortable. In fact I found it mainly stimulating and it certainly made me appreciate nature even more. When we stopped at one of the Amerindian villages to sleep and await the opening of the pontoon, I rented a hammock and had a good nights sleep, although I have not slept in one for over forty years. The night noises (not the snores though, for there were several people under a shed in hammocks)  were also a joy to hear and although I recognised some as crickets and various kinds of toads, at least we knew they were small not threatening animals.

 When the  pontoon sent across the river next morning., we crossed over Kurupukari river. There  are a number of nature lodges in that area and for those who love the great outdoors,  that's a place to go.

Of course, because you are in a forest, they have some destructive things called termites and I saw one nest which looked about 3 feet tall, but a friend of mine has a picture on facebook of one that is almost as  tall as a normal human being, for here they build them on the ground.

Kurupukari river

So all around the forest you see the trees that have been destroyed by those pests and of course they had to cause a tree to fall across the road stopping all traffic while we were on our way. Luckily there was an environmental protection agency vehicle in the area and thy quickly used their pulley to remove the obstacle.

After you clear the forest you arrive at one of the most beautiful savannas protected by the scenic Kanuku mountains. Along that passage is where you will find  many of the nine indigenous Indian villages like the Arapute, Ruperee  and Woweta . I don't understand however why this area remains so uncultivated  and idle with just cashew trees which apparently grow naturally and a very few cattle roaming. On the other hand, across the border in Brazil, their adjoining savanna is fully productive with cattle farms and a variety of orchards etc.

Right now there is an invasion of illegal Brazilians who are flooding  into Guyana to mine for gold and diamonds and this causes serious problems for everyone for thgere are several road blocks by the police trying to find them. At Jawalla, too they are also being blamed for polluting the rivers because they are not using exercising responsible mining.I suspect that if I return to Lethem in 20 years,  I will find that Brazilians have taken over the Indian's savannas for they really don't look like they are interested in using it!!!

 The bridge over the Orio Takattu river which separates Brazil from Guyana at  Lethem and Bon Fim respectively, only opened in 2009 and what fascinated me was the fact that while the Brazilians drive on the right and the Guyanese on the left, what they did was to build two round abouts, the one leading from Guyana ending up on the right lane in Brazil and the one coming from Brazil ending up on the left hand lane in Guyana. It seems to have worked quite well for I understand vehicle accidents in the area are few and far between.

Because of the close relationships between both countries, I noted that the Guyanese had put up road signs in both Portuguese  and English but the Brazilians have not returned the compliment. In fact, my short visit to Brazil made me conclude that like the French, they ave chauvinistic and have decided that if you visit their country, you should at least be able to speak their language and the fact is very very few Brazilians English and worse yet they totally reject the Yankee dollar so you have to find cambios to change your money before being able to make any purchases.

We were lucky became the tour operator had screwed up our arrangements so we could not spend more than a day there, but he compensated by sending a bilingual Wadachina guide named Haraldo with us, for we would never have been able to survive without him as Ann Marie, our Portuguese speaking Guyanese friend had fallen ill and was unable to accompany us.

My greatest disappointment though was  the fact that my stupid camera died just as \we got to Bon fim so my entire time in Boa Vista remains only a memory.

The fact is though, I enjoyed that small taste of Brazil and although I did not get the time to take the trip down the Amazon river, it is on my itinerary for the near future as is as trip to Rio.

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Houses at Amerindian village of Madura from where you can take a five day hike to Kaicheur