Authors' note: This blog contains a few borderline images from Amsterdam. We have kept these to an absolute minimum and we have chosen the less in-your-face shots. However, if your sensitivities are easily upset, you are advised to read the story and either choose your pictures carefully or avoid them altogether.XXX. "Three Crosses", they say. YEAH RIGHT!! Crosses stand straight up, usually indicating some 'uprightness' and religious leaning. "Three 'Xs' is more like it", we surmise. Triple X and not in the way Vin Diesel meant it. And yet, emblazoned on public clocks, built into the architecture on some older buildings, fluttering on flags and embossed on the many metal posts (amsterdamertjes) that line every road in the city, the emblem of the City was everywhere. We were in Amsterdam and there was no denying it. ... read more

Word spread fast. Somebody told somebody and somebody told Sharon (please pronounce as 'Shay ron') that the world travellers were in Guyana. Sharon was one of Vibert's high-school debating opponents. She told Andrea - her sister - who was now all grown up and the producer/editor/interviewer of her own tv talkshow program. Andrea invited us for an interview. Against a black background in the studio we sat answering questions about the who, what, when, where, why and hows. It was a taped program that would be edited and played later. Feeling pretty special (we had made it to national tv), we set about the final exit events - quick 'goodbyes' to our friends and people who had assisted us, reconfirming our flight and eating some favorites. We caught up with some of Vibert's colleagues from his ... read more

The immigration officer looked up from the Brazilian passport he was leafing thru. His eyes were still red but they registered surprise to see us back again so quickly. He had stamped us out to Brazil only three days before. Again, we got preferential treatment before the file of waiting Brazilians and while he stamped us back in into Guyana he complained about working non-stop since 7 am. It was 5 pm on a Wednesday and raining. The plan was to overnight in Lethem, explore the neighbourhood and nearby ranches all day the next day and then catch INTRASERV's 10 pm bus back to Georgetown. The officer heard our plans and said: "Ya'll better talk to dem guys outside. They say de road wash away". Our worst fears had materialized. We dreaded being stuck 600 km ... read more

"Mr. Williams, Ms. van Eer, my name is Matthew and I am your guide. Please come this way". He, and another Amerindian male, grabbed our bags and placed them in a small-ish metal speedboat. The name 'Takatu' was emblazoned on the side of the boat although the paint had started to peel. The other 40 passengers on the bus watched in envy as the VIPs sped up river sending sprays flying in their direction. We had just been whisked away by Iwokrama's welcoming party from the Kurupukari landing. The other 'peons' were waiting on the slow, lumbering Mekdeci-owned, motorized barge. The mighty Essequibo River had narrowed considerably at this juncture. It only looked like 1000 feet across but you could see the dangerous swirl of a powerful current. INTRASERV's bus would cross on the barge and ... read more

WARNING: THIS IS GIANT BLOG WITH NUMEROUS PICTURES. PROCEED WITH CAUTION!! North of the equator but still in the tropics, Guyana is bordered to the east by Suriname, to the south and southwest by Brazil and to the west by Venezuela. Its vast 83,000 square-mile (214,000 km square) mass is dissected by numerous rivers, creeks and waterfalls. The main economic activities are agriculture (producing rice and Demerara sugar), bauxite mining, gold mining, timber, shrimp and minerals. Sugar is the largest export. Despite its massive and myriad resources, Guyana remains one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere but certainly one of the most beautiful. And it was this beauty that we had come to explore and share. We will attempt, on this visit, to see the majesty of Kaieteur Falls (the world's highest single-drop falls) ... read more