Guyana

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18-11-17 Arriving in Georgetown originally known as Stabroek, we learnt Georgetown and Guyana were rich in timber, bauxite, gold and diamonds. The land was supported by vast sugar cane plantations and as a result, the Spanish, Dutch, French and English all fought to possess it. On our city tour of Georgetown we were surprised to see canals, three-lined avenues and quaint Dutch colonial and Victorian architecture, stemming from its days as Dutch and English colonies. We were staying in Cara Lodge which was originally built in the 1840s, one of the highlights of the day was feeding manates in a nearby park and visiting the Bourda Oval which is one of the oldest grounds in the Carribean and the only one in the world below sea level. Dinner was outdoors in the botanical gardens where we were treated to music all evening by the National Steel Drum band.

19-11-17 We drove to Parika to board our boat for the trip across the Essequibo River and on to Sloth Island. Apart from sloths, the island is noted for its birdlife, unfortunately the sloths did not to make an appearance and the birds also were not to be seen. On our return we cruised under the amazing Demerara Harbour floating bridge which is 2km long and has 61 spans. A high-level span provides a horizontal clearance of 32m to let small craft pass at all times and to let large higher craft pass two sections of the bridge float apart.

20-11-17 We boarded a charter for the one-hour flight to Kaieteur Falls. The falls are five times the height of Niagara Falls, and they send more than 136,000 lires of water per second crashing 251 metres to the bottom of the gorge. We were lucky to see South America's rare distinctive orange bird, the Cock-of- the-Rock on our walk back to our charter for the short flight to Iwokrama River Lodge which is located three hours from the remote Guyana/Brazil border. We all had individual cabins with a hammock on the verandah which was great to relax in after such a busy day. We went for a cruise on the river at night and were able to spotlight for caimans and wildlife.

21-11-17 After breakfast we took a boat to the foot of Turtle Mountain, climbing 290m to the summit to see views of the rainforest canopy, hazy mountain ranges, dense jungle and the might Essequibo River. On our way to the top of the mountain, Alex nearly walked on a snake which we found out was called the Fer-de-lance, one of several extremely venomous snakes of the viper family. Late afternoon we took a boat trip up river to some beautiful cascade where Ron had fun sliding down the rapids.

22-11-17 After an early breakfast we left Iwokrama to travel the long bumpy road back to Gerogetown. We travelled through rainforest areas which are rarely seen by Western tourists. We arrived back in Georgetown after a very tiring 8 hours in the car in time for a very late lunch before checking into our hotel. Later that night we went out for a chinese dinner which seemed a little strange to be enjoying in South America.

23-11-17 This morning are early start for our flight to Trinidad and Tobago

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