Amazon 5000 - Guyana

[averageiowaguy]

I rejoined the Amazon 5000 Expedition on the Essequibo River, near Rockstone. There was a little store in Rockstone and a few of the guys spent some time playing dominoes with the shopkeeper.

Rockstone is on the Essequibo River, just opposite from Glock Island. In the frame you can see the pilings used for a dock. These were built by Dutch colonists in the 1600's. If you had some gumption, you could easily build a pier there today on the same pilings.

When in Rome ...

 

[averageiowaguy]

Here is the team just prior to departure from N05 59.191' W058 33.151'.

Most of our journey was through jungle, but occasionally a road would present itself and run in the correct direction. These times were welcome breaks. In the big tree are nests of a bird called the
Oropendula.

 

[averageiowaguy]

Hammocks were a very popular method of sleeping.

My personal choice was the Warbonnet Outdoors Blackbird, shown in the background. I used an MSR Ewing Tarp to cover.

Andy Narine, a native of Guyana, joined the expedition for the last leg. He is the King of All Birds. He founded the Guyana Birding Society and is a world expert on the birds of Guyana. Needless to say, he pointed out a lot of birds. On the first day we saw 62 species. He has a bowl of cook up rice, a favorite of the Guyanese people. I have a video to post of how to make it.

 

[averageiowaguy]

We stopped at a ferry on the Essequibo River. There is a shop there with a garden. They had a pretty neat scarecrow. His shirt is 'The Brown Hornet.'

There are axes in the jungle. Occasionally you'll run across one. This one had a hand carved handle. Timothy is preparing a little hot water for morning tea.

Trucks lined up at dawn for the ferry on the Essequibo River.

I brought the fixed blade I made but I ended up not using it. I sent it back to Georgetown so I wouldn't have to carry it.

Instead I used a folder and borrowed the machetes as needed.

 

[averageiowaguy]

We built a raft to bypass about 30 miles of neck deep swamp between us and Bartica.

I carved a paddle using a machete and my folder.

 

[averageiowaguy]

Salt fish served either with roti (bread like a tortilla) or rice is a very popular dish in Guyana.

Our raft was surprisingly seaworthy, but we could not find balsa, so we sat in the water a bit. The important thing was that it floated all 6 of us and about 450 pounds of gear.

Come sunset, we moored our raft on an island.

 

[averageiowaguy]

The Essequibo is a tidal river because it is so close to the Atlantic Ocean. We moored at high tide. Over the night as the tide went out, our raft got suspended on some tree roots and the bamboo holding it together cracked in a couple places. The raft still floated and worked, but it was loose and wanted to fold up like a taco.

We took the raft to Bartica and salvaged the rope and jugs for future use.

 

[averageiowaguy]

The big industry in our particular area was gold dredging. Here is a gold dredge.

The captain let us come aboard and look around. They showed us how everything worked. He lost it in a machete fight. Life on the river can be tough.

 

[averageiowaguy]

The landing at Bartica.

The streets of Bartica.

We restocked our provisions in Bartica.

There were lots of different machetes used by the locals. I liked this one.

 

[averageiowaguy]

This was a tame bird that hung around us one night in camp.

A nice little girl.

I did a little bit of cooking on the trip.

Everyone wanted their pictures taken with us.

I hid a geocache in this tree.

Pink Toed Tarantula.

 

[averageiowaguy]

Breakfast. Guyanese hot sauce is some of the best I've ever had. It will light you up.

We bushwhacked quite a bit.

Who can tell me what this track is? There is a whole story about that.

 

[averageiowaguy]

We eventually broke out of jungle about 20 miles from Georgetown.

Final coordinates:
N06 51.930'
W058 24.921'

There is a lot more but I'm going to do video for the rest. I can't release a lot of it because of a contract, but I got permission to release some. Look for it.

 

[caine]

Looks like that was alot of fun

 

[bladerique]

What's the story about the dude that lost his boat in a machete fight?

Can you tell us more about those Dutch pilings that have survived the centuries?

Salt fish served either with roti (bread like a tortilla) or rice is a very popular dish in Guyana.

He has a bowl of cook up rice, a favorite of the Guyanese people. I have a video to post of how to make it.

I'd like to learn about Guyanese food. Thanks for chronicling your trip. Keep posting.

 

[gentemanndvm]

What's the story about the dude that lost his boat in a machete fight?

pretty sure the 'it' in 'he lost it in a machete fight' was his missing hand, not the boat.

 

[averageiowaguy]

What's the story about the dude that lost his boat in a machete fight?

Can you tell us more about those Dutch pilings that have survived the centuries?





I'd like to learn about Guyanese food. Thanks for chronicling your trip. Keep posting.

The pilings were made with small chips of rock and a cement. There seemed to be absolutely NO structural problems with them.

The Guyanese food was outstanding. I took a bunch of video of people cooking and asked them about the recipes etc. I've got some really good videos coming.

 

[Mistwalker]

Looks like you had a blast man, thanks for the cool pics!

 

[Esav Benyamin]

The Guyanese food was outstanding. I took a bunch of video of people cooking and asked them about the recipes etc. I've got some really good videos coming.

I love it! I could never understand people traveling to really exotic places and ordering cheeseburgers, wouldn't try the local food. Much more fun getting what the people over there know and love to eat, that's really good.

 

[averageiowaguy]

I love it! I could never understand people traveling to really exotic places and ordering cheeseburgers, wouldn't try the local food. Much more fun getting what the people over there know and love to eat, that's really good.

One of the main things I get out of trips to exotic locations is learning how the indigenous people live and survive. A big thing for me is to exchange food ideas, because everyone has to eat. People really like to be asked about their food because it is so central to culture. I've made some REALLY good friends just by asking about how to prepare a certain dish and showing respect to their methods/recipes.

 

[Sam Wilson]

It's been a long time since I've had saltfish, or roti. Did you eat any guineps down there? They can be a welcome treat. Excellent pics, and thanks for the story. I look forward to the videos. Great job.