Iwokrama

Hello!

So apparently I'm really not so good at updating lately. I'm sorry. I actually did intend to update on Friday but the office (and therefore the internet) got closed up earlier than usual so I never got a chance to... I am supposed to actually work after all.

Anyways, I'll begin by saying tourism is not the most accessible thing around here. Not only is it not all that common to have tourists around here, by far the most tourists that do come are based out of Georgetown, so getting around has proven rather difficult. But the Iwokrama Nature Reserve was SO close to us that we just had to see it. So we bit the bullet and paid for drivers to take us. All in all we could have flown to Georgetown for the weekend for the same price as all our drives cost us, but I'm not likely to be back in Guyana any time soon so we just had to do it. We got picked up early Saturday morning. So early, in fact, that we were able to catch the sunrise, which was absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately none of my pictures of it are really in focus, but here's one anyways:

Our first stop was about an hour and a half away at the Canopy Walkway which is near the south entrance to Iwokrama but is run by CATS (the same organization that runs the eco-lodge we stayed in in Annai a few weeks ago). The Canopy walkway is about 200 meters of swinging bridge through the canopy of the rainforest with 4 platforms to stop and enjoy the sights.
Here I am on one of the walkways. I know it's pretty safe and everything but that doesn't stop me from being a little nervous that's for sure! We spent most of our time while at the Canopy walkway on the highest of the platforms (about 100m above the ground... or was it feet? I know... big difference, but I can't remember... it was high that's all I know) hanging out on lawn chairs watching for wildlife. It was pretty cool but no great pictures because most of our time was spent doing this:
Which doesn't lead to great pictures because everything we saw was too far away. But we did get to watch a family of red howler monkeys hanging out and scratching and apparently sleeping in later than we do. We also saw quite a few creepy crawlies in and around the platform.
Like this. Can you tell what it is? It's a tarantula, but for some reason it doesn't have 8 legs. Who knows why, our guide didn't know either. But he was hanging out about 6 inches behind my chair on the tree... creepy!

After a couple hours at the Canopy Walkway we were picked up and taken to our final destination: the Iwokrama Field Station which is at the very north edge of Iwokrama. If you do the math, that means we drove through the ENTIRE forest. Kinda cool, but not as fun as you might think since none of the roads are paved and it's nearing the end of the rainy season... the roads are BUMPY. Apparently driving through the forest is the most likely time to see a puma or a jaguar, but we weren't lucky this weekend... no big cats for us.

The forest is bordered at the North by the Essequibo river. Literally you're driving through the forest and all of a sudden the road goes into the river.
Like this. Anyone going anywhere north of here in Guyana (usually Georgetown) has to wait here to catch a ferry across to the other side. We on the other hand got our own boat (seen here) to take us to the Field Station which is about a 5 minute boat ride west of the road on the same side of the river. Also in this picture you can see Cassius standing between Stacey and the boat. He was our own personal guide who was pretty much there to do whatever we wanted with us for the entire length of our stay. I'm used to backpacking where I barely ever even spring for the guided tours with one guide to 10 or 15 people let alone my own personal guide! Fancy!

The field station was absolutely lovely. Not only did we enjoy the basic luxuries we've been missing here at Bina Hill like electricity, a comfortable bed and a bathroom that doesn't involve walking outside to get to, we also were served all our meals in the circular, open air building looking over the river and the forest.
It was a little strange being there because we were the only guests. This was our table, always nicely set with our own waitress to serve us every meal. A little bit away (close enough to see, but far enough that they were separate) was where the many staff ate meals that didn't look nearly as yummy as ours and had to serve themselves. It was a little bit isolating.. but nice to be pampered for a day.

Saturday afternoon was a day of relaxation where we hung out on our porch in the hammock and comfy chairs reading and lifting our feet for a bit. We decided to forgo the available night-time activities because they mostly involved going out looking for animals we didn't really care to see like snakes and spiders and stuff (although I would have liked to see a black caiman). However, we were up early again the next morning to go on a boat tour to look for animals. We spent about an hour boating around Indian House Island mostly spotting birds. Lots and lots of birds. Highlight for me though: the red and green macaw! Macaws were the one animal I really regretted not seeing while I was in Costa Rica so that pretty much made my day.
This is the best picture I could get of them, but I promise they were cool. In fact, they pretty much looked exactly like this:
But unfortunately I had to get this picture from the internet.

When we got back from our boat tour, we had enough time to eat breakfast and get ready for our next adventure: a hike up Turtle mountain. To get to turtle mountain, we were back in the boat and had to go about 30 minutes east (ish... i think). The coolest part of the boat ride was this:
Because the water is so high right now, there are parts of the forest that are literally under water! So for about, oh I don't know, maybe 200 meters we were literally boating through the middle of the forest! Not only was that super cool, but it also shortened the hike :-)

Cassius is an awesome guide and was very good at spotting animals and the likes. PLUS he had a machete! Like in the movies or something, hacking our way through the forest :-P Not quite like that because the path was actually pretty well clear, but he was leading the way so we didn't get lost and so that when there was a vine or something in the path he could clear it for us. Like this:
Turtle Mountain is 940 vertical feet high. For some frame of reference, I think Wentworth is about 800 vertical feet. So probably not the highest I've ever hiked, but a decent hike for sure... especially after having gotten so little exercise the last few weeks. But boy was it worth it. When we got to the top we had the most spectacular view.
Sort of like this. The river you can see there is the Essequibo so we're looking North here. We spent about a half an hour just hanging out at the lookoff. Listening to the howler monkeys in the distance, watching the macaws fly over the canopy and just breathing it all in. It was unbelievable.

The way down was very much like the way up, but easier. At one point Cassius thought he heard a jaguar or puma and we literally almost went on a wild puma chase, but when we were about 20m off the trail we stopped to listen again and he decided it was just a bird so back to the trail we went.
Finally, one for my dad. Called the rose of the mountain I think it was a big tall plant with these flowers every few inches all the way up. Kind of cool.

We got back from our hike exhausted and satisfied. We had time for a shower, one last meal and a bit of relaxation before we had to retrace our steps from the day before (minus the stop at the Canopy Walkway) and head back to Bina Hill. It was a short trip, but pretty phenomenal.

Now we're starting our second last week here at Bina Hill. We found out today that most of the people here are leaving next Monday to head to Georgetown for Carifesta so it's almost like our last week. I'm working hard to finish up my project in the next couple of days so it can be looked at by them before they head out.

We're still trying to figure out a way to get to Boa Vista in Brazil this weekend, but we haven't quite figured out the logistics. Hopefully it'll work out and I'll have another adventure to write about before the summer's over.

That's it for today! Talk to you later!
Kaila