THE
THREE GUIANAS.
January
2007
5 Ferries. 3 Languages.
The three small countries in the North Eastern corner of
South America have all been influenced by various cultures: Amerindian,
European, African and Asian.
GUYANA
Ex-British Guiana (independent since 1966) is reached by
river ferry from Brazil. Driving is on the left and signs are in English. At
first the 500km gravel road was good, and then we needed 4wd for a few deep mud
holes followed by very slow going due to potholes. The uninhabited white-sand
countryside reminded us of the Maghadi in Botswana. Soon after, we were in the
most pristine rain forest we had ever seen; 4000 km² of the Iwokrama
Reserve. We found a clearing to spend New Year's Eve. (A candle light supper
outside in the jungle, with not too many bugs.) Outside the reserve, logging
companies were decimating the forest giants.
Georgetown.
After Linden, which has a bauxite mine right in the
town, before Georgetown, we were stopped twice by police, checking documents.
Beside the normal police side arms, they all had Uzis slung over their
shoulders. This reminded us of what our guide book said about security:
¨Georgetown is dangerous. Period. Street crime, often violent, is common even in
broad daylight ....¨. Then we saw a few normal police vehicles but also a couple
of the ¨special patrols¨: a pick-up with open sides and roof under which was a
manned swivel-tilt mounted machine gun as well as 3 policemen with automatic
rifles. We realised we had to take the guidebook seriously! So we obtained
permission to park in the best Hotel's parking lot. It had 3 guards (all with
dogs on the night shift). We could also catch the essential sea breeze. We made
use of one of the expensive restaurants as a ¨camping fee¨. ¨Le Poolside¨ cafe.
We found the people very friendly. (Although we could not
always understand their Caribbean English). During the day we felt quite safe
around town and noticed that there were fewer domestic security precautions than
in Jo'burg, but the razor wire and armed response vehicles did remind us of
home! Apart from older wooden houses on stilts, there were also really large
grand multi-storied houses. Many Guyanese work in Canada and the USA, sending
money back.
The ethnic composition of the country (60% black, 40% East
Indian) often leads to friction, sometimes violent, mainly at election times, as
parties are racially based.
Cricket grounds were being prepared for the Cricket World Cup
2007 in the Caribbean region. Newspapers featured the cricket scene in South
Africa.
Surinam visa:
We had waited until Tuesday, 2nd January 2007 to
apply for our visa for the next country, Surinam. They said ¨Come Wednesday¨.
Wednesday they said ¨Come Friday¨. Friday they said ¨Come Tuesday¨!!!!
We had seen in Georgetown: the Dutch-built dykes (17-18th
cent.) and seawall, British-built handsome wooden Government buildings (19th
century and still in use), the amazing cannon ball tree in the park and the 60cm
long string beans at the markets. We had bought the Marmite, done the laundry
and the e-mail, and waited .....
Due to clouds we had to run the generator, but at last Jan
had the opportunity to put some new music onto the i-pod. With visas at last, we
drove east to Surinam through Guyana's sugar-producing region. (Diesel
US$0,75/l).
SURINAM
(Independent from NL since 1975)
The ferry runs only once a day and we camped there the night
before. Having crossed the wide Courantijn river, a dirt track next to
rice fields brought us to the bumpy main road. Reading signs in Dutch was a
pleasant change. Neat villages were in clearings within the swampy rainforest.
At night mosquitoes attacked viciously. In Western Surinam, the absence of
roadside garbage was very conspicuous. (Diesel US$0,95/l).
Paramaribo or ¨Parbo¨ for short has some restored wooden buildings and
a Fort from Dutch colonial times. Every block seemed to have a Chinese-owned
supermarket. Restaurants serve local, Indonesian and Dutch dishes and Parbo
beer.
We spoke in Afrikaans when a Dutch-language-newspaper
reporter interviewed us. One Sunday morning we witnessed the weekly birdsong
competition. Macho guys in yuppie cars gather in a park, bringing cages
containing their tiny black chirping birds.
FRENCH GUIANE
It was the 13th country - out of 13 in South
America. Unlike the other two independent Guianas, Guiane is still a department
of France. They take this concept to the extreme, arguing that our insurance,
which was valid for the continent of South America, did not apply as we were now
in France! It took a long argument and telephone calls before they grudgingly
accepted that we were geographically in South America.
We had obtained our shengen visa in Surinam. Dipli loved the
smooth tar roads, but not the price of diesel at US$1,39/l, the most expensive
we ever came across!
Due to books like ¨Papillon¨, Guiane is mostly associated
with penal colonies, of which only ruins remain. We were most impressed by the
European Space Station at Kourou. With 8 to 10 launches a year, 2/3 of
the world's commercial satellites have been launched from there. The coastal
area is earthquake and typhoon-free and being near the equator the rockets have
the advantage of extra speed for less fuel. The latest range of rockets is the
Ariane 5.
Cayenne,
¨More expensive than
Paris¨ we read. We could not bring ourselves to pay 18 Euro (R160) for a plain
plate of food. The ¨baguettes¨ and French cheeses at the Supermarkets were
irresistible though.
We were told that pay-outs from France in the form of
unemployment benefits and grants for children are enough to survive on and do
not motivate local people to work.
Murphy has strange ways. We
are often lonely. One evening 5 sets of people wanted to chat with us -
simultaneously. The next day we had an appointment to meet with a South African,
and then we were delayed by a flat tyre and missed him!
