Cock of the Rock

Today we had an early start, leaving at 6 am, to do quite a long walk along a jungle trail to get to the cave where the cock of the rock bird nests. This bird is very dramatic, being bright orange/red with a big crest on its head. We had a guide from the local village, who was very knowledgable about trees and their uses and birds. He was able to imitate the sounds of birds that he heard, which helps attract them to come closer. But it is still pretty difficult to see anything as the trees are so thick. Anyway, we did see lots of stuff along the way, including green and red macaw, swallow tailed kites, woodcreepers, woodpeckers, and we heard the screaming piha, which is a very loud caller but is a boring grey colour so is very hard to see. We also saw some amazing butterflies, including this bright electric blue one which I´ve seen at the other trip. It took three hours to get to the cave, but we were rewarded by seeing the cock of the rock, including going in the cave (below a massive rock) where they were nesting high up on the wall, among bats. The really interesting part is listening to how the local amerindian guide talks about the jungle trees and animals and shows such a close knowledge of the whole place. Afterwards we went to the village shop where the guide came from, where they had just butchered a cow, so there was a massive pile of raw meat on the table. I was asking what happened next, thinking that they would be distributing it around the village so that it would get used quickly, but they said they would be packing it up to go in the freezer - so that shut me up. However they do not have electricity in the afternoon here at all, so that does not sound too great. This afternoon was rest time - hit the hammock.
Tomorrow we are going on another early trip to canoe to two oxbow lakes where there is good birding, but also we may be lucky and see monkeys or giant river otters. I´d like to see monkeys as I haven´t seen any yet. We have been told to cover up and use insect repellent - they only warn you after you have booked! We have a boatman to do the canoeing, but I´ve asked to take a turn. They say that the boat will go round in circles, so I´m hoping to show a bit of expertise to control that.
Cheers Kate

Savannah

First day of my holiday. We travelled overnight from 9 pm to 9 am. The first excitement was that the windscreen blew out - it was pretty dramatic, but it was actually a temporary windscreen which was plastic. We drove along for quite a time with a howling gale coming through the front of the bus, but then we were transferred to another bus in the middle of nowhere. In fact a howling gale is quite a relief because it is so hot, even at night. After that we kept getting out every hour or so, either at a truck stop for cups of tea and loos, or because it was a police check point or customs. All the time it was dark we were travelling through the jungle, but there was a full moon, so you could watch the trees go by. I thought they would be massive trees, but it was mainly small trees with just the occasional giant. The road deteriorated into a dust road for most of the journey, which was dire in parts, with the bus barely managing 10 miles an hour, but other places was fairly smooth. Eventually it got light, and we had a ferry across a river which was a great dawn experience. Shortly afterwards we emerged from the jungle into the savannah which was quite a relief.
The lodge where we are staying is pretty luxurious, lovely food. In fact they had a volunteer from Canada who is doing a critique of food service in local tourist sites staying today, so we probably had even better food than usual! They have a little swimming pool, and quite an extensive kitchen garden, beautifully set out with raised beds just like a proper organic place. They try to be self sufficient in food as it is in the middle of nowhere.
In late afternoon we had a guide to take us on a nature trail, which was climbing up a hill nearby, so that was great as we could see right across the savannah. He was playing bird calls on his mobile phone which attracted some birds in. I suppose that is cheating, but is apparently quite a common way of making sure tourists do actually see something.
Tomorrow (6 am) we are off on quite a long but flat walk to a place where you are more or less guaranteed to see a coq of the rock, which is Guyana´s national bird. The day after (5.30 am) we are going to do a river trip by dug out canoe. There are cayman and giant river otters.
Sorry to make you all jealous...
Cheers Kate

Off on the trip tonight

Tonight I'll be on the overnight bus towards Lethem. It takes about 10 to 12 hours, partly on tarmac road, then on a dirt road. They wake you up every few hours and get you off the bus for security checks. So that all sounds pretty dire. We are staying three nights at Rockview Lodge which is an eco-lodge in the centre of Guyana, among mountains and good wildlife spotting country hopefully. There are various trips included in the package.
Then on to Lethem for three nights for the rodeo, which is literally a cowboy weekend. The first event is Friday night when there is a rowdy karioke night at the hotel. Apparently last year an american guy won it, and the local people were a bit angry about that and so it all got a bit out of hand. Let's hope the locals are better at singing this year!
Hope to get some good photos, and give you the lowdown next week.
Cheers
Kate

Out of contact from 26 March to 6 April

I only get internet access at work, so please don't expect postings to this blog after Friday 26 until Tuesday 6 April. This also applies to email, but I may be able to beg to use someone else's email to catch up at some point. Cheers

Working and relaxing

At work I'm writing a half module on visual impairment - adjusting it all to fit the situation here - which is that the support staff themselves have very little know-how and very few resources. So it is about making things bite sized and straight forward in simple language, while trying to retain the correct professionalism.
Had a good bird watching morning on Saturday, we saw three toucans which are a real treat, then a couple of mini woodpeckers. They are about half the size of the UK ones, and creep up the tree. Bird watching is a good hobby as it has that WOW factor - lots of things in Guyana are not very wow, so it brightens things up.
Have got our trip booked up for next week for three nights at Rockview Lodge, which is an eco lodge on the way to Lethem, then three nights staying with a couple of VSO volunteers in Lethem. It is the rodeo weekend, so there should be plenty going on, if only people watching. This is my first bit of leave, so that will be great whatever. We are going on an overnight bus where they pull you off at various checkpoints, so it is a bit exhausting.
Have got a couple of tickets for the cricket 20 20 which is May 3 - W Indies v England. I'm not really into cricket, but it is for the experience.
Yesterday I met a woman from the US who is researching about abuse of women and children in Guyana. The statistic is that one third of children get corporal punishment at home. It is also still legal in schools for head teachers to administer. I have seen teachers carrying a cane or equivalent as a way of getting children to behave. The attitude of men towards women here is very old fashioned - women are expected to be in the home. We experience very different attitudes towards men and women at work, if men are in trouble it is a jokey matter, but for women it is not.
Cheers

Course writing going well

Having a productive time at work - the first module of the special needs course is nearly ready to be printed, and I have started to write a half module on visual impairment. Everything you want to say has to be brought down a few levels to match the local situation, and you have to put in examples to make it easier to understand. I have another week to go before taking a week off before Easter. All our proposals connected to special needs are going into an appeal to UNICEF, so hopefully some of them will get through.
We have a few things lined up for the weekend - tonight is a VSO social for the new batch of volunteers. It is at a roof top bar with free snacks and drinks - it's a shame that I don't drink alcohol isn't it? Nice view though, and it is good to catch up with how everyone is getting on, especially as I am now a bit more positive about my work.
Then Saturday evening we have bridge with our friend from the American Embassy who provides the most scrummy snacks in the world, and insists that we always go round there. I think she feels more comfortable being at home with her security guard at the gate, rather than swanning around the town visiting dubious characters like us.

Donkey Cart picture

See blog below!