Guyana -- Day 6

The first day of 2013, and we're in a different country! It was nice waking up this morning and knowing that we're traveling and doing something different this year; maybe this was a preview of what the year has in store for what we hope to be a fortunate year filled with great experiences.

We left this morning destined to the Parika Ferry. Our original plan was to go to Bartica, a town south of us, but it would take about 4hrs if we traveled on a regular boat. The ideal way to travel is by speed boat, taking less than an hour, but the waves were too choppy that day to travel at a fast speed. So we did plan B; a day trip to Leguan, another little town on an Island.

We took a ferry across to the Island, a 45 minute ride. We met one of Granny's family and he was nice enough to take us around. There was only enough room inside the truck for three, and since there were six of us, that meant the other three got to stand on the back of the pick up truck! Sounds exciting, doesn't it?! It was indeed, but only for the first ten minutes. The hot sun blazing down on us didn't really help the rest of the ride :)

The gang made stops to visit family, each happy to see everyone and providing drinks and snacks to us even though they didn't even know we were coming. It was enjoyable to meet everyone for the first time, and each and every person was so nice and pleasant to talk to.

After an afternoon of visiting family and riding on the back of a truck, we took the 2pm ferry back to Parika and made our way home. We had dinner and took it easy for the rest of the night.

Guyana -- Day 5

Today was Monday, so our cousin/tour guide went to work. To replace him for the day, their neighbour from across the street took the liberty to tour us around their area. Kevin, 12yrs old, is a bright and funny little guy who walked around with us and showed us the ropes of the neighbourhood. He provided us with some good facts and also many laughs. At 12yrs old, he already has dreams of becoming a doctor, and we could see this coming true as he's a very smart kid. But before that happens, there's still some growing up to do and with that, we purchased a Snakes and Ladders board game at a store down the street, which was played for many hours during the trip!

We took a walk around my Wife's old house as well which was a 10 minute drive from where we were staying. She was very young when she left, but still had a couple of pictures of her childhood. We brought one particular picture with us to do a Dear Photograph style picture -- I think we were successful! It was surreal to be back to the exact same area, and as you'll see, the picture does not show many clues as to where it is, but her Mom knew exactly where it was taken.

Today was New Year's Eve -- or Old Year's Night as the locals called it. Local time was one hour ahead of Toronto and we were physically missing from the annual get together with our friends, but that didn't stop us from joining! We love our friends, they're the best -- we coordinated a web chat a couple hours before midnight so we can say hi and wish them a new year. It was great to see them although we were in different countries.

We rang in the New Year at midnight outside their house along with fireworks. Everyone went crazy with music and fireworks; it was such a different experience than what we do in Toronto, so it was a nice way to start off the New Year!!

Guyana -- Day 4

Our water was packed and we were ready to go; today was a day trip to Kaieteur and Orinduik Falls!

After meeting with the tour group at a predefined location, we hopped on a bus to go to Ogle Airport. From there, we boarded a (tiny) plane that fit 14 people including the pilot. The flight there took just about an hour to reach, and what a view it was from the top. The scenery surrounding was lush and full of trees and in the middle was the spectacular sight of the 741ft drop waterfall. The view was breathtaking from the top and we couldn't wait to land and get a closer look -- literally. Kaieteur does not have any man made barriers at the edge of the falls, so it was up to you how close you wanted to get.

Kaieteur is known for one of the most powerful waterfalls in the water due to the height and water volume (for more info about Kaiteur, click here). To quickly do a comparison, Kaieteur is about three times higher than Niagara Falls. Since it was dry season, the amount of water flowing over the drop was only at 40% of its regular flow. We walked to three different look out points of the falls, and also got a glimpse of Guyana's poisonous Golden Frog. The view of the falls from up close was amazing. The amount of water flowing over the edge was powerful, even at 40% of its volume during wet season. You couldn't help but be mesmerized by the flow of the water and the panoramic view of down below -- made you want to take a dive :)

We had lunch back at the cabin and got back in the plane for a 20 minute ride to Orinduik Falls. This was was not high at all, but it was just as scenic. We were given the chance to walk in the water and underneath the falls if we chose to. We decided to just walk through the flowing water as we didn't have swimwear on, so we didn't go underneath the falls itself.

The day had ended and we took the 1hr 30min plane ride back to Ogle Airport. The sun was on its way down while we waited for our ride back home. We had dinner when we got back, and relaxed for the rest of the evening as we all had a long day trekking it through the jungle in the heat.