Guyana

Even though we are on a pretty tight budget, we decided to splurge on a tour of the Mazaruni River and a hike to Marshall Falls.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazaruni_River

We hired Mr. Bhagwanbas Balkarran, Delta 2 Tours, to take us up the river:

He picked us up at our boat anchored at Bartica, across from his hotel:

We traveled west over the top of Bartica before heading south into the Mazaruni. This is a beach on the north west side of Bartica that is used as a logistical point for resupplying interior operations (mining and harvesting). Companies truck supplies to this beach, drive their trucks a few feet into the river and are then met by a boat. The supplies are manually loaded into the boats for delivery to the interior of the country, via the river.

Prison boat going by:

Heading further west:

Prison on the west shore, Mazaruni River:

This is a dry-dock, built hundreds of years ago by the Dutch, still in use today:

This one is waiting on its turn in the dry dock:

Our first stop on the Mazaruni River, Fort Kyk Over Al:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Kyk-Over-Al

Granite quarry. Mr Balkarran told us an Italian company buys quite a bit of the granite for countertops, some is used for building, and the aggregate is used to build roads, etc:

Worker housing:

Supplies heading to the interior:

Barge waiting to be filled:

Dredges in the distance, tearing up the bottom of the river, looking for gold:

Another quarry:

Mazaruni River:

Supply boat:

His boat was pretty fast:

Swirling river water:

Good idea to have a guide if you plan on going very far into the river:

Our guide took us a bit further inland past the falls to his camp on 55 acres, right at the base of these rapids:

His beach:

He told us that during rainy season there is enough water flowing here to drive his boat further inland:

These grasses that grow around the rocks are being studied by several universities for possible treatment or cure for HIV/AIDS:

…on to Marshall Falls:

Tied up the boat and started our hike here:

Flora:

After a 20-30 minute hike through the jungle we came upon the falls. Beautiful scenery, but the bridge has seen better days:

Falls:

“You” go first:

Marshall Falls, not huge but they are beautiful and the water was clean. It was so fun to be back in the water.

This is a big brown butterfly, at rest his wings are folded and show only the brown outer side. The inner side of their wings are brilliant neon blue and in flight they look like a neon blue flashing light show. And when they fly they bounce around a lot so, no, couldn’t nail that shot down:

Great tour but time to head back. Same quarry heading back down the river:

Gold dredge parked next to a really nice island resort:

Mr. Balkarran gave us a fantastic educational and informative tour, then dropped us off right back at our boat. Worth every penny!

That afternoon we went back to Baganara Resort and said our goodbyes, which was very tough. We made some wonderful friends in Guyana and it was difficult to say goodbye… The next day we pulled up anchor, headed down the river, stopped at Saxakalli Beach for a night, then back to Parika. We anchored between Roed en Rust and Parika, took a day trip to the capital Georgetown, then checked out to head for Suriname.