Kaieteur Falls Trek

We did it! We hiked to the top of Kaieteur Falls! Kaieteur is the highest single drop waterfall in the world. It's also the most famous and widely known "attraction" in Guyana. Way back during training a group of us had talked to past volunteers and heard that you could trek there over 5 days and hike to the top. So we all planned this trip way back in March for New Years and patiently waited 10 months until our amazing trip.  

December 29 came and we all stayed a night together in Georgetown and prepared for the company we made our reservations with to pick us up at 6 the next morning. The first day was a very long bus ride south. It was very bumpy and looooong but we made it to the village of Mahdia around 2. There we switched to a truck where the four of us in the pic down below got to stand in the back and hold on for our lives as it raced in the rain to our next mode of transportation.

Next, we piled into this boat and headed up the Potaro River for another hour to the little village of Amotuk. This was a chilly boat ride...

Amotuk! This is where we slept the first night. We strung up our hammocks, ate some dinner and passed out! I froze, it was seriously so cold. (Probs only like 70 degrees, but here thats cold!)

The next morning we woke up and got into another boat to head further upriver. It was much more enjoyable this day without rain and was much warmer.

The Amerindians in this region believe in the healing powers of this river, the Potaro. It's said it can cure you of anything and make you look younger so of course we jumped right in for a quick dip.

Our guide, Tony, who is from the Amerindian tribe that lives on Kaieteur, took us to his waterfall, which he appropriately calls Tony's Waterfall. Sidenote: everyone else had hiking boots except for me and one other girl. I was hiking in Birks and she had on sandals. Everyone with boots were instructed to take them off and keep their socks on so they could have good grip while scaling these slippery rocks. So the sandals gals went barefoot and slid a lot...I got a couple good scrapes and cuts but we made it to the top of this waterfall and stood underneath. It was really fun but very hard!

That night (New Years Eve, or what Guyanese call Old Years!) we stayed in Kaieteur National Forest in a really nice A frame. We played card games, mafia and hung out until midnight. We all thought it was pretty special to be sharing this Old Years night together and to be spending the first day of 2018 hiking to the top of Kaieteur. 

The PCV Crew. Brittany, Dorie, Taylor, Kelsi, Jami and Me! 

The next morning Taylor and Dorie were walking down to the river when they screamed and sprinted back. The guide who stayed with us that night along with Tony, Stanley, ran out with a stick and started killing it. Then he brought it back and of course I had to Britney Spears it! I can't remember what kind it was but it was def poisonous.

New Years Day we were hiking the infamous OMG hill because it goes straight up to the top of the falls! We took some breaks, bathed in the river cuz we were pretty hot but kept on going up the hill.

This is the whole crew! Including two of Kelsi's friends from home.

Jami, Evan, Kelsi, Me, Dorie, Taylor, Brittany and Tim!

With our handmade walking sticks Tony made for all of us!

We made it to the top! 

It was so beautiful.

We got to spend two nights in a guesthouse at the top of the falls literally a 5 minute walk from the edge. It was great. We could just walk down whenever we wanted and were able to see it at sunrise, sunset and the whole time in between! At sunset there are these birds called switfs, that swoop down speed speed and fly behind the waterfall to sleep for the night. We spent one of the evenings watching them fly in and it was very interesting! The pic below is Kelsi and I watching the swifts fly behind the waterfall.

 On one of the days, Stanley took us to his village, Menzies, about a 30 minute walk from our guesthouse. It's right on the river so we went to get into the water to bathe and the current was SO strong. Like whatever you're thinking, triple it. There was a little boat landing that we could stand on and not be taken but the second you went out a little it just took you. Stanley and I swam a little upstream and were holding onto some branches to catch our breath and stay in one place when he asked if I wanted to swim across the river. Of course I said yes! He told me to swim diagonal and just swim as fast as I could. I didn't think about it and just focused on following him and didn't pause at all. About 3/4 of the way across I felt like my lungs were going to burst. I think it's the hardest I've ever swam. We made it across and I heard everyone back on the other side cheer! We had gone a little downstream so we got out in the bush and walked further up before getting back in. Stanley gave me more guidance and told me where we were aiming for again. Thankfully it was easier to swim back or else I would have just been taken down to the falls and byeeeee! It was so hard but felt so good after!

This was definitely the best experience I've had in Guyana. Seeing the interior and being with volunteers adventuring in the jungle was just amazing. I can't wait to do more exploring in this country!

We flew home on a 12 seater airplane. It was so small and so fun! We basically retraced our path and flew past, Kaiteur, Tony's Waterfall, and all the rivers and villages we had passed. 

"Hello, can I help you with something? If not, please step aside because I'm about to kick the shit out of life." - Where'd You Go, Bernadette?