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?

I can make my own coconut oil!

That's right! Last week my new host family helped me make my own coconut oil and it was so cool! Not pictured are the 6 coconuts we grated to get the amount of coconut below. It's actually pretty hard to grate coconuts...you have to sit on this piece of wood with a grater on the end and then work the coconut in a circle. Uncle Baio, my new host dad, is really good and can grate them speed speed (Creolese) I was determined to do as many as I could but could only get 1 1/2 done before my hands were literally bleeding! 

We were left with all of this coconut, which Auntie Lalita, my new host mom, and I then soaked in water to create coconut milk. We did this twice, wringing out the coconut to get all of the milk. Then we put it all in this huge pot and let it sit over night. 

The next day, after school, a layer of fat had risen to the top, we scooped all of that out and put it to boil on her kerosene stove. This took a while, stirring occasionally. But you could see it turning to oil! 

We were left with a water bottle full of coconut oil!  As my mom says, now I can survive an apocalypse! Now get to grating!

"I'll grow up when I'm older" - Young The Giant

Christle, IST and Falling Through Stairs

What a title, eh? A lot has happened in the past month and half. One of my best friends here, Christle, was having a hard time and getting triggered by things occurring at her site so she decided to Medically Separate from Peace Corps. (there are many ways to leave, Medically Separate, Medically Evacuate, Administratively Separate, Early Termination, etc etc.) This was a hard decision for her and a hard time for Kelsi and I to see her leave, although we supported whatever she wanted. We went with her to her island and helped her pack and say bye to her host family. It was sad. Really sad. 

 Christle with all of her stuff

Waiting for a boat back to Parika from Wakenaam

Kelsi, Christle and I had a mini thanksgiving together with chocolate cream pie and popcorn! The best with the best!

Education had an IST, in-service training, surrounding literacy and best practices. It was great to get back together with the Education volunteers. We were at the Grand Coastal Hotel for a couple days and they had a separate Annex for the volunteers where we basically lived in a big house together for a couple days. It was like Real World: Peace Corps, so fun! Wish we could do our service from there all together. My counterpart from Laluni, Miss Cindy, came with me and we both really enjoyed the sessions and learned a lot!

Our IST happened over Thanksgiving so we had a little celebration with our counterparts and all the volunteers. It was nice to be together and talk about what we were thankful for.

 GUY 30 Education!

Trying to explain Thanksgiving to Grade one and two! We made hand turkeys and they were pretty cute about all of it!

The past two weeks haven't been the greatest. I had a little accident in Laluni, where one of my stairs broke and I fell through and hit my knee, head and hurt my back. The Peace Corps nurse had to come in and get me and take me to the hospital. Luckily nothing was broken, just bruised and sprained. I've been staying in a hotel in town getting better and while at the hotel I got a staph infection in my armpit. The nurse thinks I scraped my arm on the wood and then got infected somewhere because of that. My friend, Kelsi had two on her legs so we've been keeping each other company with our misery and ailments. Thankfully I'm feeling better although my knee is still pretty hurt. I'm trying to rest it and get it better before we are supposed to hike to Kaiteur, a famous waterfall in two weeks.  Cross your fingers!

"If you think small, your world will be small, if you think big, your world will be big." -Paulo Coelho

Mom in Guyana!

On November 3-11 Mom came to visit me! I arranged for a taxi to pick us both up and then take us to Georgetown, where we stayed at a Bed and Breakfast that volunteers love to stay at. We caught up, went to Popeye's for dinner and she showed me all the goodies from America she brought! It was really nice and relaxing to just have a night together before we went to Mainstay.

  

The next day we took a mini bus to the Parika stelling, to take a ferry to the Essequibo coast where Mainstay is. We met John at the stelling, boarded the ferry and found seats for the hour and a half journey!

We arrived at Mainstay Resort, checked into our room and then headed over to my host families house! Everyone was very excited to meet Mom and feed us lots of food! In fact, we never ended up eating at the resort. My host mom, Sunita insisted on feeding us every meal. It was very sweet and I was really glad to be back in Mainstay with my Guyanese family. We went swimming with John at the lake, another volunteer, Carly, came in for one of the days and we just relaxed and gaffed with all my family. They had a big family dinner the first night to celebrate my mom being there and she got to meet the whole extended family! 

My host nephew, Luther! Sunita will say, "Where's Auntie Chels?" and he'll look over at me, it's pretty cute!

Cousins and sisters! Tia, Lorianne, Tiffany and Luther!

Mom meeting Mom! Sunita was very happy to meet Mom, she cried because she was so happy and then we cried! I was really glad they got to meet each other and spend some time together.

Christle, Kelsi, Carly and Bri

After Mainstay we headed back to Georgetown where Mom had so graciously booked us two nights at the Marriot! She even let two of my BFFs from Peace Corps come stay with us to enjoy it's luxury! It was so nice. We got to eat the breakfast buffet, which was amazing, and eat dinners there. The three of us volunteers were amazed and thrilled at everything, while Mom was not as surprised at the Marriot glamourousness. We ended up meeting up with more volunteers at the mall for some dinner and a movie. I was glad Mom was meeting all of my friends and getting lots of perspectives on Guyana life. 

Christle, John, Kelsi and I out to dinner with Mom!

We went to the National Park where there are a lot of manatees, or what Guyanese call, sea cows! You can feed them reeds and grass and they come up and say hi! It was so cute!

Our final stop was to Laluni! Mom came to school with me and met all my students and teachers. The children were very excited to show her their reading skills or for her to read to them. I walked her all around Laluni and introduced her to my favorite families, showed her the creek and made sure she tried all the food,

My host sister Victoria and her daughter, Prescilla came over and we taught Mom how to make a pointer broom out of the palm leaves. It was fun to watch Mom try to make it and meet this family as well.

Showing Mom how it's done!

It was really nice to have her come visit and meet my Mainstay family, Laluni family and Peace Corps family! She got to see a little bit of my life here and experience Guyana. She tried all the food and was a trooper in Laluni without running water and electricity! Love you Mom!

"Life is about not knowing and doing something anyways" - Mark Manson

Silly Students!

School started on September 4 and it's been great to be back at school and working with the kids again! I pull out a couple of students every day from different classes who need a little extra help with letter recognition, phonics or reading comprehension. It's been really fun and I am actually really enjoying trying to help kids learn how to read. It's really challenging but I am trying to make it fun and exciting for them, which makes it more fun and exciting for me as well!

The Grade 6 girls borrowed some of my chalk to welcome students back to school!

Loving all these jokesters!

Prescilla pushing me around the manual merry-go-round left over from Heritage!

I'm excited for this school year and getting to know all my students and the teachers better. We are already a month in and it is definitely the best part of being here, hanging out with the kids, laughing with them and just learning so much from them!

"All of my past lives, they got nothin on me." - BØRNS

Amerindian Heritage Month

September is Amerindian Heritage Month all around Guyana. This celebrates Amerindian history, culture and also signifies the time when the first Amerindian was allowed in Parliament. All of the Amerindian villages all over Guyana have a special day, usually a Saturday, where their village celebrates Heritage. This usually consists of traditional dancing, food, and drinking!

Another tradition is going to "burst the worm." The tocuma worm that is! Six weeks before Heritage Amerindians will go out into the bush (the jungle) and chop down some ite palm trees and let them sit. A black beetle will come and the worms will start to grow and spread throughout the trees. Then the day before or the day of Heritage, they go back to those trees and chop them open to find and collect these worms. This is a tradition from long ago when Amerindians needed and used every part of what they could for food. 

I am lucky enough to live in one of these villages and so my host sister, her husband, and my niece took me out to burst the worm! Many Guyanese haven't even experienced this so I felt really lucky that I was getting to! 

Adventure is out there! You have to be prepared out in the bush! I wore long pants, a long shirt and long boots in order to trudge through. Sometimes the water was higher than my boots....

 My niece, Prescilla, getting me all dressed and ready for the bush! 

We had to hack our way back to the trees with cutlasses and we only burst two out of the five trees that they cut down because it was getting so dark. There were so many mosquitoes, cow flys, and insects everywhere, I didn't feel like I could rest from slapping some part of my body that was being bit! 

My sister's husband chopped open the trees, which was a lot of work, and then we all searched through all the nooks and crannies of the tree to find all of the worms. Some were so fat and big while others were still really small. It was really gross. Prescilla made me try one and it was so weird! You have to rip off the head and then you just eat it raw! Bleh. I ate two and felt pretty accomplished. I've heard now that it's better fried though...

Holding all of our worms!

The government of Guyana picks a village every year to sort of represent the country during Heritage. The nearest volunteer to me, Michaela's village, Pakuri, was chosen! I headed over to her village and to stay with her to experience Heritage! They had booths selling crafts, different foods and drinks. We ate labba, a large rodent type animal found in the bush, cassava bread and pywari which is Amerindian alcohol that has been fermented with cassava. 

The people of Pakuri had great traditional dances and skits to showcase the culture and history of Amerindians in Guyana. 

The President of Guyana, David Granger even came to speak! 

We had a Heritage in Laluni and also a smaller celebration at school. These are a couple of our dancers! It was really cool to learn more about the people I am living with and celebrate with them! I feel extremely lucky to be living in an Amerindian community and getting to experience these rare and random things!

"It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great." 

- Tom Hanks in "A League of Their Own"