Steve's Adventures in South America
I bought a one-way ticket to Venezuela and I'm not coming back until my tube of toothpaste runs out...

Rock View Lodge

Our Cessna at Ogle Airport

I arrive late for breakfast but fortunately the waiter packs up my fruit slices, butters and jams my toast, decants fruit juice and coffee into sealed polystyrene cups and hands it to me nicely packed in bag. Voila! Instant brekkie to go! I spice up the fruit juice with Trinidads finest (rum) and board the taxi to Ogle Airport. As our bags get stowed onto a little Cessna we have to report to immigration (Why? We're not leaving the country!?), which I kid you not, is a little wooden hut. The officials in smart, ironed uniforms within took their jobs very seriously and refused to smile. One was doing the very important job of drawing red rule lines in a note pad. (Keep up the good work soldier!) The other (not the sharpest tool in the shed) took down our details. The interrogation with Ian went like this:

"Where have you stayed?" \

"Tower Hotel." \

"What's your occupation?" \

"Tourism." \

"What industry is that?" \

"Tourism." \

"What's that involve?" \

"Tours." \

"What do you do?" \

"Lead Tours." \

"What's your occupation?" \

"Tourism." \

"Where have you stayed?" \

"Tower Hotel." \

etc...

Our Rooms at Rock View Lodge

It look a while. Anyway, I fly co-pilot again and the others cram into the back. The whole flight was a white out in the clouds so we all try to catch some uncomfortable Zs. After 1½ hours we land at the airstrip at Rock View Lodge. Wow! It's a very well to do and expensive colonial resort run by a very English and public school boy speaking, Colin. Except for a dirt track round the back, the airstrip is the only way to get to this little oasis in the middle of nowhere, sorry, I mean the Guyana Interior.

Our Survival Belt

After lunch and some pool time (the only pool in the Interior, so we're told) we go over our kit and get our Machetes! Custom hand made leather sheaves too! Everything goes into dry bags.

Dinner and evening beers are spent with Peter, a zoologist and Caiman (Croc) Catcher, also known as the Mad American. Peter and Ian chat about politics, characters, giant spiders, giant spider eating wasps, snakes, giant snakes, supersize Anacondas, Caiman, giant Caiman, Anteaters, giant Anteat... you get the idea. I mainly listen, spellbound to the conversation. Guyana is truly the lost / forgotten world. It appears that Brazil and the Amazon is just a tourist resort by comparison. Guyana is where it's all at.

Posted by Steve Eynon