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 MAKING A DIFFERENCE HVZBOB

.OSTRILS ¾ARING THE 'IANT 2IVER /TTER SURGES TOWARD running naked MY DINGHY 4EENAGER ±"ELLE² HASN´T REACHED HER SPECIES´ SIX FOOT SPAN YET in "UT SHE AND HER COMPAN paradise ION ±0HILIP² CAN STILL BITE &ROM BABY CRADLE WATER LILIES TO STRETCH THE HEADS OFF LIVE PIRA LIMO RIVER OTTERS 3OUTH !MERICA´S ONLY NHAS !ND RUMOR HAS IT %NGLISH SPEAKING COUNTRY SURPRISES "UT THEY CHEWED UP A HORSE CAN IT PUSH FURTHER ° TO PROTECT ITS WHISPERER PRETTY GOOD LAST AND INDIGENOUS CULTURE WEEK 4HOSE RED RIMMED ° WITH A CLEVER CARBON OFFSETTING PLAN EYES SCARLET AS A MACAW´S 4EXT AND 0HOTOS BY !MANDA #ASTLEMAN WINGS MAKE ME REGRET DECLINING TRIP INSURANCE I traveled to Guyana — a lime-wedge of a South American country squeezed between , , Venezuela and the Atlantic — expressly to see these creatures. In my mind, they resembled the otters of my Pacific Northwest home: all jolly grapefruit cheeks and puffy two-ply fur. But here on the coffee- colored Rupununi River, all I can think is, “Man, that’s one massive water wea- sel. I hope she doesn’t like white meat, because after an especially overcast Seattle winter, that’s all I am.”

-EMBERS OF THE -AKUSHI TRIBE ° OFTEN CALLED ±#HILDREN OF THE &OREST² ° ON THE SAVANNAH NEAR .APPI 6ILLAGE 'UYANA -AIPAIMA %CO ,ODGE OFFERS ACCOMMODATIONS NEARBY AS WELL AS TREKS TO *ORDAN &ALLS WHERE LESS THAN  NON !MER)NDIANS HAVE EVER VISITED

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Guyana also has , , giant anteaters, pink “Growing up here,” notes Diane McTurk, the fifth-genera- , the world’s largest alligator (black caiman) and its tion owner, “it was like running naked in paradise.” But with most heavyweight rodent (the 140-pound capybara). Eight adulthood comes responsibility: fixing the generator, “Mac- types of primates live there, including Gumby-limbed spider Gyvering” jeep repairs, fending hungry goats away from the monkeys. Smithsonian experts continue to count species; paperbacks (mmmm, binding glue). Nothing works quite right, that number has already flown past 800, including man-sized and no amount of baling wire and duct tape can patch all the Jabiru storks. Among its tropical plants, the national flower, the country’s problems. Victoria amazonica water lily, blooms up to 10 feet in diameter and Guyana is poor, despite a rich in gold and has pads big and burly enough to support an infant. diamonds. If ramps up, it can market wilderness and That’s all eye-strainingly awesome. But zoom to panorama indigenous experiences, instead of selling off natural resources for the bigger picture: the fact that 80 percent of Guyana re- to miners, loggers and ranchers. Children could study by clean, mains wild. It’s the globe’s largest swathe of intact Amazonian safe, solar-powered light, rather than hunched near candles rainforest. And the 45-year-old country plans to keep it that way. and kerosene lamps. And maybe it’ll even “walk out” the specter of Jonestown, 'UYANA´S !CTION 0LAN where American cult leader Jim Jones sparked the murders Here, carbon offsetting goes far beyond donating trees to and cyanide suicides that killed 918 people in 1978. It’s hard assuage the guilt of air travel. Guyana has volunteered to do to fight the cultural cache of the “drink the Kool-Aid” catch- planetary penance — for a price. Norway, counterbalancing its phrase. But if anywhere can pull that off, it’ll be English-speak- North Sea oil rigs, will pay the South American nation to stop ing Guyana, which weaves together unfettered nature and vivid . The more green Guyana preserves, the more of cultures — African, Chinese, European, , AmerIndian, the $223-million fund it’ll see over the next four years. East Indian and Latin American — as deftly as a rope hammock. The infant nation plans to plow this money into environ- mentally sound improvements. Already, high-speed internet starts to snake through the rainforest, where villagers club )F TOURISM RAMPS UP 'UYANA CAN together and handcraft eco-lodges such as Maipaima, near MARKET WILDERNESS AND INDIGENOUS Nappi. If you build it (and a website), they will come. Right? We do, at least: a ragtag bunch touring with Wilderness EXPERIENCES INSTEAD OF SELLING OFF Explorers. The group hikes 17 miles round trip to Jordan Falls: NATURAL RESOURCES TO MINERS LOG we’re among the first 100 gringos to glimpse this massive cascade. Where the whitewater splits like a mermaid tail, we GERS AND RANCHERS lie on the crag and drink rum under pinwheeling stars. Then we shine lights under the hammocks, checking for bushmaster Two decades ago, this country faced the developing world’s snakes, before bunking down. worst economic decline, after trying to establish a cooperative The next day, we try to power along the trail like the Makushi (read “socialist”) republic. Flat broke, it simply stopped paying tribespeople. The “Children of the Forest” lower their heads foreign debt. and just motor. No rests. No snacks. No shoes, even — most But here Guyana is today, spinning Norwegian kroner into wear flip-flops. But minimal isn’t always better. The cook, Julietta, light and motion, protecting its culture alongside the rainfor- tumbles 20 feet down a muddy hillside. She’s unable to catch ests’ medicinal plants and leafy, oxygen-exhaling biomass. herself with both arms full: she clutches a metal tub of fish in Belle the bad-mood otter finally veers away, close enough one hand, a plastic bucket with a Saran-wrapped cake in the that I can count the water drops spangling her whiskers. The other. When she winces to a stop, a snapped sapling pushes dinghy engine coughs into action and we slide away from Ka- against her ribs, bruising, but luckily not puncturing, her skin. ranambu and its sun-seared, Out-of-Africa ambiance. I comfort Her face a tight fist of pain, she waves away aspirin and myself: “At least you saw Giant River Otters, even if they were limps into camp unassisted. “We’re Makushi,” the guide too cranky to swim with guests like usual.” Carlandine Bernita Wenceslaus explains. “We just keep going.” Two days later, we’re on Grass Pond near Rewa, when leg- Later I’m told the country has only a single search-and-rescue endary birding guide Wally Prince spots a sleek brown head, ,OCALS ONCE SMOKED 'IANT 2IVER /TTERS FROM THEIR DENS helicopter; not that we had a satellite phone to call it or anything. maybe a flash of bloodshot eyes. Prince paddles the dugout HARVESTING THEIR PELTS FOR "RAZILIAN SPECIALTY LEATHER CRAFTS Guyana brings a whole new meaning to the phrase “walk it out.” canoe up and down the lake, despite the fierce chop. “There,” +ARANAMBU 2ANCH STILL TAKES IN ORPHANED ANIMALS ±7E´RE SEEING CONSIDERABLE RECOVERY ² SAYS THE ´S ½FTH he shouts. “No, wait, there!” GENERATION OWNER $IANE -C4URK ±,AST YEAR THEY WERE CONSIDERING TAKING THEM OFF THE ENDANGERED SPECIES LIST² (OW 4OURISM #AN (ELP This time it’s a curious young male, taking long, arcing 0HILIP AND "ELLE THE CURRENT CROP OF OTTERS ARE JUST ONE Not all ecotourism here has such a gritty edge. On the dives. “It’s hard for your eyes to see, because you haven’t grown YEAR OLD AND FOUR FEET LONG THEY MAY MAX OUT AT FT  up in this environment,” Prince asserts. But eventually the sun 4HEY´RE GRUMPIER THAN MOST RESIDENT ANIMALS WHO OFTEN savannah stand genteel Rock View Lodge and Karanambu SWIM WITH THE RANCH´S GUESTS Ranch, which doubles as the otter sanctuary currently housing glints just right off a wave’s trough and I glimpse him. Just like petulant Belle and Philip. Guyana’s potential, he’s beautiful. k^

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   Among Guyana’s tropical plants, the national flower, the Victoria amazonica water lily, blooms up to 10 feet in diameter and has pads big and burly enough to support an infant.

 

 #ARLANDINE "ERNITA 7ENCESLAUS IS ONE OF THE COUNTRY´S ½RST FEMALE WILDERNESS GUIDES 3HE´S  AND HAS ONE SON  ,ESS THAN  NON !MER)NDIANS HAVE MADE THE  MILE ROUNDTRIP TREK TO THE SPECTACULAR *ORDAN &ALLS NEAR -AIPAIMA %CO ,ODGE  ! MAJOR BIRDING DESTINATION 'UYANA BOASTS  SPECIES OF   MACAWS  PARAKEETS  PARROTLETS  AND  AMAZONS (ERE A 9ELLOW CROWNED 0ARROT !MAZONA OCHROCEPHALA PLAYS IN 2EWA 6ILLAGE  !FTER AN ARDUOUS  MILE TRAIL HIKERS CAN PLUNGE IN POOLS PARTWAY DOWN THE DRAMATIC CASCADE OF *ORDAN &ALLS  ! HELICONIA BLOOMS IN THE RAINFOREST NEAR -AIPAIMA ±4HE OLD PEOPLE CALL IT FOX COCK ² LAUGHS GUIDE #ARLANDINE "ERNITA 7ENCESLAUS  4HE !MER)NDIAN VILLAGE OF &AIR 6IEW BREEDS BUTTER¾IES FOR EXPORT  $IANE -C4URK THE ½FTH GENERATION OWNER OF +ARANAMBU TRANSITIONED IT FROM A RANCH TO A SHOOTING LODGE AND THEN TO AN ECO RESORT AND 'IANT 2IVER /TTER SANCTUARY   28 kiXm\c^`ic nnn%kiXm\c^`ic`eZ%Zfd 29 FOCUS ON USFOET

3IX 5NMISSABLE !CTIVITIES IN THE ,AND OF 3IX 0EOPLES 'UYANA´S CULTURAL MIX SWEEPS FROM !FRICAN TO #HINESE %UROPEAN #ARIBBEAN !MER)NDIAN %AST )NDIAN AND ,ATIN !MERICAN )N HONOR OF THE ±LAND OF SIX PEOPLES ² TRAVELGIRLS SHOULD CHECK OUT THESE HALF DOZEN ADVENTURES

 "ELLY UP TO THE EDGE #ATCH A CHARTER PLANE TO +AIETEUR &ALLS ONE OF THE WORLD´S MOST POWERFUL CASCADES )TS  FOOT WIDE CATARACT THUNDERS  FEET DOWN NEARLY ½VE TIMES THE SIZE OF .IAGARA "E CAREFUL THE SITE HAS NO HANDRAILS JUST SIGNS WARNING VISITORS TO REMAIN  FEET FROM THE CLIFF !S YOU HIKE BACK TO THE LANDING   STRIP PEER DELICATELY BETWEEN THE LIME GREEN LEAVES OF THE GIANT BROMELIADS 4HE WATER POOLING INSIDE SHELTERS THE PLANET´S DEADLIEST FROG THE GOLDEN POISON DART %ACH ERASER SIZED 0HYLLOBATES TERRIBILIS CONTAINS ENOUGH TOXINS TO KILL  HUMANS WWWKAIETEURPARKGOVGY

 +AYAK THROUGH THE RAINFOREST &IVE MILES SOUTH OF THE ROUGH AND READY 3!&!2)3 MINING HUB OF "ARTICA "AGANARA )SLAND 2ESORT EMANATES COLONIAL GRACE ON A PRIVATE  ACRE ISLAND NEAR THE CON¾UENCE OF THE %#/,/'9 GREAT %SSEQUIBO AND -AZARUNI RIVERS 4AKE A SERENE EARLY MORNING PADDLE LISTENING FOR

RED HOWLER MONKEYS IN THE CANOPY 42!00 BAGANARANET +!2,!

 7ATCH THE #OCK OF THE 2OCK "9 'UYANA´S POSTER BIRD HAS AN APPEARANCE TO MATCH ITS SNIGGER INDUCING NAME THE $!.:%."!+%2#(%%3%-!.´3 MALES´ LIFEBOAT ORANGE PLUMAGE RISES INTO *)-

A SORT OF MOHAWK 4HEY HAVE ESTABLISHED ),,5342!4)/. "9 CATWALK AREAS CALLED LEKS WHERE THEY STRUT FOR THE DRABBER LADY FOWL #ATCH A GLIMPSE AT 0(/4/    +AIETEUR &ALLS OR THE )WOKRAMA )NTERNATIONAL #ENTER FOR 2AINFOREST #ONSERVATION  3HOP FOR CRAB OIL WWWIWOKRAMAORG  .EARBY STANDS THE 4HE OPEN AIR 3TABROEK -ARKET HAS SERVED COUNTRY´S ONLY CANOPY TOUR IDEAL FOR WATCH AS THE CAPITAL 'EORGETOWN´S EPICENTER SINCE GUYANA  ING PARROTS´ SILHOUETTES STREAM ACROSS THE  0ROWL AMONG ITS FESTIVE STACKS OF PINE SUNSET AS YOU SIP A FROSTY "ANKS BEER APPLES AND EGGPLANTS IN SEARCH OF CRAB OIL 'UYANA 4OURISM !UTHORITY IWOKRAMACANOPYWALKWAYCOM WHICH BOTH PREVENTS AND TREATS INSECT BITES WWWGUYANA TOURISMCOM AMONG OTHER MALADIES  #ATCH A CAIMAN $ON´T WORRY IT DERIVES FROM THE NUTS OF +ARANAMBU )N THE !MER)NDIAN VILLAGE OF 9UPUKARI #AI THE !NDIROBA TREE #ARAPA GUIANENSIS NOT WWWKARANAMBUCOM MAN (OUSE &IELD 3TATION SHELTERS VISITORS CRUSTACEANS %IGHT OUNCES COSTS  IN THE AND ALSO RESEARCHERS MONITORING -ELANOSU 3TATES BUT JUST A FEW DOLLARS HERE 7HILE -AIPAIMA %CO ,ODGE CHUS NIGER THE LARGEST MEMBER OF THE ALLIGA AT THE MARKET ADVENTUROUS EATERS SHOULD WWWWILDRUPUNUNICOM TOR FAMILY AND ALSO AN ENDANGERED SPECIES PICK UP SOME LOCAL HOT HOT GLORIOUSLY HOT 'UESTS CAN TAG ALONG DURING THE NIGHT TIME PEPPER SAUCE AND MANGO ACHAR A SPICY 2EWA %CO ,ODGE DATA COLLECTIONS WHERE EXPERTS LASSO MUSTARD RICH CONDIMENT WITH )NDIAN ROOTS WWWREWAGUYANACOM CAPTURE WEIGH MEASURE AND SEX CAIMANS WWWRUPUNUNILEARNERSORG  )T´S ALL VERY  3PY ON HUMMINGBIRDS 2OCK 6IEW ,ODGE 5&/ PROBE BUT FOR GOOD CAUSES EDUCATION 'LIDE A BOAT ONTO BLACK WATER AT DAWN AND WWWROCKVIEWLODGECOM AND CONSERVATION 0LUS HOW OFTEN CAN YOU CATCH A GLIMPSE OF THE ¾IRTY ½GHTY SECRET PET A SIX FOOT CAIMAN´S CLAWS AND DUCT TAPED LIVES OF THE #RIMSON 4OPAZES 4OPAZA PELLA 7ILDERNESS %XPLORERS SNOUT #OME DAYLIGHT TOUR THE VILLAGE AND THE SECOND LARGEST HUMMINGBIRDS 4HEN WWWWILDERNESS EXPLORERSCOM WATCH DEMONSTRATIONS OF WEAVING AND HEAD BACK TO !RROWPOINT .ATURE 2ESORT FOR CASSAVA PREPARATION MORE EXCITING THAN IT AND A BON½RE DINNER ON THE   SOUNDS GIVEN THE POISONOUS JUICE  SANDY BEACH WWWRORAIMAAIRWAYSCOM

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