Day 5 (March 14, 2017): Kaieteur awe and wonder

Today was the day we had been waiting for.  The day we turned ourselves into pretzels to protect, given the Insel Air grounding situation, etc. (see yesterday's blog).  And today did not disappoint, not in the slightest!  In fact, today was one of the most special travel days we have ever lived.

But first things first.  Georgetown is not a place to write home about.  In fact, it is -- as cities go -- very underdeveloped.   In this country of 800,000, Georgetown claims 240,000 citizens.  It sits on the east bank of the Demerara River, where the river empties into the Atlantic.  The ocean actually looks like a muddy mess, as a result of the silt washing into it from the Dememera.

Georgetown is 7 feet below sea level, which is why the Dutch built a massive seawall and a canal system.  (See pics of both below.)  But we didn't actually get out to see much of Georgetown today.  That is tomorrow' story.  Today was all about Kaieteur National Park and its waterfall.

We ate breakfast at the hotel and then sat by the pool for an hour before leaving for Ogle Airport, where Air Services Limited is located.  (Air Services is the aviation outfit that runs a flight to Kaieteur National Park three times a week.)  Our flight to Kaieteur was on a single-engine Cessna Grand Caravan, which seats 12 passengers.  Before taking off, we saw a very young guy in pilot's garb walking around the facility.  We joked that he looked about 17 and said to each other, "Let's hope he's not our pilot."  Well, it turns out, he was our pilot! And it turns out his dad was on the plane, and that he is Canadian!  His dad was visiting from Quebec, which went well in our favour, as we knew we would be in safe hands.  Take-off from Ogle was at 1PM sharp. Following are some aerial shots enroute to the Park. 

The muddy Atlantic, as a result of inflowing silt from the Demerara River

Aerial view of typical Guyanian housing architecture.  Stilts are often used in housing design to minimize damage from flood waters.

Being 7 feet below sea level, this seemingly never-ending sea wall was built to protect Georgetown.  Instead of billboards, companies advertise on the wall.  So it’s like a miles-long billboard of sorts.

Aerial view of Georgetown’s downtown.  The building on the point is the Marriott, where we are staying.

This is an example of one of the Dutch-built canals that are prolific here for flood control and irrigation.

A floating bridge crosses the Demerara River and can be opened to let ships pass.

Fishing boats left high and dry as the tide goes out.

The interior of Guyana is largely flat rainforest.  But muddy rivers push through in places.

The only other thing that seems to break the flat rainforest monotony is a sporadic diamond or gold mine, like this one.

When you leave Georgetown by air and head inland, you cannot help but be struck by the forest: Guyana is flat with seemingly never-ending rainforest.  There are no roads. The only thing you do see is a sporadic gold or diamond mining operation in the middle of nowhere. You ask yourself, "How can this topography possibly lend itself to a chasm such as Kaieteur Falls?"  Then, all of a sudden, the topography changes from flat to mountainous and you know that Kaieteur is lurking in the near distance. 

The gorge down river from Kaieteur Falls.

We landed at a small airstrip atop the falls at 2PM, and were guided by an AmerIndian woman to three different viewing sites, each progressively closer to the falls.  The pictures speak for themselves and tell our experience at Kaieteur.  

The walk through the rainforest, from the air strip to the Falls.

This is the giant bromeliad, and inside lives the Kaieteur Golden frog, also known as the "poison dart frog". The frog benefits from the good hiding places among the leaves and the pools of water that collect at the base of the leaves.

The Falls are located on the Guyana Shield, one of the world's oldest geological formations. Legend has it the "Kaie", one of the great Patamona chiefs, sacrificed himself by paddling his canoe over the falls to appease Makonaima, the great spirit, and to bring peace between his people and the aggressive Caribs. "Teur" translates as "falls", hence the name Kaieteur.

Kaieteur is not developed, so there are no fences.  Slip over the edge of this cliff, and it is a quick 250m fall to your death.  Pam was getting way too close for comfort!

We spent two hours walking through the rainforest to the viewing locatons and finished with a snack at the small visitor centre by the landing strip.  At 4PM, we took off again, and enjoyed two passes in front of the falls, followed by a run directly over the falls and down the gorge.  Spectacular.  Just cannot describe it any other way.

The Cessna Grand Caravan that took us to and from Kaieteur.

The Kaieteur air strip

We landed at 5PM and were back at the Marriott shortly after, where we ate in the hotel restaurant.  Again, it was a day that we will always hold up there among our most special.