I’m writing this blog post perched on top of the washing machine at the LaBores’ house. I’ve pointed the generator away from me so that the exhaust is not blowing into my face and all is well. Generally speaking, the washer works pretty well, but today it is being somewhat temperamental, requiring me to sit on it to make it go. As I mentioned before, all is well. My parents visited me here in Guyana mid January and that was wonderful. It was fantastic to have them here. My father walked in to my house and immediately found things to fix to make it more comfortable. He tweaked my toilet so it filled correctly, built me a “real” bucket shower complete with a pulley to lower the bucket so it could be filled at the new faucet he installed, built shelves with Micah, and painted. My mom made herself quite busy too, listening to Micah and Dani and evaluating my teaching. She helped me know where I could aim to have them by the end of my time here and what areas to focus on. Besides all that, it was so good just to talk. I think I talked their ears off that week about all that I had seen, experienced, and learned. They listened and encouraged. It was wonderful. My parents also brought with them a plethora of beautiful foods. Walnuts, almonds, brown rice, granola bars, dried fruit. The first night when we unpacked I was totally overwhelmed and nearly in tears. “For you”, my mom said as I pulled out a big bag of steel cut oats, “for you”, as new t shirts appeared, “for you”, as games and notes from friends and pictures came out. Thank you to everyone who sent the games, stories, pictures, greetings, and teaching aids. I can honestly say everything has been useful. Just last week, when I was out at Blackwater, a women in the church there asked for us to bring some Bible stories along next time so they could teach Sabbath School. As a part of an answer to that query, I plan to take them the Bible picture book Mrs. Braman’s second grade class put together and tell the kids where it came from. Thank you.
While my parents were here we also got the opportunity to travel in Guyana a bit. Besides showing them around Mabaruma, we visited Shell Beach, Kaiteure Falls, and Orinduik Falls. Shell Beach is located about a two hour boat ride from Mabaruma. It is one of the few locations where endangered leatherback turtles come to lay their eggs. Mid January is not turtle season, so we did not see any turtles, but we did have an exciting boat ride out there with “Uncle” Audley. Audley and his son Romeo run the conservation station out at Shell Beach. During the off season they farm the land along the coast, keeping title to the land. During turtle season Shell Beach hosts conservationists and scientists, who come to study and protect the turtles; going on patrols to keep dogs and poachers out of the turtles’ nests. We stayed in one of the almost completed guest houses and had a great time.
Kaieteur Falls is one of the largest single drop falls in the world. We arrived to find ourselves the only visitors in the park. We hiked through jungle to the 3 viewpoints keeping our eyes peeled for the “Cock of the Rock” bird. It is red, apparently rare, and sadly, I know little more about it. We saw a one twice and managed to get a few fuzzy pictures. In contrast, tiny Golden frogs, which live only in the Guianas, were in abundance. They live their whole lives in huge bromeliad plants. One has to walk very quietly up to the plants and peek over the edge to catch a glimpse of the frogs before they dive into the water at the base of the leaves. This activity; sneaking up on the plants and then taking a quick look for frogs, was endlessly entertaining to Micah. Not a plant was left unchecked as we walked around the park. The views of Kaieteur Falls were spectacular. We were able to walk right up to the edge of the gorge and right out to the brink of the falls. Railings? Oh please. Don’t be ridiculous. At dusk we sat on the edge of the falls and watched as swifts dove down into the valley and then circled behind the waterfall to roost for the night. It was incredibly peaceful and beautiful.
The landscape and foliage of Orinduik Falls were completely different than anything I have seen in Guyana. Located on the savannah, straddling Guyana’s border with Brazil, Orinduik Falls is a series of cascades that tumble over slippery jade rock; the water stopping every once in a while to form pools before it is off over the next drop. The air was dry and instead of green jungle plants everywhere, there was sand and yellow grass. It was odd to have the fabric straps on my sandals stiff again and I think my skin was the driest it has been in four or five months. Again, we were the only visitors and had the place to ourselves as we scrambled over rocks, under waterfalls, and through shallow pools. After our travels in Guyana we returned to Georgetown and my parents boarded a plane back to the US. I returned to Mabaruma to finish out the last four months of teaching having been refreshed and encouraged by my parents’ visit.
For more on Kaietuer Falls:
To see the pictures of our trip click on the photo link at the bottom of this page.
