The Rupununi is good for the soul..
The moon is above, and the moonlight lights up the savannah. I could see the trails. There is no need for a torch. I am walking the Rupununi in my rubber slippers, amazing rubber slippers (after the shoes were broken) which have been with me on TV and now in the Savannah. This is the last night. We come to the road and then civilisation hits us as vehicles speed on the road. It is crazy, this place. While I had hoped to have a peaceful walk in the moonlight, the conversation was about the savannah and its uses, and why large scale agriculture was not going to be good for it, with the rivers being full of fertiliser. So.. this is the dilemma, the tension. God's country .. moonlight savannah mountains , wide sky.. under threat, always under threat and it seems, dying.
The rupununi is good for the soul, well maybe the space, and the sense of freedom. Escape really. I planned this trip to run away.. but there is work, and there is my laptop with me all the time.
I saw a thunderstorm on the savannah too, also magnificent. But you see fruta drink cans and banks beer advertisements and you know that there is no escaping anything. I thought I would like to come back to spend two nights in the cabin up in the mountain behind Arnaputa, but then I discover a relative is there who anxious to show me a good time with beers, girls, and so on. Yupukari has caiman to tag and weigh. Wowetta has cock of the rock. Surama has the lodge.
I want to see if it is possible for lazy tourists like me to come down, not tourists, but travellers.. we cannot afford the high prices so does that mean we cannot feel a part of this. The Savannahs have complex politics, economic, class issues. There will be a road and a fibre optic cable, but some say that water rolls off the savannah so fertiliser is needed for large scale agriculture and that the fertiliser will clog the rivers with plants.
And when I sit at the Oasis to get the bus, a girl jump off the bus and ask Vidya what you doing here, and another man, say, wait, you from ISD, at Guysuco, that was 10 years ago. And when I hit Lethem, the immigration officer also recognise me from ISD at Guysuco, 10 years ago. And one of the other officers is on the Linux group and another one and I had argued about sexual orientation issues years ago at a police exhibition and I had sent him some documents to show him all sides of the debate. They search the bag, i say no problem, but he tells the guy writing up the book that he knows me and I 'is a good man'... I feel sad at how the criminalisation of the 'drugs' has led to this bizarre war which everyone seems to be losing and which consumes resources which could otherwise be put to good use. I am not a user.
I beg the driver to stand on the bus. He said everyone asking. The driver say that he gets hassle from his employers, because the passengers (Guyanese) complain how the standing people keep looming over them. But he cannot say no, because as he goes down the road, people stop the bus, men, women, women with children and he tells them resignedly yall come in and find a space.. Like he told me. A woman had told me that Intraserv passengers are one off the biggest polluters - people pitch their rubbish through the window. There are posters in the bus though - Fairview Cleanup, and lash it in de bin crom Cricket World Cup. All the bus has to do is put some bins on the bus and tell the passengers not to litter.
Between Annai and Lethem, endless dry savannah. When I get a seat, the man next to me said this is the part where you think you will never reach Lethem. He has on his cell phone waiting for the bars to show, until.. yippee, the bars show and we can text and call. I give in, and put on my cell phone and listen to voice messages and some of the old feelings of uncertainty come back. Will I be able to deal with all those calls, all those emails, all those things which have to be done? There are the things which now come to the fore to be dealt with, to be resolved, but also reminders that while surving, human connections are good.
God is good. This trip was not in my plans for the year.. but it came anyway.
The rupununi is good for the soul, well maybe the space, and the sense of freedom. Escape really. I planned this trip to run away.. but there is work, and there is my laptop with me all the time.
I saw a thunderstorm on the savannah too, also magnificent. But you see fruta drink cans and banks beer advertisements and you know that there is no escaping anything. I thought I would like to come back to spend two nights in the cabin up in the mountain behind Arnaputa, but then I discover a relative is there who anxious to show me a good time with beers, girls, and so on. Yupukari has caiman to tag and weigh. Wowetta has cock of the rock. Surama has the lodge.
I want to see if it is possible for lazy tourists like me to come down, not tourists, but travellers.. we cannot afford the high prices so does that mean we cannot feel a part of this. The Savannahs have complex politics, economic, class issues. There will be a road and a fibre optic cable, but some say that water rolls off the savannah so fertiliser is needed for large scale agriculture and that the fertiliser will clog the rivers with plants.
And when I sit at the Oasis to get the bus, a girl jump off the bus and ask Vidya what you doing here, and another man, say, wait, you from ISD, at Guysuco, that was 10 years ago. And when I hit Lethem, the immigration officer also recognise me from ISD at Guysuco, 10 years ago. And one of the other officers is on the Linux group and another one and I had argued about sexual orientation issues years ago at a police exhibition and I had sent him some documents to show him all sides of the debate. They search the bag, i say no problem, but he tells the guy writing up the book that he knows me and I 'is a good man'... I feel sad at how the criminalisation of the 'drugs' has led to this bizarre war which everyone seems to be losing and which consumes resources which could otherwise be put to good use. I am not a user.
I beg the driver to stand on the bus. He said everyone asking. The driver say that he gets hassle from his employers, because the passengers (Guyanese) complain how the standing people keep looming over them. But he cannot say no, because as he goes down the road, people stop the bus, men, women, women with children and he tells them resignedly yall come in and find a space.. Like he told me. A woman had told me that Intraserv passengers are one off the biggest polluters - people pitch their rubbish through the window. There are posters in the bus though - Fairview Cleanup, and lash it in de bin crom Cricket World Cup. All the bus has to do is put some bins on the bus and tell the passengers not to litter.
Between Annai and Lethem, endless dry savannah. When I get a seat, the man next to me said this is the part where you think you will never reach Lethem. He has on his cell phone waiting for the bars to show, until.. yippee, the bars show and we can text and call. I give in, and put on my cell phone and listen to voice messages and some of the old feelings of uncertainty come back. Will I be able to deal with all those calls, all those emails, all those things which have to be done? There are the things which now come to the fore to be dealt with, to be resolved, but also reminders that while surving, human connections are good.
God is good. This trip was not in my plans for the year.. but it came anyway.
Thanks for sharing, I'm picturing the vastness of space & sky, a good place to lose yourself. your first time in the savannah?
ReplyDeleteNot the first time in the area, but the first time that I had time to actually feel and experience it.. previous times it was about work and my mind was on the work at the time..
ReplyDeleteeh eh i doing research on Arnaputa guyana and your blog come up
ReplyDeleteAmaraydha