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To fit more compactly in the boat the
packs and pedals need to come off the bicycle, and sometimes it is advantageous
to remove the front wheel. All of this requires a bit of reassembly before
we can get underway again. The view from the road is collage of rice fields, houses on stilts, canals, churches, temples, business and Guyana's beautiful variety of people. The whole package would keep it interesting for at least a dozen more trips. |
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 One
of the joys of this section of road is the names of the communities; Good Hope,
Fear Not, Better Hope, Better Success, Reliance, The Jib, Anna Regina, Golden
Fleece, Spring Garden and Charity, to name a few. Reflecting history some
seem to have a Dutch pedigree (Onderneeming) and other solid British roots
(Dartmouth, Danielstown, Hampton Court, Taymouth Manor, Henrietta and
Queenstown). Many only occupy a couple hundred meters of roadside, but
almost all have a sign. |
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 Being
a little bigger, Suddie has a post office (left) and a Chinese restaurant.
Including Supernaam and Charity, there are probably four post office in the
corridor and twice as many Chinese restaurant. Between the post office and
the Chinese restaurant is an almost invisible Creole restaurant. It is
worth search out if you are in the area. |
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 Canal and koker (or sluice gate)
are a regular feature along the coast. A koker is the gate at the end of the
canal. Much of coastal Guyana is below sea level and protected by dikes
and seawalls.
At low tide the koker can be opened and water will drain through the dike and
into the sea. The koker needs to be closed at high tide or the land will
be flooded with sea water. |
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  I
never noticed as much boat building in this section as I did on the trip that a
classic wooden boat builder was a member of the team. It is amazing how
the eye sees differently some time. I assume the boat builders have always
been there but I never focused on them. On this trip I picked out at least
a half dozen along the road. At the workshop we stopped at the were four
boats under construction. Most of the other boat yards also had multiple
boats in the works. I seems like a thriving business. |
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Queenstown is another one of the larger communities. It first historic significance is as the site of landing of first slaves in Guyana in 1630. It also seems to have some kind of connection with Queens, New York, or at least they sponsored the road sign for the town. It is a far bet that there are more Guyanese in Queens than in Queenstown. | |
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 "Carpools" after my own heart. As I passed the Better Hope Nursery School, more kids were being picked up by bicycle than by motor vehicle. Thumbs up for a health lifestyle. |
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 The
population of the Essequibo coast is split -- not evenly -- between people of Asian descent and
people of African descent. This leave a vestige of religious buildings
that is mostly a mixture of Hindu Temples and Christian Churches, with a few
Mosques added in.One of the cross benefits of going bicycle speed and the ethnic diversity is the sound track for the ride. The music wafting from the house could alternate between Regea, Hindu music, the driving drum and dance music of Bollywood, soca, calypso and some indigenous Guyanese genre. |
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 This smoke stack
was likely part of the boiling house of a sugar cane operation. There is
no longer much sugar production in this area.The broad agricultural land in this district are now primarily used for rice cultivation. |
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  The
are a number of rice mills along the road. Rice production in this area is large scale and capital intensive. Where is many
relatively low wage economy, agriculture still employees human labor as much a
machinery, conditions in Guyana seem to have made the decision makers choose
machinery over people. |
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 Examples
of the other economy include a vendor selling snacks along the by bicycle and a
few vegetable display on a simple table at the road edge, for purchase by
passers-by. |
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On one occasion I was in the area on Father's Day. For Father's Day, at least one of the traditions is to get together with other fathers and drink. As a dad myself, I was invited to join them. | |
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 If
you follow the road to its other terminus you will have reached Charity on the
banks of the Pomeroon River. A quick look at the map confirms that there
aren't any roads in a vast area west of Charity (red circle) but there are a
number of rivers. It also indicates that a lot of the coastal area is
marshy.Charity has a busy stalling (dock) where boats bring in people and produce from the farms up and down the river network, and return people and market goods in the other direction. |
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 The
markets in Charity seem healthy. High rise building and fast food chicken
restaurants have come to town. At least one of the building has two levels of
retail shops and markets itself as a "mall."
To help local producers get a fairer price, a chalk
board in the produce market shows the average |
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Guyana
Cultural Tour: Supernaam, Suddie, Queenstown, Anna Regina, Charity
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