So off we went at 7am to Stabroek market to catch the 32 to Parika which is around the coast to the north. Of course the 32 doesn't set off until it is full to bursting,(and there are several other 32s all touting for customers, all insisting their bus is about to leave) so a 20 minute wait... The locals, being inured to this, are incredibly patient, the europeans (us) not.
Eventually the bus fills and goes, and makes up for lost time by going at breakneck speed - best not to watch the road!
The first obstacle is the Demerara river - Georgetown is built at its mouth - which is crossed by means of the Demerara Harbour Bridge. This is a floating bridge, reputed to be the world's longest. View from the Bridge (taken through the bus window):
On the other side is a succession of small settlements - most of which have Dutch names, eg Vreed-en-Hoop, Den Amstel, Uitvlugt - more or less ribbon development with fields of what looked like cereals behind. Arrived in Parika at 8.45am with the ferry due to leave at 9am. However the buses stop by the "stelling" (landing stage) and the loading was still going on. The gang plank was a large plank (no handrail) and to get to the passenger section involved clambering through the tightly packed vans and cars, carefully around the stacks of eggs, vegetables,boxes of groceries and live chicks, and past the seasoned travellers in their hammocks and the card school.
View from the ferry showing the stelling and the speedboats which also go to Bartica and across the mouth of the river to Supenaam:
The guidebook suggested that the ferry, though cheaper, was "much slower" than the speedboats; more on that later.
Halina on the ferry:
Then off we went, very sedately. Timber yards near Parika:
showing a speedboat returning to Parika.
The river bank is forest, with mangroves edging the water:
This is broken with a series of homesteads each with their small landing stage. There is a lot of river bank..... We were hoping to see lots of birdlife and some animals but only saw a few swift like blue birds and a collection of large birds of prey which circled lazily in the distance. A young boy, Lonzel, was fascinated by our binoculars so we let him have a go - he'd been to Parika to visit the doctor.
About halfway, the boat paused and small boats came out from the bank and tied up to us. This enabled some passengers to disembark and we took on some produce - large numbers of eggs among it.
We eventually arrived at Bartica - at 3.40 - six and a half hours later. The guidebook did suggest bringing a book (or two?).
Bartica has a golden beach and it was good to see some children playing cricket:
The stelling boasts the evocative rubric: "Welcome to Batica" (see our Syrian experiences)
However, "one horse" is a bit of an exaggeration to describe the town, even the craft shop identified by the guide book has vanished.
So back to Parika - by the speedboat!!! But... they need to be full before starting, so it was nearly 5pm before we set off. It gets dark at about 6pm, so we were becoming anxious.
The speedboat lives up to its name and really bounces along - memo to self "take extra cushion on speedboat trips". And we were back in Parika by 6.20pm. On to the Georgetown bus - wait to fill up - then hurtle through the dark to Georgetown. Stabroek Market still buzzing, so we went for the 40 bus instead of a taxi and arrived home 7.45pm.
Time for bed!
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