Guyana
30th Nov- 8th Dec, 2021
Passage from Salvation Islands French Guiana to Guyana. It took us 2.3 days. And we averaged 6.8 Knots. We timed our departure perfectly (partly skills, partly luck), so we arrived at the Essequibo river mouth at the beginning of a flooding tide. The shortest great circle distance is 362 Nautical Miles. We sailed 378 Nautical Miles to get here. We ran the engine 13.8 Hours (25.3%) during the passage, including motoring up the river 21NM. We got 180.2 Ah/day from Solar, 19.1 Ah/day from Wind (mostly downwind sail, so low apparent wind), and nothing from the Hydro (since we sent it to France for repair), a total of 199.2 Ah/day during the passage. Not enough, so engine alternators gave the rest.
Caught a Spanish Mackerel
And the same day I also caught this black fin Tuna. Now Anders will not let me fish anymore ;-) There's plenty of fish outside this Coast
And we got a long visit from the Dolphins. So beautiful and fun to watch
Spectacular clouds approaching Guyana, in the sunrise. If you zoom in you might spot the fishing armada going out.
At the mouth of the river you have to navigate around a lot of these wooden fishnet poles
The local Pirogue, boats, here in Guyana are different from the one in French Guiana. More covered and faster. This is our first anchorage in Guyana, Essequibo river, Roeden Rust marina. In the morning we will ride the tide the last 33NM upriver to Bartica to clear in.
Cruising up the river we saw a lot of stranded, abended ships
Also their are quite a bit of sawmills along the river
And lots of cute houses, all with their own dock and a boat
We were lucky with the wind so we could sail a big part of the way up to Bartica
These two cute birds settled in on one radar reflector each
This island is called Two Brothers Islands. It is actually two islands. I wonder which one has the big fancy house and which one got the one without a building ;-)
Then it started to rain....
We stopped in Bartica to clear in. We docked the dinghy next to the ambulance boat
This is the buildings where you find the Immigration office in Bartica. They were really nice and helpful
Our next anchorage was just a short sail up the river to this beautiful resort, Baganara Island Resort.
Morning view from Horizon over the calm water and the resort
Unfortunately they were not open due to Covid. But we found a staff member there who helped us connect to their WiFi. No Restaurant or bar open though
Beautiful long empty beach
A walk around the big resort area. So pretty, and we were all alone
A place to meditate
Saw this raptor up in the tree. Actually it was a lot of birds here
Natures own Christmas decoration
We took a little dinghy trip around one of the small islands. Anders is comfy driving
A very green enormous bush
This beautiful butterfly rested on our boat
We booked a flight to see the famous Kaieteur falls here in Guyana. Kaieteur falls is ranked second in the World Water Falls data base. It's four and a half time of the Niagara falls. Over 220 m free fall. It was a wonderful experience, indeed. We feel very blessed to be able to get this experience. This is our flight coming in for landing
Our flight to Kaieteur falls arrived very conveniently to Baganara island airstrip. That's were we are anchored
Taking off in this 12 seat plane
View from the airplane over Baganara island and Horizon at anchor
Lots of rain clouds that we had to navigate around
The flight itself was an Amazing experience
We are very familiar with this kind of radar picture. Same on the ocean as in the air ;-)
Approaching Kaieteur falls.
Visitor center at Kaieteur National Park
Our hike from the visitor center to the fall. In these big plants you can find yellow frogs
These bright loud birds called Cock of the Rock, where nesting in this area
Selfie at this spectacular falls with all its colors. This was a good time to visit the fall, right after the rainy season. Now it's the widest and fullest it will be
We were lucky to be here at this time, right at the end of the rainy season. The water level is at it's peak.
View down the river from the fall
Anette is just fooling around
And Anders is contemplating
The we moved to an anchorage just north of Bartica and right outside Hurakabra River Resort
Here we were not alone, or actually we were because the other boat was empty. Funny thing is that we met the owner yesterday on the trip to Kaieteur falls. He was from Georgia, US, and is flying back home today
This small cozy family owned resort was actually open. The owner Kit and Gem where not here though unfortunately. Kit is the OCC port officer in Guyana. You can spot the OCC Burgy hanging in the bar
We can definitely recommend a stop here. We had three delicious dinner here. They have laundry service and can help with anything you need
Time for another PCR test. We lost track of how many we have done by now. This is for entering Trinidad & Tobago
Waiting. It was a rainy day in Bartica
A very busy road with lots of cars
Stocking up some fruits and veggies in the local market in Bartica
This is the local shopping street. Here you can by most everything and a little more
Fresh fruits and veggies everywhere. And everyone is very happy and helpful
Last anchorage in Guyana. Back to Roeden Rust marina anchorage. We are all cleared out and PCR tested and ready for Trinidad & Tobago. Last small fix. Anders is up the mast to clean the steaming light from corrosion.
It's very busy around this anchorage, with lots of different boats coming very close by. Make sure to anchor at least 300m from shore to let the traffic pass between you and land. And make sure you are seen, with lots of lamps.
