Lessons learned from Mom!

Lessons Learned in the Guyana Interior

Prior to my trip to visit with Missy and tour her adopted country, I read that traveling to Guyana was not a vacation but rather a life experience. I'd have to agree. And as with any life experience it is important to embrace those lessons learned, sometimes the hard way. So here are the lessons I learned during our journey to the interior of Guyana.

1. It's always wise to put the toilet seat lid down.

2. Spiders get annoyed when you turn on the faucet when they are chilling. A second related lesson - keep your toothbrush in its case.

3. Sleeping within a mosquito net is logistically challenging - glasses, headlamp, alarm and book are never where you want them - and forget it if you need a tissue or some such thing. A second lesson - lights after dark (which is 6 PM year round) is a great way to need the mosquito net even more than normal.

4. Sometimes art work on the walls moves.

5. Water not heated by the sun, or taking a shower when you are not heated by the sun, is just plain torture.

6. Even wild, savannah raised cats crave attention. But then, don't we all? Just need to ignore that this same kitty ate a bat for breakfast.

7. Adapting is the key success - playing cards in the breeze requires developing a seamless two finger technique between players to hold the cards in place. Playing cards with no breeze requires as few movements as possible.

8. Go for the higher hammock - much easier to get out!

9. 5:00 AM is the new 8:00 AM and well worthwhile crawling out of the mosquito net!

10. Simply prepared, local food is nothing short of awesome!

11. Bug spray is worth more than liquid gold. Sunscreen is a close second. Anti-itch cream is a close third. Our four legged bug eating friends and the tree canopy can only do so much.

12. Always have an extra three men on a trip to push start the jeep.

13. A dog can look a lot like a fox, especially if you've just seen a fox. No, really! (In my defense, the dog I saw was while in a moving truck and in the savannah - just saying.)

14. Always carry a cutlass (machete) for you never know when you'll need to bushwhack.

15. Rum soaked in passion fruit + fresh lime juice + a hot, satisfying day = WONDERFUL

16. Nothing is finer, aside from rum punch mentioned above, than fresh cashews.

17. Fresh skeleton of a porcupine or caiman (alligator) is as close as I want to get to a jaguar.

18. Time is relative for those living in the interior - "Jus now" could be most anytime in the somewhat near future but certainly not "now" so get in your hammock and relax for awhile. And "a few weeks back" could be a few years back. We learned about a pet Tapir at the next lodge we were going to and disappointed he died just a few weeks back. But alas, "several weeks back" might have been more accurate.