Weekend with Jake and his Mom & Dad

This weekend we went to visit Grandson Jake and his Mom and Dad. 

Much to our surprise, Lou (Jake's Dad) has been following our Blog and he had a zillion questions about Guyana and Karanambu...what we are going to do there and where we are going to live...we all stayed up late talking and laughing and explaining!!  It was good fun!

In the morning we headed off to the Garden Center.  We wanted to find a very special flowering plant for Jake.

 

Something that would bloom every year just when Grandma Boo Boo and Uncle Salvador would come home to visit.  So Jake will know when we are coming back! We finally found a beautiful dark pink "Native Hibiscus". 

Jake and Uncle Salvador planted the dark pink flowers right in front of the house under Jake's bedroom window.

When they were all finished planting, Jake watered the flowers....he promised to check them every day and watch for the flowers.

Buddy Buddy Buddy...Fish Fish Fish!

I can still hear Salvador calling Buddy..."Buddy Buddy Buddy - Fish Fish Fish".  This is an old picture...but nevertheless it shows the bond between Salvador and his boy Buddy! Buddy is an orphaned Giant River Otter, who is also BLIND.  Until today, he lived at Karanambu under the loving care of Diane and the Karanambu Trust.  Salvador and Buddy became very close during our stay.  Otters are so bright!!  They are called "Water Dogs" in Guyana.

Under normal circumstances Diane's goal would have been to release him into the wetlands. But this is not always possible and Buddy's injuries threatened his survival.  So today, with the help of several specialists from the Jacksonville Zoo, in Florida (where Larry, Margaret, Samantha and our Sammie live), Buddy made the long trip from his old home at Karanambu, by charter flight, to his new home at the Jacksonville zoo.  Talia, the volunteer from Australia, who we got to know very well when we were there, and who has cared for Buddy these past few months, accompanied him on his journey.  She said Buddy was a real CHAMP.  He really handled the trip well.  She'll send pictures soon of Buddy adjusting to his new habitat.  We also understand that he has a girlfriend waiting for him!  Poor Salvador was a total wreck all day waiting to hear any little bits of news on his boy Bud!  Tonight, no messages, we heard directly from Talia..."ALL GOOD!"

Grands & World Cup!

Jake comes to Grandma Boo Boo's House

This is the hard stuff...Jacob is 3 1/2.  He is Andrea's grandson.  He LOVES to come to "Grandma Boo Boo's" house.  She always does Art Projects with him, gives him bubble baths, cuddles with him in bed and makes him yummy snacks.  This is probably the last visit to Grandma Boo Boo's house.  Jake and Shannon and Lou live 2 1/2 hours south in New Jersey.  We'll go visit them for a weekend before we leave...but this is Jake's last visit here.

We made some amazing Art Projects.  A car with wheels that really turned and an airplane, just like the one Grandma Boo Boo is going to take. And we made Christmas ornaments for Jake to hang on his tree when Grandma is in Guyana.

THANK GOD FOR SKYPE!!

Great-Grandma came out to visit and she stayed overnight too.  In the morning Jake showed his Art Projects to his Mom and his Great-Grandma.

Fortunately, it was the FINALS of WORLD CUP!  So there wasn't too much time to cry!

Seeds of Change, Lisa and Shukuru

SEEDS of CHANGE

I'm getting my seeds together. The Seeds of Change catalogue. The seeds are organic and I will let some turn to seed so I can collect them and always have seeds. The flowers will reseed freely as well. No Monsanto. Looking for varieties that can take the heat and do not bolt easily, especially the lettuce. Some things I will have to grow in the shade. Going to try basil. The regular basil, as the basil in Guyana is a very strong tasting and does not work for Pesto. Hope it works. One that I will try in the shade. Took a lot of time to go through everything, but its done, just for the planting.

 
LISA

Every now and then someone comes into your life at just the right time and provides you with exactly what you need, just when you need it.  Lisa is just that person.  Lisa has been a very close and dear, dear friend of Salvador's for years.  They share a passion for Gardening and a passion for living life! Two years ago, Lisa and her husband Tom relocated to Paris.  They sold their house (and her beautiful garden).  They left behind adult children, siblings, parents and good close friends.  But they jumped in and they took the chance to seize a once in a lifetime opportunity.  They are back in town for their son's wedding and today Lisa joined us for breakfast.  Having Lisa visit us today was such a gift...she has been exactly where we are...she was just what we needed, in the midst of all the madness, to remind ourselves that moving to Karanambu is a once in a lifetime opportunity...JUMP IN!

As Lisa left Elroy arrived.  Elroy is the manager of Laparkan in New Jersey. He told us that our container will be arriving on Thursday, August 5th and they'll come pick it up for shipping on Monday, August 9th...it should take 3 weeks to get to Georgetown...WHEW!...better get back to packing! 

Perfect timing...Shukuru called from the bus! 

Shukuru has been a friend for 30 plus years.  She lives in California now, but she met Salvador originally in Guyana and he told her that she must meet Marion when she returned to the States.  She did...and she and Marion and their families lived in the same building in Brooklyn for years.  It's a long, lovely relationship. After hours of talking and sharing pictures, Shukuru took us out to dinner to celebrate our marriage and the future!!! It was a very special evening. 

Websites, Car and Sweetie

Every day is packed with so many decisions and so much to do. Thinking about "Sweetie" has been a constant.  What are we going to do with our loving girl?  

But this morning, our attention is on the Karanambu Websites.  Bright and early, Mark came over for breakfast to help us with the design for the new sites.

 

The challenge is to convey to our guests the romance of the Rupununi pioneer lifestyle, and at the same time provide all the necessary information.  We will also be linking the Karanambu Trust website, (Salvador is the Project Coordinator of the Trust) and the Karanambu Lodge websites together.  Dr. Lucy has been working feverishly these past few days to provide us with the appropriate text and pictures for the Trust website.  It's a huge project, but very exciting!

As soon as Mark left, it was time to move on to another decision...

We have almost come to the conclusion that taking the car is a mistake. It's a GREAT car...we love this car...BUT it has all the fancy computer features and if something happens in the middle of the Savannahs, there really would be nothing we could do and we would be in big trouble.  It might just be better to get a Toyota Hilux when we get there, like everyone else.  That way there will always be someone around who can fix it.  Tough decision, but we did put the ad on Craig's List and we've parked the car in front of the house and put the FOR SALE sign on it!  So far 15 people have contacted us about the car!  WOW!

But lingering in the back of our mind remains finding a home for our SWEETIE.

She really is the very best cat.  So loving and gentle.  She needs so little attention, but gives so much love.  The problem is she is an "Old Lady" and so no one really wants her.  She is very healthy and jumps HIGH on top of the kitchen cabinets to keep a watchful eye on her family and protect us.  I so wish we could take her with us, but it just wouldn't be fair to her.

If some one is looking for a loving, very affectionate, friend, please let us know.

Back to work now!  So much to do!

Article - North Savannahs

So the NY Guyana Folk Festival asked me to write an article on the Rupununi. It was harder than I thought it would be to write it...trying to fit it all into a few pages and not to forget anything, even if it was only a sentence. So many Guyanese know very little about the rest of their country away from the coast. And there is just so much to talk about in the Rupununui.

Finding a correct map was even harder. I finally found my old regional maps, which puts Iwokrama in region 8, not 9 as I had thought. 

I have some more corrections to make, and a few pictures to add, but I'm happy with the results for now. It will be published in time for the festival which is in August.