The Adventures of Andrea and Salvador: March 2012

Sharon Maas

http://www.sharonmaas.co.uk/

is a very accomplished Guyanese writer.

She is the author of "Of Marriageable Age", the first book we ever gave Diane. It became one of Di's favorites too! As it also happens, Sharon is a very dear friend of Salvador's! They spent years together traveling as adolescents and young adults. And although it had been 30 years since they last saw each other, Sharon and Andrea had been corresponding. Sharon was returning to Guyana after several years to visit her Mother, Eileen Cox.

"Coxy" (as she is known to those who love her), is also a very well know Guyanese writer. At the age of 94, she has finally retired from writing her weekly newspaper column, “Consumer Concerns” which appeared each week in the Sunday Stabroek News.

There was such excitement the day that Sharon was due to arrive!!!

So after 30 years, and months of emailing back and forth, Sharon arrived at Karanambu!

AND THEN THE FUN BEGAN!

These two friends share so much history, it was just so wonderful to see them exchange their excitement for the present and the future!

And though many things had changed, and both of them had grown so much, the ability to communicate and share their thoughts and dreams was very much present.

We had long discussions about the Karanambu Trust. A writers workshop might be an excellent way to preserve the traditional Amerindian stories of the Makushi from the surrounding communities! Oh, the possibilities are just ENDLESS!

This may have been a long time coming, but the reconnection has been made and will absolutely continue! We already have plans for the next visit!

It was almost exactly forty years ago that Hedda was waiting at the airport in Lusaka, Zambia for Andrea’s plane to land…today Andrea was waiting for Hedda’s plane to land at Timehri (Cheddi Jagan International Airport) in Guyana! SUCH Excitement!!

OH THE TEARS!

Before you knew it we were back at Cara Lodge, settling in and getting ready to spend the next 3 days showing Mom Georgetown, before we headed home to Karanambu!

First stop was the Walter Roth Museum
the museum of indigenous culture and history.

The next stop was Castellani House:
the home of the National Gallery of Art

(unfortunately we were not permitted to take pictures here)

This large wooden building was designed by Cesar Castellani. It was once the residence of the Director of Agriculture in 1888. In 1965 the building was converted as the official residence by Mr. Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham, then Prime Minister of British Guiana. In 1993 the inaugural collection of the Art Gallery was held. Currently, the top two floors of Castellani House exhibit the works of Philip Moore. Philip is a national treasure. Curiously enough, Philip was an artist in residence at Princeton University in New Jersey, at the same time Dr. Carl A. Fields (Hedda's husband) was Dean. Hedda has a painting by Philip Moore in her home in New York, which was a gift when she and Carl moved to Zambia. It was amazing for her to see so many pieces of his work all together!

Then we went next door to the Botanical Gardens to see the Manatees! And back to Cara Lodge to meet more friends and relax a bit over a cool coconut water!

Kenneth, the son of Mom's dear friend Wendella, came over to welcome her to Guyana! We were all so happy to meet him!

The next morning we were off to Borda Market to pick up supplies for Karanambu!

Her smile says it all!

Just to be here!

the smells, the sights!

We spent 3 days in Georgetown, seeing everything there was to see…meeting new friends and soaking it all up

Then it was off to karanambu. The small plane flew over Georgetown, the sugar cane fields and over the fields of broccoli (Rainforest) and finally onto the Savannahs!

At long last we arrived home to Karanambu and to Mom's "home away from home". There was so much to see and so many people to meet...everyone was so excited!!

Alex brought "Granny" a special Mango

Baby Jane and her brothers were playing games when we arrived, shy at first...but not for long!

The boys played football

Showing off their talent!

Mom brought "Karanambu Caps" for all the staff!

Just PERFECT!

Then Martin took us on the river to see the sunset!

A rum punch toast!

A Jabiru sitting on the nest with a beautiful

Cattleya superba blooming just below

It was so amazing to be able to share it all!

and then the Sunset!

On the way home, Salvador caught a baby Spectacled Caiman so we could see it up close

then he returned it to the riverbank

The following morning we got up early and Martin took us to look for the Giant Anteater!

JUST AMAZING!!!!!

Look at that!!

I CAN ALMOST TOUCH HIM!!

Did you see that?? Just breathtaking!

Home for breakfast

with the Red Capped Cardinals

Then a walk in the garden

and a look at the tomatoes

That evening was an adventure! We went back on the river, to reach Buffalo Pond where the Victora Amazonica open every night. But water was low, so Andrea and Salvador got out of the boat and walked through, but Mom stayed in the boat and Martin and Mike carried her through the creek!

And 1, 2...6! She was there!!

We paddled into Buffalo Pond

The first sight of the Lily Pads is breathtaking

OH MY! Loooooook at this!

Then we picked the perfect Water Lily, "Mom's Own" to watch open at sunset

watching the Victoria Amazonica open is one of the favorite activities at Karanambu

The Lily Pads are strong!

And work well as a table next to the boat

while you are watching the Lily open

GOOD FUN!

Mom couldn't believe that it was opening

before her eyes!

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

It takes about a 1/2 hour for it to open fully

The following day we took a drive for about an hour,

but had to wait for 2 black curassows to cross the road.

to visit our friends at Caiman House in Yupakari

Mom was so glad to meet Mike

he was (as always) just GREAT,

picking a special flower just for her!

Mom got the full tour!

Benab for tying Hammocks

then on to the Village Shop

passed the Primary School

and finally the road home

That night there were the most beautiful night blooming flowers under our window

Unfortunately, they are quite poisonous! Mom and Salvador were fine!!! But both Andrea and Diane got quite sick from the smell, so Salvador reluctantly had to move his beautiful plant far into the garden.