BIRD FOOD PUDDING!!!

Every morning Diane has a ritual, after breakfast, she takes a few slices of Auntie Doris's homemade bread.  She tears them gently into tiny pieces and sprinkles milk and sugar over them and feeds this mixture to the Red Capped Cardinals.

So today, Auntie Doris had 2 loaves of bread which she was getting ready to give to the animals, because she wouldn't consider serving the guests bread that wasn't made the same day,   I said, "WAIT!  We can make Bread Pudding for dessert."  The girls had never heard of Bread pudding...but OK...so I started to make it...I got the big glass bowl and started to tear the day old bread...I mixed the milk and sugar (butter, egg and spices, dates and raisins) and began to make my bread pudding...the laughter began..."Oh, but Auntie, you are making BIRD FOOD PUDDING"...when it was done and the whole house smelled of that delicious smell, we served it up for the guests in true Karanambu style with "Lashings of Creme"...the girls just could not control themselves....because these guests (all 12 of them) were BIRDERS...and they were eating "Bird food pudding".

You can find the recipe for Bird Food Pudding 

if you click on Karanambu Recipes at the top of the blog.

Savannah and River

Karanambu is 150 square miles of the North Savannahs, through which the Rupunnuni River meanders. The landscapes change with the time of day.

Savannahs in the early morning

In the early mornings, just after dawn, we take our guests out in the Landrover to search for the Giant Anteater.  Some morning we are very fortunate and get close enough to see him.  This morning we met a young adolescent Anteater.  Still plenty room to grow…

The Wetlands in the morning

Crested Caracara

The Rupununi River

 Capuchin Monkey

SUNSET

R.A.M - Remote Area Medical

We are settling in and learning so much each day!

RAM Remote Area Medical is a service which provides medical care and emergency care for those in remote areas, such as ours. 

Click here to see their website:  RAM  

We are in touch via skype and email.  Today, I received a message that one of our girls was scheduled for a medical procedure. The plane would be landing before lunch.  I went to discuss it with her and her husband to make sure that it was still ok to go ahead with the plans.  Once I received their permission, I emailed back their request for the baby to travel with her Mom.  Terrence (the RAM pilot) was able to stay in touch with me as he flew. “I’ll be there in 17 minutes, landing at the small airstrip”. 

And there was Great excitement when we heard the plane coming.

We all stayed and watched her board, with her baby. 

Everyone waved as the plane took off….

 and then, it was back to work!

Let the Unpacking Begin!

The water had dropped dramatically in the 3 weeks that we had been gone.  The road home from the big airstrip, which we had traveled by boat, was now accessible by land rover.  It was quite amazing to see the difference.

And once we arrived home, a big surprise awaited us.  Our truck had made it as far as Yupakari, where everything had been unloaded at our neighbors, “Caiman House”.    Much to our surprise, the staff of Karanambu began to shuttle our things over, using boats and land rovers, and by the time we arrived home almost all of our things were waiting for us!

It is really hard to describe what it was like to see various possessions that have endless memories of family and friends seemingly, just waiting for us to arrive…

as we got out of the land rover, we gazed at the countless boxes,  barrel, mattresses,  our old oven and televisions (?), Rachel's artwork and the furniture that we sat in under our grape arbor in the backyard in NJ. 

Slowly we began to make sense of it all and carefully we began to create a new home.  

The staff was fascinated by what we brought, actually so were we!  Some of it was fantastic and much needed, like the stove. Auntie Doris had been cooking for 24 people using a tiny 4-burner oven.  And now our old oven seemed like a HUGE HUGE luxury.  As Ryol hooked it up, I told Auntie Doris about all the meals I have cooked on that stove, the German Chocolate Cake I baked each year for Alissa and Shannon's birthday, (which is coming very soon now).  We unpacked pots and pans and cooking knifes.  It was amazing!  And to see the expressions on the faces as they carefully studied my favorite cooking utensils.... with a big smile, one asked; "this knife, Miss Andrea...you use this to kill cow?", she laughed and laughed...."NO!" I laughed back, "It's great for chopping garlic!"  Which of course, as the words were coming out of my mouth, seemed totally ridiculous, and the laughter continued! 

Then there was the mattress fiasco!  We brought our King Size, “pillow top” mattress.  Well, again, the laughing and the teasing had begun even before we had arrived.  It was surely the real “Princess and the Pea” story.  What else could it be!  Such a bed!! 

It had gotten a bit wet coming over by boat, so it was put out in the hot sun, in the middle of the compound.  The guys lifted it on top of the heavy metal table base, which was last used in our backyard in NJ…(Kenneth has promised to make a new tabletop for it). We did not bring the box spring, because the wood ants would devour it “quick time”.  The bed frames at Karanambu are quite old.  Some are metal and some are wooded.  But all are short.  There was no way that our mattress was going to fit on any of them.  But we tried.  It was way too big and the frame was way too small…and the laughter began again…then we tried to leave the old thin mattress on the frame, but then it was so high!  The laughter began again!!!  “Get a ladder!  Uncle Salvador gunna climb to bed!”  Finally…we set up the bed frame which we brought with us, but because we didn’t have a box spring to set the mattress on, Kenneth built a platform of wooden board to place under the mattress!  After hours and hours and many thanks and lots of laughter, we actually had our own bed!

We had to remind ourselves 

"it’s only been two days,  

we’ve gotten a lot done!"

 

But there is so much more to do! 

FINALLY - The Container!

At long last, after 2 weeks in town, we received our container!!! 

Jocelyn, was very kind, and allowed us to unload everything at her place and store it there until we could make arrangements for another truck to take it all into Karanambu.

It was so strange to see all of our things from New Jersey being unpacked. We had forgotten most of what we packed! But it all went back into storage under the house.

It was really nice to see familiar things. We kept laughing as we tried to imagine where all of these things would go at Karanambu??

We had been told that the road to Karanambu was so bad that we would surely have to wait until October or November to try to bring everything in...but within a day or two we got a call saying that the arrangements had been made and our driver and his BIG truck from Lethem had arrived in Georgetown.

So...almost as soon as everything was unpacked, it was time to pack it up again! 

We were quite worried about the road into Karanambu and the 3 mile bush.  But the crew just spoke to us on skype and they are ALL going out to clear the road and greet the truck and make sure that everything gets home safely!

So, this time, everything will go all the way home to Karanambu!  

(right??)

Ceramics in Guyana!

What an amazing day!

Over 35 years ago I had the amazing opportunity to study pottery in Lusaka, Zambia with Bente Lorenz.  The potter's wheels where manual and powered by a stationary bicycle, the faster you pedaled, the faster the wheel turned. It was an experience that has stayed with me my whole life.  I often think about Bente and her studio and all of the folks who I so enjoyed and learned so much from.  I have frequently wondered how I could duplicate the experience for others.

My friend Tracy is President of the Craft Association of Guyana.  Tracy knows that I am keen on getting a potter's wheel into Karanambu!  So today, she took me up to the East Bank to meet some of the members of her association!  What an experience! They dig their own clay, fire it in several different ways.  Some people do use a Kiln, others fire the clay naturally in a fire pit. We make our own clay bricks at Karanambu, so the possibilities are endless!

One artist has been working on one piece for years!  It is a castle made up of tiny individual clay brick!  You cannot even imagine what has gone into this over the years!

THIS IS THE TOP PIECE OF THE CASTLE

THIS IS THE MIDDLE OF THE CASTLE

THE WINDOWS ARE MADE OF WOOD and OPEN & CLOSE

THIS IS THE MOAT and base of the Castle

THESE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN THE CASTLE

This manual wheel, although made up of bicycle parts, is very different than the one I was familiar with. We had a great conversation about how to maintain your creativity in a environment where there is so much need.  It is quite amazing that from so little, comes so much.

USING THE MANUAL POTTER'S WHEEL

Bicycle parts used to make it spin

It was a fantastic day!  New friends, fantastic artists and all kinds of possibilities for art at Karanambu!!

Emergency Medical Training

Last February, we had an emergency at Karanambu. 10 year old Vincent received a pretty serious head injury from a fall while riding his horse with his father Marvin.  Marvin brought him immediately to Karanambu.  Vincent had a large gash on the top of his head which required suturing.  Fortunately for Vincent, two of our guests were doctors.  In a matter on minutes, Dr. Peter stitched Vincent up.  Now, 6 months later, there isn't even a visible scare.  Had Dr. Peter not been there, the story would have been quite different.  The Lethem hospital is a good 2-1/2 hours away by road in the dry season!  It is this story that caused Andrea to approach Captain Malcolm Chan-a-Sue.  Malcolm is the CEO of the Art Williams and Harry Wendt Aeronautical Engineering School.  He is also a member of the Karanambu Lodge, Inc. board and the spearhead behind the First Response Emergency Medical Care program.  After a lengthy discussion, Malcolm invited Andrea to Ogle Airport for an introduction to the program and the opportunity to meet Nurse Marcia Gravesande who conducts this intensive first aid training.

Captain Malcolm Chan-a-Sue

They discussed the "worst case scenarios", many of which had never occurred to Andrea; plane crash, snake bite, boat accident, jaguar attack...as the list continued, Andrea's desire to get the training in place at Karanambu increased!

Malcolm explained the necessary items to be maintained on hand at all times.  He led the way to the First Aid Box, located in the hanger at Ogle Airport.  The box remains locked until it is needed.

The Box contains THREE emergency First Aid boxes. RED is for the most severe emergency.  Yellow is for moderate and Green is for everyday injuries. 

Malcolm explained that the program would be willing to donate the medical supplies to Karanambu, but that there were certain things that we would still need to make ourselves.  The wooden backboards used to move someone from an accident scene were high on the list of priorities.

After spending most of the day together, we agreed upon the training dates!  October 27th - November 2nd, Nurse Gravesande and Malcolm will come to Karanambu to train and certify everyone on our staff in First Response Medical Care. Nurse Gravesande will give Andrea additional training, which will allow her to cover a serious emergency until a medical team can be flow in by plane.

Sydney Allicock, the chairman of the NRDDB (North Rupununi Development Board), is staying at Cara Lodge in Georgetown.  When Andrea told him about our plans for the medical training at Karanambu, Sydney enthusiastically told her that Karanambu will be the very first to receive such training and certification in the Rupununi!!! 

Pretty Neat!