Off The Charts In Guyana - Farm Pond Anchorage

Farm pond anchorage

sv Larus heading out one morning

We are all anchored off Baganara Island Resort.  The river is probably a 3/4 mile or so wide here.  The tidal flow turns us around twice a day.  While we do get some breeze, it is nothing like the average Caribbean anchorage we are used to.  Early morning and late night it dead calm, like a farm pond.

Sunset

Another sunset

OMG – millions of stars.  When was the last time you could really see the Milky Way?  And they twinkle with multiple colors like a small disco ball.  No really.  You can even see the colors with the naked eye.....through the binoculars, it’s disco time!  At first I thought perhaps the star I was watching was a satellite because it was flashing such bright colors.  Then I thought no, maybe it is something else.  “Maybe it is a drone.”  Not your average Joe drone but like a military one.  Hey, it could be.  However, Guyana and surrounding countries are not wealthy countries so chances of a military drone are probably low.  Ok – twinkly star it is.  But why and how?  Not the scientific specifics but in general.  Of course I turned to my brainy, science friends.  “Bruce, why do the stars down here twinkle like disc balls?”  The answer was low light and other pollution along with something about heat radiating up off the rainforest.   Kewl!  Brake out the disco tunes – “Boogie fever!”  

Sunrise

Which brings me to another point, there is very little light pollution at night, even with the resort just ashore.  When the main building (we have taken to calling this The Clubhouse) with the restaurant and bar closes down, they shut off ALL the lights.  And I mean ALL.  Think about that.  When was the last time you drove past a business, any business at night and ALL the lights were shut off?  Never!  Most business are still pretty lit up even when closed.  I bet even your house at night is a series of electronic lights showing time (oven, microwave, coffeemaker) status (satellite or cable service in sleep mode) and a plethora of lights from charging devices.  Well not here.  When they shut down The Clubhouse for the evening, they shut everything down.  Of course power is precious on a remote island and therefore monitored constantly and carefully used.

The Clubhouse

While the water is "fresh" it is not really "fresh."  As I mentioned before, there is runoff, silt and such.  Additionally, there are "creatures" in the water.  The Baganara staff assured us that caiman (alligators), eels and parana are not common around Baganara waters, however we still opted to keep our dips in the river brief since we couldn't even see the third step on our swim ladder let alone our own feet.