Off The Charts In Guyana - Baganara Island Resort

The "Clubhouse"

Guest rooms

Our anchorage is just off Baganara Island Resort.  It is a wonderful place.  The staff is lovely and welcoming to cruising.  FYI - not all resorts like having cruisers around.  In fact most don't!  The ground are beautiful.  As I mentioned before, there is a small landing strip for planes and a hiking trail into the woods.  Thank you so much to Stuart, Paul and staff.

sv Honey Ryder at sunset

sv Honey Ryder sunshine anchorage

Tom relaxing and reading ashore

Hiking trail for people

Can you see it?  Hiking trail for some well traveled animal

Cutter ant trail - really

Kewl palm trees of some sort

Lovely view from our anchorage

Sunset at anchor - nearly every night was like this

Rare foggy morning was still beautiful

Pretty flowers on the grounds

So pretty

Off The Charts In Guyana - Bartica

Future vision

Welcome sign for those just off the river pirogues

Bartica is a frontier town.  People and supplies queue here before heading into the bush.  We often saw young miners (Guyanese, Brazilian and other) walking around town in their rubber boots with backpacks.  It’s a mining town.  References to the frontier towns of the Wild West are not uncommon.  However, it is also an average town in many ways with construction and growth going on.  Interesting place.

 

Sign says it all but there is so much more once you go inside

Fancy eh?  Boodhoo's General Store - serious hardware store inside

Love the name

Mining and logging are big industries in Guyana.  Bartica is filled with hardware stores that sell your regular run of the mill hardware store items along with gear specific to these industries:  picks, shovels, rubber boots, scales (for measuring), hardhats, backpacks, huge scoops for a skidster loader and giant chains (like those on a bicycle but bigger) for road and hauling equipment. 

Standard hardware store supplies

I'll take two please

Transport vehicles

Beverage and tyre delivery

Loading up to head into the interior

Big transport truck repair shop

Add on generator to the city power plant - LOUD

 It is not uncomon in the Caribbean for houses to also have a small retail store in front or small snackette or simply sell things like meat, eggs, bread, etc...out of the house.

Local roving preacher with mic and rolling speaker - friendly guy

New, active construction - mixed use

Pedistrian walkway called the Arcade - heat of the day so it is empty

In addition to the regular stores, there was a pedestrian walkway called the Arcade that was nothing but small booths selling anything and everything.  There were also vendors on the main street as well.

Street vendor

Another marina for river pirogues

Off The Charts In Guyana - The Cutlass man

Tom's cutlass and custom made sheath/scabbard

12-1-16

Cap10 Tom has become the cutlass man of Guyana.  Or he is trying to by corning the market on cutlasses. 

We had discussed a couple of years ago, getting a cutlass to have onboard as they are such a common and handy tool.  When we were at Iowkarama, Addit suggested to the guys that they should get one or two while in Guyana.  “You can get a really good one for very little money.  Let me show you mine.”  He proceeded to show all three of his.  Brazilian made.  Yes, really  - not made in China but in Brazil. 

Customized greenheart wood handle

That was all it took to light the fire in Tom.   He was on the hunt for a cutlass.  The fever spread to Jim on sv Inishnee and David on sv Persephone.  One day in Bartica, Tom located a place with the Brazilian cutlasses so he and Jim stopped in and soon each came out with a cutlass.  $1500 G$ or $7.50US$.  However, Tom didn’t stop there.  He decided his cutlass needed customizing.  He found a spare piece of local greenheart wood ashore in the scraps of new BBQ hut that is being built at the resort.  Tom took the old handle off and fashioned a new one out of the greenheart.  Carpenter Terry helped him cut it out and sand it down.  Voila – Custom cutlass for Cap10 Tom. 

Made by Tom with Terry's help

“Wow, cool.  When did you do that?  How?” were the questions Jim asked Tom when he saw the customization.  I put a pic on Facebook and a fellow sailing sista said “I want one too.”  Tom came up with the idea to get a couple of extra cutlass for gifts.  The first purchase lot was a bundle of three.  Boat guy Kelvis wanted to know “what all the cutlass for?” when he handed them to me as he assisted me in getting into our dinghy at the boathouse.  “Those are for my girlfriends.”  His eyebrows shot up.  The next trip, Tom acquired three more.  Rut-Ro.   Me thinks my husband may be turning into a small arms cutlass dealer.  Hum?  However, these cutlasses were slightly smaller with a better edge than his.  “I think we should keep one of these as well.  It’s small and the handle of yours is too big for me now so maybe one of these can be mine?” I said.  “Yep.  We’ll keep one and I will customize yours as well.” 

Sabrina's cutlass

Then Tom stumbled into a lumberyard on a visit to Bartica.  The two guys recognized a fellow wood admirer and thus they took a liking to him, showed him all around and gave him two nice scraps of purpleheart wood.  The next day started customizing my cutlass handle as well. 

Purpleheart wood

Isn’t it beautiful?!   

Sabrina's customized cutlass

Custom made by Tom

FYI - The cutlass is a very common tool in the Caribbean.  It is used to cut fruits and veggies from their growing spots and well as open them.  It is also used to clear brush.  We often see locals carrying their cutlasses.  On some islands it is illegal to carry a concealed cutlass but one in a sheath/scabbard is legal.