There are no ways round these creeks which cross the savannah and surround every village. To get through, just cycle until you sink, hop off and wade, and then tip out your wellies at the other side.
Day Two Hundred and Five - Creek Crossing
There are no ways round these creeks which cross the savannah and surround every village. To get through, just cycle until you sink, hop off and wade, and then tip out your wellies at the other side.
Day Two Hundred and Four - Bush Farm
We are still in the growing season for the small farms tucked into local areas of forest. These areas are cleared and farmed for a short period before being allowed to grow back naturally, ensuring that the forest gets a chance to recover and fresh land is available for farming.
Day Two Hundred and Three - Cassava Peeling
It's a long process to grow the cassava and then convert it into an edible form of food.
Day One Hundred and Ninety Nine - Zenith
On this day the sun passed from its season in the North, heading for the equator and a season in the south. At exactly 11.52 it was directly overhead. Looking down our local well, the sun does not cast a shadow on the walls, lighting the pool of water at the bottom perfectly.
Day One Hundred and Ninety Eight - Tree Climbing
On her way home from primary school, a girl stops off at the 'whitey tree' to climb and pick some fruit. The tree came into fruit just in time for the beginning of the new term. Within a week it has been picked bare!
Day One Hundred and Ninety Seven - Bulldozers
A deeper sleep than just dozing! An ambitious plan was made a decade or two ago to build a really big runway for Aishalton, and the South Rupununi. Bulldozers, tractors, and a road layer were brought by the Guyana Aviation Authority. They must have worked for a long time, moving a lot of earth, before they discovered a seam of hard rock running accross the middle of their intended runway. Faced with the decision of what to do about the rock - either blast it all away with dynamite, or build up the runway higher on each side - they retired to think about it.
The bulldozers are gradually rusting into the ground. They will not move earth again.
Day One Hundred and Ninety Six - Sunday Outing
A family out on horseback. Look carefully at the item carried by the small girl! (Image quality on Picasa/blogger might not be up to a very close inspection!)
Day One Hundred and Ninety Five - Storage Pot
It could be an ancient storage pot, left behind by some prehistoric civilisation, but in fact, it is a tiny nest built by a marabunta wasp for its young egg. It builds the pot from sand, grit and spit, lays an egg in it, and then places a grub inside (after parlysing it with a sting). When the egg hatches, it has a meal ready before it has to leave home!
See Photo of the Day - Day 73 for a picture of the marabunta!
Day One Hundred and Ninety Four - Dancing in Evening Light
This may come as a surprise to those who are used my self-critisism, however; I'm actually quite happy with this image! The evening light gives a lovely glow to the man's face, but there was a price to pay, with a very strong shadow running just above the hairband. I had to wait until the dancer ducked his head, to make sure the shadow wasn't over his face - but the light was low enough to require a slow shutter speed - so I couldn't get away with much movement. I could have used more flash, but that would have blown the evening colours. So, considering the conditions, I think I managed to get an acceptable result.
Day One Hundred and Ninety Three - Steering the Ox
Small lady, big oxen, but it was clear who was in charge!
Day One Hundred and Ninety - From Small Mangos
...grow big ones! The mango trees have both large ripe fruit and small buds which will grow into full size mangos for the second crop - ready sometime in November or December.
Day One Hundred and Eighty Eight - Last of the Summer Sun
Not that the Autumn sun or the winter sun is likely to look any different! I think that the sun is nearly at the point where it passes directly overhead at mid-day. If anyone wants to work out the exact day when this occurs, we are 2 degrees north of the equator!
Day One Hundred and Eighty Seven - Butterfly
Different angle for a change - I keep returning to a patch of flowers at the convent which attracts a whole range of different butterflies.
Day One Hundred and Eighty Six - Rock Carvings
I cycled to the rock carvings for the rise of the full moon, but when I got there I found that the rock faces the wrong way to get the carvings and the moon in shot, and even worse, the area was full of rubish. Someone has driven there for a picnic and left empty drink cans and polystrene food containers. It's hard to believe, so far from the nearest fast food vendor, that this could happen. I guess it's the same with beauty spots the world over - people go to admire the scenery, and then do their little bit to destroy it.The setting sun filtering across the carved rockface was a small consolation.
Day One Hundred and Eighty Five - Butterfly
The seasons have changed, the humidity has dropped, the heat has increased, and suddenly we are surrounded by butterflies - big ones, small ones, red ones, yellow ones... This one has more subtle colours, but the contrast with the flower, I think, works better.
Day One Hundred and Eighty Four - Amerindian Dancers
Two local dancers, proud of their Amerindian culture. A great sight to see.
Day One Hundred and Eighty Three - Chainsaw
I've seen plenty chainsaws used for cutting down trees, but its quite impressive to see one being used to plane warped planks...
Day One Hundred and Eighty - Hummingbird Chick
Back to the hummingbird nest - sadly I wasn't there long enough to get the hummingbird feeding the chicks.
Day One Hundred and Seventy Seven - Savannah
I've been taking a few journeys over the savannah this week - not rich pickings, but occasionaly something stands out...
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