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In the fucha man, sometime!
LETHEM - GEORGETOWN - SPRINGLANDS and BACK TO VENEZUELA
Well, sometimes you think things can go badly then you realise your imagination is just too limited!!! Its nightfall when Lethem finally comes into view, its a sprawling town that just seems like a lost child in the bush. This is the heart of the Rupunnuni Savannah, a vast natural grassland that covers much of southern Guyana and big chunks of Brasil and Venezuela. Little does the Backyarder know that it will be home for the next week or two.
After a liitle asking about accomodation for the night is soon found and shortly afterwards goods are bought at a little corner shop that will have to last atleast 3 days, perhaps more!!Ah yes the beloved uncertainty fills the night with abandon, my favourite!!
The morning is hazy but by 6 it clears and soon the vast openess swallows you up and you seem to be all alone or so you think, but on the horizon smoke rises towards the sky and while wallowing in a refreshing stream a family cycles by and stops to borrow your pump. In fact they are just out for a little shopping which involves a 20 mile ride for 50lbs of flour, some salt and maybe a beer for the old man, another ordinary day.The first day goes by in a blur, there is traffic on the savannah, not much and its mainly "locals" going to Lethem and back but for once the sight of a car is welcome. Its hot,its dry and its inspiring but at night its still the first two but with mosquitos, serious mosquitos. They don't mess about and are plentiful enough to keep the Backyarder in his tent from dusk till dawn. So this is why so few people live in this slice of paradise!!!
The road is in pretty good shape, alot better than expected. There are a few large cattle farms, but most seem abandoned or just closed for the momement. The numerous streams provide welcome supplies of water and soon you're in Annai. For a major village its qiuet small, a school, a few government buildings, half a dozen eccentrics and an assortment of Amerindians, perfect!!What a beautiful place. It really takes your breath away, must come back.