A very slow, lazy week was spent in the Amerindian village of Orealla, 50 miles up the Correntyne River which forms Guyana's eastern border with Surinam.
Fitting in with a culture means adapting to local ways. As our Guest House, the only one, in Orealla seemed to double as a local meeting place and drop in centre for village residents, we regularly found ourselves in conversation or playing games with local children. It had been recommended we bring some board games, colouring books, crayons and the like, and as our bounty was revealed, it was as though Santa and his sleigh had arrived.
Above the river bank level, after scaling a steep rough path, used daily by all, we came to the upper village level on a plateau about 100 feet above the river level.
Here beyond the village lay savannah and areas of forest, and within a forest tract, the owners of Orealla Guest House are developing a creek for holiday use. We were taken, by tractor, to the benab (an open structure with a roof made of local materials), where we could change and swim.
Previously I had rejected all persuasions, but this creek was special. The surface of the water was patterned with lilies, there was a total absence of litter (a huge problem across the populated areas of Guyana) and the setting was secluded, unlike a crowded creek "resort".
The water was the typical tea or "black" colour, cool and with a silky feel. The current was deceptively strong: moving downstream became an easy glide; working back upstream was akin to the exercise bicycle, all motion and no progress.
In this way Rosie, Clare and I celebrated my 55th birthday.
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