Up at the ranch itself they had what we think is an Ocelot skin...was small and very soft...
What a waste...
The vaqueros (the local name for cowboys) were drinking what they said was a Brazilian "wine"...tasted pretty feral but the label made me laugh and laugh and laugh. So here you are boys
Enjoy ;)
By the time I got back the two new volunteers had been here for a week. Dominique (Dom) and Josh from New Orleans. Josh is a landscaper and Dom works at a zoo in N.O with North American River Otters. Her duties also involve work with the aquarium section, alligators and small monkeys! Pretty freaking cool...
I was gobsmacked when I saw the kids after being away for so long - they had grown so much and looked freaking huge! Especially Philip, he had not only gained some length but had really filled out and was looking quite muscly! Bel was looking rather big for her usual self haha...she was probably about the size Philip was when I arrived.
Here is a rather sweet 'sibling moment' :)
They stayed lying like that for quite a while
Before leaving Gtown I picked up a few treats for myself to have while being out at Kbu. Including granola bars (the american version of muesli bars), Wethers lollies and the most important of all! Behold
Makes me think of home :) God how I miss fresh milk for all that I wasn't drinking much of it by the time I left. All I've seen in Guyana in powdered...even in all the supermarkets...talk about depressing...
One morning Josh had taken Buddy down to the river whilst I finished up at the otter house. When I went down to join him he asked me to look at something to see if I could confirm his suspcicions...he showed me animal tracks...My jaw hit the ground and my eyes bulged out of my head! They weren't just any fresh animal tracks but Jaguar tracks!!!! They were super fresh too considering it'd been raining all morning until about 5-6am and they weren't washed away yet...We were down there at about 830-9am. Not only that but it's not like the tracks just showed the cat going along the river bank to the rivers edge for a drink and then going back...this cat had wandered ALL over the bank...it's tracks were literally everywhere...So Exciting! I was bouncing off the walls just about haha
Laying something next to tracks gives it scale for later reference/as proof.
We also found Capybara tracks right in one corner of the sandbank between the scrub and water
Perhaps the Jaguar was stalking it?
Showing part of the track it walked...
Another size comparison, this time with my hand just for fun
I made many discoveries on my return to Karanambu, one of which was that I had a Jigger or Chigoe Flea that had burrowed its way into my heel and was swollen with eggs. Girly, one of the staff here expertly removed it, in one piece. Pretty gross but kind of cool. No pain what so ever.
At first I just thought I had an extra deep crack in my heel as it was tender to press on but after I got back to Kbu and all the dead skin sloughed off I was left with this!
The flea leaves the hole open after it burrows in so it can breathe...
I took the needle from a 3mL syringe - we have plenty in the vet supplies. Was sterile and unused of course.
The first step is to pick back all the dead skin from around the flea - very carefully so as not to puncture it!
Next came cutting off all the dead skin
with a razor blade
Behold the pretzel position I was forced into to get it removed
Only because I wanted to watch while she did it haha!
Here is the flea all exposed
Pretty huge and pretty gross...
Careful, careful again
Gotta lift, pry, squeeze it out without bursting it!
The resulting hole after the Jigger was removed
Even grosser and bigger than the flea itself? Almost? It's now about a month later and the hole is still growing out...
The flea itself....the few white things you can see coming out the top are the eggs...
Pat said it was one of the biggest she'd ever seen and she was surprised it hadn't burst already...I think I'd had it in there for a while...woops
Over the next few days I also managed to pick up a few ticks...after removing them I find the spot always gets itchy...I still have marks from all 3 ticks I've had here so far :/
A week or two later I think it was I also ended up with conjunctivitis! I'd never had it before...it is very uncomfortable, especially when it was in my good eye! Blergh. Thankfully they had the right drops here to treat it.
One afternoon Buddy caught a turtle! Poor fella was making such frustrated sounds because he couldn't get at it haha. Girly then stole it off him, he certainly wasn't very impressed when it "disappeared". When Dom and Josh later inquired about the fate of the turtle, she said it got away but we are pretty certain she brought it back up to the staff kitchen and they cooked and ate it...
Come out turtle turtle
Just before Dom and Josh went back to the states we spent a morning at Caiman House, I got to see the pup that I have mentioned in a previous blog. It had been about a month after the first photo and she is looking much more like a pup, with fur and everything!
Her name is Mira. It was quite the challenge to take a good photo as every time I took a step back to line up the shot she would take a step forward so she could get another pat!
Bandit catching a big frog in the main house
he rolled it around on the ground first (he seems to do it to most of his food)
and then proceeded to eat it under the drinks table in front of all the guests...ever the charmer that he is...
For half the time Dom and Josh were here we only had 1-3 guests, they were here for around 2wks which was cool. They were great people and it was really nice to get to know them instead of the usual 1-2nights stay where often I don't even get a chance to learn their names. Here is a big group shot
In the back row from left to right is: Diane, Sandy (a close friend of D's from Dadenowa - a place down south), Shirley Ellis (a well known painter from England), Gerry, Derek Ellis (a keen birder and also a great sketcher), Polly (another close, old friend of D's and also an avid birder), Josh and Dom. The front row from left to right: Duane (from Dadenowa with Sandy, or should I say Sandy is with Duane haha, he's the Guyanese one) and yours truly.
Hanging in Gtown for a few days wit Dom and Josh before their return home - the month passed so quickly! Amongst other places we checked out the big wooden church which was lovely and cool inside. There was a steel drum band practicing and both Josh and I agreed that if more churches had steel drum bands the attendance ratings might increase :P
Inside of the church
Cool halo of light shot
Front of the church
I also walked Dom and Josh around Gtowns 'infamous' Starbroek Market, land marked by the giant clock (that I don't think works...)
....has anything and everything from underwear to fresh produce - veg, meat, fish to ripped dvds to shoes! Cool market to experience and wander around in though, never felt threatened or at risk in any way, even when I would walk around it alone.
However I was sensible about where I went, what I did and the vibe I gave off (confident and strong) and would walk everywhere as if I knew exactly where I was going (even when I didn't).
Needless to say it was a bummer to see everyone go - the guests Shirley, Derek and Polly and the volies Dom and Josh...they are all fantastic people that I hope to stay in contact with. I have been assured that anytime I visit London or the states that I have a couch to crash on which is the coolest :D
That's about it for this update....coming next - otter news!
was nice to share Georgetown with you Talia...loved the church...thanks.
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