“…I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.” – Exodus 2:22

Coming down on a red-eye overnight flight from New York, we were treated to a beautiful sunrise approaching the South American continent. Outside the window the misty jungles of the Amazon and massive Essequibo river, the largest in Guyana, eerily greet us while on approach to land.

The arrival terminal had changed and was undergoing construction since my visit nearly a year prior. What was once a smooth flowing line of people getting cleared to enter the country followed by a somewhat orderly baggage claim and checkout was now a big garbled up mess contained in one large hall. Filling out my customs form the line was rather empty. Within a few minutes, hundreds of people were crowded in the single file line to customs agents. Note to self – fill out the form in line rather than before entering. A flight from Jamaica had arrived at nearly the same time and flooded the facility with more bags and people.

Baggage claim is better described as baggage free for all. Everything is pretty much dumped into a big section of the hall for one to rummage through, hoping that someone else has not already taken it. Luckily I travel with Pelican cases that have stickers and colorful duct tape with my initials and contact info all over them. Pretty hard to miss let alone steal. After having handlers throw them through an antiquated screening machine that I am not sure anyone really monitors, I was clear to go.

This time around I was wise enough to know the taxi situation to Georgetown, unlike my experience last year that started out somewhat frightening but ended ok. After selecting an airport approved taxi driver, we were on our way the 24km or so to the city. Being somewhat familiar with the route, I was at much more ease for the hair-raising death-defying ride on a road barely wide enough for two vehicles. No sidewalks, people and bicycles everywhere, stray animals, it’s amazing more deaths do not occur. From other travellers I know, it is a notorious ride in these parts.

Being that I had arrived so early in the morning with nearly a full day to sit in a guest house room, despite some warnings from U.S. based travel data I mustered up the nerve to explore the surrounding area on foot, but never venturing more than a kilometer or so away. Hotel staff suggested I visit the botanical gardens and zoo, especially since it was such a pleasant 85 degree day without rain for once.

The botanical gardens and zoo are of a small but of pleasant size so as to match the size of this city. Of the many things seen, of particular interest were Anaconda snakes, the largest variety in the word, and various cats found in Guyana, including Ocelot, Jaguar, Puma, Jaguarundi, and Margays. They also feature Harpy Eagles – the largest members of the raptor family.

Georgetown is a melting pot. A mixture of former British Colonial influence mixed with Caribbean jive. A mixture of Africans, native Amerindians, West Indians, Chinese, and the occasional British or European. A mixture of predominantly Christianity and some Hindu brought by the Indians. A mixture of modern conveniences with typical old 3rd world city. Although probably a lively and fun place for city mingling travellers, it’s not my taste. I like the isolated rural Rupununi that reminds me much of the isolated rural Alaska I called home for a while.

In order to fly for RAM here, each pilot is required to have an interview with the Civil Aviation Authority to review qualifications and orientation experience for bush flying in the wilds of Guyana. So after dark I spent the eventing reviewing hundreds of pages of aeronautical regulations, operating procedures, and charts. Early the next morning, the interview went without issue.

Afterwards I proceeded to the local general aviation airport to catch my flight to the boonies on Trans Guyana Airlines, which operates a fleet of Beechcraft 1900s and Cessna Caravans to larger settlements around the country. Later that afternoon I would find myself getting back into the swing of medivac bush flying out of the little town of Lethem in rural southwest Region 9.