Although my experience here in South America is intended strictly for serving through humanitarian aid with no days off, occasionally a few little adventures come up. Mostly it is only when there is a reason I cannot fly, such as weather, waiting on medical technicians, or waiting for aircraft parts/tools to arrive.

So to help break up some of the “monotony,” I take advantage of these little adventure moments, such as finding “the beach” on the Takutu River. The beach is actually a sand bar directly on the Guyana-Brazil border in the middle of the river. One walks on wooden planks to access it.

One late afternoon the RAM pilot assistant and I rode the motorbike a short distance to the base of the Kanuku Mountains to visit Kumu Falls. A short walk up a jungle canopy covered trail leads to a series of small but beautiful cascades. The spot is becoming popular for locals and tourist alike.

Previously I have mentioned about trips to Gunns and other places for short medical clinics in the field. Waiting sometimes affords me an hour or so to explore the area, such as climbing to the top of a hill to enjoy the view or walking through the jungle to see a river (don’t worry, I take some form of two-way satellite communication with me).

Other times it may be riding outside town a few kilometers on the trail. It is nice to get away from noise and enjoy the open scenery.

Or sometimes it may be as simple as enjoying the luxury of a pickup truck ride hauling equipment to the airstrip (with no currently working vehicles RAM has no way to haul heavy equipment/supplies around Lethem).

One time I got a flight late in the day for an “urgent situation.” There was no time to spare requiring moving quickly to get back before sunset. Upon landing the “urgent situation” had not even arrived yet, forcing me to wait and ultimately spending the night since we are not permitted here to fly in the dark from sunset to sunrise. But what turned out to be a frustrating situation allowed me a rare opportunity to see the core of the Milky Way Galaxy from a remote and dark place on a moonless night. In Alaska we had phenomenal dark skies but were too far north to see the core of the Milky Way. When away from town lights like the village and a clear night, it is amazing to see here near the equator.

 

The little adventures do not happen often but are a nice treat, even if they seem rather simple. This is not a tourist trip nor a vacation. It is a lot of hard work with a few occasional brief moments of enjoyment.