"tree" months please

 

     Some will call it a vacation, some will see it as an opportunity to visit another country and some will dread the day it comes, the mandatory renewal of your visa.  As non-nationals (as referred to by the customs officers) you only get to bask in the warm glow of Guyana sunshine for three months then it's time to pack your satchel and sun-screen and head for the border.  For us it requires the following:

1) Up by 5:30 am to catch a bus to the stellon (boat dock).  Please know that when you step aboard the bus you have just increased your chance of dying by 78.3%.  So, just hang on and keep your eyes on the horizon.

2) Upon arrival at the stellon, your attacked by men vying for your business, be it money changers, taxi drivers or some guy wearing a burlap bag as pants and holding a jar of his own urine.  (actually that last guy we saw at the market but I just felt it needed to be mentioned.)

3) Your then instructed to go stand in line, the problem is that the line has no shape or form, it's not by definition a line, it's more of a grouping.  As you stand there for 20 minutes or so you begin to realize your not making any forward progress and others are just blatantly ignoring the grouping-line etiquette.  It then just turns into a "stand your ground" and push ahead mentality.  Eventually you arrive at the window and pay for your ticket to board the ferry as well as provide them with your passport which you will not see again until you've survived another grouping experience, which usually entails a large woman with little regard for your personal space.

4) Once you've gone through the "grouping" ordeal, you move into the next phase of the trip that can be summed up in one phrase, "just now".  That phrase in Guyana means, "wait till I'm ready".  At this point you now sit and wait, even though you can see the boat sitting right there and the men are just "gaffing" (talking amongst themselves).  But, once they feel sufficiently motivated, then with godlike powers they waive their hands which sends the waiting throng into motion, "let the boarding begin!".  The boat ride itself is not so bad, it can though be interesting at times because upon boarding your given some paperwork that needs to be filled out, however some of the passengers are not able to fill out the forms because they don't know how to read.  So what happens is they will ask you, (whitey or also referred to as uncle) to fill it out for them which means your having to ask them personal questions about there visit and how long they will be staying, when were they born, how old are you, etc.  After about the fifth person your now feeling like an employee and wondering when your shift is over.

5) After about an hour on the boat you arrive in Suriname.  From there you board another bus and head toward the city of Paramaribo which is about 3 hours away.  So by the end of the day you've been on a death ride, molested, forced to wait on the gods, then forced to do the work of the gods, capped with another white knuckle road trip.  Finally, after about 9 hours, we've arrived!

Here are some pictures we saw along the way.

 

 

 

For us leaving to get our passport renewed is usually not something we look forward to, however this time we opted to go to the city of Paramaribo in Suriname.  We had heard from others that it's a nice place to visit and it will give us a chance to enjoy some things we haven't had in a while such as:



McDonalds...Crystal prayed for a long time.

As we toured around the city we came across this old fort and it was there that I reconnected with my roots.  The name of the fort is Zeelandia.

 

A cobblers work bench.  In Dutch they were called Schoenmakers.

Some other interesting buildings we saw along the way.

A big'ole wooden catholic church getting repainted

The Presidential Palace



 a Hugh mosque


But the place we enjoyed the most and basically had all to ourselves was the zoo.  For 10.00srd (about $4.00 US) you can spend the day and hang out with the animals.

 



A Harpy eagle.

 



Crystal's favorite animal.

We also spent some time visiting the Suriname branch office.  Funny thing happened, we called a taxi to take us to the branch but he ended up going to the wrong street, so we called the branch to let them know we would not make the 11:00 tour but would like to be added to the 1:00.  Upon our arrival around 11:45 they had already made arrangements for us to have lunch with the bethelites. After lunch we had the chance to sit and visit with a couple till the next tour, guess how many were in the 1:00 tour? 2, us.  We got our own special tour of the facilities, very nice!  Here is us having lunch with family, the brother said the prayer in Dutch, we just said amen when everyone else did.

So, after 3 days of sight-seeing and sleeping in a/c, we start the 9 hour journey all over again. Once we arrived at the Guyana entry point we approached the customs officer and he says, "how long you want to stay"?  Our reply is, "tree months please."  Here they don't pronounce the "h" so that's what it sounds like.

 Now you have an idea of what we get to do every three months, so in March we get to do it again.  Our advice is this, please enjoy the simple things, don't be in a rush, stay far away from men wearing burlap and lines in the shape of a Q.  Stay safe.

Scott & Crystal