Manatees and Mangos
Hey families and friends! Susy and Minoska here. Today was our first official day in Georgetown, Guyana. We started the day with LOTS of sleep and a great brunch provided by our amazing hosts Anthony and Andrea. This morning we waited out the rain before going sightseeing around Georgetown. Our guides name was Rashleigh and he along with Anthony, Andrea, their children and Andrea's brother Davon, will be accompanying us the couple of weeks that we are here.
For our first site we saw the Cuffy Statue, which is of a man who led the slaves in one of the biggest slave rebellions in Guyanese history, leading Guyanese slaves to independence. After this we drove to Starbroek Marketplace while Anthony told us about the history of the buildings around it and how many Guyanese make a living at the marketplace. Directly across from the marketplace is the Parliament building where we will be visiting and meeting with officials later in our trip.
Next we visited the tallest/biggest wooden church in the world, a place that many Guyanese still worship today. Fun fact: our guide told us that it is made of 95% wood and is more than 150 years old. After visiting the church we drove to the waterfront where we learned that it was this particular beach that many slave ships arrived and then auctioned off slaves. It is a small part of Guyanese history that many today still don't even know about. The beach is seen as a romantic place for proposals as well as parties. It was here that it again started to pour so everyone piled back into our van and drove to the next site, another statue representing a important figure in the slave rebellions.
The final part of our day took place in a national park which recognizes indigenous people of Guyana. It was here that we were able to sample some local snacks. We watched as a man cut open coconuts for us with a machete for us to drink. We also tried salt and peppered mangos and chicken feet, (which are not actual chicken feet). The highlight of our day was seeing the manatees in the park! There is a large body of water where the manatees live, and we were able to go over to the edge and feed them grass. To our surprise there were ALOT of manatees and they even propped themselves up on their flippers to let us pet them and feed them. They were very sweet!! We continued with a long walk around the park where we saw local kids playing soccer, and rugby and locals just hanging out.
To end our day we drove back to the apartment that we're staying where we enjoyed a nice home cooked meal, made by Anthony and his family. We had a short class session where we reflected and discussed our thoughts on our experience so far, and then continued to play games and enjoy each other's company.
***Mami para leer esto toca las tres lineas al principio de la pagina y luego vaya al menu que dice translate. Para traducir el blog entero en espanol seleccione el idioma de la lista.***
P.S. there are more pictures to come!!
For our first site we saw the Cuffy Statue, which is of a man who led the slaves in one of the biggest slave rebellions in Guyanese history, leading Guyanese slaves to independence. After this we drove to Starbroek Marketplace while Anthony told us about the history of the buildings around it and how many Guyanese make a living at the marketplace. Directly across from the marketplace is the Parliament building where we will be visiting and meeting with officials later in our trip.
Next we visited the tallest/biggest wooden church in the world, a place that many Guyanese still worship today. Fun fact: our guide told us that it is made of 95% wood and is more than 150 years old. After visiting the church we drove to the waterfront where we learned that it was this particular beach that many slave ships arrived and then auctioned off slaves. It is a small part of Guyanese history that many today still don't even know about. The beach is seen as a romantic place for proposals as well as parties. It was here that it again started to pour so everyone piled back into our van and drove to the next site, another statue representing a important figure in the slave rebellions.
The final part of our day took place in a national park which recognizes indigenous people of Guyana. It was here that we were able to sample some local snacks. We watched as a man cut open coconuts for us with a machete for us to drink. We also tried salt and peppered mangos and chicken feet, (which are not actual chicken feet). The highlight of our day was seeing the manatees in the park! There is a large body of water where the manatees live, and we were able to go over to the edge and feed them grass. To our surprise there were ALOT of manatees and they even propped themselves up on their flippers to let us pet them and feed them. They were very sweet!! We continued with a long walk around the park where we saw local kids playing soccer, and rugby and locals just hanging out.
To end our day we drove back to the apartment that we're staying where we enjoyed a nice home cooked meal, made by Anthony and his family. We had a short class session where we reflected and discussed our thoughts on our experience so far, and then continued to play games and enjoy each other's company.
***Mami para leer esto toca las tres lineas al principio de la pagina y luego vaya al menu que dice translate. Para traducir el blog entero en espanol seleccione el idioma de la lista.***
P.S. there are more pictures to come!!
Yay looks like you guys are having fun. I bet it is very hot out there in GT oh scunt bai!!! lol I want you guys to stay cool, keep having fun and drink lots of water. Please remember to stay safe and do not wander off by yourself. I will be checking in everyday to see the new adventures and what's going on.
ReplyDeleteCurtis Greaves