Baganara Island II...

Photo below: First night and sunset on Baganara Island, after Taylor and I took a walk around the coast and grounds. That photographer of mine, was very excited, as you might imagine, new territory to explore. Not only were we greeted earlier this day on arrival to Baganara, with amazing fresh squeezed, ice cold lemonade, the

bartender/host, Orlando, also insisted in the early evening, that we must have a Baganara Special (note drinks in hands). These were complete with peacock ornament and fresh pineapple slices. They were yummy and quite intoxicating. They sure know how to treat you here on Baganara... We told them we were on our second honeymoon.

The meals here were served communal style, unless you requested otherwise, so we met many interesting people from all over the world as well as from Guyana. We contributed to many fascinating conversations about politics, the upcoming U.S. election, Guyana's political system and race relations, international development work in Guyana, and the EU and the Venezuelan government's work in Guyana, to name a few (whew!) of the many topics explored over the course of the weekend with fellow guests, with whom we shared breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We also shared space at Baganara. The first floor of the main house on the island, Baganara House, is an open-air (yes, no walls) area complete with a bar, dining room, kitchen, and play/relax area. There was a ping pong table, a pool table, many games, fabulously lounge-y, lounging couches & chairs, and just outside the area, cricket court. We spent the morning kayaking around Baganara Island, on the Essequibo River, which was amazing, and we kept having to remind ourselves this is South America, we are kayaking on a river in South America, as we looked out for any caiman (local crocodile). After kayaking an lunch on Saturday, Taylor and I took to the cricket field, where we were introduced to the wicket and enjoyed an afternoon of being taught cricket. (Did I rhyme?) We played in the sun (and HEAT) and then later, even more enjoyably, in the rain, with a wonderful, newly engaged Guyanese couple, who coached us with patience and enthusiasm. Taylor and I played game after game of cards, with periodic stints at table tennis, in the evenings and during the Saturday afternoon rain which turned into an afternoon thunderstorm and was quite lovely to watch in the Baganara House, sheltered, but sans walls. [Baganara's only flaw: no chess set. NB: BYO. We got hooked on chess on our prior trip and momentairly considered making our own pieces for the checkerboard.]

The view from the room we stayed in on Baganara Island (in the photo above). Also, note the birds in the distance in the photo. This was around the time when they begin to fly back to where they sleep for the night, to roost. The parrots here, which are called "creatures" by the local Amerindians, were my favorite to see flying overhead. Previously unbeknownst to me, parrots mate for life, so they fly and live together in pairs, as a couple. It is especially sad to see a lone parrot flying overhead, as this means something has happened to its partner. While staying on Baganara island we went on a boat ride one evening with another couple to "Parrot Island," to see the parrots roost. It was an island about 30 minutes away by speed boat, that is uninhabited by humans, but is the site where innumerable parrots return every evening to sleep. Our tour guide/boat driver, said that many of them will fly extremely far away during the day to find food, and then still return here in the evening. All return around the same time each day, to roost. It was awesome to see so many, all flying in toward the island from all different directions, most in pairs. Some were flying in teams of pairs, returning from who knows where. For some reason, I imagined some were returning from a day of food-seeking in Trinidad or Venezuela. I need to research how far a parrot couple can travel in a day. Parrots coming in to roost for the evening: Parrot Island on the Essequibo River.