I arrive back from the Brazilian Amazon in a need of a good shower and freshen up, so I paid for a room for a couple of hours in Manaus before setting off on what was going to be a pretty hardcore, off the beaten track journey to Guyana. I managed to get to the rodoviaria (bus terminal) and leaving within 5 minutes was a bus to Boa Vista (90 reais was the price), perfect timing and a great start to the journey. I was at Boa Vista before I knew and was about 5am the following day and managed to get the first bus to leave Boa Vista to Bonfim (8am) which is on the Brazilian side of the Brazil/Guyana border, this part of the journey took 2 hours and cost 15 reais. It was on this journey that I met a Trinidadian named Konan who was on his way back to Trinidad via Georgetown. On arriving at Bonfim, I had to visit the policia federal for an exit stamp then for 5 reais I jumped in a taxi across the Bonfim - Lethem (Takutu) bridge to the Guyanaese border at Lethem. Do not arrive at this border crossing between 12:00-14:00 as it is shut.

I'm just going to go off track a little here and write a bit about the possibility of flying to Georgetown for any fellow backpackers reading this who are looking to get into Guyana through Brazil. At the time of writing there are no international flights from Brazil to Guyana, even from Boa Vista or Manaus, despite what some tour agents might say. Previously the only airline to fly to Guyana from Brazil was META airlines and they had a scheduled flight from Boa Vista to Georgetown. However throughout my tour in Brazil, all META shops in the airports or bus stations were all closed, their website is still live but the booking section doesn't work, they also do not reply to any enquires...this leads me to assume they have ceased business but cannot be sure. The only option is to get to Lethem and from there decide whether you want to fly domestically or get a bus to Gerogetown. Domestic airlines that fly from Lethem to Georgetown are Trans Guyana and Airport Services Limited (ASL), they both have scheduled flights but funny enough these seem to be a closely guarded secret, so you will have to call them up or chance it and turn up at the airport. All the airlines also offer chartered flights, so if you can get 10-14 people together who want to fly, you might get lucky and charter your own flight to Georgetown, I'm going to touch more on the flight situation later in the blog as it is the main hardship for booking tourist trips in Guyana, well that and the lack of organisation and roads - that's why we love Guyana right, a true backpackers wet dream!

So I'm in Lethem and taking my first steps on Guyanese soil, seriously I'm so happy right now and I have a sense of achievement and pride. Guyana, well Georgetown in particular was where my Nan was born and lived into her teens before moving to London. I have never been here before and do not know what to expect, that's why this for me is the highlight of my trip and the reason why I chose South America to visit. Guyana is a very small country, I have been told it is about the size of the UK but the population is only about 1million. Out of these 1million people 90% of the population live in Georgetown and the coastal towns in the north of the country and approximately 70% of the country is covered in natural forest with no electricity/roads, so really is untouched. The Amerindians are the natives of the land and live in the rainforest regions of the country; Guyana is also made up of Caribbean, African, Indian, British and some Chinese descendants. This is because when Britain took control of the country from the Dutch in 1796 they imported African slaves to work on the plantations, however when slavery was abolished in 1834 they turned to the workforce of Chinese and Indian workers to fill the jobs. Guyana being the only English speaking country in South America classes itself as Caribbean and is member of the Caribbean nations.

Before I left London, I spoke to my Nan who told me a bit about the family, who her parents were, what they did, where they lived and their roots. Their family name was Shepherd and my Nan's parents were George Clarence Shepherd (but everyone just called him 'Shep' a pretty sweet name if you ask me) and Louisa Wales Blackburn. 'Shep' if I remember correctly was from Barbados and Louisa was Guyanese and her father was Scottish from Edinburgh (I hope I remember this correctly!), which is where my Nan's mother got her fair skin from and subsequently also my Nan. The family would be classed as afro-Guyanese and lived on the corner of Palm and Princess Street...I must remember to visit this place where my Nan grew up. Shep run the family business with the two eldest sons, I think the business was something mechanical or metal related, I'll ask my Nan again when I return home.

So I'm in Lethem and have no clue how to get to Georgetown, as normal I'll just figure something out when the time comes! Konan was a massive help here, he rounded up 10 people who wanted to get a minibus to Georgetown straightaway, which included me. Normally the minibuses all leave in the evening at no specific time, they just wait until they are full then leave and as the time was about midday I really didn't want to wait until the evening to start the journey - so I latch on to Konan as he seems to be the leader of our little pack. The minibus driver took us all to this little shack where the bus owner was, so that we could all negotiate a price for the minibus to leave right away, it turned out to be something like 70 US Dollars...I'm happy with that and we leave straight away, that should get us into Georgetown about 9pm according to Konan, perfect. Before leaving I changed up most of my Brazilian Real, leaving some for my return journey, into Guyanese dollars. One of my English pounds equated to about 300 Guyanese dollars and the largest note they do is 1000, so just over £3!!! The other notes were 500, 100 and the smallest at 20, the 20 note being about 7p, so you can imagine the wad of cash I was carrying.

We all board the bus ready to tackle the long bumpy journey to Georgetown which for me is where it all went wrong; I managed to get myself a middle seat in the middle of two pretty large guys who liked their leg room. The bus was tiny and just fit all 10 of us in and I clearly have the worst seat possible, not only that, I also have my small backpack on my lap and the driver's bag down near my feet. Not forgetting that I'm still struggling with a dodgy stomach from the Amazon and that the road is a dirt track almost all the way to Georgetown which means this is going to be a very long and uncomfortable journey with no sleep!!!

Despite this the start of the journey was actually okay, I was still excited about being in Guyana I guess. The scenery was spectacular as we pass the savannah plains and rainforest, truly amazing, something you couldn't experience if you flew. It didn't last long and soon to the left and right of the bus were just trees and the road was noticeably worse...it really is hard to explain how bad the road was but there were potholes all over at least one every metre if not more. The driver would have to weave to avoid the big holes and most of the journey was driven at about 5-20 mph.

At about 4 hours into the journey came our first stop, it was in the middle of the Iwokrama rainforest and we had to catch a car ferry to cross a river. The ferries were one per hour, on the hour from 06:00-18:00...excellent, time to stretch my legs. I have another chat with Konan who tells me about the state of the road and that the Brazilians want to pay to have the road tarmac'ed, however the Guyanese government do not trust the Brazilians and believe they are after access to their natural resources. My thoughts are this road will be a dirt track for some time!

After passing the river we are free to power our way through to Georgetown with no more delays...if a record could scratch and interrupt what I'm saying it would be now...one of the buses brakes fail, so for the next hour of so the driver and a few others are attempting to fix it. Eventually we are on our way again, new arrival time about 11pm...not ideal but I'll deal with it.

As we are driving trough Iwokrama rainforest, we saw an alligator and a few large rodents that were the size of dogs. Later on in the journey at around 7pm we stop off for some dinner, I order "Black eye cookup with fried chicken" it was basically rice with black eye beans and some very tasty fried chicken. Finally some chicken with a bit of taste, it was spicy and had a peppery jerk taste to it, very nice. To be honest I have been craving some spicy food as Brazilian food is very bland, in fact I would say that the food in Brazil was the only thing that wasn't great about the country.

For the rest of the journey, I was back in my tiny middle seat fighting for any extra leg room space I could gain off my neighbours. Finally at around midnight we arrive in Georgetown and in particular my guesthouse on Middle Street and Main Street called Rima, I get out of the bus and have a play downstairs peeling my ball sack away from my inner thighs where it has spent the last 13 or so hours. All prepared and comfortable I ring of the bell for the guesthouse, waking all the guests and owners but it was worth it - they had a room.

I was up reasonably early so I could make the most of the day, I had to book my Kaieteur Falls trip then the rest of the day is left to explore Georgetown. The residents here speak very Caribbean and is so hard to understand them, I know my Nan has a little bit of an accent but here is very strong. As I wonder the streets of Georgetown and realise how small this capital city is, in the whole day I have pretty much cover everything. I went to see the famous St Georges Cathedral that is on all of the Guyana postcards, it is a pretty spectacular wooden building (the tallest in the world). Next I passed City Hall, another stunning wooden building, here I try to request the birth certificates for my Nan and her parents but got told to visit the post office. At the post office and with all the information I had, it was still not enough and they couldn't issue them unfortunately. I saw Independence Square, which has seen better days I'm sure - it was just an overgrown square piece of grass land. Then opposite was Promenade Gardens which were stunning and quiet. As I was walking up towards the Botanical Gardens and Guyana Zoo, I pass this small cricket ground Demerara Cricket Club; I stood at the gates watching for a while then got invited in. The kids that were playing loved their cricket, some with no shoes, most with no pads or gloves and most had plastic bats. None of this mattered, it was great to watch and I stayed there for at least an hour. Then on to the Botanical Gardens and Guyana Zoo which was lovely, the Gardens could be in better shape though but that seems to be the same with everything in Guyana. I headed all the way back down towards the sea front to Stabroek Market, where I brave the hustle and bustle...here they have the most amazing sweet, ripened pineapple...I ended up having about 4 bags of it! I then stumble across the city prison which is weird, it is in the middle of residential streets and as you walk past you can see the top floor cell bars with silhouettes of the prisoners inside, who would shout at everyone walking past including and especially it seemed me. I then walked across town to the seawall area whilst visiting the old lighthouse along the way. The sea wall was initially built by the Dutch and then rebuilt some years later. The sea wall is critical to the survival of Georgetown as the city sits 7metres below sea level and during high tide the sea will come all the way up to the wall. They also have a pump system to pump water out of the city and a series of canals, again built by the Dutch which used to stop the city from flooding, although now they are in such a poor state and full of garbage, I doubt they are as effective these days. The sea wall area is lovely, although they don't make enough of the amazing space...I'm starting to get a feel for how Georgetown was during its colonial past and now, obviously I was not around 60-70 years ago but from what I have been told over and over from different locals is that it was a very different place back then...kids played in the streets after darks and buildings glistened on the sunlight. On the way back I pass the Prime ministers house of residence, which was the old British High Commission building and wow what an amazing stunning wooden building, kept immaculate including the grounds. Earlier that day I also visited the Presidents buildings, yes they do have a President and also a prime minister!!! After a great day exploring and wearing down the soles of my Havaiana flip flops, I headed back to Rima guesthouse, where I met Katie, an English girl who was over in Guyana on a work experience placement, working in a hospital. That evening we headed out on the town, where I tried my first El Dorado (Guyanese Rum) and Banks beer, both absolutely amazing...I think I'll buy some of the 15 year El Dorado rum when back home. After a few El Dorados, I did find myself talking to the bar staff with a slight Caribbean twang, well it's the only way they can understand you!!!

Kaieteur Falls today, cannot wait; I booked myself a single day trip which was expensive at $250 US Dollars but well worth it if you do not have the 2-3 days overland trek to get there. The tour was only from about 12midday to 6pm, so I arrive at the tiniest apparently "International" airport in my life and check in, as I did a package deal I get the use of the VIP lounge...it was not exactly the VIP lounge I had in mind, check out the pictures and you'll see what I mean. Working at the airport seemed a bit of a doss job, there must have been about 20 people just standing around having a laugh and doing nothing at all. I head towards the plane, I have never seen a plane so old and small before and I have travelled a fair bit...this is going to be fun! Every seat in the plane was taken including the seat next to the pilot!!! The plane journey was amazing and you could see from above how untouched the Guyanese rainforest is, so different to the Brazilian Amazon where there are pockets of communities everywhere, here there is nothing except untouched rainforest, which is why in years to come, if Guyana can get the tourism scene better I think it will be an amazing place to visit. We all got a chance to take some amazing pictures of the falls from the aircraft, then the pilot landed in a nearby tiny airstrip in the middle of the forest! From here I visited 3 different viewpoints of the falls, it was amazing, so beautiful and ferocious at the same time. Here you can stand on the edge of the rocks or even the waterfall, there are no safety precautions, I got as close to the edges of the waterfall as my legs would physically take me without buckling!! At one stage I was standing on a tiny wet rock about 5 cms from the drop with the water rushing past me left and right, one small slip, gust of wind and I could have gone over...even thinking about it now gives me a funny feeling in my stomach. The tour group was great, all of an older generation and most Guyanese born, living abroad but back to Guyana for a holiday. The most interesting conversation I had was with a 80 something man named Reg Holder, who was in Guyana with his sons...he put his old age down to the fact that he drinks the fresh water from the Kaieteur Falls every time he visits...something I tried and it was very refreshing and cold. Anyway that's not the important bit, I got talking to him as he was around my Nan's age and I noticed he had a British passport when he checked in at the airport. It turns out he knew the Shepherds and not only that but he said he met one of the young daughters in London and mentioned the post office, which is where my Nan worked when arriving in London...small world hey!!! I couldn't believe it, Reg really did know the family, he was telling me about how many sons/daughters there were and the family business in Georgetown, he had a great memory and I remember this big smile on his face throughout the whole trip and I know why, because this place is stunning. We head back in the light aircraft and arrive over Georgetown just as the sun was setting, as perfect end to a perfect day.

It was in the evening that day when I met Meike (I think that is how to spell it!) she was Dutch with the most amazing tone and vocabulary to her. She was in Guyana on a voluntary trip for 6 months, her mission was to help and educate the tourist lodges in the south of the country...personally I think she has a tough job on her hands as I know firsthand how difficult it is to book one of these excursions. Many of the problems lie with the transport links, but there is a lot more the lodges themselves can do to promote and help tourists out...Meike, if you are reading, good luck!

My final day in Georgetown before heading off, so I spent it trying to find the house my Nan and her family lived in when they were kids. It was on the corner of Palm Street and Princess Street, so off I go in search of this street. I found Princess street so just walked all the way up the street trying to find the Palm street interchange, after asking a few locals, I found it. To be honest I was a bit overcome with emotions, I'm not quite sure why as I had no real attachment to the place but it did. The house was a big, beautiful and wooden, with a canal running along the front off it. The area seemed very quiet and I can imagine it was a good place to grow up...a much nicer street that some of the other Georgetown streets I passed to get here. I think because it was not a cross junction but on a T junction meant it was less busy with traffic and other houses, it had a really good feel about the place. My Nan said it was the house on the corner, however there were two, so I saw a lady in one, who turned out to own the house now and she confirmed the house she lives in was in fact the house that the shepherds lived in all those years ago...she mentioned that the Shepherds eldest son died recently about 2 years ago. I spend a bit of time taking it all in and wandering the neighbouring streets trying to get a better feel of the area in which Nan grew up, at the end of it I think I had a pretty good idea and can't wait to get back and tell her all about it.

Georgetown really was an amazing place with a distinct Caribbean feel to it; I love the old wooden buildings. Saying that I really do wish the locals would clean up their great city, it is like a garbage bag...the locals don't seem to care about dropping litter, it seems like it is okay to do so, it makes me sad as this place used to be called the Garden city and now it is like the Garbage city. All in all I love this place, I have an attachment to it, Guyana you are great and I truly am proud of my Guyanese Shepherd roots.