We awoke to rain hitting the palm roof so stayed in bed longer particularly as we heard and saw no movement outside. When I went to the bathroom I actually saw the bats we knew inhabited the roof and who left neat piles of droppings on the floor each morning.....they were flying around, catching insects and hanging upside down in the palm rafters. At 5.40 I went across to the dining area for coffee and initially was on my own drinking it. John had a shave and shower and came later. Slowly people emerged and we sat chatting while the rain continued. The wildlife consisted of red capped cardinals and palm tangers eating from the bird feeders.
I returned to our room before breakfast for a shower and final packing as it was clear we were not going for a walk to see the capuchin bird ( it will have to wait until next time) - it is a large bird which makes a sound like a cow lowing apparently; indeed in the early days at the ranch it nearly brought Dee into conflict with her stockmen because after hearing the noise she insisted they retrieved the cows from the bushes.
When they returned with none she thought they were defying her particularly as she could still hear them or so she thought! When she pointed out the sound the workers fell about laughing and explained it was a bird - relationships were restored and the mistake was never made again!
The hot topic of the morning was would the plane arrive or not and when would it take off or not - several radio communications and weather reports later we were told that it had taken off from Georgetown albeit late and was en route. The rain finally stopped at 0945 and as ever the sun came out brightening everywhere up.
Dee further entertained us with her memories - when in Oxford working and linked with the theatre - 3 men had told her they were going to be Prime Minister -William Rees Mogg (later editor of the Times) Robin Day (broadcaster) and Michael Hesletine - who nearly made it but was beaten by John Major.
We eventually left at 1045 after saying our goodbyes to Dee and Polly - we jumped into the truck with Salvador and Andrea and headed to the airstrip as the plane was due to land at 1115 - it actually arrived at 1140 - it was a caravan with only 4 seats - the rest were removed for their previous stop i.e. leaving supplies at a mining camp.
We met our next guide Carlos who was taking us to Kaiteur falls and birding on Wednesday.
We arrived at the falls at about 1250 and the weather was clear so our first photos were from the plane - you could see the impressive 760m drop and exactly where the BBC team in Lost Land of the Jaguar had abseiled to. We landed on a tarmac runway and left the plane at the Ranger station.
After a welcome juice we followed Carlos along the trails - firstly we went to see if we could see the c*** of the Rock - no male only 2 females - brown birds not the vibrant orange of the male......so we went to one of the falls viewpoints hoping he would be there on our return. Magnificent view of the falls - we looked in the tank bromeliads and found several golden frogs - my animal of the day- they spend their lives living in the plant and are amazing little creatures. On our return up the path we did see the magnificent c*** of the rock in all his very orange glory! We then continued along the trails and saw the falls from all the possible angles - the final one being close to the river and top of the precipice itself. After lots of photos taken we walked back to the ranger station and had the salad lunch brought in a cool box for us by Carlos. It was excellent - we then packed up and headed to the plane - I sat in the co-pilots seat and took some photos while the 4 seats in the back were now full as we brought the ranger, his wife and small daughter away with us as they were starting leave. An hour later we landed back in Georgetown - the weather was warm and clear - the driver and guide told us the plans for tomorrow - firstly we have to be up for 5am as that's the collection time - then it will be breakfast and a birding trail - I think we are very in capable hands!