Hello from Rockview Lodge in Annai and the first day of our second phase. We finished off our time in Lethem in a bit of strange way. Having little to do after getting ready we sat watching shakespeare in love and TRL with some medics before heading up to the main junction. There my friend Leroy picked us up and took me to play football near the church in St Ignatius whilst Bernie watched. The sky was beautifully clear and the sunset in Brazil as we played. We then went back to the junction and had some food and a few beers with some of the guys and the project trust girls Emma and Miriam (after all it was Burns Night). The beer in Guyana is diverse and interesting, in the north you can buy Banks beer which is the same brand as in Barbados but a different brew, you can also buy Carib and Guiness which is brewed out here and is very strong. Down in the south you can get some of the illegal imported Brazilian beers - Skol = nice. Nova Schin = better. You can also get a Venezulan beer called Polar which tastes foul but costs 160dollars (abour 40p) and each can has a bikini-clad beauty on the side.

The other main drinks are El Dorado Rum (officially the best rum in the world as voted by international rum judges) and Ivanoff Vodka (officially not the best vodka in the world).

We then headed back on the bus last night (which was an hour and a bit late - apparently as per usual) and arrived in Annai at one in the morning. We stayed at the stop by the road which is called the Oasis and is well-stocked and kept with a shop and a snackerie, almost like the only rudimentary pit-stop in the country. Mr Edwards, who owns the Oasis and the Lodge, organises the bus fares from here as well as supplying much of the area.

This morning we headed into the lodge for breakfast, the First Lady was also staying here and is a stunning woman, her husband is (at 38 I think) the youngest president in the world and has just been elected for his second term. People are divided about him but his picture is to be found everywhere. Rockview is the closest to a luxury resort in the Rupununni, it has a small swimming pool, an airstrip (Which also serves Annai and Surama) as well as cattle, extensive gardens and fruit trees. From what I've seen it's almost semi self-sustainable. What we shall be doing here I'm not sure but we're about to find out, so till next time!