Turtle Love

As most of you know, I am working on an Anatomy course right now while pursuing my internship here in Guyana. This has been a bit of a challenge, since I work at the field station and am expected to work all hours. Though at times, my job serves as a great procrastination tool from the course :)

The other day I was dutifully studying the lymphatic system in the office when my boss asked me if I could step in and help one of the cooks for a two night trip to Turtle Mountain. I had ten minutes to get ready before we left. Before I knew it, we were zooming down the Esequibbo River to the hike entrance for Turtle Mountain's Base Camp.

Hammock Benabs for Turtle Mountain overnight guests

Me excited to head off to Turtle Mountain

My coworker and I were in charge of cooking for 11 film crew and 4 cast members of a reality TV show who would be filming an episode at the site. It was absolutely amazing to return to the tranquil Turtle Mountain camp and cook Guyanese cuisine in such a beautiful setting for LA celebs (a slight oxy moron)! You truly meet people from all walks of life here at Iwokrama, one of the best parts of this job. They kept on talking about how Iwokrama and Turtle Mountain reminded them of the show Lost...I definitely have to watch more of that show now! We ate dinner with the sun set while the jungle creatures communicated a dissonant chorus of sounds to one another-the Howler Monkey growls being my favourite. We then played Gin Rummy by lantern light before retiring to our hammocks. I have now mastered the skill of sleeping in a hammock and find it more comfortable than my bed in the staff dorms. I am seriously considering stringing up my hammock in my room :)

 

 On the way out, we had to transport all of our gear into a dugout canoe where two of us paddled through a breathtakingly stunning canal to reach the main river which reminded me of Jurassic Park. We had so much equipment that the canoe was piled very high and was very tippy! I was very  worried the boat was going to tip when the bottom grazed tree roots causing the boat to sway precariously from side to side. When we reached the main river, a motorized boat met us where we transported all the goods along with the dugout canoe and headed back to base camp. I can't wait to return, maybe with the fam-jam next time ;)

into the narrow Jurassic-esque canal!

My friend and I trying to stay afloat (I'm in the front)

Gorgeous Essequibo. Untouched rainforest for miles