Shell Beach

Wicked!!!  I’d heard about Shell beach, and even though I would not be able to make it there the night before to watch for turtles myself, I’m glad it got unto my list of things I did! (Or in this case, was about to do).

This trip was to be 50 mins by boat and we were expecting it would be very rough. We actually go out to sea and then come in to the beach. Pretty exciting. But here is where I was told to pack... NUFF (plenty) water, snacks, mosquito repellent, extra clothes, etc for the day. I was told not to wear my sneakers because I would have to wade from the boat out to land. Okay. Lewwi go, lewwi go!!!

Approaching anArmy base

The army base

Houses along the river bank

On the way I spot Scarlet Ibis! Never seen one before, but I did know that Guyana has lots of birdlife. So, still excited! Yay!

100 Scarlet Ibis(es?) in the trees

Now, a quick aside. Many houses are located along the river banks. Some are hidden behind the mangroves. So, how do people get around? By boat of course. The size of the boat I imagine depends on what you can afford. But, I also saw these little "dugout canoes". I can't remember what they're called here, but this is how kids get to school. Sometimes maybe 15 of them pile into a canoe to get around. 

The river is wide. Still brown, but changes brown-ness as we get closer to the sea. Then, BACK-SIDE, the boat starts to jump into the air and slap back down into the water. Not little flip flops like the other day. My behind was slamming into the bench!!! 

Brown water was splashing into my face and hair. We were wet from top heading downwards... Someone handed us a tarp to cover ourselves, and off we roared into the wind. I remember going to an amusement park in Maryland (King’s Dominion) and riding one of their new rides at the time which had the t-shirt... “I survived........” and I thought to myself, I don’t know if we’ll survive this, but NOOOO amusement park has anything over this ride. The Tower of Terror at Disney, None of the rollercoasters at Canada’s Wonderland, NONE. NONE. This was IT!!!! I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry, so I laughed. (And prayed). Man alive.

The joke is I’m watching the boat pull farther and farther away from land and I’m thinking... aren’t we supposed to go closer, not farther??? But, I realize for some reason, they must need to go hither before coming in. But this did not make it any easier. Looking in at the beach though I was amazed. The sand looked a reddish colour – almost like it was tinged with bauxite. I just wanted to get to land! Finally we got as close in as we could, I rolled up my jeans, and waded in. The ENTIRE beach was covered in shells. Nothing but shells. This stuff couldn’t even break down fast enough to become sand. Shell Beach??? Okay, I get it now...

And yes, we carried in some plantains, grains, snacks, etc for the teachers who would have to hire a boat and brave the waters to get a little food. Since they often run low on supplies, we brought a few goodies. To the left is the school with the little kitchen behind it (a hot lunch is provided for the kids). On the right is the house where the teachers live.

Cricket pitch. Lunchtime games

SHELL Beach! :)

Apparently two turtles came to shore last night. A bit disappointing that I missed that, but, wha fi do? I listen as I’m told about the monkeys running wild, the poisonous snake found under one teacher’s mattress last week and the disappearing dogs (thanks to jaguars of course). The entire community has about 100 people, with approximately 30 children in school. Great beach, looks nice. Nothing to do but movies when one neighbour has gas. And I guess go watch turtles. There is no shop here, so if you want supplies you must take a boat to the mainland. Our 75 engine took us 50 minutes in VERY rough waters. Some of these guys here have a 5 engine. Three hours or more to land? Capsizing? Is that life for me? Only to visit...