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| Leatherette in full swing |
When you're zipping along at top speed in a speed boat, bumping along over the many waves, I can tell you one thing.... there is a lot of
SPLASH! If you have on a cap you may lose it to the wind. And whatever you have on, you will likely be wet before getting to your destination. Henceforth and therefore... many boats present you with a "
leatherette" when you get in. This you will use to cover your bag and legs, and hold handy for when you need to pull it up over your head. Hard to get a shot of this at top speed when I'm bumping out of my seat and trying not to get my camera wet too...
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| Nothing to see for miles... The Atlantic Ocean |
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| Mouth of the Moruca River lined with Mangroves |
But, as we left Region 2 heading down the Pomeroon River and out to the Atlantic Ocean, this is one of those times that the leatherette became necessary. When the boats head out of the river into open water, the ride experience is a
little LOT different. You may have noticed my comments on this in a previous post for Shell Beach. Now, I had been there, and done that, so I knew what to expect and was fairly settled. Once I had on my life jacket, I was good to go. But... remember the two that I mentioned in the last post for Region 2??? Well, now the show would begin! It's funny how the one who expressed her fear constantly for the past week seemed to accept
the ride and settle into the inevitable. But the other.... Oh, the other... now she made
Scared seem like something newly invented. She clutched, groped, screamed, held her head, wrang her fingers, she was a MESS. Seriously, I was worried for her. I was thinking we were going to need to pour a bottle of vodka into her to get her on the boat to return from Moruca. In fact, I wasn't sure if we were going to get to Moruca. Good thing everyone was consumed enough with their journey and the bumpy ride that I don't think most people noticed her. And after the 10mins out on the Atlantic, we turned into the Moruca River.
Here the river was much smaller than most we've ever travelled on. We were now heading across to Region 1 (Moruca). I gather that this is the way we could also have travelled to Kumaka in Region 1 (see previous post
http://bjanice1.blogspot.com/2012/03/kumaka.html ). I'm glad I did have the experience to fly their the first time, now I've done both. :) Thanks to... well, you know yourself, Thanks!!! :)
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| Bridge over Moruca River |
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| A house along the river |
Now, it so happens that boats only leave out of Moruca to go to Charity at 5:30a.m. So, wanting to get back in the afternoon/evening was wishful thinking on our part. Still, nothing like wishing. So we did. Because otherwise, who knows where we would spend the night, what we would wear, and what we would eat. PLUS, we were paying for a
perfectly good hotel on the other side of the river. :)
Soon enough, a boat with seemingly drunk?, high? IDLERS passed by heading to Charity. Last chance. So we jumped in. Now, I heard someone in the boat say that since they'd left Kaituma this boat had been breaking down. OH BOY! I chose to ignore that. It was like a little fishing boat, not the typical speedboats we were used to. And... get this... no life jackets. I tried not to think about the worst. But, my colleagues did. Oh yes. You thought the journey was frightening coming to Moruca? This girl was sick going back. Tears. Fretful. Nervous energy. I tried not to laugh, but it was funny seeing how worried she was. I suggested she direct her energy to prayer. the guys were smoking continually - I suspect they were nervous too. LOL. The smoke did not help us, and certainly not her, but, regardless, we got back okay - thankfully.
Maybe I've had enough of Region 1 now, and should try for Region 8 or 9 next. Or maybe even a whole other country... Stay tuned.
