Tag: misc

Guyana: when I say it’s empty…

I mean, of course, devoid of tourists. Besides the French couple at my hotel, I’ve seen precisely 5 Caucasians today.  Which isn’t a bad thing.

But whether I get to see Kaieteur Falls tomorrow or not us questionable, depending on whether or not 2 people from New York made it into the country or not, the after missing a flight.

You see, there are only so many trips by plane, and not daily, with a minimum # of passengers…

So I’ll see in the morning…

And I still don’t have my fourth leg upgraded from GEO to PTY, even though it’s a B737 instead of a smaller E170 like I had coming here. Sigh…

Guyana: misc notes

In no particular order…

– it’s pronounced GUY-anna
– Guyana means “land of many waters”
– reminds me of the Caribbean (not so much like Central America or what imagine the bulk of south America to be like)
– people are very soft spoken here, or at least behind counters – having a hard time hearing them (plus the accent, but mostly the volume – theirs low, ambience loud).
– the bridge to Brazil (on the other side of the country) apparently has a cool label switching system to go from left side (Guyana) to right side (Brazil) driving. Huh. Most left side drive places are effectively islands.
– not many convenience stores here. Finally found a large 1.5L bottle if water at a little Indian resto for G$260/US$1.30
– found a working Scotiabank ATM this morning, with an exorbitant G$1047/US$5 fee (excluding foreign exchange fee) regardless of the amount withdrawn – and I don’t need much for the next 52 hours
– though near the market are money changers… Guys sitting on a chair with a 1″ wad of bills (not doubled over) in their hands. I imagine there must be some hidden protection nearby…
– lots of schools, each with their own uniform; some with loose ties, even for girls, which is just cruel in this climate
– crowded mini vans seem to be the primary mode of transportation here
– lots of traffic lights in town, inc pedestrian signals and countdowns
– it’s easy to look past the open gutters (occasional sewer smell) and litter on the sides of the street (there are some public trash bins, and I’ve seen garbage trucks and an anti-litter poster with steep fines) but what troubles me is how much broken glass is around (looks like from green beer bottles)

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Panama: which way is up?

It’s easy to forget that Panama City is on the pacific coast even though the sun rises over the water.
There aren’t many non-island places on the pacific coast of the Americas that can say that.

So the canal goes roughly east to west from the Pacific to the Atlantic, very counter-intuitive.

Misc notes
– the US$ is used here, though they also have B1 coins (balboas) equivalent to $1.
– you do sometimes see the B currency symbol on price lists (eg entry fees)
– lots of US fast food chains and other companies here (Subway billboard promoted a $2 sub – the 15cm (6″) kind though)
– cabs are all yellow now (as of 2-3 years ago), don’t use meters but are cheap compared to home, and there are lots of them (like NYC)

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