Trinidad to Guyana on Caribbean Airlines on the Boeing 737-8 or the notorious MAX hahaha was uneventful. There were Passenger Boarding Bridges at both airports so no walking across the tarmac and scrambling up and down stairs in the rain, very civilised. The drive from the airport took 1:30 hrs and cost US$40 by airport taxi. The airport website actually states GY$ 5000 which is US$24 but apparently it is out of date. The taxi driver showed me a photo of one of his 4 children who has Down Syndrome, this is a common tactic used to get a bigger tip hahaha. I got conned into giving a guy in Port of Spain TT$100 to buy a meal for his 4 children, he was entertaining and actually gave me some useful information so I did not mind. 4 children must be a believable number.
Guyana is listed as one of the MDC’s (More Developed Countries) as opposed to the LDC’s in CARICOM and it has oil but I did not see any sign of this wealth trickle down to the street. Narrow, pot holed one way streets in the town with cars parked on both sides and on the pavement so the only place to walk is on the street where my arm got wacked by the side mirror of a car driving past making one lane into two lanes. A continuous traffic jam, it took an hour to get out of the town on my way back to the airport in the afternoon and another 45 minutes from there, even the airport road is a disaster. They do have a Natural History museum and a nice walk along the Sea Wall as long as you don’t look down at the rubbish. I booked two tours up river and to the Islands both were cancelled due to insufficient numbers. I did discover a new street food here called Egg Balls which consist of a boiled egg wrapped in spicy mashed casava and deep fried, delicious. They still use horse drawn carts in the town just in case you get bored sitting in traffic. Best of all there is a local Uber called “Book a Ride” no cards only cash. Many Businesses advertise Visa or Mastercard but when you try to pay with a card they say Machine not working hahaha. I did not see any other tourists here though there were three people on the flight who looked like they might work in the oil industry. I bought a SIM card with a 7 day plan for TT$158.
.
Chris's space 