First day in Charity

We were picked up by the bus and the girls at lunchtime ready for our trip to Charity. First mini problem was the bus wasn’t big enough so we left Sara and Lizzy behind (although not for long as a taxi quickly picked them up). We had to rush slightly to the ferry as we had to catch a ferry across the Essequibo River. On route we went over the Demerara bridge which was quite cool as it is a floating bridge.

Sara had warned up the journey was likely to take anywhere between 3 and 6 hours so we had books, cards and things to do. The ferry journey across the river was really pretty, we passed quite a lot of islands (there are 365 islands, although not all are habited). It was a good journey and we chatted with the girls, most of whom were experiencing this for the first time too.

Our journey was at the quicker end of Sara’s estimation, and we then had a little wait until we were picked up. We weren’t sure how long we had to wait but to keep the girls and ourselves amused we sang a lot of campfire songs. Favourites included, Funky Chicken, Get loose, Princess Pat, Crazy Moose and many many more. We were finally picked up and made the journey to Charity at night, The sky was absolutely beautiful and filled with stars. Arriving at the school in Charity just after 9, we had to unpack, eat and make the beds, quite a busy day. We are staying in a dorm room at a school which had a few more mozzy’s and other wildlife than our flat.

Our first day in Charity started with organising patrols and chores, which were done before breakfast. After breakfast we met we some local health inspectors and workers who showed us around Charity. We met up with some local Guides/Rangers who were joining us everyday to do some research about the area for the environmental project. We chatted to some locals, about the problems and what can be done about it. Most of the locals were really positive and it was interesting to see the effect that the various littering problems. One man we spoke to who worked on a boat on the river had spent quite a lot of money repairing his motor on the boat due to rubbish getting caught in it. In the afternoon we ran sessions back at the school (it is too hot to spend more than a morning outside in the sun). We planned in a little more detail what we wanted to do and then made posters to display around the town. When the sun had gone in a little we played some games with the girls before dinner and bed.

Old style chalk boards