Of course things have changed, but I think the essential nature of these areas is still intact. I wrote about some of the changes in my essay Malaria. One of the chapters in V.S. Naipal's book, The Middle Passage, is about his visit to The Rupununi, the savanna region just south of Iwokrama and the location of the villages that were involved in the Iwokrama project.
Nice read. Not sure I ever told you that my first trip to the tropics was to Guyana in 1997. A professor in my department was Guyanese and had/has his own smallish field station somewhat near Georgetown. We also took extended rides in Bedford trucks, drove past Linden and the shockingly barren lifeless bauxite mines to some coastal savannah sites, name of which evades me right now. We also flew to Kaieteur Falls, our pilot was also named Chan, Chan-a-Sue, Malcolm I think. RAF trained with a Scottish wife, local legend. We went to their house, large house in Georgetown. Water came from a tank on the roof. Interior looked very English, almost out of place in the tropics. Anyway, maybe the same Chan? I was there also with Jim Hunt, we'd pay the locals out in the bush GUY$100 to find various wasp nests. Pretty sure they'd eat the larvae, they never said or offered but the nests were often coated with honey on the inside, so they might have been tasty.
You never told me about your Guyana adventures. You were there just after my brother left. As for the pilot, it could have been the same Chan Henry flew with often. A diet of wasp larvae is probably quite nutritious and high in calories.
fascinating, and particularly love the later photos! tnx so much, Walter (but you left out the photos of bird life -- well, can't do everything, I guess. Maybe next time?
oh, i meant to say. I had an anthro class at Berkeley from Robert F. Murphy. He did studies of the Mundurucu in Brazil, over several years, in the 1950's. He was a wonderful story-teller and he told us in detail how the Mundurucu processed Casava. the various shredding, soaking, etc. The main way of squeezing out the poisonous part was the use of a very large, metre+ long, woven version of a "finger pull," which in its toy form was a kind of game kids would play on/with each other. You stick your finger in one end, the other kid does the same, and as you pull against each other, the mesh tightens and you have to struggle to get loose. I have no idea how we ran across these, and doubt they're readily available now, but he gave us a riveting account--may have had a picture, even. It was his class that drew me into my anthro major there. (His wife wrote a book on the women of the tribe, "Women of the Forest", I even have a copy.
Reading about this life of scientists in one of the world’s most remote places left me dizzy with admiration! How impossible! All of it, to me. I’m thankful to have started off today reading about it, however, and grateful that you shared some of your brother’s diary, Walter.
Two eloquent brothers! Thank you for sharing Henry’s life and experiences. Can we hope that not too much has changed in these pristine places?
Of course things have changed, but I think the essential nature of these areas is still intact. I wrote about some of the changes in my essay Malaria. One of the chapters in V.S. Naipal's book, The Middle Passage, is about his visit to The Rupununi, the savanna region just south of Iwokrama and the location of the villages that were involved in the Iwokrama project.
Nice read. Not sure I ever told you that my first trip to the tropics was to Guyana in 1997. A professor in my department was Guyanese and had/has his own smallish field station somewhat near Georgetown. We also took extended rides in Bedford trucks, drove past Linden and the shockingly barren lifeless bauxite mines to some coastal savannah sites, name of which evades me right now. We also flew to Kaieteur Falls, our pilot was also named Chan, Chan-a-Sue, Malcolm I think. RAF trained with a Scottish wife, local legend. We went to their house, large house in Georgetown. Water came from a tank on the roof. Interior looked very English, almost out of place in the tropics. Anyway, maybe the same Chan? I was there also with Jim Hunt, we'd pay the locals out in the bush GUY$100 to find various wasp nests. Pretty sure they'd eat the larvae, they never said or offered but the nests were often coated with honey on the inside, so they might have been tasty.
You never told me about your Guyana adventures. You were there just after my brother left. As for the pilot, it could have been the same Chan Henry flew with often. A diet of wasp larvae is probably quite nutritious and high in calories.
Envious of such a magical adventure! Thanks for sharing it and the photos with us!
Always my pleasure!
fascinating, and particularly love the later photos! tnx so much, Walter (but you left out the photos of bird life -- well, can't do everything, I guess. Maybe next time?
oh, i meant to say. I had an anthro class at Berkeley from Robert F. Murphy. He did studies of the Mundurucu in Brazil, over several years, in the 1950's. He was a wonderful story-teller and he told us in detail how the Mundurucu processed Casava. the various shredding, soaking, etc. The main way of squeezing out the poisonous part was the use of a very large, metre+ long, woven version of a "finger pull," which in its toy form was a kind of game kids would play on/with each other. You stick your finger in one end, the other kid does the same, and as you pull against each other, the mesh tightens and you have to struggle to get loose. I have no idea how we ran across these, and doubt they're readily available now, but he gave us a riveting account--may have had a picture, even. It was his class that drew me into my anthro major there. (His wife wrote a book on the women of the tribe, "Women of the Forest", I even have a copy.
Looking forward to more from the diaries and your observations. Two astonishing brothers indeed.
What an interesting diary entry your brother wrote!
He had an interesting and adventurous life.
Reading about this life of scientists in one of the world’s most remote places left me dizzy with admiration! How impossible! All of it, to me. I’m thankful to have started off today reading about it, however, and grateful that you shared some of your brother’s diary, Walter.
I hope you were sitting when you got dizzy. There will be more Henry Stories to come.