rewarding insight of what Guyana has to offer and how beautiful she is .
A plan was formulated to leave early the next day but if you ’ ve ever travelled with a group , you ’ ll understand time disappears when it ’ s mornings .
One lost valve stem later , a tour of the lodge , offloading of a vehicle to change a tire , repacking of the vehicle and some minor fixes led us to a mid-day crossing and on our way to an Indigenous village called Annai . There , wheels were changed and we were back on the trail but again , we were losing day-light on our second day .
Making himself at home in the bonnet of the pickup and joking about the possibility of him riding there to keep things in place , he managed to fix wires which became loose from the rough terrain .
Tired eyes , sweaty bodies and a long road still ahead , we proceeded for about thirty ( 30 ) minutes to one of the major checkpoints at Mabura before moving to even worse terrain ; this part of the road leads from Mabura to the Kurupukari crossing across the Essequibo River .
At twilight , we passed a famous friend nicknamed ‘ Mr . Turtle ’ on social media as he too tried to maneuver the rough trail to an unknown destination .
Speeding down the trail into the savannahs which quickly changes from beautiful mountains you do not see in the most populated areas of Guyana , to large swaths of beautiful flat lands covered in giant termite nests and luscious grassland , the excitement returned . Feet planted on the gas , somewhere along that winding pathway , in that setting sun along the mountain backdrop , we realized that half the fun of Lethem isn ’ t actually in the town of Lethem , it ’ s the trail drive in getting there .
A 12-hour journey that took us two days provided us with more than enough adventure and excitement until next year again . Rolling into the town which is on the border with Brazil , a few tears were shed for a team that braved the trail and were prepared to do it again .
Fading light and invisible potholes which soon became craters in the road and then swatches of areas where the water washed away parts of the top soil , truly tested our driving skills before we reached to the crossing .
Sadly , when we arrived there just after seven , they had closed for the evening .
We had no choice but to lick our wounds and return to the Track Eco-Lodge which was fifteen ( 15 ) minutes away , to spend the night . Our one-day trip to Lethem had become two but we were able to get our much-needed rest .
The stay at the lodge became a blessing in disguise as the team had the chance to view the resort being developed by Naveen Seereram and family provided us with a hugely
Vehicle checks at Track Eco-Lodge
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