Bequia Easter Regatta 2008 - Caribbean Compass

— Continued from previous page
Making our way back to our boat, we discovered it had been completely surrounded
by flotillas of rich, emerald-green water hyacinth. It gave the appearance that the
boat was settled in the center of a large green garden. We had heard that large floating
masses of water hyacinth could actually cause a boat to drag its anchor. We
pushed our way through and up to our boat, where we could start pulling the hyacinth
away. As we pulled and separated the clumps of hyacinth, the current would
carry them away and allow us to go after the next piece. It took about 15 minutes to
free the boat.
We were invited aboard Sea Gypsy that evening where Ben treated us to delicious barbecued,
fresh-caught fish and entertained us with a fascinating, hour-long slide show of Sea
Gypsy’s adventures as Ben nears the conclusion of a circumnavigation.
Earlier in the day Alouette reported they had traveled by dinghy to Isla De Mono,
about 30 minutes from the lodge, and had seen a troop of monkeys on the island, so
we made plans to go early the next morning. Apparently we hadn’t gone quite far
enough up the caño.
Our next stop was the Orinoco Delta Lodge. This lodge is a large complex consisting
of individual cabins, rather than rooms, with a central hall with dining room and
lounge. It is quite modern in conveniences, including internet. The cabins are all
interconnected to a main walkway. Everything is on stilts, including the raised walkways.
There is a cage where a puma is housed. Along the walkway are blackened
paint cans with wicks coming out of the lids; these burn used motor oil for night
lanterns. We understand they help keep mosquitoes away.
A treat to the eye was the sight of a couple of guests sitting on the edge of the dock,
dangling fishing lines into the water, hoping to catch a fish while the resident cats
hung closely by waiting for a feast opportunity. It was like a scene from “Tom
Sawyer”. One employee walked by with a colorful macaw on his shoulder. On the
edge of a thatched roof was a tarantula seeking out insects hiding in the thatch.
We planned to treat ourselves this evening by having dinner at the lodge around
six o’clock. The staff informed us dinner was normally served at 8:00PM and, as darkness
closed in, we discovered why. The mosquitoes became thick and aggressive to
the point we found it necessary to hurry back to our boats and seek cover. After dark
the mosquitoes abated and we returned to the lodge where we enjoyed a most excellent
meal of breaded pan-fried piranha, potato and vegetables. It was easily the best
restaurant meal we’ve had in a long time, and cost about US$8 per plate.
Across the river from the lodge is a village; from these homes dugout canoes were
paddled up to our boat. The women and children offered baskets and necklaces for
trade. The dugout canoes were obviously hand-hewn from trees — quite rough and
rustic in their construction. As the canoes dry out in the heat of the sun, cracks
develop, causing them to leak. The holes are not filled but rather the water is continuously
bailed out. Nearly every canoe had one paddler with one or more bailers.
On one occasion we noticed a young girl, probably around ten years old, at the
control of an outboard motor with seven or eight younger children along for the ride.
In other instances young boys and girls of about four or five years of age paddled to
our boat. In each case there was no doubt the boat was completely under control,
except in one instance where we gave the young paddler a ball to play with and in
his excitement, he almost upset his canoe.
Melinda from Sea Schell had traded nail polish and shampoo. The women immediately
began washing their hair in the river. Other young female traders approached their
boat later, pointing to their fingernails hoping to receive the new glamour product.
We learned that the Warao girls, when reaching puberty, cut their hair short to signify
that they are available for marriage. In many cases this is at the age of 12 or 13
years, and by 16 years some of the girls are reported to have three or four children.
As days on the river closed, many groups of parrots, mostly in pairs, flew over us
with their familiar cry, as well as flocks of scarlet ibis. With the exception of the
drone of the odd outboard engine on the main river channel, the evenings were
silent. However, just as light started to fade the mosquito onslaught arrived, making
it necessary to retreat inside the boat for about two hours.
We had discussed going further upriver toward Tucupito but found that due to transmission
lines across the river it wasn’t possible to go much farther. Consequently we
started to head back downstream where we decided to seek out the Mis Palafito Lodge.
We found it about four miles up a side caño where we anchored just short of the lodge.
To our surprise the lodge, though hidden under the canopy of the forest and well camouflaged,
had brilliant white banners with red writing announcing “Toyota”. We were
fascinated to find the dining room of this very large, remote resort property on the edge
of the river completely set up for what appeared to be a convention.
The resort was larger than most of the villages we had seen. All interconnecting
walkways and cabins were on stilts well above the forest floor. On the entry dock,
greeting guests, was a tame toucan. As we entered the lodge there were two colourful
macaws and two Capuchin monkeys.
The dining room was elegantly set up for dinner, with large bowls of fruit on each
table. We were invited to the bar where we purchased a cold drink and relaxed to
take in this elaborately set dining room, in stark contrast to its rustic building and
the wild forest around it. A monkey’s head appeared, hanging upside-down from the
roof, looking through the open doorway. It scanned the room and was suddenly
joined by a second monkey. Seeing nobody in close proximity, they dropped to the
floor, scurried up onto a table, grabbed some fruit and retreated immediately out-
Resident cats cozy up to fishing tourists at Orinoco Delta Lodge. Note the masses
of water hyacinth in the river
side. It was quite a comical sight and we couldn’t help but marvel at the intelligence
of these young monkeys.
Later that afternoon, four large speedboats came up the river at full throttle, past
our boats. At the dock in front of the lodge, they unloaded about 20 people per boat
— Toyota employees being pampered with an overnight stay in the rainforest.
As we travelled out, we explored more caños and were treated to more troops of
monkeys. We found ourselves more confident in river travel, to the point we became
a little cocky and decided to explore a secondary river channel with the yacht,
rather than by dinghy. We had no reliable charts and were charting our own course,
which we trusted would get us through to the main river. With Sea Schell leading,
we did not ground at any time. However, at times the canopy over the river closed
in, occasionally allowing branch tips to brush our mast. That was a little too close
for comfort. This trip was particularly exciting and adventurous — and highly risky.
This part we would not recommend to other boaters.
Our river trip back was uneventful, a clean close to one of the most spectacular
adventures El Shaddai had been on to date. In contrast to typical anchorages, the
Mánamo River was truly an exciting place to be.
The GPS coordinates of the Mánamo River anchorages and channels are found in the
cruising package available in Chaguaramas, Trinidad, through Members Only Maxi
Taxi Service.
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APRIL 2008 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 23