Dear Editor,
I refer to a letter captioned “Government should extend subsidy for trips to Kaieteur into the New Year” (08.01.01) by Leon James Suseran in which he shared his experiences at Kaieteur Falls on a recent visit. I too was given the opportunity to visit both Kaieteur and Orinduik falls on Sunday 16th December I am a head teacher of a grade e primary school on the Ituribisi lake and it has always been my dream to see this wonder for myself. I called the Evergreen tour operator and was told that they needed one more person to fill the plane.
There were eleven of us on the flight; eight VSO’s, the tour guide, the pilot and myself. We took off at 9 am from Ogle. The weather was challenging so we had to divert and visit Orinduik first where there was bright sunshine. It was perfect and we each savoured the moment bathing and swimming at the base of the falls. It was like a refreshing fountain of youth with the view of Brazil just over on the other side . We wrapped up our visit and boarded the plane for our ultimate destination. The weather improved and after about 25 minutes Kaieteur was in view. It was splendid and we landed smoothly .
Our tour guide has been flying to the falls for 19 years and he gave us five different views of Kaieteur. My favourite was the boy scouts’ view which to me gave the best picture of the falls. We were lucky to see the cock of the rock who stood almost motionless while we took our pictures.
The high point of my visit, however, was meeting a relative of my wife who worked at the ranger station and whose father left Capoey to seek work in Chinapou over 30 years ago. He explained that Chinapou which is found 29 miles up the Potaro river is the closest Amerindian village to Kaieteur. Because of this trip I was able to bridge an important family link. I felt honoured to be the first of my family generation to see Kaieteur. Many of my relatives know the USA, Canada and the UK but none has ever gone to Kaieteur or Orinduik.
My tour guide said it’s sad that many Guyanese prefer to go to Trinidad because they find Kaieteur expensive. Though this may be true Kaieteur is our falls, our pride and joy found in our own backyard. It’s worth every penny and I encourage Guyanese to make this unforgettable trip.
Yours faithfully,
Quado Vancooten
