St Cuthbert’s Mission is an Amerindian settlement 60+ miles down the Mahaica River. It is the only one in the Demerara-Mahaica region with a small portion extending into neighbouring Mahaica-Berbice to the East. The Mission is also the closest indigenous settlement to Georgetown, being a two-hour drive south along the East Bank Demerara highway, zipping across the Linden-Soesdyke highway and through waves of hills before entering the village.
The instinct would be to Google the destination, just to have a taste of what to expect but no reviews or pictures could quite describe the small Amerindian community.
St Cuthbert’s is unique for its inaccessible accessibility; that is it is right around the corner from Georgetown yet in an entirely different world, hidden behind a track turning unnoticeably from the highway – marshlands, scrub vegetation amongst hills and ditches, creeks and tall slim trees. It is two hours away yet isolated, so much so that cellular phone service is intermittent.
Although the Mission is accessible by road it is not an easy drive. What should be a road, is more of a track. Vehicles ride over holes and ditches and waves of white sand before they flow through a valley of shrubs. Often vehicles stick in the sand and need either muscles or four-wheels to get out. Fortunately this was not my experience, as the driver seemed totally familiar with what appeared to be an obstacle course at a car race event, as he dashed though secondary tracks and swerved from holes. At times it felt like we were in a tunnel and other times a wide expanse of marshy wetlands. Finding St Cuthbert’s Mission after 40-plus minutes of such terrain was like seeing an oasis, and in many ways it is.
I needed relaxation after that ride as my stomach was still rumbling and rolling as I hovered between thrill and nausea. Where I was staying was far from the village centre where a year-old benab stands; 60ft in circumference and 50ft in height suggests it is the largest benab in the country after the destruction of the Umana Yana by fire on September 9.
A hike awaited us after the ride. As we tramped through thick vegetation and over the Mahaica River a song played over and over in my head. It was The Mighty Pakuri’s song “Matapee” which the driver had pounded throughout the ride through the track. Finally, exhausted and a bit dizzy I sat down for some Labba curry.
Now from my readings, Labba happens to be the largest rodent in the world; as my friend jokingly said: “the largest rat”. There was therefore just a moment of hesitance as it was offered to me. Just a fleeting moment, nothing more. I am not certain if it was because I was hungry but I have never tasted a meat so good in my entire life; I ate the rodent with glee – wanting more but being too shy to ask. However, this did not stop me from expressing my satisfaction.
While the crew I went with to St Cuthbert’s prepared themselves for a night out I spent the night inspired by my own existence and that which surrounded me. Strange yes, but I have an unusual and sometimes frightening connection to my environment that dictates my very thoughts, my moods, my character and goes as far as splitting my personality into distinct beings.
I stood and watched up, amazed at the dark sky with the numerous tiny dots that sparkled magnificently like diamonds in tar.
The heavens seemed to be moving in the night sky; not the stars but the blackness seemed to undulate beyond the twinkles.
To dwell on the beauty of the sky, the river behind me and the grassy land stretching out before me felt like I was in the middle of the universe. Nature has a way of reminding us humans that there is existence beyond our own understanding. Our spirits are connected to everything around us, even when we forget and it was at this very moment for me that a weekend of spiritual connections began. This night began my weekend at St Cuthbert’s Mission. (Jairo Rodrigues)
