He grew up swimming in the Cedak Creek, which he says was once so transparent that during fishing expeditions he could see the fish as it bit the bait on his fishing line.
“I guess you can say that I fell in love with rivers the first time I saw one,” Romario Hastings, 24, told Stabroek Weekend during an interview last week, before adding that while many changes have taken place in his life, his love for rivers has remained.
Hastings was born in the Indigenous community of Kako, Upper Mazaruni, to Akawaio parents. There, he lived a simple childhood. Like many other Indigenous children, he helped out at the farm and went on many fishing expeditions with the villagers.