Two weeks ago Luke McKenna departed Georgetown for what was to be one of those rare expeditions into Guyana’s hinterlands.
Three years after promising himself, and friends, that he would cycle to Lethem from Georgetown, the 27-year-old finally departed Georgetown.
McKenna made his very first trip to Guyana about three years ago and said that the very first time he travelled to Lethem, he decided to take the bus. To his surprise, McKenna said he found the trail “awesome” and indicated to one of his friends that one day he would return to Guyana to cycle the trail.
McKenna was quick to point out that cycling has always been a passion of his and before visiting Guyana, he and his friends cycled to many different countries in Europe. McKenna had spent some time in the South Rupununi where he worked on a project. After the project’s completion he returned to England where he worked for three years. McKenna confessed that even whilst in England the promises he made to return and cycle from Georgetown to Lethem was never far away from his mind. Finally deciding to be with his partner, McKenna brought his cycle over with him to Guyana. The cycle, he says, was not that special, he had had it for several years, but it was the one he always rode whenever he goes cycling.
McKenna began his journey from Georgetown and cycled to his first destination – Linden. He spent his first night there and the following morning continued his journey along the Mabura road where his second night was spent at a small community called 47 Mile. Sleeping in bedrooms was not part of the initial plan, he said, in fact he had prepared himself to camp out more but there were a lot of places to stop so he ended up sleeping at the various communities. “I only ended up sleeping in the actual forest once because every other evening I came across a place to rest,” he said. On the third night of the
journey, McKenna said he eventually got the opportunity to sleep in the forest since his next destination was too far away for him to reach before nightfall. Luckily, he said, he had his camping gears, machete and food stuff to get him through the night.
McKenna remembers sleeping alone in the middle of the forest to be a nervous experience; he was aware that animals roam the forest at nights and the last thing he wanted was to have his plans go awry as a result of any unfortunate encounter. Remembering that night in the forest, he said he prepared his dinner over a candle and immediately went to sleep in his hammock. “I dropped to sleep straightaway after I ate and woke up around 4 am to continue my journey,” he recounted before adding that maybe because he was tired from the day’s cycling he went straight to sleep without a bother. On day four McKenna arrived at Kurupukari where he spent a day at Michelle’s Island.
The following day McKenna cycled to Wowetta, where he recounted “I got an early night’s sleep and I got up really early because that was going to be the biggest day of all. I was about 137 km away from Lethem that day but the problem with cycling in the savannah is that you don’t get any shade and as soon as the sun comes it hits you straight away but I cycled on. Around lunch time 11 … I took my bicycle to a little bush island and I strung up my hammock but I didn’t have any appetite so I had to force myself to eat and then I continued on to Lethem . It was quite a hard day but I needed to arrive because I know there was a party waiting for me,” he said.
McKenna accomplished his goal and arrived in Lethem later on the same day. Looking back, he said that the most challenging part of his journey was the blazing sun. He added that despite his tiredness he kept on but didn’t push himself too hard. In addition to that, he said, he also crashed once whilst on the trail but suffered no injuries, which in any case, did not delay his journey. He revealed that the best part of the trip was seeing the scenery and countless wild animals and birds. He added that he stopped to take pictures of all the birds and animals he saw and even tried to get video footage. To his disappointment, however, he did not get to see any jaguars. “Being in isolation was quite nice and being in the middle of nowhere and nature it is quite a nice feeling at the end of the day,” he said.
McKenna said that he will definitely recommend such a trip noting that anybody can do it as long as they have the necessary equipment, even if they take 11 or 12 days. He revealed that he will be cycling the trail again but this time with several of his friends from England who have expressed an interest cycling through the rainforest. “But this time I will camp out in the forest every night,” the London-born said.
