Boa Vista

 Boa Vista   

An unusal communications tower without the discs on show.

The Igreja Catedral Cristo Redentor, the Roman Catholic cathedral and far too modern for my taste. 

In the centre of the city from which all roads radiate out from is the Monumento ao Garimpeiro, the Monument to the Miners, to remember the gold panners who braved harsh conditions to extract gold from the rivers in the area which ultimately led to the establishment of the city. 

On the far side of the square is the Assemleia Legislativa do Estado de Roraima. 

Towards the river is the traditional market. 

Down towards the river is the oldest church in the city. Behind it is the Independence Square and off to the west is the Monument to the Pioneers. 

The I love Boa Vista sign and every city has one. To the right is the Edileusa Loz Viewpoint for great views up and down the river and across the city to the savannah and jungle beyond that surrounds the city. To the left is the bridge, some 1.2 km long across the Branco River. 

Crossing from Guyana to Brazil, Lethem to Bomfin

 Crossing from Guyana to Brazil, Lethem to Bomfin 

We left the Pakaraima Mountain Lodge and drove the 100 km to the border across the savannah.

The mountains receded as we drove deeper into the savannah.

In places, it was soon just flat grassland...

...some places had a few shrubs and the occasional tree, but the fltness of the area was a feature.

We crossed the border where there is a bridge to take traffic from one side of the road to the other as the two countries drive on different sides of the road.

And after the border, the scenery was the same until we reached Boa Vista which is the regional capital of Brzil's North West Region. 

Road to Pakaraima Mountain Lodge

Road to Pakaraima Mountain Lodge 

The ferry at Kurupukari Crossing disgorging its load.

On its return journey to the other side, it had too much weight and was grounded on the concrete loading ramp so it needed a push from a digger.

 Just another navigation hazard as a sand bar had formed in a direct line between the two ferry landings. 

Our truck reversing onto the ferry. 

The rapids just upstream from the crossing. 

The entrance to the Iwokrama Canopy Walk... blink and you miss it as it is only 154 metres long and we saw nothing. 

The lodge...

...and another view of the grounds of the lodge.

Road to Nature View Lodge

 Road to Nature View Lodge 

The road was still beng made...

...although there were ome bridges that had been built...

...but the tarmac soon gave out and it was just a gravel track....

...and plenty of dirt track with the jungle all around...

...with some bridges still being built...

...and the further we went, the more the jungle closed in.

Georgetown

 Georgetown

A traditional round house erected in the city.
                                       

The British 1824 cemetery

A leather back turtle emerging from an egg in the centre of a roundabout.

Self evident.

Ibis resting in a tree in the Manatee ponds.

Georgetown, Guyana

 Georgetown, Guyana, 

After a long delay caused by Ariane Spaceport in Frence Guiana stealing my camera, I have photos again, although it takes a lot of time and internet to downlod from the phone to laptop to blog...typical of the French to make things difficult...

Now in Guyana, formerly British Guyana, crossing the Berbice Rive on the 6th longest floating bridge in the world at 1,571 metres long.

The st George Cathedra built 1899, the largest wooden sawn timber building in the world...the south side...

...the west facade...

...there are many colonial style buildings, but this was one that I missed on my last visit to the city, the engineering ministry...

...the high court of justice building...

...and the number one building to see the 1888 iron framed Startbroek Market building fabricated by the Delaware Iron and Steel Works and rebuilt here.

The Hand in Hand Insurance Co.

The Edmnd Roth Museum, the oldest in the Carribbean.

Paradise Gardens.

City Hall finally undergoing refurbishment.

Another view of the Paradise Gardens. 

Kourou to Paramaribo and a stolen camera

 Kourou to Paramaribo and a stolen camera 

My camera was stolen by Ariane. I entered the gallery overlooking the control room in building Ariane 3 and sat in the lecture theatre cum gallery overlooking the control room. It was the only room in the building that we visited. The camera slipped out of my pocket. I only noticed when the coach set off again and I wanted to take a photo. The guide radioed back to the centre for a member of staff to go and have a look for it but didn't see it. It was either a man look or the person looking for it took a fancy to it and pocketed it. The place is too sterile and has a lot of high security for an item like a camera left behind not to be obviously noticeable. 

So no photos of the space port (only of the museum seen two days earlier).

No photos of Kourou town centre.

No photos of Devil's Island and the Salvation Islands,

No photos of the penal colony buildings at St Laurent du Maroni.

No photos of the Nature Resort Anaula on the Suriname River.

But I am hopeful of finding a replacement when we return to Paramaribo.

Mosques and Palaces

 Mosques and Palaces

Kourou and the Spaceport

 Kourou and the Spaceport

The entance to the centre and to the museum. 

The iconic Ariane 5 rocket at the entrance and the row of flags of all the supporting nations. 

Inside the museum were loads of exhibits including models of the Vega series of rockets, now discontinued....

...the Soyuz rocket, not to the same scale and now no longer available due to sanctions against Putin's Russia and his invasion of Ukraine...

Arinae rockets 1 and 3 going from left to right....

Ariane 4 & 5 going left to right...

...and the currently most used vehicle, the Ariane 6. There was a launch planned in a few days after we had left. We will be just up the coast and hope to see the launch from a distance. Our visit to the space centre and the rest of the fcilities was delayed and will be another day.