Rupununi Savannas of Guyana: A Visual Journey is a book for all readers with an interest in Guyana. The book is essentially a photojournal of the southwestern part of the country that borders its neighbour Brazil. See the story of the land, the people, their everyday life, and the flora and fauna captured in over 100 photographs of this scenic part of Guyana. The book is divided into ten chapters that include photographs and text capturing:
· Rock carvings;
· The majestic three-peaked Shiriri mountain, a landmark in the South Rupununi;
· Shea Rock (a smaller version of Ayers Rock in Australia);
· The Kanuku mountains that divide the area between the North Rupununi and South Rupununi;
· Giant ant hills, some almost twice the size of an adult person;
· The curatella or sandbox trees (known locally as kai n’bay);
· Everyday life;
· School and church activities;
· Means of transportation – old and new;
· Vacqueros or cowboys in action;
· Preserving beef into tasso;
· Making food from the poisonous bitter cassava;
· Rocks and minerals; and
· Village scenes.
Depicting the essence of the area, this book brings out a vivid and visual journey throughout this grassland region of Guyana.
The author, Lal Balkaran, has done it again. Since his well-received Dictionary of the Guyanese Amerindians and Other South American Native Terms came out in 2002, two other books have followed. Always coming out with a unique publication on his native Guyana and on other subjects (he did the world’s first dictionary of auditing published by LexisNexis in Toronto), here is his fourth on the country. What is of special significance is that he knows the area quite well as he once lived there for over five years and travelled back to arrange the capture of the scenes contained in this book.
For those who have visited the Rupununi or lived there before, this book is a spectacular album of memories. For others in general and Guyanese in particular who have not had the opportunity of seeing this savanna country, the book is a tour of a lifetime.
Scale the 500-foot Shea Rock in the South Rupununi, drive past the beautiful Shiriri mountain, a landmark in the area that can be seen from huge distances, watch vacqueros or cowboys in action, experience a captivating sunrise or sunset scenery in the savannas, view the ancient rock carvings at Aishalton, watch the art of making a Wapishana hammock, view the breath-taking scenery, watch the process of obtaining food from the poisonous bitter cassava, and expect more from this picture-packed book of southwestern Guyana.
The volume is a spectacular exploration of the southwestern savannas of Guyana – the Rupununi. It contains photographs of the people, everyday life, the landscape, the plants, church and school activities, the vacqueros, transportation, and a range of other issues. The contrasting landscape, rivers in the dry and rainy season, trails, tree-lined creeks, moving around, hunting, fishing, and distant mountains, all form part of the beautiful Rupununi worth experiencing. Geographically, Guyana is divided into the following four natural regions:
1.) Low coastal areas- where over 90% of the population live. With its rich soils, sugar, rice and other agricultural crops are grown here. Also, manufacturing and other ancillary industries form the main economic activities.
2.) The hilly and sandy belt region where bauxite and manganese are mined.
3.) The highland region. This encompasses the dense jungle covering close to eighty five percent of the country where timber, gold, and diamonds are the main industries.
4.) The grass-covered savannas. This is open country where hills, mountain ranges, mountains, palm trees and rivers make it a strikingly beautiful region.
The photographs in this book relate to the fourth geographic region. The Takatu river forms part of the western boundary between Brazil and Guyana. It flows into the Rio Branco which in turn flows into the Rio Negro, a tributary of the mighty Amazon. To those who have been born and brought up on the coastland, and have never seen open country, the first time they set eyes on the savanna is eventful. It is a large expanse of flat or undulating country, hard and rough, with tufts of grass and curatella or sandbox trees dotting all over and mountain ranges in the horizon. The sandbox trees (kai n’ bay in the local Wapishana dialect) bend as if in reverence to nature. Huge boulders are found throughout the region. Occasional lakes are here and there. Creeks, overflowing during the rainy season (May to September), are lined with trees on both their banks.
The wind is refreshing and sometimes strong while the air is almost dry with a dramatic change at nightfall. The sun is fiercely hot especially at its peak after midday. The Rupununi is a continuation of the Brazilian savanna and resembles the La Gran Sabana in Venezuela. The savannas are divided into North and South by the Kanuku mountain range that runs in an east-west direction. In the northern Rupununi area, the Macushis dwell while in the southern region can be found the Wapishanas, the Macushis’ one-time adversary although the two tribes live peacefully side by side and inter-marry.
The Kanuku mountains are covered in dense jungle with some peaks rising to almost four thousand feet. Huge boulders can clearly be seen on the tops and sides of these mountains when flying over them. In the midst, the Rupununi river snakes through for miles to join the Essequibo river. Just a short distance north of the Kanukus is Lethem, the administrative township of the Rupununi.
There are over 100 photographs in the book divided into ten broad categories as follows:
1. Pre-history
2. The Landscape
3. Everyday Life
4. Cattle Ranching
5. Food from the Bitter Cassava
6. School Activities
7. Transportation
8. Church Activities
9. Village Scenes
10. Rocks and Boulders
I lived and travelled the area for over five years as a school teacher. The sceneries captured are therefore authentic and, as the title of the book suggests, will give the reader a visual journey of life throughout the area.
For those who once lived there and others who still do, this book should bring a flood of memories of the various scenes of different aspects of life in the area over the years. For those who have never been to the Rupununi, especially Guyanese living in or out of Guyana, the book offers a visual journey of this scenic area of the country. Enjoy.