- How untouched is the Guyanese jungle?
- What do you do when you arrive at a 741 feet waterfall?
- What are the dangers and what are you most afraid of?
How untouched is the Guyanese jungle?
Guyana is the size of Britain, with just 2 percent of the population. Its towns are clustered on the coast, so travel inland and you find nothing but virgin tropical jungle. A single road cuts through the rainforest to reach the South and there are few airstrips, so the only way of exploring the interior is via its network of rivers. As a result, few people venture into the interior, leaving the rainforest unspoilt by man.
What do you do when you arrive at a 741 feet waterfall?
When rapids and waterfalls are too dangerous to run, the team will portage the canoe and kit around them. This will involve hacking a route through the rainforest and carrying everything to a point where the river is no longer a threat. This can take days of gruelling work and risky manoeuvring. To make portaging easier, Charles has had a custom made, 20 feet aluminium boat built especially for the expedition. The aluminium boat is very heavy for three people to carry but is far lighter than traditional wooden dugouts.
What are the dangers and what are you most afraid of?
The jungle holds many hidden dangers, so you can never let your guard down. Caiman have been known to snatch people gutting fish by the rivers edge and its best to avoid activities such as walking and swimming at night. Jaguars can roam into camp at night but very rarely attack.
Hacking through branches congesting the river can be troublesome as they can hide nasty surprises such as hornet nests. 12 stings from these black, golf ball sized predators and you're lucky to survive, so need to react fast! Take a deep breath and swim as far as you can underwater.
The rapids constitute the most significant danger. Should the boat overturn and kit get lost, there will be no opportunities to re-supply. The Guyanese interior is very isolated, so major traumas are Charles' greatest concern. The team will have a SPOT locator beacon on them to send off a distress signal to the Guyanese Defence Force (GDF), however, reaching the team deep in the jungle is very difficult, necessitating a helicopter with search and rescue capabilities and sufficient fuel load. Charles has discussed this issue with the GDF and they are confident they can perform such an intricate operation.
