Shalini’s Guyana Blog – Week 3.5

Timeless Sunday! August 19th

Today was a timeless Sunday. We visited a place where time has stood still and seems to have no meaning. There are no clocks, no supplied electricity and no locks at the wonderful 20-acre oasis of the winemaker Warren and his artist wife Tracy.

The place is called PANDAMA, named after the Pandama palms that grow wild here. Actually, everything grows wild at the retreat and nothing is planted. Water is from a nearby creek, the lights are solar and the only fan is the breeze from the forest. The two Macaws have to be kept in the cage because of the ‘Wild-woman’ (the residential cat who has a month old un-named kitten). The other residents include Onynx, Moonlight and Spice (all dogs). Warren (an ex-US Navy veteran) makes fruit wines and I tasted beautiful whites and reds made from starfruit, soursop, rose, lime, cherry and jamoon. Jamoon is an Indian berry that brought back childhood memories of stained black lips and tongue giving our (my sister and me) secret away that we had eaten it despite being told not to. This fruit also grows in Guyana and its botanical name is Syzygium cumini (thanks to my botanist mom who taught me to look for the botanical name of each plant/tree as it did not change whichever country one lived in). The pièce de résistance was the pineapple wine with a dash of the hot pepper wine! I ended up buying both.

We had heard a lot about the black creek that is on the property. I had gone there with the firm idea that come what may, I was not getting in the black water. Period. Beth, on the other hand, is an adventurous sort and supported by Kristen, went right in! Finally, I could not see them enjoying so much so had to get in. It was totally not what I had expected. The water was cool, clean and coffee coloured due to the tannins from the leaves and finally, Tajh (the other OB/gyn resident) also had to give in! We spent a long time in the creek and once we got out, the dogs too came in to cool off.

We returned to Project Dawn, pleasantly tired, relaxed and happy. Was this the effect of the creek water? Tracy had mentioned that it makes one young and allows the soul to breathe. Will time be the augur???

And there was latte! August 22nd

I had an amazing cup of latte in a small coffee shop that came highly recommended. Addicted to the Starbucks latte, I was so grateful for the wonderful coffee at ‘Oasis’. It is a shame the place closes at 6.30 pm but I should be thankful for small mercies! The walk to Oasis was via Promenade gardens that had unusual trees and flowers and also a statue of our very own Mahatma Gandhi, with real eyeglasses!

Mid-week post: great invention! August 23

Great inventions have always been made in emergency situations, so I have been told. Though it will never turn out into a great invention, kudos to the presence of mind of the caregiver who came up with this quick and indeed very clever way of modifying a broken wheelchair to make it functional!

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