Return ticket Lethem

I have fallen in love; in the people, the nature and the feeling of being free like a bird. To do whatever I want, go where ever I want and think whatever I want. After my travelling throughout different countries and cultures I have learned that it is only a very small piece of us that has this opportunity. I am glad that I went here and thank you all of you at home for letting me go.


I have now been in Yupukari village for 10 days and you can’t imagine how different it is from what I am used to. I come back to that later. Instead I would like to tell you about my trip to Lethem yesterday. Some of you at home may think that I am crazy; just for that reason that I don’t mind to do painful and tough things. A good example is this; I knew that the way to Lethem probably should be painful, long and extremely uncomfortable, but why not try and see how bad it is.

The journey started at three o’clock in the morning on a tractor bed. The rain was pouring down over us as we were sitting tight like illegal refuges on the wet wagon, that in the following six hours was supposed to take us to Lethem. In the flashes of the many massive lightning’s the savannah landscape appeared even more mysterious then it really is. Scattered threes and termite mounds as far as the eye can reach made to black and white landscape to look weird.

After about three hours the rain suddenly stopped and the stars appeared shortly before the sun rose. It seemed that the warm sun all of a sudden gave new life to the earlier so sterile landscape. The impressive Kanuka Mountains shined up, it gave color to the Savannah and lit up the sky in all colors’. In that moment I couldn’t tell earth from heaven, it was so stunning I can’t describe. (No pictures due to the bumpy ride).
After six hours on over the Savannah and we reached Lethem.
 I have been traveling on many uncomfortable ways but I must say this beats the most of it. First it was totally wet, after that frying hot and during all the time so crowded that it wasn’t a centimeter left on the wagon. The wheels was not soften so the wagon bumped up, down left, right and everything in-between (I didn’t tell anyone that my rump and backside ached so much that it was hard to walk the first time in Lethem).
The Macushi Indian people are the hardest people I ever meet. It were many babies, kids and women on the flake and noon of them ever complained, cried or when became in bad mood; despite the rain and uncomfortable sitting. I am really impressed!

In the foothills of Kanuka mountains close to the Brazilian border lies Lethem. Not much to see but a good man called Russian from Yupukari showed me around. While I was buying my food for the coming weeks I bumped into George. One of the guides also from Yupukari. Do ya wanna ride home with us? Sure I wanted! Sitting on the back of a truck is far more comfortable than the tractor and took half the time. But I must admit that I felt ashamed that it was I who went with the truck  instead of any of the mothers with their children, but I wasn’t able to change with them.


Some really nice birds seen on the trip:
Sharp -tailed Ibis: really hard bird to find anywhere else.
Buff-necked Ibis
Vermillion flycatcher
Long -winged harrier
Pinnated Bittern
Swallow tailed kite
Three species of Kingfisher

Thanks for reading and I hope that everything is fine in Sweden
Cheers!