[pe2-image src=”http://lh4.ggpht.com/-qeIvyMRPVJc/UuESqYlhGZI/AAAAAAAAZMU/H2A05f1AS4Y/s144-c-o/P1100014.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/112133179186774955122/SouthAmericaSection3Stage17GuyanaSurinameFrGuianeGeorgetownToCayenne#5972075100233603474″ caption=”The dreaded big Portuguese ‘Man at War’ jellyfish is amazingly also at home in muddy waters” type=”image” alt=”P1100014.JPG” ]

Certainly a tough start day

Pos: here
Loc: Mahacai River Mouth
Acc: tent
Dist: 37,7 km
Start: 5:50 End: 14:05

I got my kayak down to the wooden launching ramp with the Navy guys, packed in darkness and was ready to go in first light. Some short press interview and a BIG hug to Ben. Thanks for all your help! It was lowest tide, and there was an about 1,5 gap from the last wooden log to the muddy water’s edge. Fortunately we could move a lose log, put it in the gap, some Navy guys pushed me in and off I was!

It felt awkward again to be back on the water after so many great days at home, being immersed in such a different world! Fortunately the river was friendly at low slack tide and only pushing me nicely out with 8 km/h and some bumpy tide waves which were already coming in. I saw the huge bow of that same ship lurking again where I was stuck under when I was landing in November… bad memories! I kept a good distance, and all went easy.

Turning right on the open water, the wind blew with 15 knots well into my face, and I realized the average temperatures have changed a few degrees down. Thank goodness, but I also rather put my windbreaker on top of my fleece shirt. It didn’t take long, and I was soaked all over from the breakers. They were quite high rolling in here and there, but still not violent enough to get me into serious trouble. Just annoying and slow going from now on, the usual 4-5 km/h. I measured the water temperature with my new thermometer, easy 26 degrees. Not that much sweating (so far) any more, and maybe I rather felt even a bit chilly from my not yet finished cold.

Fortunately, with the rising tides the breakers went down, and I could paddle on a muddy lagoon until about an hour after high tide. I decided NOT to risk to land on an on Google Earth nice looking sluice with a few visible small boats, as the water went down rapidly, and the next option was only 5 km further. I may have been able to land, but would be getting out again only also maybe two hours around high tide. This also meant I had to hurry to turn off the muddy calm shallow reef rapidly, right into the noisy breaker zone, even aiming a few hundred meters backward to avoid getting stuck in a mud bank. Almost…

Eventually I luckily was reaching deep water, but had to play with continuous breakers again. Not as high as at the beginning, but still annoying. I was aiming back to the coast, the water stayed fortunately deep in the area of the Mahacai River mouth. The breakers calmed down, and I could land on a solid sandy beach before the real river mouth, with fishing boats visible. The locals confirmed me I could get out also on low tide tomorrow morning.

All went friendly, the village people surely gathered to watch me unloading and putting up my tent. I was even talking for half an hour, before I made clear I need to rest now and would need my privacy. No problem, all village people retracted to somewhere else. Some friendly woman even came later to bring me a bag of goodies, very nice, thanks! I though great, I have my rest now…no way! Soon everybody came back, closer, closer, chatting, making funny jokes, loud laughter as some drunk natives played the clown, until I went out, collected my dried laundry and made clear I’d not appreciate this “attention” as I am tired and really need my rest! No chance, not even my funny “Do not disturb” sign from a hotel in Venezuela hung out at the door gave me peace from the curious chatting crowd. I put my earplugs in, shut the tent door high up and was hoping to be able to ignore the noisy crowd outside.

When they started to pull down my tent door I got out and was probably talking a slight bit too annoyed about the disturbance. Not sure if they understood, as I obviously had only given the first batch of locals some nice friendly talk. The next lot of people surely wanted to know the same old stuff, but at some point I had enough and just shut down. One friendly white face from an American lady volunteering somehow in the village got the last five minutes chat and the last card, and somehow she managed to get the crowd mostly away. Thank goodness! I can’t remember I ever had such a tough crowd around me not letting me get my privacy for some hours! What is too much is too much…