[pe2-image src=”http://lh4.ggpht.com/-86LzR0l98XQ/UuEUFI9OfiI/AAAAAAAAZMU/6NxXwjmFcRU/s144-c-o/P1150040.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/112133179186774955122/SouthAmericaSection3Stage17GuyanaSurinameFrGuianeGeorgetownToCayenne#5972076659406175778″ caption=”Camping on the beautiful wild shell beach, landed in quite some surf” type=”image” alt=”P1150040.JPG” ]

Camped on a remote shell beach

Pos: here
Loc: Korikori bank
Acc: tent
Dist: 35 km
Start: 6:05 End: 14:45

My camp high on the sea wall prompted some honking from the passing drivers, especially from the many small motorbikes. Well, you don’t see every day some one camping up here…besides two or three other people climbing up, but not coming close, I only had another visitor group at 9 pm at night in darkness. I had my earplugs in against the noise and sleeping mask on against the street light. How I hate getting woken up out of my well deserved rest and sleep! Nobody can understand how tired I am on such a trip, especially after such hardest paddling I did yesterday at the end.

But this group was actually meaning it just well with me, when loud calls and flash lights on my tent made me eventually barely half woken up. I didn’t really get who was out there, just said probably three times only “I am sleeping!” what they must have eventually realized and they were fortunately very soon off again.
It were actually some representatives from the Nickerie city council, showing me the option to sign in with immigration and customs if I’d be paddling into the Nickerie river tomorrow. Very sorry, as I am not planning to paddle upstream against the current and wind again for 4-5 km until I am hitting the town…I had enough yesterday to barely be able to get there where I was camping.
Even more sorry as I learned today from Peter having received an e-mail yesterday late night from the German Honorary Consul Cees Dilweg, who is expecting me in Paramaribo, that they had planned also some reception by the Nickerie mayor. If I’d have known earlier…

But this would have also meant I had to quit paddling for the day, even if I’d stayed put on my current camp site, as I either can’t get off the beach on low tide later, or if I really would have made it into the Nickerie river I won’t have been able to eventually use the tides for getting out again of first the small river leading to Nickerie town.
The current washing me eventually nicely out of the wide big river entrance and far around the corner until I was back to the usual slog against wind and current. No way I’d be paddling then once again against the current and wind. Then I rather quit the honour of the reception and sign in (and on the same occasion out again) in Paramaribo as planned with Cees. Very sorry anyway for the misunderstanding!

Also I just have two days left with reasonable winds, until I may have either very short days or three days off in a row. Not sure about the very short days, as starting and landing options are limited to the tide. Once out there, I almost have to stay out for at least ten hours, if not more to be able to land again, if there is solid ground to find. So I was happy to make he best out of the current conditions, perfect tide times and the usual 15 knots headwind. I saw many sandy beaches for the first 20 km, but all of them were just too early to stop. Sandy bottom changed with muddy ground, calm water changed to a wide surf belt. I knew of a sandy landing in about 43 km distance, but when I spotted this white shining sandy shell beach I decided I had enough, broke through the surf line and landed safely.

[pe2-image src=”http://lh4.ggpht.com/-bz6IYC63tbY/UuEUf4NfqeI/AAAAAAAAZMU/qzvXDOdRO7s/s144-c-o/P1150047.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/112133179186774955122/SouthAmericaSection3Stage17GuyanaSurinameFrGuianeGeorgetownToCayenne#5972077118767475170″ caption=”The wild shell beach and it’s surf” type=”image” alt=”P1150047.JPG” ]

The breakers out there were actually high waves just toppling with no power, but closer to the beach I had to broach a few times, almost landed too early being washed in. I was also a bit scared about a dark ledge and many rock looking like boulders, but both turned out to be just solid mud. The tide was still 2,5 hrs before high, but the beach was so steep it looked all right to land. I just had to wait five minutes until I got washed sideways up the muddy ledge to the bottom of the sandy beach. Not that I had to step on the slippery solid mud…perfect timing!

[pe2-image src=”http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Ic92C9Z_3Fk/UuEUht1O-0I/AAAAAAAAZMU/o3sZQjGaUo4/s144-c-o/P1150050.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/112133179186774955122/SouthAmericaSection3Stage17GuyanaSurinameFrGuianeGeorgetownToCayenne#5972077150341102402″ caption=”A ‘Windhose’ – an interesting view into my blown up windbreaker pants! :-)” type=”image” alt=”P1150050.JPG” ]

I took the chance of the relatively early landing to dry out my day hatch which caught a small wave today on opening, and I even made a walk along the one km long shell beach. No bugs in the wind (yet…), perfect temperatures, no people at all, just wilderness, not even much trash, just two or three bottles, but no animals either. Just myriads of small shells, mud clumps and washed up logs. I am feeling perfect here for the night!  This is how I like sea kayaking…no noise, no light, no curious people, no disturbance at night…[pe2-image src=”http://lh4.ggpht.com/-bz6IYC63tbY/UuEUf4NfqeI/AAAAAAAAZMU/qzvXDOdRO7s/s144-c-o/P1150047.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/112133179186774955122/SouthAmericaSection3Stage17GuyanaSurinameFrGuianeGeorgetownToCayenne#5972077118767475170″ caption=”The wild shell beach and it’s surf” type=”image” alt=”P1150047.JPG” ]