top 6 things to do in BARTICA!!

1. go for a hike
If the gorgeous landscape inst enough to get you through then go for the comic benefit of watching aprox 20 girls shriek and flip out over the smallest sign of wild life. The trail was treacherous- think walking down to the lake at the Stein’s times 2 miles but at the same time the walk was priceless, granted it was a little hard to concentrate on the trees and view as for laughing so hard. Apparently Jenny has a mortal fear of snakes and spent most of the hike gingerly stepping then running bloody murder at the smallest sign of movement in the puddles.
2. Swim in the water
Swimming here again has many benefits. While it is refreshing and relaxing, it is still somewhat hard to forget that scary things may be lurking beneath the waters (especially when Andrew spends most of his time creepily grabbing at your ankles from below- not nice) The water here also has the mushiest mud even- perfect for a facial and yes I did put it on my face- we will see how my pores look later but so far so good- and this mud makes for quite the workout when trying to sprint in because once again someone believes that they saw a caiman- quite the hysterical. I am getting much more comfortable in this water though- enough to try some handstand contests, synchronized swimming (Reve’s amazing suggestion- mom we would have done you proud)and chicken fighting. And swimming in the rain has so far been the best. The water has the strangest boiling hot to freezing cold spots and standing around in all the mixed temps while being rained on has so far been a favorite moment. That is until Jill and I almost died. The storms here are extremely intense and in only a few moments can go from light rain to full on lighting wars. So while the rest of the group sheltered from the rain under a porch, Jill and I braved the storm by playing in the water, that is until a massive bolt of lighting struck the water from about 30 ft away. Watch out Olympic track stars. I think Jill and I gave you a run for your money. When we reached the shelter I think that most of the group was dying from hysterics but I can honestly say that I at that moment did not share in the humor- lesson learned.
3. Go for a “sport” (drink) or “lime” (hangout) at one of the shacks.
These little shops are exactly what they are called- shacks run by families who live on the same compound. The one by our school is now a favorite place as you can buy amazing homemade coconut cookies and drink misties (kinda like fresca) It is also as great place to hangout and meet locals. On one of our first nights in Bartica we meet a guy who took us to Karaoke night- interesting place- I have never seen anyone sing Michael Bolton so seriously.
4. Indulge in the local cuisine-
So at first I feared gaining massive amounts of weight due to the quantity of food that I have been eating but thanks to all the walking I think that I doing ok- which is good because I have officially stopped caring that all I eat is carbs… so here are my favs so far
1. roti and curried chickpeas- roti are these massive flour tortillas and you eat them with the chick peas
2. pumpkin- slices of pumpkin cut up and boiled with butter (I presume) and spices- maybe cinnamon. Kinda like the texture of sweet potatoes but taste more like squash.
3. Bora- these are long green things that are cut up so that they resemble and taste a lot like green beans but BETTER. What they are cooked in I have no idea but I am a big fan.
4. cook up- rice and whatever else they feel like throwing in that day- think veggies and beans- in pictures it may look more like fried rice but I couldn’t taste more different- think curry spices and other pepper that a lot of times make my mouth burn off- dad maybe you could handle it)
5. plantains- they cut them up and cook them in species here soe that they taste kinda like potatoes but with the tiniest bit of banana taste. I will certainly be eating these at home because the are like sweet potatoes or bananas but sooo much better.
BUT WARNING be weary of bloodily red meat. On out last night in BArtica we went to a Brazilian BBQ restaurant. These places have a salad bar with all you can eat rice, noodles, veggies and etc and a hug oven filled with all sorts of meats (even cow hearts GROSS) When we were there several ppl got adventurous and asked for the rarest cuts possible. Luckily because of my whole vegetarian thing (I am slowly adding a little bit of meat back) I only ate the well done cuts. Later that night and throughout much of the next day foot steps running to the bathroom could be heard. A massive case of food poisoning took over our last night and made for an interesting boat ride the next day. Apon arrival back in Gtown about half of our group sprinted from the boats to the bathroom- kinda funny but really gross.
5.Learn to love bugs
While I do have a mosquito net to sleep under it is a deterrent to mostly mosquitoes only- leave all others. This morning I woke up with beetles in my bed (and these aren’t the normal sized beetles these are dinosaur beetles who could prob eat my finger) but I have accutaly become accustomed to their company and I am beginning to like my little princess canopy. There is also an ant problem worse than our kitchen at home but as long as they aren’t that nasty red ants that bite I now count them as friends.
6.Befriend the locales
Because we spent so much time hanging out at the pavilion we had plenty of time to meet the locales hanging at there as well and on one of these afternoons we met a speed boat driver who owns one of the guest houses in Bartica. After befriending him we were able to set up a speed boat tour for the whole group to go out to this amazing island guest house. We took the speed boat out on Sunday morning and he gave us a tour around the water ways- we saw a prison that was located on one of the islands that was apparently totally self sufficient and a left over fort from when the English were in Bartica- Apparently back in the day the Dutch traded New York for Bartica- I wonder who go the better deal?? He then dropped us off at the beautiful guest house with pool tables and stuff- for a mere $200 GUY (1.5 US) we were able to spend the whole day there. Later after talking to Bacoron (his name) he offered to take a couple of us speed boating through white water rapids and to his private beach were he takes campers staying with him.- this trip was amazing- we were literally boating through the jungle and the rapids were so much fun. His beach was a little cove- but there wasn’t much beach- mostly just rainforest. We hung out there for awhile and then went back to go to a waterfall with the rest of the group. Get excited everyone be everyday I become more and more like Lara Croft- you should have seen me climbing thought the jungle in my pink bikini- I was practically swinging from the vines- Unfortunately those in tow weren’t aware of my abilities and had a hard time keeping up. Jill took a nasty fall on some mossy rocks and cut her knee up pretty bad. Once at the top me and Andrew (he was the only one who could match my skills) just laid in the water and tried to pretend that we weren’t being watched by lots of scary animals and insects. All in all an amazing Sunday afternoon!!