ABERDEEN GUYANA RESEARCH 2015
The Expedition plan...
It will be a long journey for the Aberdeen team!
THE EXPEDITION
From: 22/07/15
To: 28/08/15
Number of days: 37
After just over a year of planning, we have quite a precise plan of action laid out, an overview of which is summarised below. The trip will be split into two phases, both of which are of equal importance to the success of the project.
22/07 - Fly to Guyana (Cheddi Jagan Airport)
22/07-24/07 - Acclimatisation, meetings, school visits, filming and preparation.
24/07-25/07 - Drive to Karanambu air strip in the Interior, there picked up by Ashley Holland (Interior fixer) and taken to Caimen House Field Station on the Rupununi River.
25/07-26/07 - Acclimatisation and preparation.
27/07- 13/08 - Travel North along the Rupununi river visiting 3 pre-approved villages.
13/08-15/08 - Rewa Eco-lodge and Rewa village. Rest, recuperation and preparation.
15/08-20/08 - Travel to final village, Apoteri.
22/08 - Return to Georgetown from Apoteri Airstrip.
23/08-27/08 - Analyse data and present initial findings to Minister for Health and Minister for Amerindian Affairs.
28/08 - Fly to London
The city phase
This is the period in which the Georgetown team will commence data collection, they will spend time in suburban health centres and community groups, gathering data and engaging in discussions with Amerindian citizens about health choices. After 6 weeks of hard work they will be eventually joined by the Aberdeen team, who will have a week of acclimatisation, meetings and discussion with the Guyanese team.
This shared time together will be essentiial, collecting data, comparing research tools, meeting local contacts and visiting health centres. It certainly will be jam packed!
We also hope to get a fair amount of filming done in this period, visiting local food sources, interviewing Amerindian citizens about their attitude towards food and trying to grasp how westernisation has shaped their lifestyle in suburban areas.
One of the main aims of this trip it to form bonds and exchange ideas with the University in Guyana hence discussions about the project will continue throughout. We hope to iron out more complex details, ensure cultural challenges are discussed fully and finalise the routes of dissemination for the data. Another task to organise will be the coordination of the analysis and write up phase.
This phase is vital, establishing contact within Guyana was a long and difficult process, this is the chance for the students to establish ties that will be important for the future.
This second phase is going to be a little more tricky, thankfully we have had excellent advice from a couple of very informative local business owners as well as the ecologists at the nearby Rewa Eco lodge and the Office of Amerindian Affairs.
Supplies will be purchased from Ashley Holland who has calculated the amount of supplies required for a journey of this length. He is our Interior fixer and has run several expeditions for the likes of National Geographic, eco-tourist ventures as well as fishing trips. As he has an Amerindian family and recognises the importance of this research he is providing us with the supplies and boats at cost value. He will also be Captaining one of the boats.
We will be travelling by bus from Georgetown into the Interior, and will move into our base which will be the Caimen House Field station where we will stay for a day.
From here we will travel down river (North) along the Rupununi river. This river then travels east and then becomes the Rewa river. At this confluence is the Rewa Eco-Lodge and Rewa village, where we shall stay for several days.
The jungle phase.
Dense jungle to be navigated by river, this will allow us to move fairly rapidly compared to what we could acheive on land. In addition, due to a semi-nomadic lifestly the exact co-ordinates of Mukushi Villages are not known, but the villages follow the course of the river and thus will be easier to find via boat.
Thankfully the river is anticipated to be rapid free and since we are arriving following the end of wet season all river routes will be accessible. Accommodation near villages will be in hammocks with mosquito nets on edge of villages or specially designed huts. When travelling between villages we will be staying in clearings along the river. There are a handful of clearings are in place for travelers and locals moving between villages for this very purpose. Eventually the Rewa continues east where it joins the Esequibo which continues North all through Guyana until the sea outside Georgetown. At this confluence between the Rewa and the Esequibo is the Apoteri Village and Airstrip. Here is where we shall end our journey and fly back to Georgetown.
From Georgetown we will say our goodbyes, present our findings to the MInister of Health and head off back to Aberdeen!
