Mahaica Dawn
The lower Mahaica River runs through rice paddies and vegetable fields, but the native vegetation along its banks is a refuge for numerous wildlife.
By Janette Bulkan and John Palmer | Caribbean Beat
An early start is worth the effort. The night sky is growing light as we drive into the dawn, eastwards from Georgetown along the coastal highway for twenty-five miles. At Vic Singh’s rumshop in De Hoop we turn inland, heading south alongside the Mahaica River through the villages of Big Biaboo and Little Biaboo. Villagers are slowly waking up, gathering in small groups at the side of the road. Men with toothbrushes stuck like thermometers in the corners of their mouths glance curiously as we drive past.
Our road winds through flooded and fallow rice fields, past farms with bora — long green beans — twining up five-foot poles, callaloo, boulanger, and other vegetables for the local markets. Black-and-white Friesian cattle graze on the dykes between the fields, flounder across the canals, and are happy to swim in the river and munch on the floating grass with only their heads above water. Business is good for some farmers: new concrete houses are growing up on the flat fertile soil, and rice-ploughing and -harvesting equipment stands in the yards.
When we get to the ramp, the six-seater aluminium boat — provided through the generous support of the Caribbean Aqua Terrestrial Solutions (CATS) Programme — is waiting. Our guide, Ramesh Shibsahai, is one of seventeen community members who were trained under the CATS programme which gave birth to the Mahaica River Birding Tours.
Although this farmland has been under cultivation for a century or more, the native trees and other vegetation along the riverside between the farms and residences have been left relatively intact. There is enough shade and shelter in these narrow strips for a great variety of wildlife. As we board the boat, a large green iguana watches from an overhanging branch. Bunches of flowers float past us, early-morning Hindu offerings on the Mahaica River.
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