26/09/2024
Guyana Childhood Days by Kalamo Khan.
Exploring the area near Canal No.2 has been a past time for many kids who grew up in the village especially those who lived near the Conservancy.
Some of our grandparents, mamoo, cha cha, neighbors had farms at Hubabu. Hubabu is creek located about one and a half miles south of the village head. Its flow was cut off when the Conservancy Dam was built. It is a winding creek filled with duck weeds and about twenty feet wide at the mouth. It gets narrower as it goes inland towards the real tropical forest up to Buckpond.
At about three quarters of a
mile from its mouth there were the remnants of a Dutch water power sawmill that used to be up at a high spot on the left side not too far from where the creek takes a sharp turn north.
This area was good fishing spot. Some guys used the area to make Bushrum. That stopped when they were jailed. In the dry weather we would walk there and pick up old Dutch bottle lamps. Many broken fragments of house hold wares can be seen strewn all about mostly half buried. People told us do no take it for the ghost of some Dutch man would come for us in the night. But we took it anyway and have not seen anything in the night.
The creek continues for about half a mile then turns sharply left in a westerly direction and ends up into the forest.
At this turn a short cut was made going east to Conservancy Dam. It was used to avoid going all the way to the mouth of Hubabu creek. It could only be used when water was high.
As we reach the forest towards Buckpond, trees form a canopy over the waterway with sunlight peeping through at gaps. Buckpond is said to be dug by the the Amerindians but no one knows for sure. It is deep and has pure black water that we enjoyed drinking. That was the water we drank then for no one carried any water with them until later when water bag came into being. Even then no one carried water for one just use the hand as a scoop to dip it from the creek and drink. Or we had fun by bending over and put the mouth directly into the water and drank like a cow does.
When there is dry weather this pond area retained its water. The creek there is picturesque and one of the best tropical scenery one can imagine. This is the area some folks had farms and also used to cut greenheart , wallaba, mora and many other woods.
As a small boy my grandfather had a grant there. He used to cut wood and plant a farm there. Apart from mosquito bites near the creek we used to enjoy the real tropical forest. My grandparents and uncle used to cook soup for lunch in a black skillet pot which was held up over the wood fire by a cross wood on two fork sticks. It was quite an experience eating without plates. Plantain leaves from the farm was shaped like a bowl and hand held or dig a hole a place it over. Pointed sticks wre shaped by cutlass and used as fork to eat with.
We would sit under the shades of the trees or under a camp made of manicole leaves and just enjoy that meal eating and drinking the broth. The soup was made with yam, plantain, eddoes, Tania, buck bajee leaves and fresh fish caught at Buckpond.
That place was filled with animal life of the forest. We may hear and see baboons howling especially if it is going to rain. Monkeys jumping from tree to tree. Many sounds of different kinds of insects. We would take some colored small insects on over palms and put in the shirt as temporary pets. Then the musical sounds of the wind blowing on the trees as they sway momentarily. Many birds of various species can be seen and heard. All kinds of Parrots flying overhead. An acuri may run in the farm looking for something to eat. They usually eat the pumpkin or Tania. So they were not welcome. Some guys would hunt them and eat the meat.
This was an experience that is a reminder of the past. Nowadays we see videos of people make believe spending time in forest but this was real life doing it all the time. Folks should go there if you never went. Childhood Days in Canal.
