After finishing up with laundry somewhere around 1:30am I folded and packed my clothes and figured I’d watch YouTube for a bit but I ended up falling asleep with the lights on and all. I set my alarm for 10am as my wake up time as we determined last night we’d try to get out the house by 11am. I woke up around 7am and watched a good bit of the rest of Shannon Sharp’s interview with Mrs. Pat and drifted back off to sleep. I awoke to Kassandra asking for the phone charger and the rumble of thunder amongst the island with rain in the background (it was like the thunder echoed and shook the floor).

At 10:15am I got up and began to get ready for the day. I’m glad I didn’t eat the rest of my food leftover from last night because I was going to now eat the rest for breakfast (and it was good too). Since it was still raining at 11am and wouldn’t stop (estimated) until 1pm, we decided to wait until noon before we headed out. We got over to the National Museum of Guyana for the woman out front to tell us they were closed for lunch and to basically come back in a half hour so we wandered around the area.

Around 1pm we made our way back to the museum and were finally able to go inside. Although we expected more I’ll say for me it’s ok considering. It could be so much more, I expected there to be a bit more history in depth than it was but it definitely speaks greatly of the animals in the area (plus I think I know what I saw in the backyard the first morning here, from the pictures it looked like an anteater or a hairy porcupine (photos below)). I was hoping the museum would have a gift shop but there was none. There were portions on the inside that still looked as though it was a work in progress.

After the museum we looked again at the vendor stalls across the street to get last minute things. It’s interesting how we overlooked some things the last time we visited (unless they got new stuff over the last few days). We each found more things to get and walked down the street to view the Cathedral. Afterwards we wandered around the Stabroek Market and went to the grocery store one last time. It was decided afterwards to skip the Seawall today and do it tomorrow as it was beginning to get dark.

Now trying to scrounge for food Kassandra looked to see what was nearby and asked our Airbnb host Brian for area recommendations. We ended up at Tribe Gastronomic Lounge. The setup was cute and it wasn’t crowded but it was right across the street from the Cathedral. Looking at the menu the Flavoury Chicken Curry with white rice seemed to peak my interest the most so that’s what I ordered (Kassandra ended up getting the same thing).

The music in the restaurant sounded just like my Spotify playlist as song after song I knew and I was so proud. It took a while for our food but when it came it was good. I think I expected a different type of curry (and I made sure there were no allergens in the curry sauce). Overall the meal was worth it. When it was time to pay the waitress overcharged us (Kassandra caught it) and we requested management fix and make it right (she really thought we were going to pay 1000 more for the meal (it was only 2000)). Once we got that straight we called for a taxi which took forever to be booked.

Once back at the Airbnb Kassandra began washing her clothes and I sat and went through some things while taking a breather. Kassandra came and said something like, “I think we’re supposed to leave tonight.” I was like what no we leave at 1:30am Tuesday and she was like, “I know, that would be a few hours from now.” Me in my head thinking, “No this can’t be right” checked my boarding pass and OMGosh she was right, how did we not catch this sooner? It was 10pm when we figured this out and if we were going to make our flight we needed to be quick.

With her clothes in the washer she began working on that and packing her things. Luckily most of my things were packed from me doing laundry last night but I got my last few things together rather quickly and gathered the trash to take out. Kassandra cleaned the fridge and counter and somehow we managed to get out of the Airbnb near or shortly after 11pm. The airport is about an hour away from us so if we could just get there by midnight we should be good for our 1:30am flight.

Thankfully our taxi came within a reasonable amount of time and he did great in getting us there at a good time. It’s crazy how we really almost spent an extra night in Guyana because I know we’re both ready to go. Once at the airport we had no issues going through security (though they inspected my honey and I was telling the girl do not throw my honey away, they weren’t even open and they were little).

With a few extra bags Kassandra worked on consolidating and I wanted to get rid of some of this Gunian dollars and I was hoping I could get the small bottles of the El Dorado rum sampler but I wasn’t sure if the airport had them and thankfully they did (they had an El Dorado store). I ended up getting 2 sampler packs and figured I’d give one to Kassandra as a thank you for coming on the trip with me and of course the other one is for me (thinking back I wish I got one more but I honestly don’t even think I had enough Guinan dollars to get another one so I’m leaving with some of their money but not a lot.

Our gate was gate 3 and we were right around the corner from it at the time. At the gate it wasn’t crowded and they hadn’t begun to board yet so we sat and waited for about 20 minutes and then they began. It didn’t look as though the flight was going to be full which was good because hopefully they would let us spread out like we did on the way over. We were more concerned about getting through without any problems from the gate agents about our bags. Thankfully we were fine, no one asked anything and just saw our passport and scanned the boarding pass.

We boarded and were able to move around and ended up sharing a row with the middle seat free. We’re happy we made the flight and I’m excited to get back to the U.S. I miss my bed and my space (room, bathroom, etc.) and it is back to work the day after I get back. Normally (recently) I like to have the day after traveling off but I need to get to work because I need some money after traveling to Italy and then straight to Guyana. I haven’t been away from home this long before and I don’t know if I’d do two trips back to back like that again. It is a good warmup to my trip in May 2025 to Germany/Prague which will be 2 weeks long.

Guyana was quite the experience and to be honest by Thursday I was ready to go but it grew on me a little bit and I adjusted slightly on Friday. I think for our itinerary a week was too long but had we done Kateur Falls then maybe it would’ve been enough. If you come to Guyana (which you really don’t need to) a 3-4 day trip should be sufficient. I’m thankful for the things I’ve learned and the experience as it was different. I have memories to remember the trip by but I’m in no rush to come back. I wish Guyana and the people there the best, thank you.