This is the second time i've written this journal entry! But i'm persevering because from tomorrow morning we will have no internest as we venture deeper into the rainforest to stay at the canopy walkway. We will be sad to leave her as we have made many friends, but at the same time the luxury our organisation (The Leap) affords us is that we can move around and see more.

Since my last entry we have had a quiet couple of days, the painting in the atrium is finished but we've been painting the posts for marking the trail. And after this we're going to be putting them into the ground. We've also continued planting, with mixed results, some of our plants are taking to the soil well, and others aren't. Luckily we're based on clay which holds the water, so fingers crossed. We've also had a few guests. Three Englishmen left today after spending three nights here. They are all from Milton Keynes and met through the pubs there, they are led by a Guyanan-born, Arsenal-supporting, part-time magician, bathroom fitter who can talk.....and talk.....and talk. Yesterday he began painting some rocks white, and then painting their names on them in red, along with the date and MK for his beautiful city. He's returning next year so he expects them to be here when he comes back. They are going out the back till then, unfortunately we can't just throw them in the river.

They have been doing some fishing around here and catching quite a few fish, and so yesterday they came down to fish as Jon and I swam. They brought their rods and some beers (they'd brought their own tray of Banks Beer with them), and we watched as we sat on some rocks usually inhabited by Sankar the Caiman. As we sat there discussing cities (Jon is a city planner) and the staff here, I said "we haven't done a Sankar check in a while", turned around and saw the three-legged beast himself swimming downriver towards us. His arrowed tail was enough to get us into the water and away from his rock and we headed back to shore. He was just drifting past in the mid-river, but it was still a bit of a strange thing to see. Incidentally the fishermen caught a good few Piranhae just in between where the rock was and the shore. Their teeth are just scary.

We played Uno again last night, and Jon won, which was brilliant because Bernie won the night before. She's just too good! Then we went to sit with the English guys who sat smoking and drinking in the visitor centre. The bathroom fitter then proceeded to take it upon himself to ask and recommend everything, from a new generator to fridges in their rooms. Apparently if they have fridges in Georgetown they should have them here. Honestly it makes you a little ashamed to be British when they complain about the smallest things when they are practically in paradise. Then he set about asking about logging when we told him that the plan here was to show that logging could be done responsibly, without damaging surrounding rainforest, but selectively removing the most expensive timber. He went on and on asking questions after every one of our comments, and told me off when I suggested we get King Kong into remove the timber and then put him in a giant gerbil ball to keep the camp running. He said "so i'm trying to EDUCATE your boss and all you can do is joke about it". Ray Mears this man was not. The most outlandish suggestion was that we get a pool table in the new bar, a flatscreen for sports, and give it more of a pub feel. I had to leave, I couldn't take it anymore and my looks were hardly discreet. So I left him in his England shirt drinking vodka, smoking and telling John that we needed a Lister Engine, and his friend Barry who sat their just smoking and drinking.

It raised the issue of what Iwokrama actually does. It serves as the Guyanan gift to the people of the world. Miles and miles of pristine rainforest, full of endangered species and rare birds, and with sixteen different communities living inside it. The idea here is to show the world how the rainforest can sustain us, and contribute to the economy, without being cut down and destroyed for farm land or timber production. This isn't easy as responsible felling is much more expensive then block felling, but it is a brilliant project, and I hope they succeed. Tourism is the latest dimension to Iwokrama, and people can stay at Surama village, the canopy walkway, or here at fieldstation, and explore the surroundings with guides. Bird-watchers and researchers love coming here but hopefully in the future others will too.

Anyway, the plan for this afternoon is to plant the posts into the ground, and once that's done to pack everything back into our bags ready for tomorrow. I think that some of the staff will miss us but the men seem to love Bernie and so just by virtue of doing nothing she's become a bit of a heart-breaker. As for me, Dennise no longer smiles anymore because I always conveniently have something to do when she's around me. I don't think i'm conservative when i look around here I just think i'm different. These people are far-less conditioned by the moral stances which influence every British person, whether they rebel against them or don't, we're conditioned by the concepts of love and relationships we find in the media and in our own families. Here they leave pornography (Taj Mahal #5) lying on desks, have girls and often families in a few villages, and a few of them have even suggested to me that I leave a baby with a Guyanan lady (although in cruder words than that). It is even quite normal for men to work away from their families and only visit them once a month, that is the situation for many of the staff here. Unfortunately all of this has resulted in one of the highest HIV/Aids infection rates in South America, so there are leaflets everywhere trying to give advice.

Right, i'm off to put some posts in the ground. Not sure when my next posting is, but hope you've enjoyed reading so far. Till next time!