It all started when the teachers decided that it was time they got the children out of the faithful old Auditorium for a day.  As it was Guyana Week, they seized the opportunity and organised a trip to Dakara Creek.

 

No one was more excited than those children who never went to Georgetown or Dakara before. They chatted about the trip in school, discussing appropriate clothes and eatables.  The girls had planned to wear 'slacks' but the teachers objected (Princlpal's Orders).  So they consoled themselves by wearing maxi-mini dresses.  I wonder which is more distracting!

Finally, the great day arrived.  We assembled at the stelling at four-thirty.  Some children had baskets which were filled with food and other necessities like bath towels. Some of them had not crossed the Berbice River in ten years.  I was sitting next to a girl in the boat, and when we had nearly reached the Rosignol Stelling, she said impatiently, "Man, when are we going to move off?"

On arriving at Rosignol, all the B.H.S. students filed into Lady Lindy.  The teachers checked for every one, and then we were on our way.  Surprisingly, the drive along the West Coast of Berbice was pleasant despite the cool morning air that had some of us shivering.  The children at the back of the bus were playing a tape recorder and joking all the time.  We crossed the Abary Creek and entered Demerara about one hour after we set out from Rosignol.

As we approached Georgetown, the traffic increased ln volume.  At about 8.30 o'clock, we were slowly moving along Main Street and enjoying the beautiful scenery in central Georgetown.  The Public Free Library and the Bank of Guyana are two of the impressive buildings which we passed.

As we started along the East Bank road, everyone was rather quiet and I thought that it was because they were all so excited.  The cluster of industries along the East Bank road attracted my attention.  These included Bank Breweries, Continental Biscuits. Colgate-Palmolive and Lithographic.  My companion, who had never been there before was so excited that she failed to observe these.  I could almost hear her heart beating.

We came off the East Bank road and continued on the Mackenzie Highway.  This new road had been cut through the sand hills and therefore was flanked on each side by sand.  Travelling on this remarkable highway was a great experience.  We seemed to be lifted upwards only to swoop downwards again.  It was fun.

We then went to Atkinson Airport and spent fifteen minutes there.  Unfortunately, all the planes were grounded so we did not witness them moving.  After an inspection of the runway and the grounds, we started on the last leg of our journey – to Dakara Creek.

To our dismay, we were not the first there.  Another bus was parked on the road.  Everyone was disappointed at the first sight of the Creek.  It was not like anything they had expected.  It was like a lake surrounded by sand hills.  On the elevated areas were beach umbrellas and huts covered with palm leaves.  On the shore of the creek, there were about six wooden huts, in which people were allowed to change.

The shaded places were already occupied when we arrived so we had our lunch in the bus.  After lunch two girls and I went for a walk.  We came to a sort of sand canyon, which is indiscribably beautiful.  The road dropped steeply, and in places, in steps to the bottom of the canyon.  We went to the bottom and began to collect rocks, feeling all important, as we used geographical terms, like sedimentary, to describe the rocks.

We all enjoyed ourselves at the Creek, some children swam for hours.  Those without swimsuits still enjoyed the water, for they waded in and splashed about.

The drive back to town was peaceful.  I could not help but wonder, when I looked at the tired and contented faces of every-one, if we could ever enjoy ourselves again, as much as we did that day.