John Gimlette's Voyages

Where do South America's Africans come from? According to this chart (photographed in Suriname) all over the African west coast. Some may even have come from much further inland, perhaps as far as East Africa. Here are a few things you may not have known about 18th century slavery:

A world preserved in sugar. This is the mill for the Wales sugar estate in Demerara (Guyana). The factory is about a hundred years old, and looks like an ancient tramp-steamer, puffing away in the mud.

Something deadly in river. These are piranhas, which I photographed on 'The Wild Coast.' However, they are not only common to Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana, but also over much of the upper half of South America.

The world's first wildlife park. This is Walton Hall, near Wakefield in Yorkshire. It was the home of Charles Waterton (1780-1865), whose family had a plantation in British Guiana. The plantation is still there today, now the village of Walton Hall (on the Essequibo Coast), but Charles wasn't interested in it.

A Parliament of Ants. This is the great Dutch hall on Flag Island in the Essequibo River, established in 1744. It has tall, shuttered windows, the bell-tower of a church and the body of a warehouse. Aside from forts, it's probably the oldest building in Guyana. Inside there's a large expanse of flagstones, a cluster of well-laureled tombs, and a colony of bats.

The forgotten garden. This is Mabaruma, in north-west Guyana, which was built high above the forest on an enormous hillock of green. Up here, running along the ridge, is an avenue of stately rubber trees, and a pleasing sprawl of orchards, paddocks, tiny wooden farms, and tobacco-coloured cows.

Four-star reptile haunt. This is Caiman House, in Yurupakari (Guyana). It was originally built by a herpetologist (one who studies reptiles), and it's a bit like Fort Apache, behind an enormous stockade. Inside, there's a grand, red library, finished in hardwood, and, all day, it cheeps with computers and children (who come here to study) .

Once the site of a slave auction, this is Stabroek Market (Georgetown, Guyana). Despite all the dire warnings, I felt I had to go inside. I can still see myself slinking along: a slightly comical figure, conspicuously white and furtive. I was convinced that, any moment, robbers would put a chain around my neck and then work me over like some sort of human ATM. But they didn’t.

The cursed fort. This is Fort Canje near New Amsterdam (Guyana). It was here that the Dutch tortured and executed the rebels after the great slave revolt of 1763.

I have just watched the High Commissioner for Guyana laying his wreath at the London Cenotaph. On this Remembrance Sunday, it's worth reflecting on Guyana's contribution to the Allies' efforts to defeat fascism. Many thousands of Guyanese joined Commonwealth forces, and many stayed on in UK (including ER Braithwaite who wrote ‘To Sir with Love’ ).