BREAKING NEWS! Bad weather in Guyana affecting arriving aircraft, flights diverted
At least two flights scheduled to arrive in Guyana on Thursday night had trouble arriving because of bad weather
Fly Jamaica FJM 151 from Norman Manley Airport, Jamaica to Cheddie Jagan International Airport (CJIA) was diverted to Trinidad, and Caribbean Airways BW 483 from Port of Spain, Trinidad, after two attempts to land at CJIA returned to Trinidad.
South America provides a new pope
Although I'm not Catholic, I am very pleased to hear that the Vatican has elected a pope from South America. It's long overdue. The continent provides 40% of the world's Catholics, and no one institution has had such an influence over this continent. At one stage (1609-1768), it even presided over a utopian state, here in Paraguay (pictured) managed by the Jesuits.
A world of cave-dwellers and trogolydytes
This is Kapadokya or Cappadocia (in Turkey), where for thousands of years, whole cities have been built undergound. All this burrowing needs some explaining.
Like so much that is beautiful, it began with extraordinary violence. At first, the brutality was geological. About seventy million years ago, Mt Erciyes exploded, along with two other volcanoes. They smothered the land first in shortbread (properly known as ‘tuff’) and then a wafer-thin coating of basalt.
A long-lost outpost of Jamaica
For years, it was hard to get to Costa Rica's easterly province, Talamanca. Along its long, sandy, coconutted shore, there are few villages. Before the road came, the only people who’d lived here were BríBri Indians and a few turtle-hunters, who’d wandered over from Jamaica many generations ago. Caught between the jungle and riptides, most people had settled down to a life of ease.
Hotels you'll never forget
Hotels you'll never forget, good or bad. Here are five of my favourites:
1. The Amanjiwo, Borobudur (see photo). I stayed here whilst doing an article on Java for The Daily Telegraph. It was probably the most luxurious billet I've ever been given. This room had its own pool, and all sorts of gizmos. There was ever a set of watercolours in case the mood took you.
A palace made of leaves.
This is Karanambo, deep in the interior of Guyana. It's been home to the McTurk family since 1922. Back then, the Rupununi was still an odd place to settle. It took as long to get to Georgetown as it took for Townies to get to London. There was no doctor, no government, and still a handful of tribes who’d shower you in arrows. But Tiny McTurk didn’t seem to mind.
