Priority list to bring
- UV protection Umbrella, For the midday Sun is rather unforgiving and in case of rain, (The make we chose was from http://www.euroschirm.com/ ,we got the trekking umbrellas as you do need a good quality umbrella to last (as someone put it, "it's life or death here") you are unlikely to be able to replace it, and 'the local ones break easily' (this phrase will be repeated often) i had the outdoor version and fern had the swing lite version, ( the lite version does pop down and flexes a lot in strong gusts so recommend the outdoor type
- Rechargeable Lanterns and torches, It goes dark at 6pm, Frequent blackouts, few street lights, for torches we chose Petzl head torches with the Core rechargeable battery, ( I went on the line of USB rechargeable products as you can use your phone/tablet charger or a laptop to recharge items for less weight and more universal plugs) Here in Berbice we get a lot of power outages, more than the Big towns, and some more remote areas have no electric at all.
- Water Filters You can buy 5 gallons bottled water, but you can soon drink these in 1-2 days, at a cost of $200-500 GYD, so if you are staying for awhile and watchful with funds, it may be worth getting a Filter and while it's more work, it gives flexibity as you may have to carry the 5 gallon bottles, though some deliver, The type we have tried trusted and tested http://www.katadyn.com and got the pocket and siphon, though the pocket is expensive you may be able to land on second hand one, we generally use the siphon and bought a large tub here to filter from into a empty 5 gallon bottle overnight. A friend of ours uses the 'Lifesaver jerrycan' system where it is all in one
- Mosquito nets Do not forget these as you will get bitten and often, you can only reduce it. get a as large as one as possible. Plus you need the sleep, and not wake up looking like you got the 'Pox'
- Insect repellent we got 100% Deet and used a refillable spray bottle to be able to water it down, to make it go further and also using Deet long term is harmful.
- Airtight food containers Everywhere you get ants ( very tiny ants ), cockroaches gecko's crawling over everything and poo on things, so we Double bag food, ( either ziploc, seal-able plastic bags ) and if you have room plastic food containers bring them, i've since got some sent to us, they are like Heaven sent, was finding the cockroaches were chewing through the bags with rice in.
Desirable Items
- Duel voltage Iron the voltage varies across the country.
- Machine washable suits, no dry clean here
- No iron shirts make life a little easier
- For Sisters I recommend skirts that you tie up in knots when during, Seersuckers tops, Tops should have wide straps to cover shoulders or preferably with sleeves ( Dress code culturally)
- Wellies The paths can get muddy even boggy, wellies are good but even ankle high wellies are good, (esp for extended use) you need something that's washable and not stain-able
- Kitchenware depends how long and where you stay, can buy here in big town, cheap items breaks easily, can buy more robust types, but quality costs (and still breaks easily)
- Cutlery cheap ones bend, strong ones expensive, ship some from home if you can
- Clothing Ideally cotton as it soaks Moisture (sweat) and soon dries out in a breeze or sun, Go more for patterns, as clothes pick up mysterious stains, (suntan lotion yellows on white, I ruin two shirts through sweat/salt marks, food stains etc), Whilst Linen is nice and breathable, it's nearly (and is) impossible to get it totally crease free, Polyester is great, more colour fast, wears well, washes well, BUT less breathable, and feels horrible, so maybe a blend of polyester and cotton.
- Pro Bio Yogurt we brought Easyo Yogurt maker, and enough sachets for one a week for a year, the yogurt here, might have been in fridge though several blackouts, so a little dubious. But not saying it is the Bio yogurts, but it might help boost your immune system against tummy bugs, we not had anything serious yet, (to date)
- Vitamins pills adjusting to a new diet here, might take some time, so while we don't take them daily, but maybe a couple of times a week, we got some vitamins with minerials, and some with cod liver oil, it's good to keep on top of things as things maybe not as clean as you like. ( Locally bought pills might not be as described )
- Tools Am a tool man, so i'll try not to be too excitable on this subject, Point 1: Things break, if you are shipping things over a of roll of Duck tape is handy, ( can get locally but expensive), Hammer, a hand saw, adjustable spanner, a set of screwdrivers, Point two: if you are fairly handy at DIY etc, some 'needgreaters' have made various items of furniture, ie Beds, Shelving, Tables, Chairs. wood is relatively cheap and all hardwoods (Nice), so it maybe you can make something a little rustic looking, it'll serve a need, Furniture here isn't cheap. A multimeter is handy too, ( best to test if it's live/Hot before attempting something electrical, or to test if it's dead, really dead, so dead that it might be a trashcan case, 99% of everything is imported from China, and poor quality Mostly has no Earthing/Ground on it so beware, use a safe practice with things electrical)
- Transportation Buses and taxi are in abundant along the coast, towns, cities and available inland too, we got bikes as we here for awhile, the Guyanese made bikes are ok and blend with everyone elses, If you import one it might be a target, but bikes are relatively cheap $14-18000GYD, we have estimated that in 3 months they have paid for themselves easily plus you can sell them on when you go, we had 5 punctures so far, which they are bike repairs shops that will fix them cheaply, we brought repair kits with us, Things break easily, one of our bikes had plastic brake levers, one broke, plastic pedals on both bikes broke, but can get all metal type, a good hardware shop here stocks a lot of parts right down too a single ball bearing
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