Northern South America

Yes, we also thought it to be all done and dusted

but find we cannot sally forth before highlighting the most

Magic Moment of that whole Caribbean adventure and of course the lead-up to it!

 Of 146 days duration (04/12/2012 - 29/04/2013) and with the prospect of visiting

34 Countries or Island Nations and fulfilling a number of ambitions.

Of these, regular readers will know that the 2 most important were to

Transit the Atlantic Ocean in its entirity and then the same for the Panama Canal!

Additionally, and if time allowed, there was also the prospect of conquering all of the

outstanding countries of the Total America's still not visited of which one was 

Haiti.

Of the others and not really wishing to mention favourites for fear of being disappointed

Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana

(the final one there not being recognised by the United Nations as a true independant

country, only a department of France) were high on the anticipation list but who would visit Greenland for instance and come home to tell your mates you had been to Denmark?? 

It was all heady stuff!

Not given to composing 'wants lists' either, after studying the various

Field Guides

before leaving there were those species, especially birds, that were sticking out like a sore thumb.

Guyana was to be an unaccompanied visit but high on the 'hoped for list' was the diminutive

 BLOOD-COLOURED WOODPECKER

which is about the same size as our own Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

or maybe more familiarly the House Sparrow

It took 3 days to find across 5 visits to the public park in the capital
Georgetown
From there it was onward to the capital of
Suriname, Paramaribo to meet my guide for 11 days
Dutchman Otte Ottema 

and with high hopes of seeing the

CAPUCHINBIRD

also known as the Cowbird as its call is really a moo,

it took 7 days in the finding on Tonka Island but took 

great satisfaction in being the finder.
More delight was found there as encountering a

MUSICIAN WREN
 and desperately hope this link of one singing works for you?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvZVcvxmOgo

Next it was crossing the Moroni River into French Guiana where a note was tacked to the 
customs post instructing all passengers to report to the Police Station a mile and a half away.
A killer walk in the hot sun but then there was a room to find. Approaching a lady in the township of Sinnamary for direction she said she had a guest house which was locked during the off season, but gave me the key saying to leave the money on the table after staying as long as you like.
Enroute to the capital Cayenne visits were made to

 but more particularly

Ile du Diable

DEVIL'S ISLAND

where once resided

 Henry Chareiere

 or more familiarly

 PAPILLON
and where

GOLDEN HAND TAMARINE
still do

before heading off to

 CAYENNE CITY

 which, had I not been to Singapore

would have qualified for me as the cleanest city in the world.
Due to an extreme mistake between the Tourist Office and the

Space Centre
the few of us booked on the tour saw our money refunded and a
Free Visit Extended

 What a Complex
TheKourou Spaceport

 What a Day

 The Battle Between

 SOYUS
and

ARIANE
With time now seriously at a premium as far as being the
Lone Ranger
was concerned, there was little to do but enjoy what Birding there was around the
Capital City of Cayenne
but what came next still takes a lot of believing and will need to shake myself before embarking on
THE UNBELIEVABLE
to be continued