We welcomed the opportunity to spend a few days in a country where they spoke English (although barely understandable), drove on the left and played cricket. Much to Sam's delight, the Caribbean Premier League was in full swing and being shown on about 20 screens with ear-deafening sound at the local bar. We were lucky to find ourselves staying with a good bunch of travellers at the excellent Rima Guest House, and enjoyed a few nights on the Bank's beer and 15-year-old El Dorado rum whilst practising our Caribbean accents...

The British took control of Guyana in 1796 . After the abolition of slavery in 1834, Africans unsurprisingly refused to work on plantations for wages and many established their own villages in the bush. Plantations closed or consolidated because of the labour shortage, but the sugar industry was resurrected with the help of an imported work force from Portugal, India and China, drastically transforming the nation's demographic. The country became an independent member of the British Commonwealth in 1966. Today, Guyana's economy relies on exporting bauxite, gold, sugar, rice, timber and shrimp.

Georgetown sits on the east bank of the Demerara (sugar) River, where the river empties into the Atlantic Ocean. A Dutch canal system drains the city, which is actually 7ft below sea level. The dilapidated architecture and unkempt parks offered a laid-back feel amid real life chaos. It was probably the most gritty city we had visited in South America - the 'Leave Arms Outside' signs at the corner shop didn't help to reassure us .

The most impressive building in town was the Anglican, Gothic-style cathedral, said to be the world's tallest wooden building?! Another prominent landmark was the cast-iron Stabroek Market with its clock tower dating back to the late 1700s.

Unfortunately, we just missed the CPL games being hosted in Guyana. However, Sophie was still very excited to attend her first ever game of cricket - Day 2 of Trinidad & Tobago v Barbados in the u19 Caribbean regional tournament. What a lucky girl! She even had the choice of 15,000 seats...

However, a visit to Georgetown was not complete without a trip to the Bourda - TMS always made it sound like an amazing place. We (Sam) were pleased to find the famed old ground standing in what can only be described as 'glorious dilapidation'. It was a pleasure to meet former county pro and veteran of 3 (unspectacular) ODIs for England, Monte Lynch, sat at the pavilion bar overseeing a coaching session . He was delighted to pull out his best cockney accent as he reminisced about games at Chelmsford, Southend and Ilford.

Culinary highlights included 'bake and saltfish' - a fine breakfast of fried bread and salted cod, and a few more welcomed rotis.

Unfortunately, there is no legal border crossing from Guyana to Venezuela, meaning we had to go via Brazil. However, first we needed to get to Lethem in the southwest of Guyana. We had a choice of a 27hr 4x4 journey or a 1hr flight. After our previous experience of 4x4 travel in this wet and muddy part of the world, we opted for the latter which involved a very small plane and some spectacular views across the Guyanese jungle.
We spent a night in Lethem, a nondescript border town, before taking several shared taxis to Santa Elena, Venezuela, via Boa Vista, Brazil, 4hrs.