Lal Balkaran
Rupununi Savannas of Guyana: A Visual Journey is a book for all readers with an interest in Guyana. The book is essentially a photojournal of the southwestern part of the country that borders its neighbour Brazil. See the story of the land, the people, their everyday life, and the flora and fauna captured in over 100 photographs of this scenic part of Guyana. The book is divided into ten chapters that include photographs and text capturing: · Rock carvings;· The majestic three-peaked Shiriri mountain, a landmark in the South Rupununi;· Shea Rock (a smaller version of Ayers Rock in Australia); · The Kanuku mountains that divide the area between the North Rupununi and South Rupununi;· Giant ant hills, some almost twice the size of an adult person; · The curatella or sandbox trees (known locally as kai n’bay);· Everyday life;· School and church activities;· Means of transportation - old and new;· Vacqueros or cowboys in action;· Preserving beef into tasso; · Making food from the poisonous bitter cassava; · Rocks and minerals; and· Village scenes. Depicting the essence of the area, this book brings out a vivid and visual journey throughout this grassland region of Guyana. The author, Lal Balkaran, has done it again. Since his well-received Dictionary of the Guyanese Amerindians and Other South American Native Terms came out in 2002, two other books have followed. Always coming out with a unique publication on his native Guyana and on other subjects (he did the world’s first dictionary of auditing published by LexisNexis in Toronto), here is his fourth on the country. What is of special significance is that he knows the area quite well as he once lived there for over five years and travelled back to arrange the capture of the scenes contained in this book. For those who have visited the Rupununi or lived there before, this book is a spectacular album of memories. For others in general and Guyanese in particular who have not had the opportunity of seeing this savanna country, the book is a tour of a lifetime.
