-‘Red Beard’ relives the experience
“FOR A long time, I have had a dream of just floating; of flying; of zooming through the air; of flying through cities and valleys; under bridges and flying everywhere, just floating above the surface, seeing life.” The quote is from the documentary, ‘White Diamond’, filmed here in Guyana in August 2004 by acclaimed German filmmaker, Werner Herzog.
‘White Diamond’ was a daring adventure, exploring Guyana’s rainforest canopy near the Kaieteur Falls with a novel flying device — The Jungle Airship; the quote is that of a member of the cast, Airship Engineer, Dr. Graham Dorrington.
The 2004 documentary won international acclaim, and is available on DVD. A lesser-known feature about the film is the involvement of Guyanese, both in getting the airship airborne, and as part of the cast of the unique story. Marc Anthony Yhap, 53, is one such local who played both roles. 
During a visit to the Chronicle last week, Yhap, also known as ‘Red Beard’, described his involvement in the White Diamond adventure as an unforgettable experience. “Was a memorable experience,” he said in retrospect.
The film documents Dr. Dorrington’s journey to the magnificent Kaieteur Falls in the heart of Guyana, where he hopes to fly his helium-filled invention high above the treetops there.
But the feat is not without risk. Twelve years ago, a similar expedition in Sumatra ended in disaster when Dorrington’s friend, Dieter Plage, fell to his death.
With the expedition is filmmaker, Werner Herzog, setting out with a new prototype of the airship into the pristine rainforest to record the event and tell the story in an extraordinary feature/documentary film.
On their arrival, Yhap was at the time looking for diamonds near ‘Kaieteur Top’.
When he heard of the mission, he joined the team as a labourer to help move the crates of materials which contained parts of the airship to be assembled on location.
In the course of the 24-day expedition, he worked as a security officer, a technician helping with assembling the airship, as a local with knowledge of bush medicines, and as a tour guide.
With the cameras rolling all the time, he also appears in a number of scenes in the Herzog film.
In one such scene, he whimsically wishes he could use the airship to fly to Spain to be reunited with his mother and other relatives, whom he had not seen for over 25 years.
“Wow!” he is heard to exclaim. “I would like to use this craft to fly up to them! Yeah! Even if it takes a whole year (and) months! I would love to have this craft to fly to them… maybe land on the rooftop… give them a surprise.
“Yeah! It would be beautiful there… for me to be in the aircraft early in the morning. There is Marc Yhap at their doorstep saying, ‘Hello, good morning.’”
He is, in a sense, visualizing the Dorrington dream of floating; of flying through cities and valleys, under bridges and flying everywhere, just floating above the surface seeing life.
This whimsical scene is played out by Herzog, whose films, reputedly, often feature people with unique talent in obscure fields, or individuals who find themselves in conflict with nature, or heroes with impossible dreams.
French filmmaker, François Truffaut once called Herzog “the most important film director alive.”
Before the mission was over, Yhap was able to live out his dream, even if meant only floating over the forest canopy near Kaieteur and savouring the same taste of adventure that led Dr. Graham Dorrington and his team to Guyana in 2004.
Seven years after filming ‘White Diamond’ at ‘Kaieteur Top’, Yhap is helping to keep the story airborne.
Yhap hails from Cara Cara Creek Mouth in the Buckhill area of Wismar in Region Ten (Upper Demerara/Upper Berbice).
As a diamond miner, he has been living in the hinterland near Kaieteur for the past twenty-six years, and has rarely been on the coastland.
But, on October 18, he was walking along a trail near Kaieteur when he was attacked by a man wielding a cutlass, and was chopped several times about the body in a near fatal incident.
He was rushed to the Coast, where he received emergency medical treatment.
“This guy wanted to kill me; I was lucky to survive the injuries,” he said.
His attacker, whom he knows, is still at large and may very well escape justice.
“This is how it is in the bush,” Yhap said cryptically.
His near-death experience, however, led to him being reunited with his 79-year-old mother who still lives in Spain, but came to Guyana to be with him while he recovered from his injuries.
Now residing on the Coast, Yhap wants to keep on being involved in ecotourism, though he wants to take a break from the hinterland for a while.
As a resident at Kaieteur Top, he recently received formal training as a tour guide, and has been able to make contact with some members of the White Diamond team.
“We have had ‘White Diamond’ (and) ‘Lost Land of the Jaguar’, and these are stepping stones towards our eco-tourism potential,” he said.
At the moment, Yhap is in and around Georgetown, promoting and selling DVDs of ‘White Diamond’.
The father of two grownups, he now wants to learn how to use a computer, though he doesn’t own one.
He has set up a Facebook account, and intends to be involved in eco-tourism activities through tour operators in Georgetown. His training as a Tour Guide would come in handy.