This week the Pepperpot Magazine journeyed overland across the Berbice River to several far-fetched villages along the East Canje, Berbice Road, which is about 10 miles long.

The last village along that stretch of road is New Forest which is forested and has a Pump Station at the rear.

The villages include Zorg, Speculation, Enterprise, Diversta, Bachelor’s Adventure and Volkr’s Lust.

There are just a handful of houses in these villages, and in some, there are no houses or inhabitants.

Along this section of East Canje, Berbice, there is a channel from the Canje Creek, which runs along the villages.

New Forest Village and other villages can be accessed via the Sheet Anchor Road just by #2 Village before the Canje Bridge, which takes you to New Amsterdam.

There is the New Forest Primary School which used to house the Nursery children, but as people moved away, the school was abandoned.

There is only a mandir in New Forest Village and the Pandit resides a few villages away, in Volkr’s Lust where he has only two neighbours, all relatives.

The people of these villages have no electricity, potable water supply, no landline phones and no internet service except for that on their cell phones which is very expensive with a data plan for the students.

The locals use the creek water for household chores, and drinking water is filled up many villages away at Adelphi.

Most of the residents have lived all their lives, and there are some people, who married into the village and others, who settled there for quiet country life.

New Forest is a picturesque place with vast rice fields that stretch for miles and the main access road was upgraded to an all-weather paved road about 10 years ago from a mud dam.

All the school-age children go to schools outside the village and they commute when there are classes and some participate in virtual sessions.

The people of these small country-side villages are rice, cattle, livestock and cash crop farmers but most grow their own fruits and vegetables.

The villagers have chickens, ducks, goats, sheep, cows and horses.

New Forest and other villages overlook the Canje Creek and it is quite a picture with the steady hum of boats that passes by carrying people and goods.

It is a place where bamboo grows all over the roadside and the creek water is black but clear and cool to the touch, all inviting features for a dip.

The people have simple, everyday lives that revolve around their farms, rice cultivations, livestock and cattle.

There are two milkmen in the village and a handful of labourers and many farmers.

These villages are about a 25-minute drive to New Amsterdam and the people would do their bulk shopping wherever is convenient for them.

There are two pump stations that employ locals and they are owned and operated by the Rose Hall Estate, East Canje, Berbice.

The people are very welcoming and would invite you right in to have a cold beverage to offset the heat of the day and engage in friendly banter.

Since the main access road was re-paved a lot of vehicles would pass and mostly on weekends, visitors would go to the creek for a picnic or go to farms in New Forest, the last village.

In New Forest itself, there are more farms lands than houses and people from all over have cattle and crops of plantains and other traditional cultivation there.

The people would go on horseback to access their farms or via tractors.

There are many abandoned houses and some houses have been completely removed to other places when the road was in a very deplorable state.

The villagers use bicycles, motorcycles and some have vehicles to commute while others would pay $1,000 to $1,500 for a one-way trip via taxis.

There is no public transportation plying this route.

The locals would engage in their favourite past-time of fishing for hassar when they are not farming.

The residents crave development and they need an ICT hub for internet access for the children since they spend a lot of cell phone data for online classes.

Most people have small solar panels for lights at night since the place is very dark and just a few have generators.

The cell phone services in these villages are very unreliable and poor.

The locals are semi self-reliant and they are comfortable there but welcome development in any form to enhance their lives.