By Francis Quamina Farrier

THE headline of this article is actually the title of a Botanical Garden in Norfolk, Virginia, in America. While recently on holiday in Norfolk, I engrossed myself in the history garden of that beautiful American city.
There was so much to see, to hear, and to admire. The tour also included thoughts of the Botanical Gardens in my homeland, Guyana. While being a tourist town, Norfolk is not a typical tourist destination. Even though it attracts thousands of tourists daily during the Summer months, those tourists are mostly on the south side of age 50.

The elderly, slow-moving but happy-looking tourists had me thinking that there is something I reflect on and which Guyana can learn from the tourist organisations in Norfolk, Virginia. Let me immediately say that if that statement is considered a bit out of order and anti-Guyanese, then I need to point out that it is being made with the best of intentions and these comments are intended to gently ‘elbow’ Guyana’s tourist organisations to look even deeper into their operations for any areas that might need some improvements.

If I am challenged regarding my ability and authority to fault those who are really doing a great job with tourism in Guyana, it is known that I am usually not ready to be satisfied, even with my own efforts. There is always room for improvement. As such, I crave the indulgence and kind understanding of those who have been in the tourism industry for decades and continue to do a great job. For those who have daily hands-on activity with Guyana’s tourism, I hereby respond by pointing out that I am commenting from where I stand, no doubt on rather slippery, muddy ground.

My tours around Guyana began in the 1960s with Tour Organiser Marge Rockcliffe. At that time, she was probably in her mid-40s, a school teacher, and a Girl Guides leader. Marge Rockcliffe introduced me and hundreds of other Guyanese to tour the hinterland of our beautiful country. Most of those tours were to the South Rupununi, principally to Aishalton and Sand Creek. It is still hoped that the Guyana Tourism Authority will dedicate something to the memory and honour of Guyana’s earliest Tourist Organisers: Ms Rockcliffe and Mr Van Rossum. They are the true pioneers of organised tourism in Guyana, and we can do well by establishing a worthwhile memento for their memory. So many of us today are standing on their shoulders and benefitting as we now walk along the paths which they established way back in the colonial era. We need to record our tourism history for posterity.

While enjoying my time touring Norfolk, not only did I look and listen to all that was going on around me, but I also tried, from time to time, to make comparisons with similar things in my motherland. Whether that could be considered a time-wasting exercise is yet to be determined or advised upon. While I am admitting my lack of experience as a professional within the tourism industry, it has long been established that I have toured almost all of Guyana’s 83,000 square miles of coastlands, wetlands, hinterlands and plains ever since my preteen years. Yes, I have been around; over the years, I have seen the many changes that have taken place and continue to take place in so many communities.

Let’s take the former little village of Bartica, for example. Bartica has grown to a standard way beyond the belief of those who left their coastland villages, went to the Cuyuni and Mazaruni, where they mined gold and diamonds, and never returned to their coastland villages. No, they never returned. They made Bartica their home for the rest of their lives. They rest in peace in the little cemetery on Sorrow Hill, which overlooks Bartica and the Essequibo River.

While we enjoy our garden surroundings today, we need to remember that what we do with the environment must not harm or destroy it. The forests were bequeathed to us by our ancestors, and we are responsible for passing them on to our descendants as pristine as possible. Sadly, the reality is that most of us do not consider our blessings in what we find in life in Guyana.

Many of us are unaware of Guyana’s real beauty, in that mother nature is so kind to us. Here in this garden nation, there are no hurricanes that leave so much destruction and even deaths, as happens in some other countries. There are no monsoon rains, which result in floods, causing many lives to be lost. Guyana does not experience earthquakes, which swallow up dozens, sometimes hundreds of people. Our country does not have deadly mudslides or hailstorms. Indeed, we live in a country where Mother Nature shows so much kindness, and we ought to be grateful for it. Guyanese should never take for granted just how fortunate we are and to count our blessings which mother nature grants us.