help generate much-needed income for these indigenous peoples of northern Amazonia. Penned by the international Foster Parrots Ltd. and named after a deceased board member who fell in love with Guyana’s birds, the Nancy Lewis Cullity Parrot Protection Act is signed into tribal law.


“I, David Mark Simon, duly elected Chief/ Captain of Pakuri Arawak Territory, do, on this 17th day of September 2003 hereby decree that all hunting of parrot/macaw species for ornamental uses, food, re-sale or export from the 240 square miles of Pakuri Territory/St. Cuthbert’s Mission reservation lands will henceforth be illegal and deemed contrary to the values and our spiritual link to the land that has sustained our people since the dawn of time… Exemptions to this law will be made for: Those who wish to keep a parrot/macaw as a companion with the provision that these captive specimens will be given a semi-free existence and the freedom to wander among the trees and in our village. Any and all parrot/macaw feathers used in traditional/non-traditional crafts or for ceremonial purposes MUST be either naturally molted feathers by living specimens or from naturally deceased specimens.”


Signed into Official Tribal Council Law, Date: September 17, 2003 signed: David Mark Simon.


16 BIRD SCENE


2016 – Ayonto Hororo Eco-lodge and Wildlife Sanctuary – upper Mahaica River, region 4 Fast forward almost thirteen years later, to 2016, to the 50-year anniversary of Guyana’s independence from Great Britain. Damon Corrie’s vision has finally come true – the new Ayonto Hororo Eco-lodge and Wildlife Sanctuary has officially opened and the first week-long sightseers have come to the Pakuri Reservation on holiday. These privileged visitors – my husband Gustavo, son Nicolas and I – have come to this pristine wonderland, considered part of the Amazon River Basin, to go ‘birding’ and ‘field herping’. To view hoatzins and channel-billed toucans, green macaws and hummingbirds in their natural habitat. To traipse over grassy plains and through virgin thickets of evergreen forest in search of snakes and lizards, amphibians and invertebrates. We plan to go angling for monster catfish and peacock bass. Maybe even piranhas. And let’s not forget the half- day domestic flight into the interior, on a 13-passenger Cessna…where we’ll be soaring above endless vistas of ‘broccoli- flower’ trees, on our way to Kaiteur Falls. Best of all, while we marvel at the thrilling daily exploits, this professional travel writer and her family intend to become immersed in the customs and fascinating spirituality of our Amerindian hosts.


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