Guyana, the "Land of Many Waters"

Luckily, I am from Minnesota, the "Land of 10,000 Lakes" and I've totally embraced all of the water in this country. However, there are unlucky people who get seasick on water, and unfortunately there are so many areas of the country (including the city I will be living in) that are unreachable unless you get into a boat and slam across the water for varying lengths of time- across river deltas, up rushing rivers into little Amerindian villages, out on ferries in the ocean, in every case, the boats being packed to the limit and sometimes taking on a little water!
Here are some general Guyana stats to give you an idea about the country. Today, Guyana is a migrant country and the population is around 750,000.  It is one of the only countries where the population has not grown in the past 10 years. It is hot and HUMID, and since it's about 5 degrees about the equator, the sun will burn you quickly (people walk around using umbrellas as sun shades, and they also protect against the frequent rainfall, the kind where the sky just opens up and pours with no warning). It is currently the rainy season, and there is another one starting in December, and in between is the dry season which I am nervous about since it will get even hotter. Here you take at least 2 showers a day; it helps with the heat and deters the mosquitos. Depending on where you are you might get a hot shower, but I've been enjoying rainwater showers!
There are things I've really come to appreciate about Guyana, one being its beauty. It is covered with pristine rainforest, savannah, and mountains. It has the world's largest single-drop waterfall, Kaiteur Falls. The only problem is the transportation - it is pretty tough to get many places, and sometimes there are no roads to get there; often times, it is a gravel, pot-hole filled road which may flood in the rainy season. This is the kind of place 4X4 vehicles were built for. My first impression of Guyana was coming in on the airplane, when I was aware we were going to land but could not see any lights and was astonished when we hit the runway. We were either landing in the middle of the forest or the electricity for the houses that really were there was cut off by that hour (we got in at llpm, and electricity in some places is just from 6-10pm).
Here is a short history of Guyana; the country has been under the influence (most recently) of the Dutch, the French and the British and you can see a bit of each culture here - for example, the excellent drainage systems created by the Dutch, the French names of cities (La Belle Alliance, La Jalousie), the British legacy of driving on the left side (I'll never get used to that). In 1831, Guyana became British Guyana, and then the country gained independence from the British in 1966 and is now a Democratic Republic. Slavery here ended in 1939 and after that indentured servants were brought from Portugal, India and Asia. Now, the majority of people are E. Indians, then Afro-Guyanese, Amerindian, and there is also Asian, European and Portuguese heritage (the Portuguese are not categorized with the Europeans because they were brought as indentured servants).
And one fun fact: Danny Glover is from here.